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 Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Silver Hits 27 Year High
Posted by tom
All Precious Metals Continue to Rise
Silver broke a 27 year high mark this morning as it ran up to $15.35 as of this posting.
Gold rose
to $823 as investors continued to look for cover amid rising oil prices, mortgage failures and the faltering US dollar.
Platinum cracked its $1450 barrier to drive up to a new benchmark at $1475 and Palladium flirted with $380 as it rose to $376 by mid morning.
Looking back
a year to November 6, 2006 we calculate the following eye opening figures for the precious metals bull market; in the past calendar year Gold is up over 31%, Platinum gained 25%, silver climbed nearly 23% and Palladium pushed up just under 15%.
But remember that most all commodities have advanced over this past year, as investors keep groping for solid ground in our quicksand economy. While Gold-Bugs will wave the flag and beat the drums of gold as the only sound inflation hedge, the observant long term investor knows that today there are many reasonable options to spread and strengthen ones portfolio.
Numismatists love to watch a driving bullion market. The integration of precious metals and our precious coins lends itself to our interest in the combined rising values. It's great for your coin collection and good to have new money entering our market, but if you get the itch to delve into precious metals as an investment, get to know the game well before you put your money on the line.
News You Can Use
11/6/2007 12:47:20 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
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Monday, November 05, 2007
Gold Taking Off Again
Posted by tom
Gold On The Risen Again
Spot gold prices
held above $800 an ounce in Monday mornings trading. After a light backslide of just a few dollars the worlds favorite precious metal is again on the rise having cracked $810 by the time of this posting.
Some major analysts are seeing signs that an even more substantial increase may be on it's way, with supply and demand laying a new foundation for higher prices than ever before. Increasing investor demand and several factors limiting current gold supply are at the heart of this anticipated new market structure.
News You Can Use
11/5/2007 1:06:38 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Saturday, November 03, 2007
Thumbs Up For Currency
Posted by tom
The Touch of Money
Currency has really taken a beating during the course of my lifetime. Used to be that cash and checks were about all people ever paid a debt with, but now we have so many new options that cash seems our last resort. It's like those commercials where everything is running smoothly until a customer tries to pay with coins and banknotes thereby gumming up the works. For Internet transactions we pay by PayPal or credit card, for bills many Banks have electronic payment systems, for brick and mortar store shopping we pay by debit card and soon things may become even quicker and more personal.
 Fox News has reported that Shell gas stations in the Chicago area are testing out a new system, which allows customers to pay for their gas by fingerprint. Yes, that's right, just touch your finger to a panel and away you go. These are the kind of things we used to see in the James Bond movies, but now, in looking for a leg up on the competition, Shell is trying them out to provide faster service for customers whose time really is money.
Security, with built in ease of use, is another plus to the fingerprint as currency transactor. You always have your fingers with you. There's no pin number or access code to remember. No metallic strip to wear down and virtually impossible to forge, unless you are Tom Cruise and the Mission Impossible crew. It's unlikely that you would misplace your fingers, or leave it them your other coat pocket at home and with your fingers on hand; you'd never be two cents short at the Post Office.
But still, we collectors would miss the pleasure of using coins in daily transactions, checking dates in your pocket change, scanning banknotes for unusual serial numbers, watching for star notes or looking for varieties in coin designs. I hope currency sticks with us, at least through my lifetime, but I'll keep my thumb and fingers handy just in case.
News You Can Use
11/3/2007 6:27:01 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, November 02, 2007
Gold Hits 28 Year High
Posted by tom
Bull Market in Gold Runs On
The bull market for gold crashed through the $800 an ounce barrier to $807 at the time of this posting in the late afternoon Friday. This is the highest spot gold price has been in the last 28 years. Oil too is again rising and investor concerns over inflation and recession seem to be at the heart of this drive.
