We hope you have a safe and Happy Holiday. We will be back Monday.

The U.S. Mint announced November 24th, 2009 that they were ceasing sales of 2009 1 oz Gold American Eagles and 2009 1 oz Silver American Eagles. They did not state when sales would resume. Prices on both are expected to increase due to strong demand and possible lack of product to sell.

If you are interested in purchasing these please call J&T Coins LLC at 866-267-6024.

Silver may beat gold to better returns

 

MUMBAI (Commodity Online): At a time when gold prices are scaling new heights everyday it may sound unwise to talk about silver. But the fact is that silver has the potential to beat gold in the race to better returns.

Silver’s demand, supply and prices each have two independent dynamics at work. The dichotomy and influence of these strands on each other makes this market no place for old men, says an analysis appeared in Economic Times.

The world gets silver from silver mines, and what governments and people sell. In 2008, supply crossed 28,500 tonnes. Silver mines accelerate production when prices are attractive. People and governments too sell their family silver when prices are attractive. When prices plummeted after the financial crisis last year, scrap sales plummeted too. But the world also gets a huge quantity of silver as a by-product of lead, zinc, copper and gold mines.

As these mines are focused on the price of their primary metal, they continue to produce silver irrespective of its price signals. Put together, you can never bet silver supply will directly respond to price, says the ET.

There is a similar dichotomy at work in demand as well. On the one hand, silver is bought as a precious metal to hedge against inflation, currency fluctuations and general economic malaise. So whenever there is fear and panic in the market, people gravitate towards silver. On the other hand, silver is simply another raw material used by factories in making everything from camera films to jewellery, electronics, batteries, hi-tech clothing and radio frequency tags.

Actually half the silver sold is consumed like this. When factories slow down, as they did in the last one year, silver’s demand drops too. So demand for silver is a see-saw between its avatar as a precious metal and its day job as an industrial metal. The global recession which wrote off silver’s industrial consumption also re-ignited its bullion demand, the ET said.

How money flows into silver is an equally motley mix. Investors — these could be households, wealthy individuals, exchange traded funds and institutions — believe silver is a store of value and buy it in the form of paper, coins and bars. Ignoring silver’s physical demand-supply fundamentals, they trade in silver the way they would gold and closely track the price relationship between the two.

A few far-sighted investors are not bothered about the gold-silver connection. Instead, they are putting their faith in silver’s physical demand-supply fundamentals. Though demand for silver to make photography films has sharply dropped in the age of digital cameras, these investors believe supply would not keep pace with total industrial demand in the coming years. While a lot of above-ground silver would continue to re-enter the production cycle each year, investors are hopeful the world will find new commercial uses to suck it out too.

The punters, however, believe silver is simply a shorter route to profit than gold. They speculate on short term price movements on commodity exchanges and use both long and short instruments to gain exposure to silver price. Punters know that in terms of value, the physical gold market is much bigger than silver. Being smaller makes the silver market less liquid and more susceptible to volatility. In short, it is perfect for getting over-the-top money if you have the courage to bet on it. The combined motives and trading strategies of investors and speculators keep the silver market full of frenetic activity.

That means one could put one’s faith in silver as a precious metal and hope its value will rise in line with gold. Or one could see it as just another metal that sometimes even moves in tandem with copper and is currently plagued by lacklustre physical consumption. One thing is certain. Both ways will bring you plenty of edge-of-the-seat excitement.

(Source: Economic Times).

‘Gold is a history and constant’

 

By Adrian Ash

Stock market bulls never read history, as in anything from the day before yesterday, and least of all the pink pages’ price/earnings table today.

So the library shelves marked “332″ under the Dewey Decimal system are typically left free for bears and gold investors to roam. And glancing at how long the stock-bull of 1982-2000 ran, you can see why.

Gold lost three-quarters of its purchasing power during that time. Only the grand sweep of history then proved that the glass was neither half-empty or full, but shattered…as the much-fabled history-loving “gold bug” believed all along.

