April 13, 2026

Palladium Bullion Coins Proposed

May 5, 2009 by Leave a Comment

With the price of palladium down from the peak price reached during 2008, there seems to be increased interest in creating methods for investing in palladium. I previously wrote a post on the proposal to create a palladium ETF. Now there is a proposal for a United States palladium bullion coin.

A bill was introduced in the United States Senate on April 1, 2009 to create palladium bullion and numismatic coins for the year 2009. The coins would bear the design of the 1907 Ultra High Relief Gold Double Eagle and contain one ounce of .995 palladium. The bill was sent to committee and the prospects of becoming law are uncertain.

According to data from Johnson Matthey, palladium supply for 2008 was 7.51 million ounces while demand was 7.19 million ounces. Investment demand only accounted for 4% of overall demand.

There are no palladium bullion investment coins currently produced by any of the major world mints. The Royal Canadian Mint briefly offered the Palladium Maple Leaf. The coin was only offered from 2005 to 2007 before it was discontinued. They sold approximately 40,000 in 2005, 70,000 in 2006, and 15,000 in 2007.

Current methods of investing in physical palladium are primarily one ounce palladium bars or the Palladium Maple Leaf coins. The coins usually carry premiums of over 50% and it can be difficult to locate a bullion dealer who keeps them in stock. If a new palladium bullion coin is produced, it would likely be available for much lower premiums and much easier to locate.

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Is the Silver Eagle Shortage Ending?

May 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment

World mints have struggled to keep up with the booming demand for precious metals. The situation has been ongoing for more than a year and frustrated physical silver investors with suspensions, rationing, and delays. There are finally some signs that the shortage may be coming to an end, in particular for the American Silver Eagle bullion coin.

The Silver Eagle shortage first began in February 2008. The US Mint became so overwhelmed with orders for the popular silver bullion coin that they were forced to suspend taking new orders. The suspension was only in place until March 2009, however, sales were resumed on a rationed basis. Authorized purchasers were limited in the number of coins that they could order. Early suggestions indicated that the rationed amounts covered only a fraction of the overall demand.

More than one year later, there are some indications that the situation may finally be abating. As I mentioned in my post on the US Mint’s March 2009 Bullion Sales, sales of silver and gold reached extremely high levels. Sales of silver coins were actually the highest monthly total since 1986. Since these are rationed sales, the high level was more of an indication of reduced supply constraints than increased demand.

Recently, there have been more indications at the dealer level that the shortage may be ending. One  dealer has reported that delays for delivery of Silver Eagles are shortening, and premiums for the coins is declining. At the height of the shortage premiums were as high as $4.50 over the spot price of silver. Premiums have now pulled back to around $3.00 over spot.

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Half Gram Gold Coins

April 26, 2009 by Leave a Comment

The World Gold Council recently announced their plans to attempt to popularize half gram gold coins. The plan seems mostly targeted towards consumers in India, in advance of the upcoming festival.

How small is a half gram of gold? There are 31.1034768 grams in one ounce. If you are familiar with the one-tenth ounce size gold coin, a half gram of gold would be about one-sixth of that size. The value of one half gram of gold based on Friday’s gold closing price would be about $14.68.

The story about half gram gold caught my attention because it is the opposite of what’s happening with gold in other parts of the world. As the price of gold increases, it makes sense to popularize smaller size coins or bars so that a mainstream audience will continue to have options for investing in gold. In the United States, smaller sized coins have actually been suspended in favor of producing only one ounce coins.

This step was taken by the US Mint at the end of 2008. At least one other world mint that I follow, took similar action. For all of 2009, the US Mint has only produced gold bullion coins in the one ounce size. Based on the current price of gold plus the standard markup, the price tag for the smallest possible gold purchase approaches $1,000. This may be out of reach for many potential investors.

In advance of Y2K, there was a renewed interest in precious metals investing as a disaster hedge. Even mainstream consumers began to buy into the story, bringing in many new gold investors with budgets both large and small. When Y2K precious metals investment reached its peak in 1999, the US Mint sold 2,750,338 1/10 ounce gold coins which would have cost around $40 each. The 275,000 ounces sold via 1/10 ounce coins actually exceeded the total amount of gold bullion sold by the US Mint for some prior years.

