Precious Metal & Rare Coin Market News

Three-cent pieces were first produced in silver in 1851 to help smooth the simple act of buying a postage stamp, which cost three cents at the time. The odd denomination was also seen as a solution for merchants to easily make change for some of the foreign coins that were still legal tender in our country. Then, the Civil war broke out. The war impacted nearly every aspect of American life during its tumultuous years, ... >> Read More        

The Federal Reserve launched onto center stage this year when it delivered its biggest interest rate hike in decades to combat surging inflation. While U.S. interest rates are rising now, the central bank kept interest rates at zero percent coming out of the Covid crisis. In fact, while inflation climbed steadily higher in late 2021 into early 2022 – and you were paying more for everything from gas to groceries – the Fed sat on ... >> Read More        

Unfortunately, many investors today see plenty of bad news no matter where they look. Consequently, more people are considering how an investment in gold can buoy their portfolio. For this reason, it is important to understand the nature of gold during periods of economic uncertainty. Research published in the Journal of Banking & Finance offers some answers. The researchers explored a 30-year period spanning 1979 to 2009. Their findings reveal one simple truth: “gold loves ... >> Read More        

Using a baseball analogy, 2022 threw Americans a lot of curve balls that no one was expecting. We've seen gasoline rocket above $6 a gallon, mortgage rates soar from 3% last year to 6% today and the stock market tumble over 20%. Everyday goods simply cost more with inflation at a 40-year high. The cryptocurrency market collapsed – with Bitcoin falling from over $67,000 in late 2021 to just over $17,000 last week. Amidst the ... >> Read More        

Crypto was supposed to be a hedge against uncertainty, inflation, and bear markets. However, in 2022 alone, Bitcoin has lost more than half of it’s value. Does cryptocurrency have the staying power of an investment class? These losses are not restricted to Bitcoin. Solana, Etherium and Litecoin have all experienced massive drops year to date. This fall in value across cryptocurrencies has been sobering for investors who long believed blockchain technology would deliver stability and ... >> Read More        

Throughout the history of civilization, gold has served as money – longer than any other material. In the early days of our union, the American government worked to create a gold dollar as a unit of currency. Indeed, as early as 1791, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton first called for a one-dollar denomination gold coin. Yet, it took our young nation 58 years to actually mint the one-dollar gold coin. Finally, with the Act ... >> Read More        

In March 1933, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York could no longer honor its commitment to convert paper money to gold and FDR declared a banking holiday. FDR issued an Executive Order requiring all Americans to surrender all gold owned by them to a Federal Reserve bank and prohibited the private holdings of all gold coins and bullion. President Roosevelt ordered Americans to sell their gold back to the government, or face jail time ... >> Read More        

The Braided Hair Half Cent is one of the most collectable coins ever issued by the US Mint. The coin, first minted in 1793, was the smallest denomination ever minted and is part of a series consisting of five major types and subtypes which are each part of a series of varieties. This vast array presents collectors with an opportunity to own a diverse set of coins that are all within the same family. The ... >> Read More        

American investors can have short memories – especially when it comes to bear markets. In stock market lingo, a bear market is defined as a decline of 20% or more. You may remember that we suffered a Covid-inspired bear market in stocks in 2020. But, it was one of the shortest bear markets in history. After plunging 20% into the March 2020 low, the U.S. stock market fully recovered to pre-crash levels in just four ... >> Read More        

Sitting through a red light, watching a commercial, and drinking a cup of coffee are all things that last longer than the average amount of time a stock is held in the US. Research published in The Telegraph shows that in the US “the average share holding lasts just 22 seconds.” Incredibly, this is not the shortest time on record. In other periods, this duration as been 20 seconds. Despite the conventional wisdom that “buy-and-hold” ... >> Read More