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 Thursday, November 15, 2007
Elvis is Alive & So Is Coin Collecting
Posted by tom
Elvis Lives - On Coins!
Relocationof the Elvis is Alive Museum has begun. At 81, the founding father, Bill Beeny, decided it was time to pass on the museum to the highest bidder. Andy Key won the eBay listed lot at $8,300 and will be working soon to move a massive  amount of memorabilia from it's former home in an old coin operated laundry building in Wright City, Missouri down to it's new home near Tupelo, Mississippi, where Elvis was born.
 Though I'm sure there are plenty of hopeful fans expecting Elvis to show up at the grand opening, I'm not holding my breath. On the other hand, coin collectors know that Elvis does live on in fond memories and commemorative coins and medals around the world.
Collecting Elvis coins and medals could be a long-term pursuit. Some of my favorites include those from Saint Thomas and Prince, as well as the Gibraltar Centenary of the Cinema Crown from 1996 and the Marshall Islands coins from 1993.  Medals dedicated to Elvis are more extensive, struck in many medals and featuring the many styles Elvis sported throughout his long and varied career. Coins with color Elvis portraits are often unofficial items made outside the U.S and other world mints, like the flashy Tennessee quarter set currently available on eBay.
Check out NumisMaster for various Elvis coins by registering and using the advanced search to seek out the King by Country. For medals, silver rounds, coins and even novelty banknotes you can search eBay's exonumia and world coins sections by keyword Elvis.
News You Can Use
11/15/2007 11:47:37 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00) 
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The Ups & Downs Continue for Precious Metals
Posted by tom
Another Dip below $800 for Gold
Sell-off's this morning again brought gold down below $800. At the time of this posting spot gold was at $793. Platinum also saw some adjustment dropping to about $1423 at the time of this posting, with palladium still hovering just a bit below $370. Silver slipped back below it's surge to $15 from yesterday and rests near $14.65 at present.
Palladiums weakness is due to a very legitimate collision of less demand and a reasonable expectation of production. Platinum, on the other hand seems to be reacting to tighter shortfall figures than speculators had anticipated for the fourth quarter. Gold futures are down on a firming US dollar and softening price for crude oil. These are the types of short-term reactions I had mentioned in other postings. Most analysts expect these sorts of ups and downs to continue through the month of November and probably through the end of this calendar year.
Two different camps seem to be emerging regard the long-term viability of a bullish gold market. Some are expecting gold to shift down to the $720 level after February when demand for gold in India slacks off as the festival season comes to a close. Others are looking longer term and anticipate that gold supply will get even tighter in the next few years, as mining becomes a more costly and difficult proposition. These folks are looking at both the rise in demand over the last few years and reports from major gold production firms which indicate a faster fall in gold supply is coming.
With these possibilities in mind, major industry is looking for ways to keep the precious metals needed for manufacturing flowing. Japan, for instance, is looking to team up with Botswana and South Africa to use satellite technologies to reach better, more productive veins. When there is purposeful demand, not just speculation, there will always be those willing to find a way.
News You Can Use
11/15/2007 11:30:29 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Added Feature to This Weeks Contest
Posted by tom
Special Bonus for the Winner!
As an extra special bonus for the winner of this weeks 18th Century Catalog Contest, Wayne Homren, editor of the E-Sylum, the official email newsletter of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, has offered a free email subscription.
Once we have chosen the winner on Friday the 16th, all they have to do is submit their email address and Wayne will hook them up with a free subscription to the E-Sylum. Wayne packs the E-Sylum with loads of great information on new books and upcoming events within the world of Numismatic reference. It's always fun to read and very informative. Definitely the highlight of many a numismatists Sunday evening.
So get busy and identify those three coins on the cover of the new 4th edition Standard Catalog of World Coins 1701-1800. Send your identifications to me via email at tom.michael@fwpubs.com and get in on the chance to win a free copy of this new KP edition, plus a free subscription to the E-Sylum.
