Silver Investing - Gold in Fort Knox

There was an interesting article published recently questioning how much gold really remains in Fort Knox. It talks about the only audit that has ever been done of the gold inside Ft Knox. That happened shortly after Dwight Eisenhower became President in January of 1953. If you are interested in that sort of thing, you can read about it Here.

With just about one week to go until the end of August, here are the totals for U.S Mint production so far: 1,656,000 Silver Eagles, Year-To-Date 22,805,500 Silver Eagles. Regarding gold bullion: 37,500 one-ounce Gold Eagles, 500 half-ounce Eagles, 500 quarter-ounce Eagles and 1,500 tenth-ounce Eagles. Also 15,000 24K Gold Buffaloes.

I will be back next week with the final August totals.

Happy investing.

Silver Investing - Silver Inventories Lowest In 200 Years

I just finished reading an interview by Ted Butler, a noted expert on silver-related products and silver investing activities. In the interview (dated early August 2010), he states "World silver inventories are at their lowest point in 200 years while gold inventories are at their highest". This would make a strong case for investing in silver which he claims is very affordable now but may not be much longer.

Silver Eagles are having a nice run again for July. A total of 2,983,000 Silver Eagles were produced in July making the year-to-date total 21,149,500. That's alot of silver eagles. Hopefully, you have some in your possession or other silver investments such as 90 percent silver coins or even silver bars or rounds.

Happy investing.

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.