Free Updates

Let us tell you when new posts are added!

Email:

Navigation

Categories

Search

Archives

<November 2008>
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
2627282930311
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30123456

More Links

 Bilbo's Random Thought Collection
Thoughts on daily life, human interaction, history, society and the world
 CIA - The World Factbook
Statistical data and maps by country
 Coin Collecting For Beginners
Nice site for those rekindling or beginning an interest in coin collecting
 Curator and Collector
Fun museum oriented blog with great numismatic blog links
 Damn Interesting
Fascinating tales of real life extremes
 Head Butler
Information on Books, Movies, Music & Products
IMDb
Best movie database online!
 New Entry
 It is a numeric life
Interesting perspectives on statistics and life - Unfortuntely now inactive
 NBS - The Numismatic Bibliomania Society
If you collect numismatic references or are building a library, this is the spot for information!
 Somewhat Frank
Easy to follow Tech updates
 Strange Maps
Unusual and fantasy maps of the world
 Susan's Coins Blog
A pleasant and informative beginners coin blog
 Talking Pictures with Michael Phillips, a Chicago Tribune blog
Interesting film discussions and movie reviews
The Gallup Poll
Polling figures on many topics
 New Entry

 Monday, November 17, 2008
Celtic Coins Found in Maastricht
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifMetal Detector Discovers Gold & Silver in Maastricht

TMWhere.gifA nice grouping of Celtic gold and silver coins were uncovered over the past half year outside Maastricht in a farmers field. One lucky metal dectecting treasure hunter, Paul Curfs, first located one gold coin last spring and since then, many more have been located in the same area by a group of Archaeologists and metal detector enthusiasts working side by side. 

All together 39 gold and 70 silver coins were uncovered, the major portion of which will go on display this week at Centre Ceramique Museum in Maastricht, Amsterdam, Netherlands. It's wonderfully encouraging to have Archaeologists and Hobbyists working together on historical numismatic finds such as this and I would hope that we will see more such efforts in the future!

Archaeologists lend the insight that the two coin types from this cache were struck while the various Celtic Tribes fought against Julius Ceasar. The silver coins are from a different Tribe than the gold pieces, which may back up the idea that Celtic Tribes banded together for strength in their defense against the Roman armies of Ceasar.

For more information on Celtic coins, contact Liz Cottam the Celtic expert at Chris Rudd Coins at www.celticcoins.com If you ask, I'm sure Liz will be happy to send you a free catalogue of Celtic coins for sale from this most respected firm.


News You Can Use | Where to Find it
11/17/2008 1:23:06 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [2]
 Thursday, November 13, 2008
Commodities Slip - Gold Near $700
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold, Silver and Crude Oil Drop!

What a morning for precious metals! Gold has slipped to near $700 and silver has fallen below $9.

Crude oil is down to $56.32 a barrel as of this posting.

Seems that many are now returning to U.S. Dollar based investments, indicating that inflation fears have all but evaporated. High confidence in a new leadership in America certainly has had an effect.

Still, our worldwide economic hardships are not at an end, by any means. The stock market is extremely volatile. As always, proceed with caution in your investments and keep yourself well informed.


News You Can Use
11/13/2008 12:59:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Friday, October 17, 2008
Presidential Dollar Coins
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifPresidential Dollars - Of The Future?

Have you been collecting Presidential Dollars yet? I have been saving them as I come across them in circulation. My wife even got me a pair of Presidential Dollar boards to save them in and just this week a packaging company - Armored Brand USA - sent me a sample of a super bookcase style binder designed for collecting Presidential Dollars.

Jacksonf.jpgRecently the Andrew Jackson Dollar was released and his wild haired presence on a circulating coin is what poped into my head when I came to the end of my next presidential adventure, related below. Keep reading, and don't worry, I won't cross political views with coin collecting too seriously!

