Over the next few days J&T Coins LLC will be adding graded CC Morgan Dollars to their website. 

 It is our full intention to offer a good selection of both graded Morgan Dollars and graded CC Morgan Dollars. If you are looking for something you don’t see (including the 1895 Proof in 67) call us at 866-267-6024.

J&T Coins LLC selling and buying gold, silver, platinum and palladium coins from the USA and around the world.

Bring on the Holograms!
Should the U.S. Mint incorporate more innovation, such as holograms, bimetals and moving parts – into its commemorative or circulating coin designs? Editor Dave Harper wants to know. Email him your opinions at david.harper@fwmedia.com. Please include your first and last name, city and state.

Service & Sacrifice: 2010 Silver Dollar to Honor Disabled Vets

By Numismatic News August 28, 2009

 

The United States Mint has revealed the designs for the 2010 American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Silver Dollar, a limited edition collector’s coin that will be available for purchase beginning in January.A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each coin will help build the nation’s first permanent memorial dedicated to disabled veterans – the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The new coin was introduced at the 88th Annual Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and Auxiliary National Convention on Aug. 22 in Denver.

“We are honored that the United States Mint has designated a special commemorative coin to honor our country’s disabled veterans,” said Arthur Wilson, DAV National Adjutant and President of the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foundation. “Not only will the coin forever be a reminder of the brave service men and women who risked, and continue to risk their lives, but each coin sold will bring us one step closer to building a long overdue permanent tribute to disabled veterans in our nation’s capital.”

Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner approved the designs for the coin on July 30. The main image on the coin’s front side shows the legs and boots of three veterans, including an amputee. The design represents the service and sacrifice of the nation’s disabled veterans across all service branches and times of conflict. The inscription in the upper rim, THEY STOOD UP FOR US, honors the brave service men and women who fight on behalf of the United States. Additional inscriptions include: IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY AND 2010.

The reserve side features a forget-me-not flower to commemorate the country’s fallen heroes. The flower is tucked into a wreath that cradles a cluster of oak branches – a symbol of strength and power. Inscriptions include Take This Moment to Honor Our Disabled Defenders of Freedom, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURBIS UNUM and ONE DOLLAR.

The United States Mint will mint proof and uncirculated versions of the commemorative $1 coin in 90 percent silver. The coins will bear the “W” mintmark of the United States Mint at West Point. Mintage is set at 350,000 coins across all product options.

The American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act was passed by Congress and signed into law on July 17, 2008. The Act authorizes the United States Mint to produce and issue commemorative silver dollar coins in proof and uncirculated quantities to honor disabled veterans. The designs were recommended by Geithner after consultation with the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Disabled Veterans’ LIFE Memorial Foundation (DVLMF).

The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial plans to break ground in 2010. To date, the Foundation has raised 90 percent of the total funds needed to design, build and permanently maintain the Memorial. Approximately $5 million still must be raised before groundbreaking can begin.

To be placed on the early notification list when the coin becomes available for sale, send an email request to info@dvlmf.org. To make a tax-deductible donation or learn more about the Memorial, visit www.avdlm.org.

Yesterday’s AU May be Today’s MS Coin

By F. Michael Fazzari, Numismatic News August 27, 2009

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Whistling past the graveyard

Posted by Dave

Nobody likes bad news. Nobody likes to be tagged as the bearer of bad news. That is what makes it so hard to deal with the current soft market in coins.

The market is down from its peaks in 2007 and 2008. But it is hard to quantify.

Better coins simply stop trading when business conditions weaken. Those that do trade can still generate headlines.

Then the chorus sings, “See, the market is still strong.” But is it?

It is to make this determination that I await more definitive evidence.

I remember the serious recession we had after the peak of the market in 1980. We had an internal debate at Numismatic News as to what we should do with the coin prices listed in Coin Market.

Instead of outright price declines, dealers just refused to purchase coins.

Instead of saying it in some straightforward manner that they could not resell the pieces at current price levels and taking a pass, dealers began to say that the coins didn’t make the grades they claimed to be. Coins that were MS-65 at the peak of the boom were suddenly -64, then -63, etc.

This infuriated the owners of the coins. While they would feel the injury of not being able to sell some coins when they wanted to, they also suddenly felt the sting of being told in an offhand fashion that they somehow had purchased overgraded coins.

Thems fightin’ words in this here business.

Bad feelings multiplied. Dealers began haunting the room where the American Numismatic Association board of governors met. They were the official keepers of grading standards. They were finally forced to declare in 1985 that grading standards had changed.

This gave everybody a black eye.