“Gold has two interesting properties: it is cherished and it is indestructible. It is never cast away and it never diminishes, except by outright loss…”

So wrote Professor Roy Jastram in The Golden Constant (John Wiley & Sons, 1977). Alongside Peter Bernstein’s The Power of Gold and H.W.Brands’ The Age of Gold – but swapping their ripping yarns for dry, scholarly tables of grain prices from the 18th century – it’s one of the very few books to acknowledge what die-hard gold investors feel so sure to be true:

Gold is much more than mere metal. It’s history itself.

“[Gold] can be melted down, but it never changes its chemistry or weight in the process. The ring worn today may contain particles mined in the time of the Pharaohs. In this sense it is also a constant.”

It’s not something you can say of many other investments. Atomic weight 79; melting point 1064°C at sea level; cooled density 19.25 grams per cubic centimetre…gold’s got everything a collateralized debt obligation has not. Time cannot dull or change it. Debt default can’t diminish its value (provided you own it, securely, outright of course). And as Jastram’s detailed study of four centuries shows, gold’s value, like its nature, also displays something of a constant – constant across the long term at least – as measured against wholesale prices.

Trouble is, as Marc Faber of the Gloom, Boom & Doom Report reminded us late in 2008 – just as gold was sinking alongside everything else – “Gold has kept its purchasing power over the course of history…[but] the problem is that the owners of the gold changed over time.”

How long can you wait for your wealth-store to return to full value? Or as Faber put it, “When Timur sacked Aleppo and Damascus in 1400, it didn’t help to have your savings in gold. You lost your life and your gold.”

Tamberlaine’s Mongol heirs soon enough lost that gold, too. But amid such cataclysms, Jastram saw instead what he called “The Attila Effect” – the plain fact that, as Jill Leyland explains in her additions to the new, re-issued and updated text of The Golden Constant, “Men and women have turned to gold in times of distress, whether political, economic or personal…”

“The Latifundia passed gold bars secretly to their heirs,” wrote Jastram 32 years ago, “who thus survived barbarian invasions to become nobility under the Merovingian kings of the fourth century…Austrian refugees, escaping Hitler’s storm troopers, often owed their survival in a new country to the gold and jewels they could carry on their persons…The French peasant was astute when he buried his coins on the threat of invasion and pillage…”

Through such crises as the French and Bolshevik Revolutions, as well as Hungary’s post-war hyperinflation – worse even than Weimar Germany’s one trillion per cent on some accounts – gold retained its ability to raise cash, if not act as payment itself, for those lucky few who’d chosen to hoard it ahead of the need.

Nor does history require “extreme episodes”, as Leyland writes in the new 2009 edition, “to demonstrate the value of gold in a crisis…”

Jastram’s study famously split the history of gold’s purchasing power into inflation, deflation, and the rest. Since gold was usually money during the first 350 years of his scope, it also acted quite oddly to our 21st century view:

Gold’s value rose during deflation, but fell during inflation. Whereas today, of course, everyone expects gold to rise when the cost of living increases, but fall when the threat of inflation recedes. Which may or may not be wrong, but the first post-Gold Standard inflation said otherwise, and it most likely won’t matter given the volume of faith this very modern idea now stores.

Hence Leyland’s labels for her post-Jastram charts (the thirty years from 1977), which first concur with but tweaking his framework (“High Inflation: 1970-1980″; “Disinflation: 1980-2000″). To fit non-money gold’s four-fold increase so far this decade, however, a whole new category’s needed – “2000-2007: Inflation fears revived”.

And the future? Inflationary fears will be revived by the price of the new Golden Constant, costing $110 in the US, or a shocking £79.95 in the UK…equal to a Dollar exchange rate of just $1.37. Yet this is a scholarly tome, and even corduroy jackets aren’t cheap. Second-hand stores, meantime, are still charging $181 or more for the 1978 hardback (worse yet again in the UK, priced at £157.98 with a quarter-century-busting $1.14 on cable. How’s that for the grand sweep of history!).