KP Update
11/14/2007 5:22:16 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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A Bounce Back Morning for Precious Metals
Posted by tom
Precious Metals Rebound, After Rough Day
After a slow day, with gold below the $800 mark for much of the trading, the precious metal has rebounded this morning pushing spot up to $814 at the time of this posting. Platinum bounced back big time, gaining over $25 to touch $1440 an ounce.
Silver too has seen a bit of a rebirth with spot rising above $15 and ounce. Palladium seems to be in a rut, probably due to expectations of surpluses for this industrial metal for 2007 and 2008.
Overall, I think investors will see several hills and valleys for Gold, Silver and Platinum over the next few months until the end of 2007. As the dollar slumps, or crude oil prices soften, gold and silver will surge. On days when the Dollar rallies against the Euro, expect to see some sell-off of gold. With Central Bank gold sales generally on the decline, it would seem clear that gold will hold at, or near these higher levels so long as demand remains as strong as it has been during the last few weeks.
One additional factor, which is growing in prominence, is the rising cost of health insurance and health care costs both to consumers and businesses. These pressures, unchecked by any government regulation or intervention at this time, are presenting themselves as a growing factor in the buying power of the US dollar and subsequent movement into the foothills of inflation. When inflation concerns are on the rise, demand for gold will follow suit. When inflation concerns lessen, crude oil and gold tend to have lower demand and softer prices.
News You Can Use
11/14/2007 10:22:30 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Monday, November 12, 2007
Falling Gold from Fleeing Speculators
Posted by tom
Gold in Free-Fall
The U.S. dollar rallied this morning throwing gold into a free-fall, dropping spot below the $800 mark shortly before rebounding a bit to the $804. Silver, platinum and Palladium are all being effected; with Platinum hit the worst, falling below the $1400 ledge.
Other aggravating factors in today’s precious metals plunge include a stronger Yen and slipping crude oil. Investors seem to be fleeing any commodity with a perceived high-risk level and futures for precious metals have been hit severely. Consider this a wake-up call for more caution in this bandwagon atmosphere.
News You Can Use
11/12/2007 11:54:01 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Contest & Special Offer for New 1701-1800 Catalog
Posted by tom
Win a New 4th Edition Standard Catalog of World Coins 1701-1800
The Krause Books team and the NumisMaster team are joining forces to allow me to offer my readers a special contest. Here's the deal; take a look at the cover of our new 4th Edition SCWC 1701-1800 shown above, identify the three coins illustrated on this cover and email me your answer at tom.michael@fwpubs.com, along with your name and mailing address. Everyone who identifies these three coins correctly will have their name and address placed in a hat and on Friday November 16th at 6pm Greenwich Mean Time (12pm Central Standard Time) I will draw out one lucky winner, who will receive a free copy of the new 4th Edition SCWC 1701-1800.
To identify the three coins, I would suggest using NumisMaster, our online coin cataloging database. By registering at NumisMaster you can view all available coin data up to, but not including retail values. After signing in, just click on Price Guides and use the advanced search, or choose view/search my guides and use the advanced search. You'll find all the coin identification data you need, but retail values can only be accessed by subscribers to NumisMaster. Subscription options will appear at the bottom of the screen on individual coin listings for those who would like to take the next step to become subscribers.
For those who do not win the book, or cannot spare the time to identify the coins, our Krause Books team has extended the following Big Ideas, little world November Special offer: $5 off the cover price, plus free shipping within the continental United States. Our world-wide readers will have to pay their shipping costs, but can also take advantage of the $5 discount, plus they will recieve a free gift. That's a whole lot of brand new 18th Century coin book for only $70.00. To take advantage of this special purchase offer, just click on Big Ideas, little world to visit the online Krause bookstore or call Krause at 800-726-9966 and mention that you want the Big Ideas, little world November Special (coupon code NWT8), but act fast because when November is over, so is this special offer!
