Monthly Archives: August 2011
Gold Prices Soar 12.3% in August, Silver Adds 4.1%, Silver Eagle...
U.S. gold prices settled higher Wednesday, capping a soaring gain of $200.50, or 12.3 percent, in August. Silver advanced as well, ending $1.66, or 4.1 percent, higher on the month.
The pick-ups come on the heels of respective gold and silver gains in July of 8.5 percent and 15.1 percent.
Supporting gold down the road, physical demand is expected to rise as it enters a stronger seasonal period, reminds Allen Sykora of Kitco Metals Inc [...]
ANA Seeks Numismatic Presentations and Invites Exhibitors to Pittsburgh National Money...
ANA members are being encouraged to deliver Numismatic Theatre presentations and exhibit their collections and research at the 2011 Pittsburgh National Money Show which will be held October 13-15 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Press statements from the ANA follow for each request: [...]
In The Lead – Turkish Delights
Precious metals opened mixed on this, the last trading day of a truly stormy (in all regards) month. The first ten days of market action saw the Dow plunge and erase its 2011 gains and gold shoot up from $1620 to $1760 while the next ten sessions offered a rebound in the equity market that unfolded in concert with a yet stronger push in gold to new peaks above $1,900 the ounce.
And then, if that had not been enough, things got really wild. Bond yields fell off the map, the Swiss franc shot through the roof, and volatility indices scaled new heights [...]
PNG Forms Coin Doctoring Definition Committee Headed by Albanese
The Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.com) has formed a committee composed of PNG members and non-members to research and draft an industry-acceptable definition of "coin doctoring."
"They will draft an exhaustive but concise definition. Coin doctoring is a crucial, perplexing issue that needs to be addressed for the benefit of collectors and dealers," said Jeffrey Bernberg, PNG President. "We're determined to get this done."
The committee is headed by John Albanese, President of Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) and the [...]
Gold and Silver Prices Surge 2.1%, Gold Reclaims $1,800
U.S. gold and silver prices rallied Tuesday as each surged 2.1 percent. Other precious metals advanced for the day as well, with palladium performing the best at 3.1 percent and platinum the least at 1.5 percent.
In a notable column, gold reclaimed an $1,800+ ounce settlement price for the first time since last Tuesday when the yellow metal began a two-day slide which slashed $136.60 in value to a closing of $1,757.30 an ounce on Wednesday. [...]
2012 Canadian Cougar Silver Bullion Coin Announced
The Royal Canadian Mint's six-coin, three-year Canadian Wildlife silver bullion series will feature its third release next month when the 2012 Silver Cougar Bullion Coin is issued.
Details of the strike were recently announced by the Mint, including its expected September 2011 release and 1,000,000 limited mintage.
Like the first two issues featuring a grizzly and depicting a wolf, the Cougar silver bullion coin is [...]
In The Lead – A Gross Error? Time Tells.
Monday's near-$50 losses turned into Tuesday's near-$40 gains as month-end book-squaring and fund rotation activities continued to churn gold. Thus, the one asset that is supposed to help one get a better night's sleep is having many actually pacing around wondering what this kind of volatility might ultimately result in.
While the yellow metal is seen as currently trading inside of the broad $1700-$1900 price band, the darting back and forth between the $1780-1850 areas has been quite vigorous and indecision patterns have been dominating the action for several trading sessions now [...]
Gold Dips 0.3%, Silver Prices Decline 1%
U.S. gold prices retreated modestly Monday, snapping a two-session winning streak. Market-watchers noted riskier bets were in play as U.S. stocks rallied.
"I think most of the price declines are going to be tied to equity strength. Even though gains in equities initially caused flight-to-quality buyers of gold to disappear, there's still a lot of pent up demand on price breaks where gold seems to be an asset that people want to own for the foreseeable future," Reuters quoted Adam Klopfenstein, Senior Market Strategist, at MF Global in Chicago.
December gold prices declined $5.70, or 0.3 percent, to settle at $1,791.60 an ounce on the [...]
Vicksburg National Military Park Quarter Available in Bags and Rolls
The United States Mint began selling bags and rolls of Vicksburg National Military Park Quarters at noon Eastern Time Monday, August 29. The reverse design featured on the quarter honors the national military park located in the state of Mississippi.
"The coins in the bags and rolls were struck on the main production floors of the United States Mint facilities at Denver and Philadelphia for use in general circulation but have never been released into circulation," the United States Mint described in a press statement.
The Vicksburg quarter is the fourth of five issues this year, and the ninth released since the America the Beautiful Quarters Program began in 2010. The program will feature fifty-six quarters at a rate of [...]
In The Lead – The [Mining] Wizards of Oz
The final week of what has been a tumultuous (to say the least) trading month opened on a downward-trending note for certain precious metals this morning.
The mere fact that the market did open for business on Monday was a welcome relief to many who had feared that hurricane Irene was going to leave much of lower Manhattan looking like just another body of water punctuated by high-rise "islands." Most markets are expected to try to regain some composure this week as the (market and actual) storms that Jackson Hole and Irene represented have now passed and participants can focus on options expiry and the upcoming long holiday weekend [...]