If you or the gold bug in your life needs reassurance this winter that, in the long-run at least, gold’s constant purchasing power is as rare and precious as its substance, you could do much worse than treat him for Christmas.

Just don’t expect to see much of him (and let’s face it, it will be a him…) outside your library on Boxing Day.

Gold surges to a fresh record

The precious metal continues a record run on concerns about the U.S. dollar and economic jitters. Analysts see $1,200 an ounce before year’s end.

By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Last Updated: November 23, 2009: 12:48 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Gold rallied to an all-time high Monday, climbing ever closer to $1,200 an ounce, as the U.S. dollar slid and investors showed nervousness about the economy.

December gold was up $20.90 to $1,167.70 an ounce, after having climbed to a record $1,173.50 earlier in the session.

The rally came as the dollar weakened against its main trading partners, with the euro climbing 0.8% to $1.4979. A softer greenback makes commodities that are priced in dollars cheaper for investors holding other currencies.

“We’re seeing significant dollar weakness, and I think that’s the main driver today,” said Joe Foster, portfolio manager for the Van Eck Global International Investors Gold Fund.

The weak dollar has sent gold surging more than 10% this month as investors flocked to a safe-haven investment. Demand for gold and other so-called tangible assets, which tend to store value better than equity-based investments, often rises in times of economic uncertainty.

Gold is also being supported by a growing expectation in the market that central banks around the world will move to increase their hoards.

India’s central bank bought 200 metric tones of gold from the International Monetary Fund earlier this month, and the central bank of Mauritius bought a smaller amount last week.

“We believe the activity of central banks and seasonal weakness in the U.S. dollar in the final four weeks of the year will sustain the strong rally in gold prices,” analysts at Deutsche Bank wrote in a recent research report.

Meanwhile, gold is benefiting from a “break-down of confidence” as investors fret about growing fiscal deficits and the ability of governments around the world to oversee the financial system, Foster said.

Given the current momentum in the gold market, and the growing interest from big investment funds, analysts expect prices to continue rising.

“We might have a bit of a pull-back, but the long-term trend is higher,” Foster said. Gold will probably top $1,200 some time in December and could climb to $1,300 early next year, he added.

First Published: November 23, 2009: 12:15 PM ET

2010 Cent Reverse to Show a Shield

By Numismatic News November 19, 2009

 

Perhaps overshadowing the release of the fourth Lincoln cent design of 2009 Nov. 12 was the unveiling at the ceremony of the design of the new cent that will be introduced in 2010.

While the obverse will continue to depict Victor David Brenner’s Lincoln portrait, the reverse will depict a Civil War-era shield that is emblematic of the preservation of the Union.

The Mint describes the new reverse as featuring a Union Shield with a scroll draped across it. The shield bears the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM. The 13 vertical stripes of the shield represent the states joined in one compact Union to support the federal government, represented by the horizontal bar above. In addition, the shield device is featured throughout the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building on frescoes by Constantino Brumidi, the artist of the Capitol during Lincoln’s presidency.

It is a design device used before. It appeared on the 2-cent piece that was struck 1864-1873 and the Shield nickel, which was produced 1866-1883.

The new shield, though, is distinctly different. It is much thinner than that fully rounded shields of the 19th century.

Introduction of the new design will conclude the changes to the cent that have kept collectors both riveted by the new designs and frustrated by the difficulty in finding them in change.

The changes to the cent design were authorized by Congress in 2005.

Leidman Coins Found After Dealer’s Tip-Off

By David C. Harper, Numismatic News November 20, 2009

A tip from an East Coast coin dealer has resulted in recovery of much of the inventory stolen from Julian Leidman.

Leidman told Numismatic News on Nov. 18 that police detectives and FBI agents made two recoveries following a tip from a dealer who doesn’t wish to be identified.