The current lack of fractional sized bullion coins has effectively cut off a significant portion of gold investment demand. Importantly, this is demand which would come from a mainstream investment audience, which gold currently lacks.

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How to Value Gold, Gold Mine Output, Gold Coin Minting

April 16, 2009 by 1 Comment

An array of recent gold related articles to ponder as the price of the metal dips to $874 per ounce.

Gold Revisited

How do you value gold? Here’s a very thoughtful answer to the question based on a ratio of gold to the global economy and global asset base.

Gold mine output in 2008 lowest in 12 years

As the output from gold mines has declined, the total cash costs have expanded. The average increase was almost 20% against 2007.

Gold coin minting hits 40%

Interesting to consider in light of the previous article. While gold output has declined, gold coin minting has increased by 40%. Other gold investment options such as bars and ETFs have also drawn an increasing amount of gold.

GATA Renews Requests to Treasury, Fed for Gold Data

Will President Obama’s call for greater opnness in government, result in teh reveleation of information related to the U.S. gold reserves?

Accumulate Silver Soon

The Got Gold Report takes a look at positioning by the largest silver players amidst increasingly tight supplies. The holdings of GLD and SLV remain steady, even as the prices of the metals pull back.

And something to reflect on from the opening paragraph, “as governments continued to find new ways to “fix” major economic problems caused by excessive borrowing with much more, ridiculously excessive borrowing, relaxing accounting standards and now even using the U.S. government’s printing press to “buy” its own treasuries (diluting all dollars in the process) … while those seeds of inflation and eventual debasement of all fiat currencies wound up – gold and silver continued to correct lower. “

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Platinum ETF and Palladium ETF Coming Soon?

April 8, 2009 by 1 Comment

ETF Securities USA recently filed with the SEC to launch exchange traded funds covering platinum and palladium. There are currently no exchange traded funds covering these metals available in the United States.

The same firm already offers ETFs for platinum and palladium which trade in Europe. According to the Wall Street Journal, the platinum holdings for the ETF approach 500,000 ounces.

Rumors of a platinum ETF for the US market briefly made the rounds back in May 2007 after the launch of the European ETFs. The rumors were quickly squelched as it was viewed as unlikely that the SEC would approve such a listing. At the time, the world’s largest platinum producers were reportedly unsupportive of the idea and pressure from the US auto lobby against the ETF was viewed as likely.

With platinum more than 50% off its peak and auto manufacturers dealing with larger issues, there doesn’t seem to be as much resistance this time around.

Here you can view the SEC filings for the proposed platinum and palladium ETFs. The filings indicate that the price per share would be equal to the value of one-tenth of an ounce of each metal.Today, platinum traded at $1,175 and palladium traded at $231. The filings include world supply and demand figures for the metals for the past ten years. In 2008, reported supply exceeded reported demand for both platinum and palladium.

The ETFs would be launched at a time when obtaining physical platinum and palladium for investment continues to be difficult or at high premiums. In order to buy physical platinum in coins or bars, premiums can be $100 or more – if you can find them. The US Mint delayed the 2009 launch of their platinum bullion product the Platinum Eagle. This delay has continued without any update. Physical palladium for investment is usually obtained in bars. The Royal Canadian Mint briefly offered the Palladium Maple Leaf from 2005 to 2007, but ended the program due to low demand.

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US Mint Reports Highest Monthly Silver Bullion Sales Since 1986

April 3, 2009 by 19 Comments

As I have in the past, I have compiled the total bullion sales from the US Mint’s bullion coin programs. The numbers for March 2009 bullion sales carry a bit of a surprise. The US Mint recorded the highest monthly silver bullion sales since December 1986, which was the second month the silver bullion coins were offered.

During March 2009, the US Mint only sold one ounce American Gold Eagles and one ounce American Silver Eagles. They continue to delay production of the 24 karat Gold Buffalo coins, all Platinum Eagle bullion coins, and fractional versions of the Gold Eagle. The sales totals for the two available bullion coins are presented below.

