A Shipwreck for the Ages: The S.S. Central America

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The siren song of gold called from California to every corner of the country. Across the nation, men (and a much smaller number of women) sold their possessions, borrowed money, and spent their savings to get themselves to the Promised Land. The journey, however, was perilous. Prospective gold miners, called ’49ers for the year (1849) that the Gold Rush started, traveled overland across mountain ranges, sailed to Panama, and sailed around Cape Horn – all to reach California.

Just as dangerous in some ways was the trip from California to the East Coast. One ship that regularly made that journey was the S.S. Central America, a 280-foot, wooden-hulled steamer. Launched in 1853, the steamer operated continuously on the Atlantic leg of the San Francisco–New York Panama route.

In September 1857, the S.S. Central America, laden with passengers and 2 tons of gold and coins from San Francisco, sank in a hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas. 425 people perished, and the loss of the wealth contributed to the Panic of 1857, a depression felt around the world.

The Maritime Bounty is Discovered

For 131 years, the precious cargo lay nestled at the bottom of the sea, presumed lost forever. In 1988, a team using a remotely operated vehicle discovered the ship 160 miles off the coast at a depth of 7,200 feet. Gold estimated to be worth $100–150 million was recovered. Recovery lasted 4 years and covered about 5% of the shipwreck site.

The excitement didn’t stop there: The founder of the discovery company became embroiled in legal battles related to the shipwreck, and he and his assistant went on the lam in 2012. The fugitives were found by U.S. Marshals and extradited to Ohio in 2015.     

In 2014, a deep-ocean exploration firm began archaeological recovery of the ship. They discovered gold coins, nuggets, ingots, and dust. The coins included foreign gold and territorials as well as $20 Double Eagles, $10, $5, $2.50, and $1 gold coins. The coins date 1823–1857, with one scientist calling the hoard a “time capsule” of all coins in use in 1857.

Some standout coins from the S.S. Central America include $20 Liberty Double Eagle gold coins. The Liberty Double Eagle was authorized by Congress in response to the California Gold Rush, and was then minted for over 50 years. The obverse features a classic Greek Lady Liberty in profile wearing a crown bearing the word LIBERTY. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle holding a shield, an olive branch and arrows clutched in his talons.

In the first year, 1850, that the Liberty Double Eagle was minted, 1.1 million coins were produced. After that, far fewer were minted, and the Civil War also dramatically impacted their production. These coins are less frequently found than the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles that replaced them in 1907.

Coins recovered from shipwrecks are renowned for several qualities. Firstly, they are rare. Of the thousands of ships that have sunk, few are recovered, and far fewer still have viable coins aboard. Secondly, shipwreck coins are rare historical artifacts, a glimpse into America’s past. And finally, many shipwreck coins have retained their details, luster, and full strikes, making them prized by collectors.

If you have a chance to get your hands on an S.S. Central America Liberty Double Eagle, consider it the opportunity of a lifetime. Life Magazine called the shipwreck’s bounty “…the greatest treasure ever found”.

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Over 270 Million of These Coins Were Melted

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Over 270 million Morgan silver dollars met their fate in the melting pot under the provisions of the Pittman Act of 1918.  

The U.S. government ordered this dramatic move to save Great Britain from a banking collapse and may have also helped the Allies win the war.

How did this great silver meltdown come to pass?Morgan Dollars

Back then, international trade was conducted in gold.

Allies were buying steel, food and supplies to maintain their massive armies and paying in gold bullion. Gold became scarce. Hoarding was popular as the price was rising and exceeded face value of the coins. Great Britain resorted to silver certificates to pay for goods from India, its colony at the time, which was a major contributor to the war effort.

However, Great Britain had a silver problem. Germany began spreading rumors that Britain did not have enough silver to back the paper certificates it was using to buy war supplies, which many think was actually true!

Fortunately, for the war effort, America had a lot of silver dollars. At that time in the United States, of course, silver dollars could be redeemed by any citizen at any time for a silver certificate.

Senator Key Pittman of Nevada proposed legislation – the Pittman Act – and the United States came to the rescue. Passed on April 22, 1918, the Pittman Act authorized the melting of up to 350 million silver dollars – which could be sold to Britain for one dollar per ounce of bullion.

