Keep eyes on the gold goal

I have worn eye glasses since I was eight years old.

I have been called four eyes and I was told I could become cross eyed if I read too much.

I’m not complaining. It was a part of growing up. What I read was important to me. It helped make me a coin collector. It gave me a career. It is who I am.

If you have been a coin collector or a gold and silver investor for any length of time, you have been called a number of things.

But the only important thing to be called is right.

If you bought gold and silver during the bottom of the market, it did not matter what you were called along the way. In 2011 you were right and newcomers piled into the market.

Being right, though, doesn’t necessarily mean being right 24/7, every week, every month and every year.

It simply means setting a goal and sticking with it until the goal is reached.

But setting a goal is a personal exercise. It depends on your circumstances, needs and responsibilities.

Gold buyers often look at the long-term trends. As long as paper money is issued faster than the growth of the economy, there will be inflation. As long as there is inflation, precious metals prices will rise over time.

But these long-term trends do not guarantee all up days and no down days

I sat down to write about January gold and silver bullion coin sales this morning, but instead I wrote this.

It seems we will see no new records in U.S. Mint bullion coins sales this month.

Does it matter?

For me it does. I have to write something everyday for those individuals who read as much as I did as a kid.

But really, what difference will January 2014 bullion coin sales make to you in January 2024 or January 2034?

Keep your eye on your own goals and the long-term trend.

Collect coins along the way. Investing time in the study of coinage is as rewarding intellectually as investing in precious metals has proved to be financially.

But be prepared to be called names from time to time.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper is winner of the 2013 Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."