March 2009 US Mint Bullion Sales
1 oz. 1/2 oz. 1/4 oz. 1/10 oz. Total oz.
Gold Eagle 136,500 – – – 136,500
Gold Buffalo – –
Silver Eagle 3,132,000 3,132,000
Platinum Eagle – – – – –

Total ounces of gold sold during March 2009 was 136,500 ounces. This is an increase from the prior month when 113,500 ounces were sold. It’s a big jump from the year ago period of March 2008 when 50,000 ounces were sold.

Total ounce of silver sold in March 2009 was a whopping 3,132,000. This is up from the prior month when 2,125,000 ounces were sold and the year ago period when 1,855,000 ounces were sold. This represents the second highest total since the bullion coins were first offered in 1986. The highest total was attained for the month of December 1986 at 3,696,000.

There are two ways to interpret last month’s surge Silver Eagle bullion coin sales. As readers of this blog will know, the US Mint has cut, delayed, or suspended nearly every gold and silver product except for the one ounce Gold Eagle and Silver Eagle coins, which continue to be subject to rationing. That being the case, the level of sales is not really an indicator of demand, but an indicator of how many precious metals blanks the US Mint was able to obtain and mint into coins.

On one hand, the increased amount of sales could suggest that the scarcity for precious metals blanks is finally abating. The US Mint was able to obtain more blanks to produce bullion coins than any other month since the rationing program began in February 2008.

On the other hand, the demand for precious metals has continued in full force even during the month when the stock market supposedly “bottomed” and the world economy supposedly “turned the corner.” Beyond the reported sales, there also remains a wall of unmet demand ready, willing, and able to buy more silver when and if the rationing programs are ever removed.

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Source for GLD Gold, SLV Silver Exceeds Capacity, Fort Knox Gold Audit

April 2, 2009 by 1 Comment

As gold turns lower on reports of a “turning point” for the entire global economy, let’s take a look at some thought provoking gold, silver, and precious metals related stories from other news sites and blogs. This round up includes stories on the Gold ETF and Silver ETF, a call for a return to the gold standard, Fort Knox, and prospecting for gold.

Where does the Gold ETF get its gold?

As the SPDR Gold Shares ETF marked a series of succesive all time highs for tonnes in the trust, many people started asking questions about where the gold was coming from. Here’s the answer.

SLV exceeds its silver storage capacity

Discussed in the Got Gold Report, the holdings for the iShares Silver Trust SLV have exceed the storage space allowed under its custodian agreement as the holdings reached another new high.

Russia backs return to Gold Standard to solve financial crisis

Following China’s call for a new world currency, Russia suggests that gold should be included in the basket-weighting.

Is there any gold inside Fort Knox?

It’s been decades since an independent audit of the reported $137 billion in gold stockpiled in Fort Knox has been independently audited. Ron Paul is pursuing a Bill to conduct an independent audit of the entire Federal Reserve System. Separately, GATA plans to file Freedom of Information requests for full disclosure of US gold ownership and trading activities.

The Great Credit Contraction

Trace Mayer, J.D. announces the availability of The Great Credit Contraction, which is a foundational document for much of the writing on his site Run to Gold.

New Gold Rush

Believe it or not, people are making money prospecting for gold in California. One prospector claims to have made $10,000 during one good day.

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Gold, Silver & Platinum 2009 First Quarter Performance

March 31, 2009 by Leave a Comment

With the first quarter at an end, let’s take a look at the performance of gold, silver, and platinum so far this year.

When putting the numbers together, I knew what to expect, but its still surprising to see where the final numbers landed. Gold, silver, and platinum’s performance relative to one another has basically been turned upside down from the 2008 annual performance.

2009 First Quarter Gold, Silver, and Platinum Performance
30-Dec-08 31-Mar-09 Change Percent
Gold 869.75 916.50 46.75 5.38%
Silver 10.79 13.11 2.32 21.50%
Platinum 898.00 1,124.00 226.00 25.17%

For 2008, gold had performed the best with a gain of 4.32%, followed by silver with a loss of 26.90%, with platinum in last place with a loss of 41.31%.