Millions of Morgan silver dollars were melted down in 1918 and shipped to England to avert crisis.

Britain honored its silver certificates and the U.S. silver sale helped prevent a banking collapse, riots in India over non-payment and helped keep the Allies flush with the money they needed to win the war.

Morgan silver dollars were first minted in 1878. The Morgan silver dollar was last minted in 1921 when it was replaced with the silver Peace dollar.

Collecting Morgans

Over 270 million Morgans are gone forever, lost to the melting pot. The dramatic history and significance of those remaining are what keeps collector interest high.

No good records were kept about which mintages were melted down, which has resulted in some surprises over the years.

Some of notable interest are Carson City Morgan silver dollars minted from 1880 through 1885. Why did so many survive? The answer is simple. When Carson City stopped producing coins, the Morgans were shipped back East and ended up in the back of the U.S. Treasury vault. During the great silver meltdown, coins were simply taken from the front and middle of the vault until no more were needed. The Carson City coins escaped melting pot since they were in the back of the vault!

Just getting started? Collectors often covet both the first and last year Morgan dollars – 1878 and 1921 – as they represent the beginning and end of this highly desirable coin series.

Do you have any Morgan silver dollars? Leave a comment below.

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The 1907 High-Relief Saint-Gaudens: A miniature sculpture in your hands

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When President Theodore Roosevelt set his mind on something, nothing would hold him back.

And one thing he wanted was to improve America’s image in the world. As part of that mission, he decided to send a fleet of battleships around the world to show how powerful our navy was.1907 Saint Gaudens Double Eagle

However, there was one problem: “I think the state of our coinage is artistically of atrocious hideousness,” President Roosevelt wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury. In fact, he believed that no coins in the previous 2,000 years had surpassed the beauty and relief of the coins of Alexander the Great’s era.

President Roosevelt wanted beautiful coins to represent America on the fleet’s international tour, so he recruited renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to create a new Double Eagle design—one with high relief like ancient Greek coins.

The Double Eagle quickly ran into some roadblocks. Mint officials were concerned that raising the coin’s figures to the height of the ancient Greek coins would make them unstackable—a necessity for modern banking houses. In striking, the high relief was also a problem: multiple blows from a hydraulic press were required to fully form the coin, greatly adding to the coin’s production time.

The motifs were thus flattened for general production, making the high-relief coins rarer and far superior in the eyes of collectors ever since. Compared to one of the flattened coins, a high-relief Double Eagle is like holding a miniature sculpture in your hand.

Two types of edges were used in creating the high-relief Double Eagle: wire edge and flat edge. The flat-edge variety was created by adjusting the pressure of the mint presses at the end of production, which caused them to be two to three times rarer than the wire-edge variety.

Whichever variety you choose, you’ll be getting a coin struck in beautiful “HD”—all high reliefs were struck at least three to five times.

The 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet: A Coin from the Watery Depths

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The men had just had two days of calm seas. But it wasn’t to last …

A strange swell appeared in the sea, silent and unsettling. The sea birds vanished.8 Escudo 1715 Treasure Fleet

The swell grew; cargo rolled in the holds; and for the 1,000 men sailing the 11 ships of Spain’s Treasure Fleet, the night passed uneasily.

In the morning, the sun never seemed to rise. By noon, visibility was so poor that the convoy of ships lit lamps to guide each other. In the afternoon, the wind came; and by nightfall, a hurricane had struck.

The fleet scattered, each ship alone in the screaming wind. And then the sailors saw them: the breakers on the coral reefs that line the Florida Coast. The men started to pray. The priests started to say Hail Marys.

And then the first ship hit the reefs.

Only a few men survived that night, and it’s from them that we have this tale.

In the morning, wreckage and bodies were scattered across 30 miles of uninhabited coast—and the search for treasure began. For the next four years, the Spanish braved sharks, barracudas, and buccaneers to salvage what they could of the treasure, but a hoard’s worth of millions still remained.

There it remained, for centuries, until modern-day treasure hunters found it.

Today that treasure is a time capsule from a bygone era: a time when pirates roamed the seas, and the might of the Spanish Empire spread far and wide.