Reuters reported
that gold futures buyers stepped in to support the run when weakness was sensed. Concerns over rising energy costs looming as the North American winter approaches and the dollar loosing ground against most every world currency, seems to be fueling investor demand for gold as a safe haven from the imminent possibility of rising consumer goods prices.
Relatively conservative analysts are now predicting $850 spot gold by years end and $900 an ounce spot gold prices in 2008.
News You Can Use
11/2/2007 4:15:28 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday Fix
Posted by tom
 Friday Fix
London pm fixes for 11-02-07
Gold $796.50
Silver $14.32
Platinum $1439.00
Palladium $369.00
Friday Fix
11/2/2007 12:57:41 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Yi Yi, or A One and a Two...
Posted by tom
Tom's Recommended Film of The Week
Yi Yi, or A One and a Two...
Yi Yi
is a sweeping saga of life within a modern Taiwanese family and their extended friendships. Honor, character, love, hopes and desires mesh to form a tight net which keeps these peoples lives bound within their self enforced societal convention. Flashes of temper, anguish, love and denile burst from this slowly paced film to illustrate the gradual nature of the progress of living.
A long film of nearly three hours, Yi Yi can get pretty slow at times, but the moments of clarity realized by several of the central characters are stunning in their simplicity. As we look back at our own lives we can all see the stress points and the clear sailing, though at the time our understanding of the implications may be limited. This film allows us to see the same river of developement in a vastly different culture, with clarity, compassion and understanding. Director Edward Yang has given the world a glimse of human nature struggling to explode from cultural restraints and in so doing has created a subtle and engaging masterpiece.
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
11/2/2007 10:45:08 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday, October 26, 2007
Gold and Silver Rocket Back!
Posted by tom
Precious Metals Surge
All of us in numismatics remember that brief over-indulgent period from 1979 to 1980 when Gold shot well above $800 an ounce and turned the collecting hobby and the investment world on their ears. Coin dealers called it "The Party" and fortunes were made and lost through the winter months.
 Today Gold climbed more than $17 to get past the $780 mark. As of this posting Gold is at $785, a 27 year high for the worlds metal of choice.
The correction of this past Monday most likely was viewed as a buying opportunity by many investors as soon as oil began to rise and the dollar to fall against the euro once again. Crude oil hit $92 a barrel on Friday while the Euro grew to nearly 1.44 to the dollar.
The continuing bull run of precious metals has also driven silver up to $14.25 as of this posting, with Platinum, Palladium and copper all following suit.
News You Can Use
10/26/2007 5:26:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Friday Fix
Posted by tom
Friday Fix
London pm fixes for 10-26-07
Gold $779.15
Silver $14.07
Platinum $1454.00
Palladium $370.00
Friday Fix
10/26/2007 11:33:04 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Thursday, October 25, 2007
Ace In The Hole
Posted by tom
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
Ace In The Hole
After making the transitional, decaying Hollywood classic Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder turned his attention to another deteriorating American Institution, the field of journalism. With his cult classic Ace In The Hole, Wilder laid forth a dark and caustic view of one newsman’s search for the big story to exploit in an effort to reinvigorate his failed career.
Kirk Douglas
turns in the performance of a lifetime as Chuck Tatum, big city reporter, reduced to working at the Albuquerque Sun-Bulletin. Tatum walks a fine line between reporting stories and making news. His lack of integrity can be seen as a both a fault and an asset at various points in the film and we are drawn to his vibrant character while at the same time repulsed by his actions. The public reaction of mock concern as Tatum's big story unfolds is mirrored by Jan Sterling's cold, yet honest indifference to the plight of her unloved husband, who rests at the center of Tatum’s enterprise.
As the story ripples outward Wilder pulls in the broader national media and exposes the viewer to more of the base side of our human nature. In the ever-expanding circus of Tatum’s manipulation materializes a virtual tornado of heartless curiosity and cold capitalism making Ace In The Hole a superior noir story of ground breaking quality, awash in the blazing desert sun.