The other evening I made a choice to watch the Discovery Channel with my sons and DVR the Presidential candidates debate for later viewing. One of the many commercial interuptions we sat through while watching our shows was a political campaign endorsement for one Bob Barr and my youngest son asked who this fellow was, as he had not previously seen his ads.

My youngest son has been watching and discussing the debates with classmates at school this election year and so the prospect of a new candidate, this Bob Barr fellow, both interested and agitated him. In way of explaination, I sought out a website that offered pictures of and links to all known 2008 Presidential candidates who appear on one or more Jacksonb.jpgState ballots. There's quite a number of them, and several websites designed to introduce us to them. Take a look for yourself at: Vote Smart or Politics 1 or Wikipedia.

After looking through a number of pages and seeing so many hopeful future presidential faces, I began to wonder, who in all this crowd might one day find their likeness on a Presidental Dollar? Do any of them look like good Presidential Dollar material to you?


News You Can Use
10/17/2008 4:42:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Thursday, October 16, 2008
Commodities Continue Tumbling
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifMetals On The Slide

This week has been tough on commodities with Gold and the other precious metals we coin collectors follow regularly not beening spared this time around. Gold hit a one month low just below $800 an ounce, with silver below $10, and nearing $9.50. Platinum down is dramatically to about $875, with Palladium crashing well below $200 down to about $170 this morning.

Crude oil has dropped mercifully just below $70 a barrel, giving consumers a big break at the gas pump and the U.S. dollar has solidified with some nice gains against most other major world currencies.

Most silver and gold commemorative coins will remain high in the coin market for a while however, as they react more slowly to a decline than they do to rising spot prices. Platinum and Palladium coins generally hold less demand in the collector market, making them react more quickly to both the rise and fall of spot metals prices.


News You Can Use
10/16/2008 1:23:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [1]
 Friday, October 03, 2008
FDIC Gettin' It Done
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifPractical Solutions from Sheila Bair Chairman of FDIC

This is only the begining of our financial crisis, even so, we have an early hero to look towards for guidance and practical solutions: Sheila Bair, Chairman of the FDIC. Bair helped streamline the two major mergers that have come off successfully so far and as the Big Buck Bailout continues to grow and make it's way through congress, Bair has seen to her job of protecting banking customers in a low key conventional way.

The JP Morgan acquisition of Washington Mutual and the recent Wells Fargo acquisition of Wachovia, are the true bright spots, thus far, of our governments efforts to get through this financial implosion. We have Sheila Bair to thank for these wins and I, for one, will be looking towards her for practical solutions as more high risk debt buries increasing numbers of large institutions.


News You Can Use
10/3/2008 10:14:40 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Thursday, October 02, 2008
Bailout One Step Closer - Economists Don't Endorse
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifExpanded Bailout Plane Passes Senate, Economists Rage

The $700,000,000,000 bailout plan passed through the Senate today with lot's of bits and pieces added on, expanding it from an original 3 page plan to over 450 pages. The present plan has so many added sweeteners that I have yet to hear about them all, but the highlights include mandated mental heathcare coverage, an elimination of insurance companies avoidance of coverage through pre-existing condition clauses and a boost to FDIC bank account coverage from $100,000 to $250,000 per customer per bank. Also in the new plan is a heafty helping of greasy pork that will cost taxpayers loads of dough, including $478,000,000 in tax write-offs to the film industry, basically allowing production companies to write off their production costs on their taxes. I may have to start producing films.

An ever growing number of professional economists are massing in oppossition to the Big Buck Bailout. Their numbers have grown from about 160 last week to about 250 today. Reasons for their concern are varied, but most see this as a gigantic waste of taxpayers money. Most offer much simpler solutions to ease our credit crunch and get the economies wheels turning again. In short, none of them think throwing heaping helpings of good money at financial firms with bad business practices is a wise idea. You think? And all of them think the added pork will strain the average tax paying citizen.