Today we bring a coin from that time: an 8 Escudo, minted between 1691 and 1700. The 8 Escudo is the crown jewel of all the 1715 Treasure Fleet escudos. It features the Pillars of Hercules above waves, symbolizing Spain’s portal from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and the wider world. The other side displays a cross, the arms of Castile (castles), and the arms of Leon (lions). Together, this magnificent design represents colonial Spain’s dominion over land and sea.

This coin was struck and trimmed by hand, the magnificent handiwork of an eighteenth-century minter. Gold is impervious to saltwater, so this coin has remained in fine condition.

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What Does an Oil Price Spike Mean for Gold?

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Just days ago, a group attacked the Saudi Arabian Abqaiq oil facility. The location outputs 5 million barrels of crude oil every day. This volume represents 5% of the global oil supply. The attacks disrupted their production sending oil prices north by about 10% marking the largest one-day increase ever seen in the oil industry. Amazingly, the response from gold was muted.

Oil production and gold prices

This minimal movement is surprising because history shows that gold reacts violently to oil price changes. For example, the 1973-74 OPEC embargo disrupted 7.5% of the global supply of oil and as a result the price of gold surged 65%.

A few years later the Iranian Revolution from 1978-1979 interrupted global production and oil jumped 119% in price which sent gold surging by 163%.

This quick look back on previous oil price spikes begs the question, why hasn’t gold increased in price?

Amin Nasser, Aramco’s CEO, has made clear that the damaged facility is still able to produce approximately 2 million barrels of oil per day. Moreover, current projections indicate that output will return to their original levels by the end of this month. Perhaps gold is taking its pricing cues from this news. In other words, gold may be consolidating, but what does that mean?

Consolidation, in the context of investing, means that an asset is neither increasing nor decreasing in price. Assets that are consolidating experience a narrow range of price fluctuations and this may be what we’re seeing with gold. That is, the asset is simply holding steady as the global picture comes into focus.

Another possibility for limited gold price movement despite such substantial oil price fluctuations is that investors view oil as less of a concern than before. They may be onto something. Consider that the weight of oil and gas stocks in the S&P 500 is at its lowest point since 1979. This development has been seen by some as a signal of a future in which the world economy is less reliant on oil. 

Recently, Jeff Bezos announced that 80% of Amazon will be running on renewable energy as early as 2024. Similarly, Google announced that it will make a record-breaking $2 billion investment in renewable energy projects.

Perhaps the biggest indication of oil’s waning significance is that over the past five years 30% of the returns generated by the S&P 500 came from just five companies, all of which are technology titans (Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Alphabet, and Apple).

As one utilities analyst at Morningstar remarked, “Renewables were the sideshow as natural gas competed with coal, but we see natural gas and renewables increasingly competing with each other. Increasingly, there are a number of cases where it is more advantageous for customers and utilities to invest in solar and wind versus natural gas.”

The diminishing role of oil in the S&P 500 and the stability of gold is a reminder that conventional wisdom, like everything else, has an expiration date. Oil burns away, but gold endures.

What Negative Interest Rates Mean for You

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Maybe you’ve heard the news? Zero or negative interest rates could be coming to a bank near you soon.

What Negative Interest Rates Mean for You

In the topsy-turvy world of negative interest rates, there are winners and losers. Savers lose. Instead of earning 1% or 2% on your deposits, you could have to pay banks to hold your money.

That’s not all. Here’s 7 things everyone should know.

#1 What is ZIRP?

ZIRP, or zero-interest-rate-policy is an emergency monetary policy measure designed to stimulate an economy that has gone into recession.

In the carnage of the 2008 global financial crisis, triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, many central banks – including the U.S. Federal Reserve – slashed interest rates to near zero. Fast forward to today, over 10 years later, interest rates in most industrialized nations remain low due to stagnant economic growth.

Some central banks turned to an untried “negative interest rate” policy method which allowed rates to fall below zero. Countries that have or had negative interest rates include the euro area, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Japan,

#2 Why does the President want zero interest rates?

President Trump recently tweeted that the Fed “should get our interest rates down to ZERO, or less,” to allow the government to refinance its historic $17 trillion debt at a lower cost.

#3 What would Zero Interest Rates Mean For You?

Zero interest rates, or negative interest rates are bad for savers. You will earn no interest on your money market or savings accounts. Even worse, banks could charge you fees just to have your account open. Conservative investors will be forced into riskier investments in a “chase for yield.”

