Great Day To Be In The Metals Market!

Recently, one of the Kitco commentaries I read noted that in 21 of the past 23 days, gold has hit a record high. Many prognosticators said $1,100 an ounce this year would be the high. As we continue to see countries buy massive amounts of gold (India and many others) it becomes more possible that we may see $1,300 per ounce this year.

In my opinion, because of the shortage of metal available and people hoarding the precious yellow metal, we will see at least $2,000 an ounce in the near future. One of the old-time players I’ve dealt with for years said this is shaping up to look like the early ‘80s when he had 30 to 40 customers lined up outside his door. As this continues to develop and we continue to spend more money in the US at a rapid pace, we could quite possibly see $3,000 to $4,000 per ounce price as some other prognosticators have suggested.

Keep in mind, we still encourage dollar-cost averaging, as it will not hurt to buy as it’s going up. Do not wait until you have $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000 to invest, it is ok to buy even 1/10 of an ounce at today’s prices of $165 per 1/10 ounce. One of my customers this morning told me he wished he had bought more two months ago. My instruction was to be glad you bought what you bought, but now you must do dollar-cost averaging. He is a medical doctor that doesn’t have time to keep up with this, so he trusts me to give him good advice. That is the most sound advice I can give at this time is don’t cry over what you haven’t done but be aggressive as the price explosion gets ready to happen.

Keep in mind, gold’s little brother, silver, still has many legs and can run a long way. Percentage wise there is a lot more profit to be made in silver than there is gold. As of this morning, gold is up 356.7% for the year and silver is up 66%. When factoring in inflation, gold should be $2,600 an ounce right now and silver should be $40. This is based on 2009 price increases; this does not factor in the inflation we’re going to see in 2010. Please feel free to call or email any questions, I am at your service and would love to help.

Happy Record Setting Day To You!

The gold spot price is within $2 of $1,200 at this writing. The prognosticators that said gold would be $1,100 this year are now saying $1,800 next year. They have backpedaled and made excuses every way imaginable for gold being so high. The bottom line is that when you can put all the processed and sellable gold in two Olympic-sized swimming pools there is a shortage. When India is buying $7,000,000,000 worth of gold and China is encouraging their people to buy gold individually, the shortage will drive the price much higher than $1,800 per ounce. A few of the prognosticators that I deal with and keep up with say they believe $3,000 to $5,000 is more realistic. I never thought I would see $1,200 to $1,400 one ounce gold in my lifetime!

 

We still encourage you to only put 20-25% of your portfolio in the metals market, and in that you should have some silver. We will continue to keep you updated but as we continue to have an onslaught of customers, it is hard to keep up with the blog-please be patience with my staff and myself!

Another New High In Gold

This morning gold reached a high of $1,149. This has been a little slow coming; we dealers thought this would happen when we started printing massive amounts of money. However, it has taken longer than expected for us to start paying for our ignorance. We see China and a few other major players are considering buying up more U.S. debt. We are losing out status as a world power as the dollar continues to fall. This fact, however bleak, will continue to drive gold and silver, and the likelihood of $2,000 to $3,000 per ounce gold is real.

The importance of the wealth preservation tool (gold) have really come to the forefront. I try to save investors large amounts of money by directing them to a few of my out-of-state wholesalers. This is such a great investment opportunity and the opportunity has not been missed. Feel free to contact me for more information on wealth preservation. Stay tunesd

The Silver Dollar Expo in St. Louis, Missouri

I second-guessed going to this show because I was so busy at our office. It was hard not to go because the venue is on site with the hotel. Most dealers go for dealer-to-dealer transactions so some see the public as in the way. I know this sounds snotty, uppity and cocky or whatever word you may think but the dealer-to-dealer transaction is extremely important right now due to the rare coin market being so hot.

One of my friends I see at about 20 shows per year, purchased $50,000 in rare coins and was excited to spend the money. He will be going to Baltimore in two weeks and he must continually upgrade his inventory or he would be out of business so dealer-to-dealer transactions are crucial.

I flew in Friday night and wondered how many dealers would be left when I arrived at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Most of the dealers arrive Wednesday and leave Saturday so by the time I got there approximately 1/10 of the dealers had left.  It is possible that I missed some good purchases and it was about 3 1/2 hours of organized chaos as dealers were packing up, but this worked to Oklahoma Coin, Gold and Silver’s advantage.

In a future blog I will detail a few of the better examples of coins purchased, a few with populations of 9, 23, 300 and 400 that were tremendous buys. These are all in PCGS holders and were purchased right because of the timing. I will also illustrate how valuable these coins are because of being at a show outside of Oklahoma City. We see a tremendous amount of coins coming through our office but not the numismatic coins in PCGS holders that we like to see.

Apologies

Thank you for your patience, as we have been so busy around the office that I’ve neglected my blog. There are so many questions to be answered like how to buy gold? Or silver? Why should I buy? How much money are we going to print as a nation? Why is China encouraging every family to own gold? There are tons of questions that I will do my best to answer in future blogs.

