Monthly Archives: September 2011
In The Lead – Taxing Matters
Metals prices with the exception of silver attempted to recover some of Monday's heavy losses in early trading action in New York this morning. The yellow metal fell $34 yesterday and touched lows near the $1768 level.
The currently apparent fatigue being exhibited by the precious metal has not changed the fact that the blogosphere remains laden with unequivocal pronouncements that gold "has to go up" and/or that it "cannot go down." Not everyone agrees, however [...]
Olympic Quarter Three-Coin Set Available
On Tuesday, September 20, the United States Mint released the Olympic Quarter Three-Coin Set for a price of $14.95.
The three-coin set is the eighth released in the America the Beautiful Quarters® product series and the third 2011-dated issue. It was preceded this year by the Gettysburg and Glacier sets. Honoring Olympic National Park which is located in the state of Washington, the three quarters featured in the newest set share the same reverse design.
While not exactly cheap, the Olympic Quarter Three-Coin Set is attractive for coin collectors because it contains the following numismatic quarters [...]
2011 Uncirculated Silver Eagle Sales Debut at $11.18 Million
Demand proved strong for the 2011-W Uncirculated American Silver Eagle during the opening days of its release. The United States Mint reported five-day sales of more than $11 million between its Thursday, September 15 launch and Monday, September 19.
At its $60.45 price, the exact sales total was $11,181,255.15. The unit total came in at 184,967 for a daily sales average of 30,827 coins, although the bulk of the uncirculated Silver Eagle orders were likely placed during the first and second day [...]
Gold Declines 2%, Silver Tumbles 4.1%
U.S. gold prices declined 2.0 percent and to a more than three-week low Monday as the U.S. dollar gained against the euro over concerns of a Greek debt default.
"What's different about the euro zone crisis this time is people are moving straight to cash instead of looking at alternative safe assets like gold," Reuters quoted David Meger, metals trading director at Chicago's Vision Financial Markets.
"Also, there's a contingent out there that feels that gold has gone up too fast, too soon, and that it needs to correct more to bring back that real strong support or value buying or bargain hunting."
Gold prices declined $35.80 to settle at $1,778.90 an ounce in the [...]
In The Lead – Let’s Do The Twist (And Shout The...
Metals prices were initially only slightly weaker as the markets opened for the new trading week in New York this morning.Gold lost $1.20 on the open to trade at $1,811 the ounce on the bid-side, while silver fell 55 cents to start Monday's session off at the $40.11 mark. The white metal later lost nearly 3% as the selling spree that took over all markets pushed it to $39.52 per ounce.
For gold, the maintenance of the $1,800 level was still a priority lest it risked heading back towards the $1770's and/or lower given the market's speculative positioning metrics (described further below) [...]
Small Size and Error Notes Led in Heritage September Long...
Heritage Auctions' Long Beach Signature® Currency Auction, held in Long Beach, CA, September 7-9, realized $5.52 million -- including the two non-floor sessions held on Sept. 11-12. All prices include a 15% Buyer's Premium.
The auction began with a large selection of World Notes representing 94 countries. The Chinese and Cuban notes, in particular, brought strong prices.
The China Commercial Guarantee Bank of Chihli 50 Taels 1912 Pick S2514Ds S/M#P33 Specimen graded PMG About Uncirculated 55 brought $7,475, with several other Chinese notes realizing similar results [...]
2011 RCMP Gold Bullion Coin Announced
The Royal Canadian Mint announced the scheduled September release of a 2011 RCMP gold bullion coin honoring the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Details of the bullion coin were provided along with an announcement of the 2012 Cougar silver bullion coin, the third in a chain of six coins in its Canadian Wildlife series.
Both coins represent the artistry and the purity for which the Royal Canadian Mint is known. This includes the Cougar bullion coin having a composistion of .9999 (99.99%) fine silver and the RCMP Gold bullion coin struck from .99999 (99.999%) pure gold [...]
Baldwin’s Coinex Auction 70 Features Ancient and World Coins, Currency and...
The first of Baldwin's (www.baldwin.co.uk) two official Coinex auctions will be held on the 28th September this year and will include a spectacular selection of Ancient and British Coins, Military and Commemorative Medals and South African Banknotes, Coins and Medals.
Numerous lots in the sale carry some fascinating historical references and are sure to attract a great deal of interest from collectors. Taking place at the CIPFA Conference Centre the auction will be well attended as buyers fly in from around the globe for the Coinex fair arranged by the BNTA.
Auction 70 begins with a beautiful array of Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine coins. Lot 7, a Thrace, Maroneia (c.386-348 BC), Silver Stater, a very fine piece has [...]
Gold Prices Reclaim $1,800, Silver Surges to Trim Weekly Loss
U.S. gold prices rallied Friday to close higher for the first time in three days, retuning to above $1,800 an ounce after giving up the milestone Thursday for the first time since August 29.
"You don't want to go into the weekend short on gold," MarketWatch quoted Matt Zeman, head trader and strategist at Kingsview Financial in Chicago. "People would rather be safe than sorry."
Gold prices advanced $33.30, or 1.9 percent, to close at $1,814.70 an ounce in the December futures contract on the Comex in New York. Prices traded from $1,765.40 to $1,825.00 [...]
Heritage Long Beach World and Ancient Coins Auction Realizes $20.5M+
Led by the $6.8 million Norman Jacobs Collection, featuring an absolutely stellar 1909 set of Korean gold coins that realized a total $1,391,500, Heritage Auctions' Sept. 8-9 Signature® World and Ancient Coins Auction at the Long Beach Coin, Stamps & Collectibles Expo realized more than $20.5 million, a record total for a single auction since the category's inception at Heritage 11 years ago.
More than 3,580 bidders vied for the 2,835 lots in the auction, translating into an astounding 98% sell-through rate by total lot value. All prices quoted include 15% Buyer's Premium. The auction represented the largest multi-consignor world coin auction ever presented in the United States, and saw super high grade coins -- especially those with a grade of MS-65 and above -- bringing premiums never before seen in the market, akin to those that are usually associated with high grade U.S. coins [...]