Who will step up and buy gold Buffalo proof?

On Thursday the U.S. Mint will issue the proof 2010 one-ounce gold Buffalo coin. It will be very interesting to see what level of demand is manifested and where the Mint will place the order ceiling.

The 2009 proof had a mintage of roughly 50,000. If the Mint holds to that level, it is conceivable that in the present economic environment that a sellout could occur rather rapidly.

I know that we are talking roughly $84 million to buy a gold issue of that number, but what’s $84 million to people who are worried about the end of civilization?

It is also conceivable that the market will be left to collectors, rather than see investors go barreling in to take advantage of another avenue of acquiring official U.S. gold in the wake of the ongoing European debt crisis.

It will depend on the level of rational calculation being made by would-be buyers.

The key factor is the roughly 35 percent mark-up that the Mint will charge. Will that put hard-headed buyers off, or has confidence gotten rattled enough that it won’t seem so high?

World economic conditions make life more and more like a video game where as soon as one enemy is despatched, two or three more pop up to take its place without time for any deep reflection to occur as to why the game is being played in the first place.