Wouldn’t it simply be easier to adjust prices downwards in a slow market?

We didn’t in the early 1980s. I won’t hold my breath waiting for it now.

The top ten largest owners of gold in the world are reported to control a total of 24,258.3 tonnes, or over 855 million ounces. At current spot prices, this gold would be worth approximately $804.35 billion and represents about 15.4% of all the gold ever mined.

612.5 Tonnes The Netherland central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, oversees all of the the Dutch national finances, including the country’s 612.5 tonnes of gold . The Dutch gold is currently worth over $20 billion .

765.2 Tonnes Japan is ninth largest gold owner in the world, with 765.2 tonnes of gold that accounts for only2.1% of the nation’s total foreign reserves. On the open market, Japan’s gold reserves are worth approximately $25.4 billion and are managed by the Bank of Japan.

1040.1 Tonnes The Swiss National Bank oversees the country’s 1,040.1 tonnes of gold. The gold is believed to be stored in huge underground vaults near the federal Parliament building in Berne, however the Swiss National Bank treats the location of the gold reserves as a secret. Switzerland’s stockpile is worth approximately $34.5 billion in today’s gold market.

1054 Tonnes The world’s most populous country also has the world’s seventh largest gold reserve. With a population of 1,330,440,055 (A rough estimate as of July 2009), the country holds about $26 worth of gold per person, worth a total of almost $35 billion.

1120.6 Tonnes Originally listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2004, SPDR Gold Shares is one of the fastest growing ETFs in the world. All of the Trust’s gold is held by the Custodian, HSBC Bank, in their London vault.

2450.7 Tonnes The Banque De France is responsible for France’s gold holdings, which have been reported at about 2,450.7 tonnes by the International Monetary Fund. With the fifth largest gold reserve in the world, France’s amount to about $81.3 billion.

2451.8 Tonnes The Italian National Bank, Banca D’Italia, manages the country’s large gold holdings, with approximately 2,451.8 tonnes of gold in reserve, Italy’s holdings are very close to France’s and are also worth approximately $81.3 billion at current prices.

3217.3 Tonnes The International Monetary Fund oversees the global financial system of its 185 member countries and was formed to stabilize international exchange rates and facilitate development, mainly to poorer countries.

3412.6 Tonnes The Deutsche Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, is one of the most influential member of the European System of Central Banks. With a hefty 3,412.6 tonnes of gold reserves, which are valued at about $113.2 billion at current prices.

8133.5Tonnes The United States holds the largest gold reserve in the world. With 8,133.5 tonnes, the US gold holdings are worth approximately $269.67 billion. This massive gold reserve represents about .9436 an ounce for ever person living in the country. The majority of the American gold is reported to be held in the world famous United States Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Kentucky, although no audit has been conducted in over 40 years.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Despite Ch. 11 and fraud allegations, coin dealer back in business Tampa Bay Business Journal – by Jane Meinhardt Staff Writer

 

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ALEX KERVIN

View Larger TAMPA — Well-known and embattled coin dealer Mark Yaffe has a new company with what may be an appropriate name: The Phoenix Gold Corp.

Just two weeks after National Gold Exchange Inc. — the coin business Yaffe and his brother opened more than 20 years ago — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, Yaffe is operating another firm dealing in coins.

In e-mails to other coin dealers, Phoenix Gold describes itself as a wholesale distributor of precious metal products. Its address on North Dale Mabry Highway is several doors from NGE’s current location.

State corporate records show Phoenix Gold incorporated Aug. 4 with Yaffe as the sole officer.

Who wants the unc. version?

Posted by Dave

The Disabled Vets commemorative silver dollar was unveiled on Saturday by Mint Director Ed Moy.

They will be sold to collectors in uncirculated and proof versions when they become available in 2010.

This is not the first veterans related theme for the commemorative silver dollar series.

There were the Vietnam Memorial, Prisoner of War and the Women in the Military issues of 1994 among others.

All three have held up in value reasonably well. The first two are nicely above issue prices while the third is hovering just below issue prices. This is not bad for the modern commemorative series.

The keys are the uncirculated pieces. Their numbers are lower than the proofs.

Consequently, their prices on the secondary market are higher.

Will this spur hobbyists to order more uncirculated coins this time? I doubt it. There is something ingrained in the collector mind when it comes to placing orders for commems – proofs always attract more orders.

So the uncs of the 2010 issue will probably be outnumbered by the proofs by about two and a half to one.

Check back with me in 2011 to see if I’m right.