On the market fronts the Dow again dipped today, while the dollar soared and commodities such as gold, silver, platinum, palladium and crude oil all dropped.  


News You Can Use
10/2/2008 7:01:59 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Talk of History
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifFinancial History Tells a Tale

There's been quite a bit of talk lately at my office, and probably at every cubicle in the nation, about what is to come in the financial realm. Lot's of comparisons to the past, Great Depression of 1929, Panic of 1873 and the like. I'm all for studying the past so as not to suffer past fates in the future, but the key is to actually study all factors in these events and compare them to all factors of the present.

As I mentioned in a previous posting, economics is a bit of an art. It does not work precisely, like mathematics, because economics involves a myriad of factors. In comparing the past to the present, you must consider a myriad of factors in order to come any where close to a good guess at the future.

The Wall Street Journal offered an excellent little piece today by Jason Zweig, which comments on just this subject. Zweig points to that where do you go with your money mindset of todays investor, hurt by most all investments, cautious of most all possibilities. The thought of pulling out your IRA and hiding in your mattress, a real possibility 80 years ago, is not even in the mindset of most investors today. Considering this, how does a run on the banks begin?

Friend and fellow blogger, Dave Harper, puts forth that if it starts somewhere in the world, mass media will have it in everyones face before the day grows long. He has a point, but in this instant of time, there is money waiting from may sectors, both government and private.

Our government has already spent near the proposed bailout amount on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. What would doubling down on a financial bailout really do to the economy? How much non-existant money can a government spend before their currency becomes nothing more than fancy paper?

All good questions and thoughts, many, many factors to consider, no crystal ball into the future of our economic status as a nation and world.

My suggestion, as an individual investor and citizen, you should keeping reading and studying everything you can. Take it all in, weigh it by validity and don't act on impulses.


News You Can Use
9/30/2008 10:11:44 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Monday, September 29, 2008
It'll Get Worse Before It Gets Better
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifFailure vs Bailout

Even though our Congress clearly said that it would have a Bailout plan in place before the weekend, here we are on Monday watching the largest single day Dow delcine in history. If you were heavily into stocks as a prime investment vehicle, you will have some ulcerous times ahead, but if you sell, where do you plan to go with what is left?

Many professional and amatuer economists have voiced a myriad of opinions over the last week and I have posted links to several of the most intereting comments I have read. Today I'd suggest that you read Jeffrey Miron's comments at CNN and consider, even with todays initial plunge, that perhaps failure of several large investment firms could be less damaging than a $700,000,000,000 government/taxpayer financed bailout, which would further dilute the strength of our nations currency.


News You Can Use
9/29/2008 5:31:04 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Friday, September 26, 2008
Economic's 101 - The September 2008 Bailout
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifWhat Needs to Be Bailed Out and Why?

Have you ever tried a home remedy? Most of us have from one time to another. We probably figure, what the heck, it's worth a try! Sometimes a home remedy works really well and sometimes you end up going to the doctor and getting a prescription because the home remedy didn't do the trick.

Economics, on the large scale with which we are currently dealing, is much the same as home remedies. There are no set, tried and true, prescriptions to turn around a credit crisis, eliminate mortgage defaults, fend off inflation - recession - defaltion - or stagflation, or kill the cancerously bad practices of paper floaters and major financial concerns. Theory can be applied, but any solution will offer debatable impact until put into practice.

You never really know how the home remedy will work until you try it and find out. But unlike a home remedy, which is usually cheap, a bailout of $700,000,000,000 is more like buying a hospital, or two. Almost seems like we just skipped the visit to the doctor, or maybe that opportunity sailed on by about 5 or 6 years ago and now we are on to the experimental Chemo treatment?

