Monthly Archives: June 2011

U.S. gold prices moved lower Friday, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and weaker crude-oil prices. A 0.9 percent loss on the day pushed the yellow metal down by the same amount for the week, its first weekly loss in four.

While other precious metals ended lower Friday as well, they maintained gains on the week with silver up 0.4 percent, platinum up 0.5 percent and palladium up 4.1 percent [...]

PCGS Currency has announced the winners of the 2011 PCGS Currency Set Registry Awards, and announced the first entry into the PCGS Currency Hall of Fame. The award-winning collections were honored at the annual PCGS Currency Set Registry awards dinner at the International Paper Money Show in Memphis, Tennessee, on June 9, 2011.

"The interest and participation in the PCGS Currency Set Registry has exploded in the last year," stated Laura A. Kessler, Vice President of PCGS Currency and head of the Set Registry marketing efforts. "Participation has doubled in terms of both the number of participants and individual collections. There are some mind-blowing sets listed in the Registry, which makes selecting winners in each category extremely challenging." [...]

Chinese May import-export volumes exhibited patterns that were regarded as indicative of weakness and of slowing domestic demand. As well, there seemed to be a softening of demand for Chinese-made goods in overseas markets on the back of the apparent rough patch that the global economy is hitting mid-cycle at this time.

Aside from the Chinese news, there was not much to report in the markets other than on-going wrangling regarding the restructuring of Greek debt (Germany insists that the private sector play a role in same) and the fact that South Korea unexpectedly raised interest rates overnight [...]

The amount of coins coming out of the United States Mint surged in May 2011, according to the latest coin production figures from the bureau.

The totals were the highest of the year, the second best over the past twelve months, and revealed the final mintages for the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential $1 which launched into circulation May 19 [...]

Michael Fuljenz President of Universal Coin & Bullion in Beaumont, Texas, has been honored with prestigious excellence-in-journalism awards from the Press Club of Southeast Texas in connection with his consumer protection work about traveling gold buyers.

He has been assisting with news media investigations of gold-buying companies that move from community to community across the United States. Subsequent news stories reported that some of the itinerant buyers offered only pennies on the dollar for rare gold coins [...]

The United States Mint on Thursday released the 2010 Yosemite National Park 5 Oz Silver Uncirculated Coin at 12 noon Eastern Time. The Yosemite coin is struck in collector quality and has an introductory price of $279.95, plus $4.95 for shipping and handling.

As mentioned in an earlier article, only 27,000 were produced, and there is a one coin per household order limit. The uncirculated coins are three-inches in diameter, contain five ounces of .999 fine silver, and sport special [...]

U.S. gold and silver prices rebounded Thursday, supported by higher oil prices and inflationary concerns in Europe.

August gold prices rose $4.00, or 0.3 percent, to settle at $1,542.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The metal ranged from a low of $1,534.00 to a high of $1,550.80. Gold prices have advanced 8.5 percent in [...]

The latest US Mint sales figures recaps the week which included Memorial Day. Collectors tend to be more tepid in coin buying surrounding holidays, as personal time takes focus. That and the lack of new US Mint product releases has resulted in a rather mundane reporting week.

Still, 21 numismatic products outperformed their previous weekly gains as compared to 17 previously. Although in this round and for the first time [...]

The Perth Mint on June 7 released a new 2011 Australian Koala 5 Oz Silver Proof Coin for collectors, its largest product in the popular koala coin series and the first issue in this size. The silver coin is currently listed for a price of $431.82 (AUS), or $461.18 (US).

Minted in five ounces of 99.9% pure silver and struck to proof quality, the unique silver coin is sure to draw attention. Its mintage has been limited to just 5,000 strikes [...]

U.S. gold and silver prices declined Wednesday, pressured by a firmer U.S. dollar that benefited, opined analysts, from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on the previous day.

August gold prices lost $5.30, or 0.3 percent, to close at $1,538.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The yellow metal traded between $1,531.80 and $1,547.40. Gold is up 8.3 percent this year [...]