Bullion: Silver continues to outperform gold

Precious metals built on Friday’s gains during the overnight hours, but their advances were uneven as well as uncertain as the hour of NY’s opening approached. The US dollar was poised to reach a five-week low against the yen, while trading just above the 78.05 mark on the trade-weighted index. Crude oil continued a few notches above the $74-per-barrel marker, while the euro appeared comfortably resting near $1.43 on the price tickers this morning.

Against this background, the spot metals markets in New York started off in mixed fashion, as well. Gold opened with a $1.90 gain, quoted at $955.60 per ounce. Silver continued to outperform, advancing 28-cents to start at $14.43 an ounce. Platinum fell $8 despite the indefinite postponement of the threatened labor action against Impala. Improved wage offers were cited for the striking of the strike.

Palladium rose $1 to open at $280 per ounce. Unless the gold market receives fresh news on the bullish front, the risk of easing back towards the $925 are remains reasonably present. This is (likely) because we sent a price ‘up’ for the week gold prognosis to our friend at the Bloomberg survey…The addition of nearly 32,000 ounces to the SPDR gold ETF’s balances -following a prolonged period of inactivity-might not be sufficient to stir the bulls just yet. Recent stats from the Gold Council reveal that ETF inflows fell to 56.7 tonnes in Q2. Compare that to the 465.10 tonnes that were added during Q1.

The same bag of assorted good and not-so-good news greeted market participants as they returned to their trading posts and positions for this last week of August. As such, those who did return to their screens, were woefully thin in numbers as the powerful lure of late summer vacations is still exerting the primary influence here. Fear not, schools are set to start soon, and the change in daily patterns will finally usher in the end of the summer doldrums. Let’s do a quick survey of the aforementioned bag and see what it contained as of early this morning:

- Premier Wen of China pulled a big alarm bell out of his bag and flatly warned against ‘blind optimism’ as regards economic growth in his country. Said he: “The foundation of economic recovery is not stable, not firm, and not balanced, and we certainly cannot be blindly optimistic.” Something that the Chinese stock market’s year-to-almost-date marathon has certainly not been reflecting.

- Eurozone industrial orders took a 3.1% forward leap, surprising economists who had expected a rise of about half that magnitude. Never mind what kind of (stimulus) smoke and (car scrapping program) mirrors were employed to get such results. Growth is growth. Question is, how long-lasting it might be. ECB officials warned -in Premier Wen’s style-that none of this means “at all that we do not have a very bumpy road ahead of us.”

Aside from the above, we learned that “the new and anticipated limits by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have so far affected exchange-traded products including the largest agricultural, natural gas and broad-based commodity funds in the U.S. “Clearly, this is a new level regulation aimed at these funds,” said Bradley Kay, an ETF analyst at Morningstar Inc. in Chicago. “Individual investors no longer have a safe way to play the commodities market.”

Exchange-traded funds have drawn increase scrutiny from the CFTC amid concern that the funds are distorting commodity prices. “What it could mean to commodity ETFs down the line is still up in the air,” said Tom Lydon, president and chief executive officer of Global Trends Investments and editor of ETF Trends, in an e-mail today. “It’s too soon to say if any are going to just close because of this.”

Limits or not, the current sentiment-based climate in other parts of the commodity sector reveals that there remain some skeptics among the perma-mega-bulls. They stand their ground despite incessant calls for fresh new highs that are supposed to materialize in gold and silver as far as their counterparts are concerned.

“With equities on the turn and potentially headed for an autumnal slump if some ultra bears are to be believed, the primary beneficiary will be the US dollar. Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics, says that he continues to expect a stronger US dollar to drag gold down to $850 per ounce by year-end.

In turn, analysts at GoldEssential.com have dissected the recent COT gold reports and have “come to the conclusion that current price levels are still finding their origin in excessive long positioning and thin market participation. As such, we feel that a sustained run higher ($1,000+) is still very unlikely, and that any additional strength eventually has a high risk of running into extended consolidation, with that latter still carrying the capacity to send prices significantly lower.”

This concludes this morning’s quick pre-mortem on the New York session. The rest (of the day and the week) is subject to the expected fallout following fresh data on US housing, GDP, and the pulse-check on consumers. The clunker programme is now history, and “wanted” ads are out for new rabbits, which are needed to stage appearances from the very deep top hat currently present on the US economic scene.

Jon Nadler is Senior Analyst, Kitco Metals Inc

J&T Coins LLC will carry the 2009 1 oz Palladium Canadian Maple Leaf’s. These will come in the soft plastic pouchs.

They can be purchased individually or in the mint issued sheets of 10.

Click here to order. Questions or to order by phone please call 866-267-6024.

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