Precious metals rallied this week following a weaker US dollar that was pushed lower by a series of economic reports, including the Labor Department’s higher than expected unemployment figures of 10.2 percent — a more than 26-year high. Gold reached an all-time high and silver soared. Crude oil tumbled on Friday by nearly 3 percent but still managed to post a small weekly gain. In stocks for the week, European indexes were higher and the three major US indexes advanced more than 3 percent.

In London bullion weekly figures, gold jumped 5.5 percent, silver surged 5.8 percent and platinum rose 2.0 percent. Friday precious metals prices follow:

London silver closed to $17.53 an ounce, rising 95 cents from last Friday’s close. New York December silver futures ended at $17.375 for a weekly increase of $1.12.

London gold was fixed at $1,096.75 an ounce and rose $56.75 this week. New York gold for December delivery finished at $1,095.70 for a weekly advance of $55.30.

London platinum ended at $1,347.00 an ounce, climbing $27.00 since last Friday’s close. New York platinum for January delivery ended at $1,348.20, gaining $21.90 on the week. Read the rest of this article »

‘What’s In the News’ with Bob Van Ryzin starts off this week’s episode of Coin Chat Radio with information on the upcoming Lincoln Presidency Cent release from the US Mint. Details about the ceremony, to be held in Washington D.C. on the U.S. Capitol grounds, are given along with the locations of the two additional penny exchanges being offered by the Mint.

Coin design is up next on the program. Numismatic News Editor Dave Harper interviews the newest member of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC), Michael A. Olson. Olson is a bank president from Pella, Iowa and an active coin collector.

"I started collecting coins back in Waterloo, Iowa as a small boy with the Waterloo Coin Club," replied Olson when he was asked how long he has been a coin collector. "I remember saving my allowance every week. I believe those meetings were once a month and my dad would take me down to the meeting and whatever money I had I spent on coins."

Read the rest of this article »

The Government of the British Virgin Islands has approved the release of a new coin to celebrate the Centenary of Naval Aviation.

On 7 May 1909, the Admiralty placed the first order for an aircraft specifically for use in military and naval operations. Little did they know that this single action would ultimately lead to them being one of the key players in the development of military and naval aviation around the world and to the eventual foundation of the Royal Air Force.

Despite initially trying to dissuade officers from following an aviation career, it was soon realised that those that took to the skies in those early days were not only adventurous and brave men but also pioneers in this new form of warfare. Read the rest of this article »

Class Is Now In Session

Good Day,

Speculation early this morning was that U.S. employers likely have cut only 150,000 jobs in the month of October, a figure which would be the lowest in more than a year. The worst labor-market slump since the 1930s is now seen as possibly bottoming out, and the possibility of future consumer spending is now seen as adding to US and global economic growth.

The actual numbers, however showed a bit of a different reality, as the U.S. economy shed 190,000 jobs last month, lifting the unemployment rate above the 10% mark (to 10.2%) for the first time in 26 years, the Labor Department said. Economists were looking for the unemployment rate to rise to 9.9%

Following yesterday’s brief pause and minuscule retracement, gold prices remained within striking distance of the $1100 level early this morning, as speculative interest was banking on Friday’s US jobs report to yield further fuel for what has now become a routine spec fund-driven play. That is, when/if economic news is good, the dollar sinks and risk appetite reignites on the perception that such good news will drive the Fed to keep handing out essentially free money with which to go out and buy… stuff. Read the rest of this article »

The Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set was issued by the US Mint on Oct. 15 and 50,000 promptly sold out within 30 hours.

While many collectors on release day experienced anguishing moments due to ordering hiccups at the hands of the Mint, they are smiling more these days.

The Lincoln coins are desirable, the set packaging attractive, and Mint came through with rapid shipping.

Better, and this never hurts, the sets are commanding more than double their $55.95 issue price in the secondary market.

An analysis (see chart below) of over 1,000 eBay auctions from Oct. 14 through Nov. 2 indicate that the quantity of sets sold is increasing, yet their premiums are remaining strong. The continuing demand has been a boon for sellers. Read the rest of this article »

New York gold futures rose $2 on Thursday to mark a fourth day of gains. The US dollar failed to make serious inroads against other currencies following the Fed’s decision yesterday to keep interest rates unchanged. Silver gained a sliver. Platinum fell. In other markets, crude oil retreated for the first time in four days while US stocks rallied with the Dow moving back above 10,000.

