This Week’s Letters (2/29/08)

From the February 29th Numismatc e-Newsletter:

Q. Any BU Saint-Gaudens $20 gold piece is now worth $1,000. Does that tempt you to sell those that you own?

I got a 1908 Saint-Gaudens No Motto $20 Gold piece in MS-60 and I?m holding on to it! I might sell it one of these days, or wait and give to my heirs when I?m long gone. By that time it my be worth enough money to pay for my funeral, but for now I?m keeping it.

Dale Leaming
Jasper, Mo.

When you look at the move in the dollar index from 120 to around 77 over the past year, you begin to realize that the trend in motion is a very powerful one. It looks to me like it is going to continue to take more dollars to buy an ounce of gold. Given the facts, why sell? I wouldn?t.

Ludy E. Langer
Sacramento, Calif.

Our clan motto is ?What I have, I hold!? In other words, there is no price that would tempt me to sell!

Dennis Moore
Walla Walla, Wash.

I might sell a few so I can buy more 1926-P Saints. I have an original $5,000 U.S. Mint bag that held them so I would like to acquire enough to make a display with the coins pouring out of the bag. I will take some profits in gold but I learned long ago to respect gold and never be without a little of the precious metal. What about silver?

Ed Bishop
Fremont, Neb.

At $1,000 each, selling is not an option. The dollar is weak, we are in a recession (some say) and their value is moving up faster than most investments.

Brett Whitford
Reno, Nev.

No, accually it is time to buy some more if you can afford it as they will keep going up in the current situation if the Fed doesn?t get the inflation thing under control soon.

Kyle Stromgren
Yelm, Wash.

Yes, I have sold all those $20 Saint-Gaudens (I paid $350-$400.) and all those $10 eagles I paid $150 for.

Jimi Dracopoulos
San Antonio, Texas

Not tempted to sell them yet as inflation-adjusted gold should move to $2,000 to be on parity with last secular gold run in the early 1980s. As we approach $2,000 level it would be the time to sell all bullion gold kruggerands, maples and Eagles but still hold Saint-Gaudens until last as they still will have collectablility premium over bullion. St. Gaudens should be ?the last coins standing? and kept out of the melting pots.

D. Kress
Naperville, Ill.

Not in the least. I?ve waited five years for the price to get where it is and what has happened is that the cost of inflation has eaten away any profit I would have made on the MS-63, 1909-S Double Eagle.

When I purchased it for $500 in 2001, I was able to buy a dozen eggs for 75 cents and today those same country brown eggs are running at over $2.90 and the price of gasoline has at least doubled, but worst of all is the cost of heating. It?s tripled if not quadrupled in price.

I believe I?ll take a wait and watch attitude. This entire deck of cards we?ve built over the years has gone about as far as it can go. Once it reaches its apex, which it appears to have done, the cards will tumble on down, however the precious metals will find a new life. Positive thinking? No, an alarmist on the look-out.

Kevin Jones
Eugene, Ore.

No, I?ll wait until the price of gold increases. Or whatever!

Skip Foster
Knoxville, Tenn.

 I will Not be selling my St. Gaudens nor my $20.00 Liberty Gold Pieces. It may get to the point where I sell off a couple of Gold Buffalo?s due to them being tied in directly with Gold Buillon prices. I will keep my other Gold coins for an Emergency be it either National, International, or Personal.

David Jones
Live Oak, Florida

I have been collecting, accumulating ?gold coins? since 1955 and can vividly remember telling my friends when $20 dollar gold pieces were $48 a piece that they should own them and I and I am happy to say that some of them listened. I myself still have a few in that price range.

During my business career from 1976 to the present I continued to collect and to accumulate.

Personally I think as long as the economy is weak and the dollar the same that gold will continue to glitter. The $1000 mark is just the beginning for an even further upward spiral. Holding an American $20 Gold Coin in one?s hand is something romantic and now with the grading services gold coins are even more valuable. I started accumulating the ?graded? coins some time ago and only recently bought 15 graded $20?s only to watch them soar even more. These are very exciting times and I see gold going up even further.

The ?really? smart folks are those that trade the spread between an ?buy? number and the ?ask? number. America?s ?smartest and brightest? coin trader, Mark Yaffee, of National Gold Exchange in Tampa will not predict which way gold will go, but he has been a great advisor and when I made purchases last year from him in the $600 range and now see the coins approaching $1000 I think its safe to say few stocks have risen over 300 points!

I am realistic and know ?the bulls make money, the bears make money, and the pigs get slaughtered? so I WILL take a closer look as these wonderful pieces of American history continue their allure!

John Osterweil
Tampa, Florida

Have bought and collected coins for 43 years without selling a single coin in all those years. When gold neared and went over $900 I sold all the gold that I?d accumulated during that time. It amounted to about 11 ounces of gold almost all coins of the realm, from $20 St Gaudens to 2 peso Mexican. I sold half in January 2008 and the rest in February. I realized a net gain of 103% of what I put in them. Did I hit the top of the market? No, but then again I remember when gold was at this level only momentarily in the early 80?s. Now I?m thinking of selling some silver including a complete set of Morgan?s (less the proof only 1895) and Peace dollars.

Richard G. Johnson
Flint, Michigan