Rainbow Toning and Artificial Toning

Many novices frown on a coin that has color but a true dealer or expert will see the toning as an original look to that coin. A coin that has patina, or color of its own is highly prized by a numismatic mind.

While coloring can be looked at as a good thing, there is such a thing as an artificially toned coin. These artificially toned coins are becoming more common these days due to the increased value of patina and the common mistake of accepting artificial as original.

While most consumers are not aware, PCGS is very aware of artificially toned coins that they are seeing. PCGS is very apprehensive when grading a perfectly toned coin. One of the most recent coins sent back to me in a genuine holder was a beautifully colored pinkish-red tone that PCGS deemed to have been cleaned. The PCGS graders are human and can err and because of that, although I believe they are the most credible graders, I many times question their grading.

When putting together PCGS certified coins for retirement or to build a registry set, you really want the best you can buy. And again, the reason you buy PCGS is because they are the best.

A final thought; an artificially toned coin that cannot be certified shouldn’t be in your collection. Thank you and please call or email if you have any questions.

Altered and Cleaned Surfaces

In our last blog about genuine graded coins, I mentioned cleaned and altered surfaces so I’ll be elaborating on those two types today.

PCGS seems to be tightening up on the grading at this time. They are rejecting  lightly cleaned or polished coins. There are many coins that have altered surfaces from dipping, brushing or other types of very abrasive cleaning but some of mine that were sent back were really a surprise to me. I’ve had great success with grading but could have had much better with a less stringent grading standard. I try to win more than I lose and, although they’re very necessary and beneficial, the standards are raising in today’s grading so the losses are becoming more common. However, the wins are still worth the losses because when a coin is graded by PCGS it is a guaranteed grade.

Please call if you have more questions.

PCGS Coins-What is genuine grade?

I’m sorry I’ve been lax on staying on top of my blog. Recently, the question came to light, what is PCGS genuine grade mean? The term genuine means the coin has been altered, cleaned or damaged. Most people think this is crazy because every coin has some possibility of being altered, cleaned or damaged when they are 100 years old.

The PCGS grading service is the toughest and therefore mot widely recognized as the best. 19 of the last 45 coins I sent off to PCGS have come back with either altered surfaces or cleaned as outlined on the detailed worksheet accompanying each order.

One coin that I truly believe hasn’t been cleaned would have been a $1,000 but because it is now in a PCGS holder, it is now a $200 coin. This is the risk taken when certifying coins and similar situations are exactly why many dealers don’t want to send their coins in. Many don’t want to pay for the certification and run the risk of their coins coming back genuine.

In the future, I’ll touch on mis-grading as an advantage to a dealer to make more money off the public. This is a deep subject in which the dealer can be viewed as a conman because he is mis-grading the coins to sell them at a higher price.

Please call for more information.

Numismatics: Recent Upgrades

I just received four packages from PCGS this week. Even though the grading standards are tougher than ever, only two of the coins in the last order I sent in came back graded genuine meaning the coin had altered surfaces or has been cleaned.

One example of the upgrades was an 1804 half cent that I bought for $200. It came back in an XF 45 brown grade. This means this was a $400 increase on a $200 investment. The likelihood of getting this coin back as an XF 40 was great but to come back as an XF 45 was even better.

It’s not all about the $400 profit; it is about preserving a valuable coin. This coin is a piece of history with an incredible past; there are only58 graded in XF 45. The population of these coins in 1803 was on 92,000-that number jumped to 1,055,000 in 1804.

As a coin dealer, the excitement mounts when a 205 year-old coin comes back graded in such good condition. The money comes secondary to preserving a piece of history.

Stay tuned for more

Numismatic Coins

In my opinion, if one of every four coins sent in gets graded, it is worth the time and money. Keeping this in mind, I still find myself getting frustrated that some of my numismatic coins are sent back in a genuine holder due to some cleaned or altered surfaces.

A numismatic coin is a coin that has some history, a low mintage and the potential to be placed in holder to protect the coin. One of the surprises I’ve had since sending my coins is an 1881 Carson City. I was hoping for an MS 63 grade and was pleased when it was sent back to me graded at MS 64. That on grading point was a difference of $100.

As much as the service pays off, a minor knick or scratch can cause the coin to come back as damaged or altered. Although it is really splitting hairs, it is worth the risk of sending them in.

My 11 outstanding coins leave me with the simple excitement to see what coins will be graded and which will come back in a genuine holder. One of the good things about a genuine holder is it is sealed so that the coin can never be damaged. Not long ago, they would send genuine coins back in what was called a “body bag” among dealers, which was just a plastic container that did nothing for the safety of the coin.

Back to the numismatic PCGS grading.

I highly recomment looking at the grade on a population report and the price guide, it can really give you a feel for how many have been preserved over the years and how rare your coin really is.