Zero interest rates can be good for borrowers, but typically during a recession, the appetite to buy new houses and cars, and demand for financing decreases.

#4 How does ZIRP impact banks?

Negative interest rates act as a tax on banks. Central banks charge lenders interest for sitting on cash. Banks profit margins get squeezed. Central banks penalize banks for sitting on cash in the hope of encouraging them to boost lending to businesses and consumers. There are concerns about long-term ramifications to our banking system if this untried negative interest rate experiment were to come to pass.

#5 Does ZIRP work?

Results appear lukewarm at best. During a recession or slow economic growth times, consumers are less eager to buy new homes or cars. So, low interest rates don’t stimulate growth. We learned that in the years after the 2008-2009 Great Recession. The Fed kept rates near zero for almost a decade, yet for many years the economy remained very sluggish.

#6 What do the critics say?

“Negative interest rates have failed in Europe and Japan,” Richard Fisher, former president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, recently said. “They are anathema for savers and our community and regional banks that bank the average American.”    

Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO and chief strategist for Quill Intelligence, warned that negative rates would bring the debt-reliant US economy “to its knees. Negative interest rates are about as un-American as you can possibly be. We are a nation that, for better or worse, needs credit creation to grease the wheels of the economy. Without that, growth would truly come to a standstill.”

#7 What’s next?

The Federal Reserve meets next on September 18.  Don’t expect the central bank to bow to political pressure to drop rates to zero this month. But, do expect lower rates.

Fed Chairman Powell has stated that the uncertainty created by the U.S.-China trade war is having an impact on economic growth, which could result in the Fed lowering interest rates next week.

Looking ahead, this could become a very real issue here in the U.S. Bank of America recently said, “We believe negative rates in the U.S. are a possibility.”

The Bottom Line

Lower interest rates may sound good, especially for those who want to borrow money. Be careful what you wish for. It’s really a sign of an unhealthy economy when there is no inflation and weak demand.

But, wait there’s more. When the Fed lowers interest rates while the economy is still growing it is like firing bullets in the air.

Soon, the Fed’s holster will be empty and interest rates will be at zero.

That will leave the Fed out of tools to fight a real recession once it actually comes. That would open the door to more quantitative easing, and whatever other unconventional monetary policies the central bankers can dream up that end up debasing our currency further and weakening our financial system. 

In this world, gold investors win big.

Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan said recently that “gold prices have been surging recently because people are looking for ‘hard’ assets they know are going to have value down the road as the population ages.

Gold is already up about 20% in 2019 as investors pile into the time-honored safe-haven of gold bullion. If the U.S. moves back to a zero-interest rate environment like it did during the 2009-2009 Global Financial crisis or even goes negative, expect new all-time highs in gold above the $1,900 an ounce level. $2,000 gold here we come.

Investors will continue to pile into hard assets that retain and grow in value like gold bullion in this future of zero and negative interest rates.

There’s already a lot of idle cash sloshing around in the financial system, sitting on the sidelines in low-interest cash savings or money market accounts.

Just last week, Rob Kapito, the head of the world’s largest money manager BlackRock,  pointed to over $73 trillion in cash parked in portfolios around the world. Investors are waiting out the coming storm in cash, wary of the sky-high stock market and low-returns in the bond market.

That will soon change. These investors will be forced out of negative rate accounts (who wants to pay to have someone store your cash!) and into high performing safe-havens like gold bullion.

Soon these cash accounts will be severely impacted by zero and negative interest rates, which will trigger a massive flight-to-safety into the one commodity asset that has proven track record during economic turmoil – gold.

The global gold rush is just getting started. There’s a lot of cash that investors can put to work, which will send gold soaring to new all-time highs.

Gold $2,000 is closer than you think.

America’s First Silver Dollar

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Many people are surprised to learn that the origins of US currency aren’t found in our country. They’re found in the Netherlands. 

America’s First Silver Dollar

Upon arriving in the New World, the Dutch established the colony of New Amsterdam which is known today as New York. Here, immigrants traded Lion “Daalders,” a coin first minted in Holland in 1575. By 1617 the coin was popular wherever commerce was thriving; America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Orient. The reason for its widespread use could be found in its practicality; the coin was relatively small, and lightweight. Soon, the Lion Dollar became the silver standard across the globe in the 16th and 17th centuries. 