As you can see the performance for the first quarter of 2009 has been the opposite with platinum performing best with a gain of 25.17%, followed by silver with a gain of 21.50%, with gold in last place with a gain of 5.38%.

Platinum and silver were in some respects recovering from the beating they took last year. Over the past several years gold has emerged as more of a steady performer, as compared to the more volatile performance of the other metals, commodities, equities, real estate, etc. It’s ironic that whenever a mainstream publication discusses the possibility of investing in gold, they never fail to caution about gold’s “volatile” prices.

At any rate, precious metals outperformed stocks for the quarter, mostly by a wide margin. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq lost 14.29%, 12.81%, and 3.07% respectively.

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Growing Demand for Gold, When Will Prices Soar?

March 25, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Let’s get back into the swing of things with a round up of some gold and silver related stories for the past few days to bring things back up to speed.

Federal Reserve Will Fail with Quantitative Easing

Reaction following the Federal Reserve announcement that they will purchase $300B of long term Treasuries.

Bugs triumpant about gold, terrified about US

More reactions from gold bugs who are “triumphant — and terrified.”

Bloomberg TV archive carries Murphy interview

Catch the Bernard Lo interview with GATA Chairman Bill Murphy. It also might set the stage for another segment to debate the matter of gold price suppression.

Bank crisis spawns a new kind of gold rush

An article out of Canada describing what it calls “a bandwagon effect for investment in precious metals.” Many people are demanding physical possession and purchasing 400 ounce blocks of gold.

Japanese Young Boost Gold Buying Amid Recession

An article from Bloomberg about the growing and broadening demand for gold. It describes one firm’s gold accumulation program, which allows customers to have a certain amount automatically debited from their bank account each month and invested in gold.

Why the price of gold is not yet soaring?

A question that is on many people’s minds, especially in light of numerous articles like the ones above. Temporarily putting aside government and central bank manipulation, here’s an excellent evaluation of some of the other forces at work.

Put simply, in order for the gold price to go substantially higher, investment demand must offset declining jewelry demand and, in addition, absorb all the scrap supplies that are now hitting the market as individuals all over the world scramble for cash in a very, very bad economy.

Wealthy individuals are certainly buying the stuff but ordinary investors are still in shock.

To get a really good “gold bubble” going (not to be confused with conditions today that some journalists confuse with the real thing), you need broad participation – lots of embraces from lots of average Joes.

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US Mint Suspends Production of More Gold and Silver Coins

March 14, 2009 by 51 Comments

The United States Mint has officially announced the suspension of another slate of gold and silver products. The affected products are 2009 dated American Gold and Silver Eagle coins produced for collectors. These coins are considered collectible versions of the bullion coins.

Although these are collectible coins, they represent a sizable amount of precious metals sales and represent a method of gold and silver investment for many individuals. Last year, the US Mint sold 1,157,911 ounces of silver in the form of Silver Eagle coins minted for collectors. They also sold 155,740 ounces of gold in the form of Gold Eagle and Gold Buffalo coins minted for collectors.

The following message was posted on the US Mint’s website in the space where the collectible Gold Eagle coins typically appear. The proof coins has been offered uninterrupted since 1986. The uncirculated version has been offered since 2006.

Production of United States Mint American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coins has been temporarily suspended because of unprecedented demand for American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins. Currently, all available 22-karat gold blanks are being allocated to the American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin Program, as the United States Mint is required by Public Law 99-185 to produce these coins “in quantities sufficient to meet public demand . . . .”

The United States Mint will resume the American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coin Programs once sufficient inventories of gold bullion blanks can be acquired to meet market demand for all three American Eagle Gold Coin products. Additionally, as a result of the recent numismatic product portfolio analysis, fractional sizes of American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coins will no longer be produced.

A similar message is posted in the section where collectible American Silver Eagle coins would typically appear. The proof coins have also been offered uninterrupted since 1986 and the uncirculated coins since 2006.