Yesterday I received an circular email, originated from a guy going by the name of T.J. Birkenmeier, offering an elaborate joke concept as an alternative to the Big Bailout. This email suggested that, if the main goal of the Big Bailout was to avoid mortgage defaults and keep the economiy moving, perhaps we would be better served to divide the $700,000,000,000 equally among each and every U.S. Federal tax paying citizen. Most would immediately pay down their mortgage, buy some high ticket manufactured goods, pay down credit cards and other debt, set up college or retirement funds or save some liquid cash for emergencies. Mortgage defaults - fended off a bit, Credit Crisis - oiled up and ready to move again, bad lending practices within the financial community - well, no home remedy cures it all.

One friend said this was an impractical idea. I asked "why?" He said because the government would never do it, agreed, but why does that make it impractical? In the past we have received tax rebates of flat amounts for each tax payer. These were a bit smaller, but in composite were meant to spur economic growth through retail purchases. Did it work? In a small way it had an effect. With $700,000,000,000, it could have a much larger effect. Would financial institutions fail? Perhaps, but they would have a healthy influx of cash if people paid off their debt.

Anyway, it's a thought and a legitimate one at that.

And it's time for everyone to listen to thoughts and maybe get going on some thoughts of their own, because economies are flowing things and this will not be over abruptly. Chris Isidore, a senior writer for CNNMoney.com wrote a great article about the credit crisis and bailout plan this morning which is well worth the time for you to read. One major point he makes, no matter what our lawmakers decide to do, the economy will likely get worse before it improves.

Some probelms cannot be avoided, they are coming and all we can hope for is a lessening of the ripple or gorge they will create. Just like home remedies, the bailout plan might do some good for some people and some factors, but their chance of curing your illness is limited.


News You Can Use
9/26/2008 10:37:22 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Tuesday, September 23, 2008
U.S. Government Financial Bail-Out
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifHow Deep into Debt Should We Go?

Another note on Bush's proposed bail-out plan for the largest financial institutions regards the mindset that a debt of that magnitude could break the American taxpayer, bankrupt the government and force the U.S. Dollar down a path towards fiat currency status. Some goldbugs contend that once the U.S. went off the gold standard, leaving currency to be backed only by the word of the government and bouyed by peoples faith in that word, we were already there.

While there is something to be said for that line of thought, I would have to say that fault lies more with our federal governments break of faith with it's populace than in it's break with a method of currency backing. It has taken a long time for the world to loose faith in the U.S. government, through many presidents of both parties, a do nothing pork-bellied congress and through a magnificent build up and useless expansion of bureaucracy. That scenario, more than any other pocket of factors, is most resposible for the decilne of the U.S. Dollar.

ronpaul.jpgBut of course, we in numismatics are most concerned about coinage and in particular, gold and silver coins of value. I noticed a reference to the Bernard Von Nothaus NORFED silver coins in a blog commentary today. Most of these coins are listed on our NumisMaster website and in the KP Book of Unusual World Coins. This got me thinking about the FBI raid on the Liberty Dollar facility and wondering how Bernard's case was progressing. The Fed's siezed a hoard of coins and will probably try to hold them indefinitely until the Liberty folks can force a judge to free these assets.

One of the last Liberty Dollars struck in 2007 before the raid featured then presidential candidate Ron Paul and carried a reverse legend of "Vote for Truth". Well,as I was reading through the evening news, I came across an interesting article expressing Ron Paul's thoughts on the Bush financial bail-out proposal. Paul has always been a big proponent of smaller government, so you can certainly predict his take on this matter, but I'd suggest you take a few moments and read his comments. It's worth taking the time to develop a balanced point of view before jumping at a giant debt.


News You Can Use
9/23/2008 6:45:05 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [1]
 Monday, September 22, 2008
Intrinsic Value of Gold
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold in the Age of Commodities

As President Bush expands his immense bailout effort for the largest of our nations financial institutions, investors are running for cover. Most are afraid of a falling U.S. Dollar, a reasonable concern. Many are buying gold, physical as well as contract.

