Silver Investing - Mid-July Silver Eagle Numbers

Here are the numbers for Silver American Eagle sales with July half over: with the latest U.S. Mint report of 171,500 posted on 7/17/2010, the running total is 1,648,000 so far this month. Not quite the highest numbers we have seen this year but a healthy number none the less.

It seems that Silver Eagles aren't the only popular silver bullion coins much in demand. Silver Maple Leafs are reported to be somewhat scarce also with buyers having to wait for delivery. I hope you have some of each in your possession and are on the lookout for more at a (somewhat) reasonable premium.

Happy investing.

Silver Investing - Silver Eagles For June

The totals are in for Silver American Eagle production for the month of June. The U.S. Mint reports a total of 3,001,000 Silver Eagles for June. Down from the May totals by about 635,500 but still a decent number. Year-to-date Silver Eagles = 18,168,500. It is stated that the large number of silver ounces used by the Silver Eagle program through June is essentially all of the silver mined in the U.S. so far in 2010. How long can that keep up?

Gold is doing quite well also. 24-K Gold Buffaloes are at 33,500 for June and 160,500 YTD. American Gold Eagles are at 151,500 ounces (in various sizes) for June and 673,000 ounces YTD.

Happy investing.

Silver Investing - Silver's 200 Day Moving Average

In one of the gold and silver newsletters I receive, it was pointed out that the 200 day moving average for silver now stands at approximately $17.50. It has been almost 30 years since it has been at that level. Whether you know what a 200 day moving average is or not, understand that this is very bullish for silver.

The newsletter also contained a link to an article by James Cook of Investment Rarities, Inc., a precious metals dealer located in Minneapolis. I have met Mr. Cook on a few occasions and to say he is bullish on silver is an understatement. Here is the link to his article which you may find to be an interesting short read.

Happy investing.

Silver Investing - Silver Eagles May 2010

The U.S. Mint reported that Silver American Eagles produced in May totaled 3,636,500 - a little short of the four million mark. Year-to-date, production of one-ounce Silver Eagles have totaled 15,167,500. The U.S. Mint is pumping out over 3 million silver eagles a month! The "poor man's gold" is being discovered by more and more Americans (which is a good thing).

Regarding U.S. gold bullion coins, 190,000 one-ounce Gold American Eagles were produced in May for a year-to-date total of 521,500. 24k-Gold Buffalo coins for May were reported at 70,500. The U.S. Mint has only been producing Gold Buffaloes for two months so far this year and sales year-to-date are already at 127,000. It will be interesting to see how many more months these coins will be available since they seem to run out of 24-karat blanks quickly.

Silver Investing - What Price Silver?

In 1980 silver topped out at about $50 per ounce. As of this writing, silver is hovering around $18.50 per ounce. The question is: if silver was at that lofty price in 1980, where would the price be today adjusted for inflation? The answer is >>>> $133.31 per ounce!

Where did that price come from you ask? If you go to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve's web site at MinneapolisFed look in the upper right hand corner where it says "What is a dollar worth?". By plugging in the figures of 1980, $50 and 2010, the calculation will display as $133.31. If you invested in silver and the price reached just half the amount, wouldn't that be a nice surprise?

Happy investing.

Silver Investing Guide - Got American Silver Eagles?

According to the latest U.S. Mint figures, Silver Eagles are showing no let-up in popularity. Total Silver Eagles produced for March came in at 3,381,000. Add to that January's total of 3,592,500 and February's total of 2,050,000 and you have a first quarter 2010 total of 9,023,500 (total Gold Eagles for the first quarter are 271,000). Those are huge numbers.

The Silver Eagle program was started in November of 1986, so it's not that far away from the 25 year anniversary. The first quarter 2010 Silver Eagle total is the best single quarter in the history of the program so far. It will be interesting to see what the second quarter brings.

With that many Silver Eagles floating around, you would think the premium over the spot price of silver wouldn't be that high. But it is. In checking with a major precious metals dealer, the current quoted price per Silver Eagle is 17% over spot! So if you want to invest in American Silver Eagles, it pays to shop around among several dealers to get the best price.

Silver Investing Guide - Bartering & Silver Coins

I came across a couple of articles that discuss how useful silver coins are in certain situations. The first mentioned the OPEC gas crisis in the ‘70s when silver was heading toward $50 per ounce and gas prices were exploding. Some gas-station operators were offering a gallon of gas for a pre-1965 dime. They were smart enough to know a ninety-percent silver dime was worth more than the posted price-per-gallon. At $50 per ounce, the silver content of one of these dimes was worth $3.58.

The second article discusses the role of silver coins in bartering situations. Whether it comes to this or not, the author points out that the public will learn quickly the difference between good money and bad money if/when bad times strike. You can read the article here...

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Lewis/mar262010.html