by Tony Davis – Atlanta Gold & Coin Buyers ……….
Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch’s chief economist, recently published an article regarding the government’s reporting of statistical data and the accuracy, or lack thereof, of the information. In more cases than not, the initial data reported is subsequently revised downward, which is oftentimes buried, leading many individuals to believe that GDP growth and the unemployment situation is rosier than it truly is.
This got us to thinking that if you can’t rely on economic data being accurate, and furthermore, don’t know how, when, or to what extent the information will be subsequently revised, how can the individual investor have long term success in traditional investments, such as stocks and bonds? The answer is that it’s difficult to do so with ever changing market data. Fortunately, the individual investor has other non-traditional investment options available, such as gold and silver coins, which are never subject to downward revisions.
While the performance of gold and silver in the futures market this year has been less than stellar (for more information on how the gold and silver future markets work, read this highly informative article by Peter Schiff , demand for physical gold and silver, in the form of gold and silver coins, has remained consistently strong throughout the year. In fact, Mineweb.com recently reported that gold eagle sales are on pace to have one of their strongest years, while silver eagle sales through July of this year has shattered all previous records in the 27 years that the coins have been produced.
High demand for gold and silver coins, along with suppressed gold and silver spot prices, has pushed gold and silver coin premiums on many coins above normal levels. While premiums are subject to change almost daily, at the moment, American silver eagles are almost impossible to come by, with premiums oftentimes well exceeding $4 an ounce, which is a 20%+ premium over the spot price of silver. We’re seeing the same situation in the 90% silver coin market, with premiums oftentimes matching or exceeding those of American silver eagles. While silver eagles and 90% silver coins are the most popular options at the moment, there are less expensive ways to invest in silver coins, such as foreign silver coins, which are highlighted in a previous article on “One of the Best Ways to Invest in Silver Bullion”
While the gold and silver markets are always going to be subject to short term fluctuations, the market fundamentals strongly support investing in gold and silver, in the form of gold and silver coins. Pay no attention to daily and inaccurate economic data reported by the government, and invest in hard assets that are likely to pay huge dividends in the future.
Tony Davis is the owner of Atlanta Gold & Coin Buyers, a full service Atlanta based coin and bullion dealer specializing in buying, selling and appraising coins and coin collections of all types and sizes. Visit his website at www.atlantagoldandcoin.com for additional information on the products, services and educational resources offered by his company. Tony can be reached at [email protected] or at 404-236-9744.
Love your take on this…buying foreign silver coins is an overlooked way to avoid the “premium” which we have all seen rise as of late. What’s your take on the supply side of this equation?
Thanks, James. Glad to hear that you agree. Admittedly, we’ve seen fewer foreign silver coins over the past year than we did two to three years ago, but I suspect that there’s still a good bit of inventory remaining.
While it’s illegal to melt U.S. coinage, that’s not the case with foreign silver coins, so it’s possible that a decent amount of foreign silver coins are being sold as scrap to refiners.
This gives investors an excellent opportunity to pick up common foreign silver coins at melt, or possibly even less than melt (especially low purity coins), as refineries typically pay less than melt value for silver coins that are less than .999 fine.
Thanks,
Tony
Atlanta Gold & Coin Buyers
There are certain important things to be noted while purchasing Gold jewellery. The primary thing is the quality of the Gold metal measured by its purity in Carats. The higher the Carat value the purer the Gold.