Watch the Ads they didn’t want you to see here – read on

There are many theories surrounding the manipulation of the Gold Market and the Gold Spot price but few doubt that it takes place, orchestrated by some greater beings that seek to control the money supply.

In a recent cynical twist, gold has been effectively censored off the air of a host of major US TV Networks working in collusion with the Obama administration and the Fed.
An established gold investment company recently made two TV ads to be aired across the networks. The ads feature caricatures of Obama, Bernanke and Pat Boone who narrates the story. The latter works for the company Swiss America and has long been an advocate of the virtues of gold versus dollars.
The first of the ads takes a humorous jibe at Bernanke’s Wall Street reputation for being “helicopter Ben” , ready to dump money on a crisis.

“made-up” reasons for ban?

The reasons given for rejecting the ads vary from ;
• Comcast who explained that it “doesn’t meet our standards on public symbol. The Comcast Public Symbol Policy apparently specifies that the “use of the name or likeness of the President of the United States and/or the Presidential Seal for endorsing commercial purposes must be authorized by the White House.”
• Fox News said the “representation of public figures is something we try to avoid.”
• CNN/HLN told Swiss America the commercials were “not appropriate for the current political landscape.”

Swiss America CEO Craig Smith said “The networks’ reaction shocked me,” Smith said. “It’s a threat to First Amendment rights when a commercial message is rejected not because it is inaccurate or misleading, but because it makes what is perceived to be a political statement the networks want to avoid.”

Smith told WND he was concerned that the networks were protecting Obama and Bernanke.
“All we are saying in these two commercials is what dozens of responsible professional economists are saying every day,” Smith said;

“Gold investment as a responsible diversification strategy when governments printing of fiat currencies with abandon risk unleashing inflationary principles.”

Inflationary pressures are building globally and no-one has an answer to them rising and the consequent economic impact.
It is a common known fact that storing gold through a crisis and inflation is the BEST way to protect your wealth value and its purchasing power. This has been the case for 6000 years.

Gold can never be worth zero – it has intrinsic value.
Fiat currency can become worthless – its only value is that of a piece of paper

The Ban backfires

However, the censorship has backfired as Google TV accepted the ads which will eventually be shown throughout the networks via Google TV!
These humorous videos tell a very straight and simple story and the only possible reason for banning them is because of how close to the TRUTH they really are – and that hurts the Politocrats who believe they are all supreme and mighty to judge over us, control us and bankrupt us.

They are so desperate to cling on to power they will do anything – except we are not the fools they take us for – are we?

… It acts out its role as a hedge perfectly. It is exactly what the example of this investor illustrates, someone who, fortunately for him, had not put all his eggs in the same basket.

Didier L. bought gold coins, quite simply when the opportunity presented itself, at the beginning of 2011. The ongoing talk of the crisis, the instability of stock markets and gold as a safe haven helped him to decide to take the initiative by investing part of his assets in physical gold, in the form of gold coins. “I just simply asked one question about gold on the internet which led me to the blog articles on Goldcoin.org and then subsequently to the websites AuCOFFRE.com and LinGOLD.com . One thing lead to another and I found myself on a platform for selling and buying gold coins with which I was able to invest my available funds”.

The profile of the investor fell more within a long term investment.”Basically, I thought about hoarding money by buying full and half-size Napoleon gold coins, with the intention of reselling my gold coins at a good profit, before selling at a fixed date, so as to not pay capital gains tax” (which is 31% in France – editor’s note)

Weary, stock market shares in which he had invested part of his capital have seen a high depreciation this summer. The shares in his portfolio have all dropped. Fortunately, by selling his gold coins, our saver was able to quickly withdraw the cash he needed to compensate for this depreciation.

His gold coins were sold like hot cakes

Gold thus fulfilled its role as hedge and Didier L. was even able obtain a substantial profit by selling his gold coins. In the end, even if he did not lose money, his one small regret is that he knows that he could have made more if he had not been forced to sell his coins earlier than intended.

He was able to sell his gold coins at the quotation price which meant they went very quickly and the money immediately found itself in his current account. “I was surprised by the speed and the ease of execution of the process. It would never have been the case with a traditional bank, this speed favours trade and cash flow, it is therefore interesting. And it would have been just as quick with much bigger amounts.”

It is the right time to buy!

The worst, he says, is that the balance of the CAC 40 companies (in which he had some shares) is currently excellent but markets that are nervous, over-cautious, fearing the sovereign crisis in the euro zone tend to undermine companies that are doing well and which are more than viable by creating harmful doubt in their price. “But the shares that are currently at their lowest can only go up”.

In spite of the heavy loss that he has suffered to his share portfolio, our investor advises those who have the cash to buy shares in the CAC 40 and in companies whose economic growth prospects are certain, such as ErDF (a utility company) and those in the sector of sustainable development. Cautious but strengthened by experience and conscious of the progression which the price of gold will continue to achieve, he tells us in confidence “now or never is the time to buy gold to secure one’s savings!”. “Saving with gold can be as much about liquidity if you need to sell and cover hedges elsewhere as well as buying at the right time to protect your wealth”.

Where should one go to buy one’s gold coins with confidence?

“The purchasing of gold coins is not a trivial matter, but contact with the consultants of AuCOFFRE.com or LinGOLD.com , (the web based established platforms where I bought my gold coins), are excellent. I never have to wait for advice and the people I deal with are obliging, available, friendly and reassuring”.

Moreover the coins are certified, sorted, sold with a bar code and each specimen is unique. It applies to semi-collectible coins (like the 5F Napoleon) and “investment quality” coins.

“Not only is the commission on purchases or sales charged by AuCOFFRE.com or LinGOLD.com tiny (1%), but furthermore  the coins have already been appraised and verified which represents time and money saved. This gives one confidence and that  is something priceless”.