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
10/25/2007 12:43:49 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Monday, October 22, 2007
Gold Suffers Setback
Posted by tom
Big Correction in Gold!
Seems speculative investment has pushed Oil and Gold up above what may be reasonable market levels for current circumstances. UBS called it right, suggesting investors consider profit taking early Monday in the face of peaked markets and imminent corrections. A nearly $20 drop in Gold spot price brought the precious metal below the $750 bench mark before a slight resurge pushed it back above $750 later in the day.
Perceived weakness
in the U.S. economy due in part to looming sub-prime loan defaults, casts a shadow over the ability of Oil to continue it's rise. Last week crude topped $90 a barrel, but it slipped back today to about $87, pulling Gold and the Euro along for the correction. At the moment most analysts see these as short-term corrections. Many are still anticipating higher long term levels for both of these precious commodities, however, investors should keep in mind that the U.S. buys about one quarter of the worlds oil and a weakening economy would have far reaching effects.
News You Can Use
10/22/2007 4:22:20 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Well Circulated Barber Quarter Remains Appealing
Posted by tom
Lowest Grade, Highest Price
Barber Head types
have always been some of the least touted United States coin designs. Yet many Barber Head types have startlingly rare dates to offer the ambitious collector. One such rare date is set to appear in the Heritage November 6-7 Auction as lot number 594.
Normally, when I talk about U.S. coins in my Blog, I stick to high grade rarities, dazzling coins, scarce types and such, but this Barber Head Quarter allows me a nice opportunity to point out a very low grade coin, with a very high brow value. The 1901-S Barber Quarter to be sold at this auction grades AG-3. As you can see, it has seen plenty of use in it's day, but this dates mintage figure of 72, 664 pieces makes it one of the hardest Barber coins to acquire. NumisMaster values the 1901-S in AG-3 at $4,000 and several examples have sold through Heritage Auctions over the past year in the $3,000 to $3,500 range.
Auction Lot of the Week
10/22/2007 11:49:08 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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Saturday, October 20, 2007
New Catalogs on the Way & Some Here Today!
Posted by tom
KP Update
Most of our editorial work has been completed on the upcoming 4th edition of the Standard catalog of World Coins 18th Century and the 5th edition of Unusual World Coins. Seems like there is never enough time for all the things we want to do, but we do our best to provide a much-improved product with every new edition. Unusual World Coins was substantially expanded, with new issues being added to many sections including a brand new section for the Union of North America and other Daniel Carr coins,  many additions to the NORFED - Liberty Dollar listings of silver currency coins, new sets of coins for the Easter Islands and Cabinda, plus a new set of issues from Kurdistan among others.
Other books which have recently returned from the printers and are available at the Krause Books website include the 17th edition of North American Coins & Prices,  which covers Mexico, Canada and the United States. This edition carries a cover date of 2008 and has a green and yellow graphic of North America with a sharp Hook Neck Eagle coin superimposed over the top. There are one U.S. and one Canadian coin on the cover also, but the Hook Neck dominates in my opinion.
Also newly released just a week or so ago is the 26th edition of the Standard Catalog of United States Paper Money, edited by George Cuhaj, with market analysis by Bill Brandimore. If you haven't bought a new edition of this book in while, the time has come, as George has added color images to nearly the entire catalog.  There are nice sections on Encased Postage Stamps and Postage Stamp Envelopes also, plus a useful rundown of error notes and good listings of Military Payment Certificates. Bill has done an excellent job of revaluing everything as well, especially on the small size currency.
With all of these books through production, I am now moving on to the mammoth task of updating values for the 36th edition of the 20th Century Standard Catalog of World Coins and the 3rd edition of the 21st Century SCWC. This should keep me very busy over the next five or six months as I plow through contributor returns, adjust for the falling dollar, and try to keep pace with sky rocketing precious metals rates. Wish me luck!
KP Update
10/20/2007 6:08:05 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)
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