Here's another super low mintage Peruvian gold coin, mintage of 300. The following year in 1969 only 403 struck. Yet have a look at recent results. Has as much gold in it as a double-eagle. The coin in my collection most surely is PL though not attributed as such.
Well, some things never change with the government. Even in 1931 it appears that $78,000 FV in gold was considered "negligible" -- I think that's been my problem all along, I don't think in negligible amounts nearly enough.
In general, I figure a 0.16% contribution to a total is "negligible", at least when it comes to discussing the broad distribution of the total. But even if it's termed "negligible", neither I nor the Fed would actually neglect that amount. It's still accounted to the penny, I'm sure.
I also just noticed the ending sentence regarding ther Federal Reserve: "...a banker close to the situation remarked yesterday that it could well continue to sell the metal longer than the buyers could pay for it." CLEARLY not the case 2 years later.
Very interesting, thanks for posting. What was the purpose for these small, generally "poor" countries to have limited mintage of gold coins ? Was it for an elite few, maybe the government or military juntas ? Certainly, the volume was not sufficient for general distribution (I doubt they would be circulated) and I don't believe any of these countries were on any gold standard. As with the Vatican, I think these are almost minted as annual commemoratives, no ?
Good questions. To the extent that Peru is a major producer of gold, it makes sense they would strike gold coins just like South Africa. I find it interesting that the designs are so similar to the Seated Liberty series struck in the United States in the 19th century. Also, the Inca Head 50 Soles is exactly the same specs as a double-eagle: 0.9675 AGW. The only other Latin-American country with similar US standards was Guatemala, but I believe their gold was struck in Philadelphia which explains the similarity. These Peruvian coins weren't, they were all struck at the mint in Lima and any resemblance to US issues must have been to attract US collectors/investors.
I logged into SBG and do not see anyplace for this Gold market Subscription to subscribe. Am I missing or overlooking something? The only thing I see is their gold melt calculator. I only collect (horizontal stacks ) gold. Outside of my completed gold China Panda collection I found AGE etc contemporary bullion VERY boring and plan to start classic Pre-1933 US gold type/collection in 2026 to take advantage of almost giveaway/melt-level premiums. Can you point me to this SBG subscription? Thanks for your help.
[QUOTE="Can you point me to this SBG subscription? Thanks for your help.[/QUOTE] I couldn't find the link either, and nothing on the daily email about how to sign-up. I don't remember how I got signed-up for it originally, was many years ago. But if you email them at info@StacksBowers.com and request to be added to The Daily Gold Fax sheet I'm sure they would be happy to add you. Once you get the email, clicking on the bid/ask sheet takes you to a PDF on your browser with the most current spreads. The bid prices are for solid examples of the grade. With premiums down considerably that's less important than it once was, but for coins in MS66 it better look like an MS66 or they won't pay the quoted price.
You've JUST STARTED to see the most common MS-67 Double Eagle, the 1908 No Motto, have its premium nudge inward a bit. But once gold gets above $5,000 (?) that premium which was always triple-digit could be 30-50% and eventually less if/when gold keeps going. For now, gold needs a pause.
MS66 Saints did almost nothing as gold soared from $2,200 to $3,200. Every advance in gold prices saw an equal offsetting decline in the premium. Agree with your analysis that gold needs a pause if premiums are ever going to return. There has been similar price action in the past and the premiums have always returned, though I kind of doubt the premiums on MS63 will ever be like they once were, especially for $5 Indians.
I presume you are talking about the more common Saints, right ? They probably lagged on the upside price-wise and saw their premiums come in once the premium on MS-65's had shriveled to <15%. Check out premiums for 2 grades of Saints below (see charts).....I presume the trend would be linear if I had one for MS-66's. Meaning they are down from a few years ago, but still pretty decent premiums tacked-on to the current price of gold. If gold could be magically "frozen" at $4,000 for 5 years....I would then expect the premium to move up a bit for MS-64's and above. But the experience for virtually ALL dealers is that gold is either moving UP or DOWN -- it never flatlines for any serious period of time, esp. after a nice runup. The only time it is flat is when it is bombed out as it was after the 1980 Bubble and again in the late-1990's. This is a unique time period for gold and gold coins. We've had bigger, longer runs...but the total dollar increase (~$2,000) in only 2+ years is certainly unprecdented. For decades, dealers had to price coins and their inventory knowing that gold would be between $250 - $1,000, give-or-take. The post-2010 environment put us above that floor and to borrow a phrase from the stock market.....It's Different This Time. In the past, when gold was $300-$500 an ounce give-or-take for 20 years, you could price an MS-65 or other graded coin knowing that any rise in gold would be contained and you wouldn't have to have the gold price rise eat into the premium you paid without raising the total price too much. Hence why the premiums were biggest when gold demand and the gold price were at their lowest. Think of it as an insurance policy against a gold price rise which often did occur -- but said price rises were contained (until after 2010). I don't know...maybe if we ever approach or exceed $10,000 an ounce for gold we'll have a thread here about falling premiums for MCMVII High Reliefs !! It took a decade for gold and gold coinss to "find their level" after price controls on gold were lifted and Americans could legally possess gold coins.