New York precious metal figures follow:

• Silver for December delivery gained a half penny to $17.410 an ounce. It ranged from $17.220 to $17.530.

• Gold for December delivery advanced 0.2 percent to $1,089.30 an ounce. It ranged from $1,084.30 to $1,095.20.

• January platinum fell $6.40, or 0.5 percent, to $1,362.90 an ounce.

Read the rest of this article »

Several numismatic news or coin blog articles are referenced on CoinNews two separate times a week. These articles are not authored by us, but we recommend coin collectors read them for their unusual or interesting content. Here are today’s coin articles:

Still popular in market [Walking Liberty half dollars]
Steve Roach | Coin Values

Walking Liberty half dollars continue to be on collectors’ and dealers’ want lists. If there is a trend, it is that there is strength in just-miss grades, such as About Uncirculated 58, Mint State 62 and MS-64, while MS-65 examples prove a tougher sell in many cases. For rare issues, such as the 1921-S half dollar, finding a fantastic AU-58 even at the Coin Values price of …

Go to story »

Read the rest of this article »

The latest batch of US Mint sales figures are out and jumping to the forefront are gold coins — both bullion and collector. The bullion Silver Eagles are moving along as well. The US Mint Set and Proof Set continue with strength, with the former smashing through the 500,000 barrier. These and other highlights follow:

• The US Mint news of the week circled around the inaugural Buffalo Gold Proof sales. 19,468 were sold in four days. That was 123 shy of the 2008 Buffalo Proofs. The 2009 bullion versions are on fire as well. They were released on Oct. 15 and are now at 121,000 — 51,000 short from matching the 2008s.

• American Silver Eagle bullion coins officially recorded their best October ever, reaching 2,939,000 in the month. The US Mint has yet to report any November numbers, but the final two months of a year are generally very strong for eagles. American Eagle Gold coins finished last month with sales of 115,500, making October the 5th best ever for the series.

• UHR $20 Double Eagles recovered from the dip that took weekly sales to their second lowest level ever. 1,045 more were scooped up by collectors, bringing the new total to 102,311.

• Three of four Braille Silver Dollar products performed better than the last round. The Braille Education Set, which went on sale Oct. 15, declined slightly with 793 versus the prior 1,004. In related news, the US Mint announced this week that it would stop selling Braille dollars after 5:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 11. For the record, a total of 202,655 of the authorized 400,000 silver dollars have been sold.

Read the rest of this article »

The Chinese lunar calendar is known to be thousands of years old but they still use it today to mark special events and festivities. In fact, their system is known worldwide along with the twelve animals used to differentiate its cycles.

Said to signify the courage and competitiveness of a natural leader, the tiger is one of those twelve animals and is found on some of the newest releases from The Perth Mint. The 2010 Year of the Tiger Silver Coins feature a variety of options for the collector or gift giver.

Perhaps the most popular in this series will be the colored tiger silver coin. Struck from one ounce of 99.9% pure silver, the 1 dollar face value coin shows a lying tiger that has been colorized to its natural hues. To the left of the tiger is the Chinese character for the animal while underneath is the inscription ‘Year of the Tiger.’ The colored coin is available from the Perth Mint for $68.18 AUS and ships with a presentation case. It is limited to a mintage of 170,000 worldwide. Read the rest of this article »

New York gold futures reached a fresh all-time high on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates and its monetary policy unchanged, which helped push the US dollar lower and made the yellow metal more attractive. Silver and platinum followed along, as did crude oil. For a second straight day, US stocks closed mixed.

New York precious metal figures follow:

• Silver for December delivery rose 22.5 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $17.405 an ounce. It ranged from $17.105 to $17.635.

• Gold for December delivery advanced $2.40, or 0.2 percent, to $1,087.30 an ounce. It ranged from $1,080.50 to $1,098.50.

• January platinum climbed $13.10, or 1.0 percent, to $1,369.30 an ounce.

Read the rest of this article »