Many credit the Lion Dollar as a major stabilizing force in the fledgling economy of the New World. In these early days, colonial paper money was experiencing accelerating inflation. The Lion Dollar helped ease this surge with a store of value that was universally recognized. However, the Lion Dollar’s enduring claim to fame is that it was the first silver dollar circulated in the US. Given that New Amsterdam (New York) was a major entry point for so many seeking a new life in America, the Lion Dollar fast became the currency of so many of the Europeans entering the country.

The coin was struck in .750 fine silver. The design harkens back to the Dutch coat of arms and features an armored knight with a shield adorned with a lion. The animal is a “rampant stance.” This position (standing with forepaws raised) symbolizes bravery and intrepidness. The word “rampant” is from the old French for “rearing up.” The lion also represents the notion of royalty and nobility. The obverse features the same lion in a larger presentation. The outer rim features the words, “CONFIDENS. DNO. NON. MOVETVR,” which translates to “who trusts in the Lord is not moved.”

While the Lion Dollar helped our new economy prosper, few remember that the coin’s original associations are less pleasant; the piece was first issued as war coinage. Officials in Holland minted the coin to help finance the Eighty Years War against Spain (1568-1648). This approach to raising funds worked because the coin had a 75% silver content but was sold at a value above the actual silver weight (ASW). As a result, the government could yield a 10% profit on each coin sold. 

In time, British allies came to prefer the coin because its value increased as it moved east to India, and China where the purchasing power of silver was higher than in Europe.

Today, the Lion Dollar is a reminder of how the history of countries and nations is intertwined. What began as a war coin in Holland evolved into a staple of commerce in the New World. Now that history can be yours.

“Thar’s gold in them thar hills!”

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Or rather, “There’s millions in it!” (Doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it?)

This is a story about the 1858-D $1 Gold coin. 

It turns out that “Thar’s gold in them thar hills!” is a Hollywood western invention, by way of Mark Twain.

But let’s rewind.

In 1829, the Georgia Gold Rush started. Thousands of miners flocked to the area—and Dahlonega, Georgia, quickly became a gold-rush boom town. But then in 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California, and the Georgia gold miners started pining yonder, since most of the easy gold was already gone from the Georgia rivers.

Dr. Matthew Stephenson wasn’t having it.

Stephenson, assayer of the Dahlonega Mint, climbed the courthouse steps one day and speechified thus:

“Boys,” he asked, “why go to California?” He pointed at a mountain. “In that mountain lies more wealth than you’ve ever dreamed possible, there’s millions in it!”

“There’s millions in it!” (The good doctor repeated.)

His saying became famous … because the miners took it to California with them. Anytime one of them was ready to give up in despair, the cry “There’s millions in it!” from a fellow forty-niner would revive him.

Mark Twain got wind of this while visiting a mining camp and used the phrase in one of his books. The phrase went viral nationwide and in about the 1930s, it morphed into a movie-ready “Thar’s gold in them thar hills!”  

In any case, the gold in them thar Georgia hills was plentiful, and the Dahlonega Mint minted it.

The Confederate Congress closed the mint in June 1861, and the mint never resumed operations. In all, the mint was in operation for only 23 years. All of its coins are rare, and the NGC has recorded only seven MS63 1858-Dahlonega $1 gold coins.

The Ultra Rare Ram’s Horn Wire Gold Specimen

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Gold is a commodity. This means that one ounce of pure gold found in the U.S. is worth the same as one ounce of pure gold found in Russia. The value is consistent across the globe. This consistency is part of the appeal of gold. It is a fungible, meaning that it doesn’t matter whether you have a gold coin, bar, or ingot. As long as the purity and the weight are identical it’s all worth the same amount. Or is it?

A peculiar discovery in the Ground Hog mine in Colorado in 1887 challenged that thinking. 

Miners were astounded when they found a deposit of gold that looked like a braid of icing piped out of a pastry bag. Others thought it looked like a ram’s horn. Something was different about the way this deposit formed. It was not a nugget like most gold. “It’s truly a unique object—there’s nothing even comparable to it,” explains  John Rakovan, a mineralogist working at Miami University in Ohio. In fact, Rakovan estimates that there are only a few specimens of this kind in the world. 