With the spot price of all precious metals again on the rise, everyone is voicing an opinion, all with an eye towards what the future may hold for the U.S and ultimately World economies. One of today's blog postings, by David Bailey on Seeking Alpha, stirred up a flurry of goldbug commentary. Take a moment and read through both the posting and it's comments and let me know what you think.

Regardless of the validity of what Bailey puts forth about gold as currency or economic deflation, I found his comments about a loss in faith to ring true. Seems to me, given personal comments from friends and acquaintences, that many ordinary folks do not truely have any great ideas for what to do with their investment money. They fear many options, including the stock market and now banks, but few have any particular investments in which they have faith.

Do you have a viable alternative for investment money? Is it gold?


News You Can Use
9/22/2008 3:53:31 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [1]
 Thursday, September 11, 2008
Gold Drops Further
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold in Free Fall

Like an elevator with snapped cables, gold continued it's fast, steady decline this morning, dropping below $750 and ounce. As of this posting gold is down to about $740, silver down to $10.45, platinum is at about $1135 and palladium is down to about $225. Check The Bullion Desk for current prices.

Bloggers are reaching out to all avenues to try and explain the drops. I've read about dropping car sales effecting the price of platinum, dropping oil prices bouying the U.S. Dollar, the evaporation of inflation fears and much more. In essence, through these and many other valid factors have effect, I would have to consider this a reasonable correction to some seriously over-infalted spot prices for precious metals.

How does this effect the coin market? Well, for dealers, I would expect that initially they will have to deal with a decrease in demand for bullion issues and one ounce and larger commemoratives. Over time, if precious metals stay this low or continue to drop, they will have to lower prices and move these coins along. The larger their stock of these items, the quicker they will have to react to maintain cash flow for a healthy business. For dealers who did not amass quantities of gold and silver coins, it will most likely be business as usual and if they have a wise clientele, perhaps better than usual.

For U.S. coin dealers who had been selling much of their best material to European dealers, a strengthening dollar and declining silver and gold should bring them opportunities to buy some of that good stuff back. So U.S. collectors, many of whom have been buying overseas and paying the higher prices and shipping costs, will want to keep in touch with their favorite U.S. dealers and perhaps provide a want list.

Clearly it's a good time to buy coins.


News You Can Use
9/11/2008 10:10:24 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [1]
 Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Pressures on Gold and Silver Continue
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifExtended Pressures on Precious Metals

Precious metals continue their descent this morning, as demand slackens further. Gold has fallen below $765 and silver has dropped just below $11.00 and ounce.

Friend and fellow blogger Dave Harper and I had a conversation yesterday regarding precious metals. Dave had written an editorial, which will be published in the next issue of Numismatic News in which he touched on both precious metals and currency exchange rates as they directly relate to the coin market. You'll want to take a look at his comments on the Numismatic News website this Friday under the Commentary section on the navigation bar.

My two cents on the subject? When I consider commodities and validity of their prices, I always look at end use. In the case of gold, for instance, I watch jewelry manufacturing trends. If that end use industry is buying less, then the price of gold will have to come down. No amount of investor driven buying can support a commoditiy market without support from an end use market for that commodity.

In essence, nothing has real solid value until it reaches it's actual use. Demand for sake of investment potential is flighty, fickle and only self supporting. Demand for useful products helps establish a firm floor under commoditiy prices. You can trust this type of "real use" demand to lend stability to commodity prices and to give you a sense of where the market is going long-term, even when investment hype is raging.


News You Can Use
9/10/2008 12:28:46 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Precious Metals Taking A Pounding
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold & Silver Falling

In the wake of yesterdays government hostile takover of the massive Fannie May & Freddie Mac home mortgage concerns, precious metals and crude oil are on a steep decline this morning.

Just in the last half hour gold has dropped as low as $777 and bounced back to about $781. Silver is presently at $11.68, with platinum at $1252 and palladium suffering down at $238. Crude oil is also on the decline and sits at about $104.35 a barrel as of this posting.