KP Update
11/12/2007 11:13:09 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday, November 09, 2007
Breach
Posted by tom
Tom's Recommended Film of the Week
11/9/2007 11:30:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Friday Fix
Posted by tom
 Friday Fix
London pm fix for 11-9-07
Gold $831.50
Silver $15.15
Platinum $1434.00
Palladium $370.00
Friday Fix
11/9/2007 10:53:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Profit Taking Adjusts Gold to $830 Benchmark
Posted by tom
A Day to Settle
Profit taking this morning has dipped the spot price of gold and silver, while dropping Platinum nearly 2%. But all precious metals seem to have a pretty solid benchmark and are holding at awesomely high levels. Long-range forecasts are still looking for record-breaking highs before the end of this calendar year.
As a commodity, precious metals, particularly gold, has garnered much media attention lately. However, most investors know that a balanced portfolio is always best for long term stability and growth, so many personal investors are looking for good vehicles to harbor their funds outside the weakening US dollar and unstable stock market. As a result, several large firms are beginning to offer commodities based investment funds, making it easier for the average investor to gain access to various segments of the market with smaller dollar amounts and less knowledge. Commodity indexes are also beginning to pop up in the mainstream, allowing individual investors to track specific areas of personal interest such as energy, agriculture and for the numismatist in us all, precious metals.
News You Can Use
11/9/2007 10:14:07 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Thursday, November 08, 2007
New Standard Catalog 1701-1800 Just Out
Posted by tom
4th Edition SCWC 1701-1800 Back From Printer
This afternoon we recieved several advance copies of our new 18th Century Standard Catalog of World Coins. Stock should be available for purchase any day now, so stop by our KP Books web sales site and place your order, or pre-order it at Amazon.
This is our 4th edition of the SCWC 1701-1800 and the 3rd edition, produced five years ago back in 2002, has been out of print for some time now. At 1283 pages this new edition has a bit more heft that the last one and the white pages look clean and clear compared to my previous edition, which is all marked up and rough looking now. It will be nice to have a new edition to work with!
I see that the designer ran this book a little tighter by stringing the countries together, rather than starting each country on a new page, so there is less wasted space. It's also worth noting that the images seem very clear and sharp on this light white paper.
If you have any questions, let me know and once you have had a chance to scan through your own new 4th edition SCWC 1701-1800, feel free to comment to this posting.
KP Update
11/8/2007 3:26:12 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Precious Metals Explosion
Posted by tom
Gold & Silver on the Move Again This Morning
Another rip-snorting morning for Gold has pundits confident that $850 is a forgone conclusion and that $950 may be a shallow and inadequate prediction for the end of the calendar year.
This mornings buying pushed Gold up to $835 at the time of this posting, with silver climbing to $15.50. Most all factors are in support of Gold’s driving higher, this is a market with no end in immediate sight. Both Credit Suisse and UBS have raised long-range forecasts for Gold in the wake of yesterday’s precious metals market explosion.
News You Can Use
11/7/2007 10:28:05 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Silver Hits 27 Year High
Posted by tom
All Precious Metals Continue to Rise
Silver broke a 27 year high mark this morning as it ran up to $15.35 as of this posting.
Gold rose
to $823 as investors continued to look for cover amid rising oil prices, mortgage failures and the faltering US dollar.
Platinum cracked its $1450 barrier to drive up to a new benchmark at $1475 and Palladium flirted with $380 as it rose to $376 by mid morning.
Looking back
a year to November 6, 2006 we calculate the following eye opening figures for the precious metals bull market; in the past calendar year Gold is up over 31%, Platinum gained 25%, silver climbed nearly 23% and Palladium pushed up just under 15%.
But remember that most all commodities have advanced over this past year, as investors keep groping for solid ground in our quicksand economy. While Gold-Bugs will wave the flag and beat the drums of gold as the only sound inflation hedge, the observant long term investor knows that today there are many reasonable options to spread and strengthen ones portfolio.
Numismatists love to watch a driving bullion market. The integration of precious metals and our precious coins lends itself to our interest in the combined rising values. It's great for your coin collection and good to have new money entering our market, but if you get the itch to delve into precious metals as an investment, get to know the game well before you put your money on the line.
News You Can Use
11/6/2007 12:47:20 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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