Economic Edge » Gold & Precious Metals

U.S. Mint Forbids Melting Pennies & Nickels

EconEdge — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:42:43 +0000

Pennies and nickels are now worth more melted down than at face value.

In an earlier post, I wrote about how the government is losing money by minting pennies and nickels. It now costs 1.73 cents to create a penny, and 8.34 cents to create a nickel (6.99 cents for the metal, plus the cost of production).

No more pennies–or nickels?

EconEdge — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 16:58:29 +0000

According to a Yahoo news article, pennies may soon become a relic of the past. For the first time ever, the U.S. Mint says pennies are costing more than 1 cent to make this year, thanks to higher metal prices (witness the huge run-up in commodity prices). But it's not just pennies; the same problem exists with nickels. Nickels now cost more than $0.05 to make.

U.S. Mint Issues 24-Carat Gold Coin

EconEdge — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 00:29:54 +0000

There's a new gold coin for investors and collectors, courtesy of the U.S. Mint.

On Monday, the U.S. Mint began offering 24-carat gold coins at a face value of $50. The coins depict an Indian chief on the front side, and a bison on the back side. According to Becky Bailey, a spokeswoman at the Mint, Buffalos are expected to be sold at gold's spot price plus a markup of about 12%. The New York Times reports that 300,000 of the proof version (a mirror-finish version for collectors) will be minted in 2006 and sold initially at a price of $875.

How To Buy Gold

EconEdge — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 21:18:36 +0000

If you decide to buy gold, Gary North wrote a small article on how to do so. Reprinted below…

Easy Ways to Buy Gold

The first way is the best way: Own bullion gold coins. You should buy those coins that are produced by the country's mint in which you live. If you ever have to spend them into circulation, you want the coins to be recognized by those you want to buy something from.

Chinese government inflating money supply at 18% a year

EconEdge — Wed, 24 May 2006 23:45:41 +0000

More Q & A with Gary North. Interestingly, North believes that there will be a recession in China shortly after the 2008 Olympic Games, due to the fact that the government is inflating the money supply at about 18% per year.

China Urged to Quadruple Gold Reserves

EconEdge — Thu, 11 May 2006 15:00:27 +0000

A Reuters article (excerpt below), published on Tuesday, notes that some Chinese economists are urging Beijing to substantially increase gold reserves, and to diversify holdings away from the dollar.

BEIJING — Some Chinese economists are urging Beijing to quadruple its gold reserves to 2,500 tonnes from the current 600 tonnes because the country foreign exchange reserves had become the world's largest, an official industry newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Gold Hits $705 (New 25-Year High), Fed Increases Rates Again

EconEdge — Thu, 11 May 2006 01:18:07 +0000

Trouble ahead? Gold hit $705 today, marking a new 25-year high. I can remember when gold hit $500, and the big response that created. It's $700 now…hard to believe.

In other news, the FOMC hiked the Fed. Funds rate to 5% today, adding another 25 basis points (0.25%), its 16th sequential increase since June 2004. Those with ARM's (adjustable rate mortgages) will be hard hit by another rate increase. More foreclosures on the horizon?

Allocated versus Unallocated Gold

EconEdge — Tue, 02 May 2006 21:55:00 +0000

A good (and very sarcastic) article from The Mogambo Guru (Richard Daughty) that explains the difference between allocated and unallocated gold. Originally published on December 13, 2005.

The entire article appears here: How and Why to Take Physical Possession of Gold

Gold Hits $600 an ounce, gas and oil prices rise

EconEdge — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 03:20:25 +0000

Gold hit $600/ounce today. According to The Daily Reckoning, "The last time gold saw these levels was in January of 1981, when investors bought bullion to hedge against rising oil prices." Apparently, the rise in gold is linked to rising oil and gas prices (oil neared $68/barrel today and gas prices have risen, on average, about 9 cents).

The Gold Standard Gets No Respect

EconEdge — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 03:58:24 +0000

A very good (and somewhat controversial) article by Chris Mayer. Originally published last year. Most finance/econ folks have strong views about deficit spending and the gold standard. Guess it's time to create some controversy…

Gold Hits 25-Year High

EconEdge — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 05:05:38 +0000

From The London Times…

Merrill Lynch predicted that gold would hit $600 an ounce in the long term after its recent rise above $500. Last month, the precious metal hit a 25-year high of $579.50 an ounce amid concern among investors that America's huge trade gap would force a weakening of the dollar. The Chancellor sold 395 tonnes of Britain's gold reserves between 1999 and 2002, generating $3.5 billion. At yesterday's London closing price of $554.10, he would have generated more than $7 billion (£4 billion)."