Leidman’s parked vehicle was broken into Oct. 11 as he was returning home to Silver Spring, Md., following a coin show. His vehicle was parked outside a restaurant in New Jersey when its window was smashed and the inventory taken as Leidman ate dinner with family members.

An Oct. 29 phone call from the anonymous dealer to Leidman set recovery action in motion.

“I then called the police detective that had been working on the case and gave him the information,” Leidman said. By late that afternoon he had set up, in conjunction with the FBI and another agency, a meeting for the next morning to view the coins.

“Early Oct. 30, my son, Sam, and I drove to meet with the assembled law enforcement officers. The original plan was abandoned and the eight officers then went to the place that the coins were supposed to be, while Sam and I waited to be called to identify the items.

“I was called and eventually told that it really wasn’t necessary for me to identify the coins, as my name was all over them. A few minutes later, I went and saw the coins, which were all mixed up, but very few had been removed from the 2x2s and I don’t think that any had been broken out of their encapsulation, either.”

Leidman said that on Nov. 3 he “went to examine the coins more closely and found over 1,700 coins and 300 notes in the custody of the FBI. The vast majority of the volume was there. There were some notable items missing.”

On Nov. 12 the FBI told Leidman they would get some more coins.

“I have not been to examine this second group of coins yet, but will do so in the very near future,” Leidman said.

“As of this date, the original thieves have not been apprehended and I am not certain of exactly what else might be missing. This is an ongoing investigation and I am being as forthcoming as I am able to be at this time.”

Leidman is grateful for the assistance he received following the theft.

“I am unable to express adequately enough my appreciation to the hundreds of well wishers and especially to the many, many, people that pledged money to a reward fund that was started by Jon Lerner and Laura Sperber,” Leidman said. That fund topped $160,000. He singled out his fellow members of the Professional Numismatists Guild for special thanks.

“The numismatic press and the general press gave this a great deal of publicity and I believe that because of this publicity, the coins were able to be identified. I want to express my appreciation to, in no specific order, Coin World, Krause Publications, the Coin Dealer Newsletter, Heritage Numismatics, the various dealer networks as well, and of course the message boards on CU and NGC,” he said.

Additional thanks were directed to law enforcement agencies.

“I will probably never be able to properly express my appreciation to them, either,” he said.

National Gold Exchange’s Mark Yaffe could emerge from bankruptcy in March

By James Thorner, Times Staff Writer

In Print: Thursday, November 19, 2009

More than $36 million in debt, Tampa gold and coin dealer Mark Yaffe plans to emerge from bankruptcy as early as March.

At a hearing in Tampa bankruptcy court Wednesday, Yaffe’s National Gold Exchange, one of the world’s largest precious coin wholesalers, said it had mediated a tentative deal with Sovereign Bank, its largest creditor.

The agreement would force Yaffe to liquidate his 30,000-square-foot mansion in Tampa’s Avila neighborhood, sell off part of his multimillion-dollar collection of antique music machines and turn over future profits to creditors.

“We’re confident we’ll have the approval of the bank,” Yaffe bankruptcy attorney Richard McIntyre said.

Sovereign lawyer Robert Soriano confirmed “there’s a core of a deal there,” provided Yaffe discloses his finances more deeply. But getting that information hasn’t been easy.

Investigators working on the bankruptcy case said they had yet to fully crack Yaffe’s “antiquated” computer system to retrieve financial records.

Yaffe himself has also been reluctant to talk. According to testimony Wednesday, Yaffe has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

National Gold filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July after Sovereign called back $36 million worth of loans. Although the company had been current in repaying Sovereign, the bank got a tip that Yaffe had siphoned off about $10 million from his company to build his mansion.

The informer was a lawyer for the Bilzerian family, former friends and neighbors of Yaffe who had a falling out over a broken business deal.

U.S. bankruptcy Judge Michael Williamson gave National Gold 60 days to come up with a reorganization plan to satisfy Sovereign. A hearing to confirm it is scheduled for March 3.

James Thorner can be reached at jthorner@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3313.

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