The “branch” of gold is small. It is a 263-gram, 4.7 inch piece. Based on current spot prices the value of the gold within would be worth about $12,744. However, the rarity of the formation completely changes its value. As Rakovan said, the Ram’s Horn gold specimen is worth “a very pretty penny.” He declined to offer a number. Most of those who have studied the piece professionally are scared to cite a dollar value for fear of prompting a theft.

The strange shape has sparked much speculation about its atomic structure. Gold deposits often have rounded, dull edges and corners resulting from the effects of water against the surface.

Experts describe this piece as a crystalline structure. For decades scientists have wondered how the piece formed. Getting answers would mean cutting into the piece and destroying what makes it so unique. However, new technology may provide new insight into the geological wonder. 

Recently, physicists at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s neutron science center began exploring new ways to examine the gold without damaging the piece. Their solution was to bombard the Ram’s Horn with neutrons. This approach is used to reveal the number of crystals present in a structure. After high-security transportation to the lab the experiment determined that the formation consisted of just a few crystals. 

Rakovan and others believe that these results can shed new light on our understanding of geochemical processes at work in gold formation.  

The rarity of the Ram’s Horn wire gold specimen also suggests that not all gold is the same. The ounces of gold in this piece are not like anything else. What makes the Ram’s Horn so valuable is that its origins still baffle scientists. Though the neutron experiment has provided answers, scientists still have a long way to go before they achieve a complete understanding of how the Earth creates such wonders.

Today the Ram’s Horn is stored at Harvard’s Mineralogical and Geological Museum.

Ram’s Horn wire gold specimen. Photo Courtesy LACD

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Will the US Ever Be Able To Pay Its Debt?

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Will the US Ever Be Able To Pay Its Debt

When an individual can’t pay the mortgage on their house, the bank takes possession of the home.

When a person can’t pay their car loan, the finance company repossesses the car.

The U.S. government is racking up more and more debt every month, with a total of $22 trillion of debt owed today.

Just like a person who doesn’t pay off their credit card bill in full at the end of the month has to pay interest on that balance, so does the government.

No doubt interest rates are extremely low right now for the U.S. government – around 1.49% for a US 10-year Treasury note.

But, the interest on $22 trillion still adds up, to the tune of about $1 billion dollars a day in interest, according to Michael Peterson is CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group.

That’s a billion dollars a day that the US government needs to collect from its taxpayers – yes you – in order to pay interest on debt.

That’s a billion dollars that isn’t going into the Social Security fund, or isn’t going to fund schools, or to build new roads, highways or improve our aging infrastructure system.

The debt and deficit have climbed in recent years. That’s unusual because the economy has been growing. Historically, the debt only rises when we are in a recession and the government needs to spend a lot of money in fiscal stimulus to help boost economic growth. Not now. The government has been on a borrowing binge during good economic times. The recent tax cut, while it may have benefited you personally, has decreased government inlays and contributed to rising debt levels.

What Lies Ahead?

The piper must always get paid. The bank wants your monthly mortgage payment and the auto finance company wants your monthly car payment. The US government will continue to pay interest on the $22 trillion and rising debt levels.

“Rising debt will make it harder to maintain economic growth, boost living standards, respond to wars or recessions, address social needs and maintain our role as a global leader,” said William G. Gale, author of Fiscal Therapy: Curing America’s Debt Addiction and Investing in the Future (Oxford 2019) said on CNN last month.

Once interest rates rise, (they always have in past generations), the interest payments on government debt will also go up.

Rising debt levels will make it more difficult for the government to meet its obligations to future Social Security recipients, fund schools and repair highways in the future.

$22 trillion is a big tab to pay off.

Don’t expect that debt to get paid off anytime soon.

While government may not have its fiscal house in order, you can take control of your financial future with investments in tangible assets like gold bullion.

The rising debt levels are just another way the government degrades the value of its fiat currency. The risk remains that future Administrations could choose to inflate their way out of the debt crisis, by devaluing the US dollar and printing more paper dollars.

The case for gold ownership grows stronger every day. If you haven’t fully diversified your portfolio with tangible assets, take action today to protect your wealth.

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