Production of United States Mint American Eagle Silver Proof and Uncirculated Coins has been temporarily suspended because of unprecedented demand for American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins. Currently, all available silver bullion blanks are being allocated to the American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin Program, as the United States Mint is required by Public Law 99-61 to produce these coins “in quantities sufficient to meet public demand . . . .”

The United States Mint will resume the American Eagle Silver Proof and Uncirculated Coin Programs once sufficient inventories of silver bullion blanks can be acquired to meet market demand for all three American Eagle Silver Coin products.

This adds to the lengthy list of 2009 dated precious metals products that have been “temporarily delayed” or suspended by the US Mint. In my previous post Actions of the US Mint Discourage Gold Ownership, I mentioned the delayed release of 2009 Gold Eagle fractional coins, 2009 Gold Buffalo coins, and all 2009 Platinum Eagle coins. The delay, which was first announced in November 2008, continues with no further explanation provided.

For those keeping track, here is a list of the US Mint’s 2009 precious metals products that have been “temporarily delayed” or suspended:

  • 2009 American Gold Eagle 1/2 oz. (bullion)
  • 2009 American Gold Eagle 1/4 oz. (bullion)
  • 2009 American Gold Eagle 1/10 oz. (bullion)
  • 2009 American Platinum Eagle 1 oz. (bullion)
  • 2009 American Platinum Eagle 1/2 oz. (bullion)
  • 2009 American Platinum Eagle 1/4 oz. (bullion)
  • 2009 American Platinum Eagle 1/10 oz. (bullion)
  • 2009 American Gold Buffalo 1 oz. (bullion)
  • 2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 1 oz. (collector)
  • 2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 1/2 oz. (collector)
  • 2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 1/4 oz. (collector)
  • 2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 1/10 oz. (collector)
  • 2009-W Proof American Gold Eagle 4 Coin Set (collector)
  • 2009-W Uncirculated American Gold Eagle 1 oz. (collector)
  • 2009-W Proof American Silver Eagle (collector)
  • 2009-W Uncirculated American Silver Eagle (collector)

In addition, the following precious metals related products were discontinued by the US Mint for 2009. These discontinuations were announced in November 2008. Amidst the environment of unprecedented demand for precious metals, the US Mint determined that these products were “unpopular.”

  • Uncirculated American Gold Eagle 1/2 oz. (collector)
  • Uncirculated American Gold Eagle 1/4 oz. (collector)
  • Uncirculated American Gold Eagle 1/10 oz. (collector)
  • Unriculated American Gold Eagle 4 Coin Set (collector)
  • Uncirculated American Gold Buffalo 1 oz. (collector)
  • Uncirculated American Gold Buffalo 1/2 oz. (collector)
  • Uncirculated American Gold Buffalo 1/4 oz. (collector)
  • Uncirculated American Gold Buffalo 1/10 oz. (collector)
  • Unriculated American Gold Buffalo 4 Coin Set (collector)
  • Proof American Gold Buffalo 1/2 oz. (collector)
  • Proof American Gold Buffalo 1/4 oz. (collector)
  • Proof American Gold Buffalo 1/10 oz. (collector)
  • Proof American Gold Buffalo 4 Coin Set (collector)
  • Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 1 oz. (collector)
  • Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 1/2 oz. (collector)
  • Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 1/4 oz. (collector)
  • Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 1/10 oz. (collector)
  • Uncircualted American Platinum Eagle 4 Coin Set (collector)
  • Proof American Platinum Eagle 1/2 oz. (collector)
  • Proof American Platinum Eagle 1/4 oz. (collector)
  • Proof American Platinum Eagle 1/10 oz. (collector)
  • Proof American Platinum Eagle 4 Coin Set (collector)

That makes a total of 38 precious metals products which have been delayed, suspended, or discontinued by the US Mint.

As it currently stands, investors or collectors looking to purchase newly minted American Eagle or American Buffalo precious metals products have only two options available. These are the 2009 1 oz. American Gold Eagle and the 2009 1 oz. American Silver Eagle. Both of these products continue to be subject to rationing.

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