With the U.S. dollar strengthening significantly against both the British Pound and the Euro, various quick access commondities may not seem like the best options. Reactionary sell-offs may contine for a bit, but a floor should materialize eventually.


News You Can Use
9/9/2008 10:57:35 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Thursday, August 21, 2008
Gold Enjoys Hefty Rebound
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifPrecious Metals Whiplash

Gold enjoyed a tremendous surge this morning, running once again on renewed weakness for the U.S. dollar. After holding above the $800 level most of yesterday, gold pushed up to about $830 this morning and looks to be holding it own.

Silver is tagging along and has risen back above $13 to a bit over $13.60. Platinum and Palladium are also seeing marked improvements in morning trading.


News You Can Use
8/21/2008 10:08:55 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Donuts for Homer
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifHomer Hobo Euro Amusement

My posting from last week about the discovery of a Spanish Euro coin artistically modified to sport a portrait of world renowned cartoon character Homer Simpson solicitied several comments from readers. My favorite came from friend and fellow numismatic humorist, Joe Zaffern who glibly offered two dozen doughnuts for any Homer Simpson Euro coin. Joe went on to suggest one of our more creative Unusal World Coin people might want to start a doughnut currency series.

That got me to thinking...which of course Joe knows can be dangerous.

Here's what I am wondering. What world coin could best be modified to showcase Marge, Lisa and Bart? Which, in turn, makes me wonder if there are any coins out there suitable to be worked into displaying Peter, Lois, Chris, Meg, Stewie or Brian Griffin from Family Guy?

Take a few minute out of your busy day and think about your favorite cartoon charcaters. Are there any coins out there aching for a bit of modification to host your personal cartoon hero? It'll be good for a laugh and we all need a few of those.


News You Can Use
8/19/2008 11:19:49 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
Silver Slips
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifSilver Slips Below $13 Again

Continued weakening of preciosu metals prices has brought silver below $13 again this morning. Atr time of this posting it rests at about $12.90, with gold at about $790.

Platinum and Palladium have been hit harder over the last weeks. Palladium has reached a six year low and sits at about $276 this morning , with Platinum just shy of $1340.

For a time, the coin market will remain moderately uneffected by this current appearance of bearish trading decline. However, if it lasts through into the fall, I will be kept very busy lowering prices on modern gold coins for the new editions of the 20th and 21st Century Standard Catalog of World Coins books.


News You Can Use
8/19/2008 10:54:29 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Monday, August 18, 2008
Gold Recovers a Bit After Friday Pounding
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold Bounce a Back A Bit

After enduring a harsh pounding to finish off a tough week, gold is seeing a bit of a rebound this morning with spot sprices rising from $786.50 to about $791.50 as of this posting. Silver also recouped a bit of it's last weeks loss moving from a Friday fix below $13 to about $13.15 as of this posting. 

Platinum and Palladium however, are still on the decline this morning. Palladium slipped from Friday's close of $295.50 to arround $280 as of this posting, with Platinum retreating from $1400 at Friday's London pm fix to the neighborhood of $1390 this morning.


News You Can Use
8/18/2008 10:55:59 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Thursday, August 14, 2008
Gold Plummet Nears $800
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold Decline Nears $800 An Once

Another day of gold sell-offs has brought this precious metal down to about $805, quickly nearing the $800 level. Silver is also on the slide with a spot price of about $14.15 as of this posting.

Consumer price data may be leading many to look for the Fed to raise interest rates to stem inflation. With the dollar already strengthening, this would be a likely move for the Fed, but one which would lead to less desire for gold as an inflation hedge. You can really see this effect taking charge in gold futures.

As a coin collector, I would not mind a slackening in the investment end of the precious metals market. This outrageous bull market for precious metals we have been experiencing will at some level begin to really deter collectors. With gold this high, the downside risk for a collector becomes a serious factor and for the bullion accumulator a rise as fast and steep as the market experienced last winter should be a huge warning sign.

