Precious Metal & Rare Coin Market News

Maximize Your Finances Ahead of the May 17th IRS Deadline
For two years running now, the IRS gifted taxpayers with extra time to file their income tax returns. You now have until May 17, 2021 to compile your financial documents, complete your tax return and make contributions to 2020 IRA accounts. This extra time offers you a valuable opportunity to review your portfolio and diversification strategy. You probably are familiar with (and most likely already have) a traditional IRA account. This is a useful strategy ...

How To “Fragilize” an Economy
The pandemic appears to be in its third, and final act. It is true that the disease will still be in our lives for some time to come. We will face variants, and the possibility of ongoing annual vaccinations. However, the darkest days of contagion are likely behind us. What remains is an economy on the rebound. Many economists are anticipating a strong, and prosperous second half to 2021. As recently as mid-March the Federal ...

Sports Trading Cards, Whisky, Vintage Cars – Is there a Bubble in the Collectibles Market?
Frenzy. Hysteria. Mania. These are some of the words being used to describe the exponential surge in the collectibles market during the COVID-19 pandemic. Just this month alone, a football trading card featuring Tom Brady sold for a record $1.3 million. And, Christie's set a record for digital artwork – a breathtaking $69.3 million after bids began at $100. Online auctions for vintage cars, watches and even limited-edition Nike gym shoes and Pokémon climbed to ...

What “Money-In-Hand” Numbers Mean for Gold
Americans have accelerated the accumulating of liquid cash more than ever. The M2 money supply, sometimes called the “M2 money stock” is at its highest point in recorded history. Moreover, the figure has risen at a near vertical ascent since the start of 2020. As the Wall Street Journal reports, the M2 “has increased by an astonishing $4 trillion. That’s a one-year increase of 26%—the largest annual percentage increase since 1943.” The M2 money supply ...

The Peculiar Appeal of the Three-Cent Piece
By 1851, postage rates in the United States dropped from five cents to just three. This decrease complicated issues for most citizens, because payment for mailing a letter could not be made with a single coin. As a result the United States Mint made a decision to issue a new coin with a three-cent denomination, making it easier to pay for postage. The U.S. Mint decided to mint two coins for this purpose. The first ...

An Often Overlooked Benefit of Precious Metals Investing
Privacy. It's a fashionable buzzword today – and almost a quaint concept. The breathtaking advances in technology continue to chip away and erode privacy. Yet some Americans – especially younger people, have less concerns about the digital footprint that we leave behind with every internet search, text or even your exact geographical location every minute of the day (which is tracked by the location services feature on your cell phone). Baby Boomers are very concerned ...

Mining for Bitcoin vs. Mining for Gold
Bitcoin and gold are wildly different currencies that both present one interesting question: what happens when we mine all of it? Many people are surprised when they learn that there is a finite amount of Bitcoin. Given that it is entirely digital, it seems more coins could always be generated. In truth, there are exactly 21 million Bitcoins available. Today, approximately 18,647,356 Bitcoins have been mined with about 2,352,643 waiting to be “unearthed.” A Bitcoin ...

Move Over Sea Otter Pelts and Beaver Furs
In the Oregon Territory during the California Gold Rush years – one important thing was missing – there was no official currency. Instead, settlers, trappers, farmers, sailors and merchants relied upon barter to conduct their business in the Pacific Northwest. Those with a zest for risk-taking chose to trade their lumber, food, tools, furs and other goods to Californians in exchange for gold dust. It is estimated that over $400,000 worth of gold dust moved ...

Assessing The Four Concepts of A Gold Investment Strategy
Too often gold’s value is relegated to a simplistic analysis of supply and demand. This approach to understanding the strategic value of a gold investment ignores several other important aspects of the precious metal. For this reason, the World Gold Council recently released a comprehensive report exploring the four factors that together represent the unique strategy of investing in gold. Here, we offer a summary of those four concepts and an explanation of why they ...

Has the Mighty U.S. Dollar Peaked?
In the world of professional sports, after years of stellar performance commentators might say a talented athletic star has peaked. From there, it's a slow gradual decline. Sure, the professional athlete might show a few flashes of the previous greatness – but overall the trend points down. The previous raw talent, incredible moves and confident success of the aging athlete is diminishing – right before your eyes. Perhaps the athlete will retire from sports gracefully ...