Glad that golden moment is over

Gold closed over $1,500 a troy ounce yesterday after teasing us for a couple of days.

I “celebrated” this historical milestone by sitting in a dentist chair and having a gold crown put in. It was the second of two appointments for the procedure.

As is his usual pattern, my dentist offered up the usual chitchat.

This time, though, he talked about the price of gold.

He told me I had good timing. I was having the work done that day. Gold was hitting a record. He hadn’t raised his crown prices in a couple of years and he thought he had better do so now. I was getting in under the wire.

I’d rather have a healthy and functional tooth, but wishes aren’t reality.

I guess having a tooth ground away and then having a crown put on top of what little is left is better at 2009 prices than 2011 prices, but that’s not what I am thinking about with my mouth open.

We also covered the usual ground.

“Where’ve you been?” he asked.

I replied, “Chicago and I am going back again next week.”

I told him about last week’s Chicago International Coin Fair and next week’s Central States Numismatic Society convention.

That put me in a more relaxed frame of mind. I’d rather think about gold in the context of coin shows rather than what’s in my mouth.