We all tend to collect what we enjoy or appreciate, in terms of atristry and culture, but I always consider potential downside in evaluating purchase price. It's not wise to get carried away with the tide of a rising trend.


News You Can Use
8/14/2008 3:43:27 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [1]
 Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Downward Trend Continues For Gold
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifPrecious Metals Slide Further

The precious metals slide continued this morning with Gold slipping below the $820 mark and all the rest following suit. Little purks of buying are making for choppy waters however, so we may see minor support at this level.

Platinum sits at $1465 and palladium $315 as of this posting. Sillver has steadied at a little over $14.65.

Crude oil has caught some buyer interest and is experiencing some up-swing. At present crude has climbed to about $115.50.


News You Can Use
8/12/2008 10:02:14 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Monday, August 11, 2008
Gold Falls Below $825
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold Dive Continues Below $825

Precious metals continued their nose-dive today with gold falling below $825, silver dropping to $14.65, platinum slipping to about $1525 and Palladium hovering at about $320 at the time of this posting.

A surging dollar and falling crude oil round out the rest of the picture. Crude oil has dropped to about $114.50 as of this posting, with the U.S. dollar at about $1.50 to the Euro this afternoon.


News You Can Use
8/11/2008 5:58:32 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Sunday, August 10, 2008
Hobo Euro Juan Carlos to Homer Simpson
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifSpanish Simpson Hobo Euro Coin

spanish simpson.jpg

A Spanish sweet shop owner from Aviles discovered a nicely crafted Hobo Nickel style reworked Spanish Euro coin in the till recently while counting through the change. The artist altered King Juan Carlos from the obverse of a 2001 KM1046 Euro coin into Homer Simpson, leaving the rest of the obverse and reverse alone and as struck.

big homer.jpgThis is the first such alteration I have seen on a circulating Euro coin. A fun extension of the Hobo Nickel tradition and one which has caught some bloggers attention. Several blog postings at other sites are centering in on other restyling ideas for their own coinage, including some creative notions for U.S. coinage.

The shop owner and discoverer of the reworked Euro, Jose Martinez, has been offered 20 Euro for the coin. I guess that would be our base value, but I am sure Martinez could do better offering the coin on eBay, where the Hobo Nickel Society folks would be able to participate in a bidders battle, even though the artists execution leaves a bit to be desired on closer examination.


News You Can Use
8/10/2008 12:54:23 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [1]
 Friday, August 08, 2008
Gold Support Short Lived - Drops to $850
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold Experiences Freefall to $850 Level

Morning trading has shown us that Gold's light support at the $875 level has given way with spot gold dropping down to the $850 level. Silver is down to about $15.40, palladium is sitting around $330 and Platinum is trading at about $1540.

Looks like a vicious ending to a very tough week for bullion investors. Check The Bullion Desk for current updates.


News You Can Use
8/8/2008 10:00:37 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Thursday, August 07, 2008
Gold Slide Continues
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold Slips Down Below $875

In trading this morning gold has slipped down a bit further to $871, with silver falling to $16.25. But it was short lived, as buyers came in and drove prices back up to $875 for gold and near $16.45 for silver.

Perhaps we have met the floor of support for our favorite numismatic precious metals?


News You Can Use
8/7/2008 10:45:38 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Gold Silde Hits $875
Posted by tom

TM-NEWS.gifGold Down to $875

Gold has hit $875 this afternoon, as it continues it's summer slip 'n" slide ride. Silver is down to $16.45, palladium is at $348 and Paltinum has hovering at $1570.

Tomorrow will bring the Fed meeting, but it is unlikely that they will take any interest rate action. Never-the-less, some potential gold buyers may be holding off, just in case. I also noticed this morning that crude oil was down to $120.90 a barrel. It's decline surely has had an effect on investors interest in gold, just as it has lightened the economic pressures on the dollar. This afternoon crude has seemed to join gold on th