The ACNS Blog » Silver

1794 silver dollar sells for record $7.85 million

jasonogrady — Sun, 23 May 2010 22:04:11 +0000

What may be America’s oldest silver dollar has become the world’s most expensive coin, with its owner saying it changed hands in a private transaction between coin collectors for nearly $8 million.

Steven L. Contursi, who has owned the mint-condition 1794 Liberty dollar for the past seven years, confirmed Thursday he has sold it to the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation of Sunnyvale for $7.85 million.

The previous record price paid for a coin was $7,5 million for a U.S.-minted 1933 $20 gold piece, according to the American Numismatic Association.

Numismatics expert say the 1794 coin, if not the first U.S. silver dollar ever minted, is clearly the first of the approximately 150 still in existence.

Source: AP via PressofAC.com

A Mad Rush as Gold Bugs Get the Boot

jasonogrady — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:49:51 +0000

Interesting article from the WSJ about how HSBC PLC owner of one of the biggest vaults in the U.S. is telling it’s clients to remove their gold from its vaults.

Fleets of armored trucks piled with gold bars and coins have been streaming out of midtown Manhattan in one unexpected consequence of the gold craze.

Amid gold’s rise — it has gained 32% this year and reached a record on Monday — investors have been loading up on bullion and coins. One big problem now is where to store it. The solution from HSBC, owner of one of the biggest vaults in the U.S.: somewhere else.

HSBC has told retail clients to remove their small holdings from its fortress beneath its tower on New York City’s Fifth Avenue. The bank has decided retail customers aren’t profitable enough and is demanding those clients remove their gold to make room for more lucrative institutional customers.

Source: WSJ

Gold Advances with Silver as Oil Falls

jasonogrady — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:44:31 +0000

The U.S. dollar on Tuesday lost steam, and helped gold recover from its biggest previous day session decline since March. That, despite another day of falling oil prices. New York silver and gold futures gained 2.5 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, while platinum declined 0.3 percent.

January crude-oil lost another $2.32, or 4.7 percent, following Monday’s $5.15 drop to close to $46.96 a barrel. Oil is now at its lowest level in more than three years. The average price for unleaded gasoline declined nearly one cent to $1.812 a gallon, according to AAA.

March silver gained 23 cents to close to $9.615 an ounce.

January platinum fell $2.60 to settle at $807.30 an ounce.

Gold for February rose $6.50 to close to $783.30 an ounce.

Tip: CoinNews.net

Obama “Commemorative Coins” Advisory

jasonogrady — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:40:46 +0000

Pictured is the 39 mm silver medal/coin depicting presidential candidate Barack Obama now available from Vision Trading Partners for US$100.

Vision Trading Partners offers this piece as a tribute to Obama’s historic nomination as the Democratic candidate for president of the United States… Each historic Obama silver medal coin measures 39 millimeters in diameter and weighs one ounce of silver. All medals are deep cameo proofs struck by Sunshine Minting of Idaho.

The Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) on Monday released an articulate statement cautioning that President-elect Barack Obama “Coins” are not rare investments.

In part, PNG President Gary Adkins said the following regarding the items,

“All of the items we’ve seen offered so far on television and online are merely political mementos that certainly may be enjoyable as a keepsake, but typically will have little or no re-sale value later in the mainstream numismatic market. Privately-produced items are not legal tender U.S. coins. In cases where a marketer has altered an actual U.S. coin after it left the Mint, such as putting a sticker with Obama’s picture on it, knowledgeable collectors usually consider that to be merely defacing the coin.”

Tip: CoinNews.net

Mark Twain coins proposed in U.S. House

jasonogrady — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:54:38 +0000

Rep. John Larson and five other House members proposed on Friday gold and silver coins emblematic of the life and legacy of Mark Twain.

Mark Twain was the pen name for Samuel Clemens, whose many works are still mostly in print after nearly a century past his death in 1910. Clemens is one of the best known Americans in the world with over 6,500 editions of his books translated into 75 languages.

The commemorative uncirculated and proof coins for collectors would be issued in 2010, which is the year marking both the 175th anniversary of Mark Twain’s birth and the 125th anniversary of the publication of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Source: CoinNews.net

Gold, silver and platinum fall as stocks rally

jasonogrady — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:49:59 +0000

New York precious metals retreated Tuesday as stocks rallied and the U.S. dollar surged amid hopes the passage of a financial rescue plan is still possible from Capital Hill. Nymex silver, gold and platinum futures lost, 5.8 percent, 1.5 percent, and 5.6 percent, respectively.

November crude-oil recovered from Monday’s more than $10 loss to settle to $100.64 per barrel, gaining $4.27, or 4.4 percent. Its lowest point for the day was $97.80.

December silver staggered down 75 cents to close to $12.28 an ounce.

October platinum plunged $59.90 to end at $1,015.10 an ounce.

December gold lost $13.60 to settle at $880.80 an ounce.

As always, track bullion prices at Kitco.com.

Source: CoinNews.net

Boy Scouts silver dollar passes House and Senate

jasonogrady — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:50:00 +0000

The Senate on Saturday joined the House in passing legislation that seeks to commemorate the centennial of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) with 350,000 silver dollar coins in 2010.

The bill, named the Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act or H.R. 5872, has overwhelming support and now moves to its next step — congressional packaging for the President, who is expected to sign it into law.

Congressman Pete Sessions [R-TX] introduced the legislation in April and said,

Source: CoinNews.net

CFTC investigating silver market

jasonogrady — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:14:25 +0000

The Wall Street Journal reported the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) confirmed Wednesday that there’s a new investigation into the silver market. Apparently, the CFTC has received numerous complaints that silver was in short supply — verified by reported visits to various coin shops, yet prices were manipulated lower by large investors. WSJ writes:

Silver investors have argued that a handful of U.S. banks have been controlling a large portion of silver’s short positions — or bets that prices will decline — on Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Official data from the CFTC showed that two U.S. banks had increased short positions in the silver futures market between July and August by 450% and controlled 25% of the total open interest.

Source: CoinNews.net

Precious metals drop sharply with Oil

admin — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:15:04 +0000

New York silver, gold and platinum all dropped sharply Tuesday, helped by falling crude-oil prices and a rally in the U.S. dollar. The latter was spurred along by furthering concerns over the economic picture in Europe and Asia.

Reports to date indicate Hurricane Gustav did not cause any significant damage to Gulf oil infrastructure. And with that, October oil fell by $5.75, or 5 percent, to close to $109.71 per barrel.

Silver for December fell to $13.15 an ounce, losing 56 cents, or 4.1 percent.

October platinum dropped $86.30, or 5.8 percent, to end at $1,403.50 an ounce.

December gold dropped $24.70, or 3 percent, to close at $810.50 an ounce. Gold hit an intraday low of $795.20 an ounce.

Courtesy: CoinNews.net

Commodity prices on the way back up

admin — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:10:04 +0000

New York gold and silver are rising sharply again. Let’s look at the recent price increases:

04 June 2008 – Gold – $876 per ounce, Silver – $16.72 per ounce.
23 June 2008 – Gold – $887 per ounce, Silver – $16.79 per ounce.
28 June 2008 – Gold – $920 per ounce, Silver – $17.40 per ounce.
01 July 2008 – Gold – $940 per ounce, Silver – $18.09 per ounce.

Gold is up $64 per ounce (6.8 percent), and silver is up $1.37 per ounce (7.6 percent) since our last meeting.

Keep up with daily prices at Kitco.