LinGold.com and AuCOFFRE.com will unveil their innovative new gold coin, the VERA VAOR, during a private function for their Members on December 3rd 2011. The general release is scheduled for December 5th when everyone will have a chance to see the first ever bullion 1 ounce “round bar” made from pure gold of “clean extraction”.
Minted in Switzerland, the Vera Valor has characteristics comparable to that of a Chinese 1 ounce Panda (purity 999.9, 32mm diameter, 31.10 grams and 2.7mm thickness) but it has its own unique and innovative features.
Firstly it is a true universal coin and has no control or allegiance to a country, religion, culture and especially not to any financial institution.
This is reinforced by the choice of 5 languages for the word ounce, notably in Chinese and Arabic.
Also it will use the best of safeguards used with bullion bars and be one of the few (if there are any others?) to propose an individual unique reference number along with the hallmark of the world renowned assayer and mint Valcambi, thus guaranteeing the integrity of this unique product.
The “icing on the cake” for the lucky Members who are able to order these coins is that they will be able to personalise/customise their coins by adding three letters (initials etc.) before the serial number (eg. CUP3418).

The first series will be the 2012 edition of 1000 pieces which will be numbered from 000 to 999.
For the moment that’s as much as we know but the guys at LinGold and AuCOFFRE tell us that since its launch 2 days ago they’ve already had preorders in excess of 350 pieces. All this from an image of the Obverse only – the Reverse is a closely guarded commercial secret which will be revealed in early December (we have it on good authority that it is a world’s first and unimaginably innovative).
Sounds like a great welcome awaited this product which suggests it has a bright future ahead.

The idea behind this coin was to promote a universal coin, and to provide an alternative “clean extraction” 1 ounce gold product to the Krugerrand, Nugget, Eagle, Panda, Philmarmonica etc.
It’s price will always be close to these types of products and will reflect it’s pure gold content , universal nature and totally new and unique design.

The Vera Valor is exclusively available as a pre-order via LinGOLD.com and AuCOFFRE.com – the coins will be in Members accounts during the period 5th – 9th Dec 2011.
If you wish to know more please click the link to contact LinGOLD.com directly.

Last week our friends at LinGOLD.com and AuCOFFRE.com invited us along to visit the “Fort Knox” style location of the Valcambi refinery and mint.
This site is impossible to enter without a previous invitation and the appropriate credentials and papers (passports etc). These help to gain entrance past the bombproof glass and metal detectors but only under official escort at all times. However unnerving at the time our friends told us it was rather reassuring to know that the site is so well protected as they are customers of Valcambi and therefore have a vested interest in the security of their stock.

This Swiss precious metals refiner is based in Balerna not far from the Italian border. This company is one of the leading four Swiss – and world – refiners of gold. Valcambi are also the first private organisation to offer “green gold” by industrial production which is traced at every step from the mine through to the finished refined goods.
Independent auditors monitor the integrity of the supplies and process ensuring that the “green gold” is always kept separate from other supplies. This includes the cleaning down of containers and production lines as well as having dedicated facilities for “green gold” only.

During the visit we accompanied the Management team of AuCOFFRE.com & LinGOLD.com who were there to validate their newfound status among the exclusive list of Valcambi clients. Their market-leading company in France is now the only one to offer Valcambi supplies in France.

We asked Paul McGowan, the Managing Director of AuCOFFRE.com, what was the interest in negotiating directly with a refiner of precious metals?

“The answer is obvious; reduce the middle-men and to be able to offer totally innovative, ethical “green gold” products which enable us to have total traceability on the products we offer. Valcambi were also an ideal partner for us to launch our own innovative product, the Vera Valor, which is a 1 once pure gold 999.9 “round bar” and a coin made only with gold of clean extraction provided by Valcambi “green gold”. We know that there is only the one intermediary, Valcambi the refiner, between us and the Newmont gold mine in Nevada which has a dedicated system of clean extraction. With respect to the Vera Valor it was important that we had complete control over the production chain in the sense that every stage is carefully monitored by independent auditors to ensure the integrity of our product – from extraction to the sale, from producing blanks to minting them.

In the context of fake gold bars and coins, this partnership allows us to have a total guarantee over the product which we can offer to our Members and one we can produce on an industrial scale.

Valcambi are the only refiners who can offer and guarantee the complete separation of “clean extraction” gold from the rest of production which is fundamental to the conditions of our “clean extraction” charter. There can be no contamination of the two sources if we are to guarantee the quality to our Members”.

Valcambi is currently celebrating 50 years in business. Their celebration includes a beautiful book of illustrative photographs which they have kindly allowed us to use below. They show Valcambi workers during various stages of the refining process. Hopefully more to follow …..

We are late July and it is time to look at the gold accounts for the first half of 2011! Hinde Capital Fund Management conducted a study in June 2011 entitled “A Golden Renaissance, Precious Metal Dynamics ” which confirms the upward trends in physical gold (but not in “paper gold”).
Another analysis conducted by Goldsphere Edmond from the Rothschild Fund also confirmed this rise in demand in countries with a strong geopolitical risk despite stagnant mining production.
We were expecting a correction in the Gold Trend this summer and yet just the opposite has happened.
The Eurozone and American debt crises have helped this push upwards which has not been this significant since the beginning of the century.
Gold has risen an average of 19% per year since 2001. It is now facing an unprecedented demand.
Since the United States imposed the dollar as the world’s reserve currency and then subsequently flooded the market with it to increase consumption, the dollar has been heavily devalued. Their ability to stifle the price of gold has waned and globally investors have sought to ditch large reserves of weakening dollars for something safer. These investors initially thought the Euro may be the path to take but they got it wrong again and are now flooding into the only sure refuge which is physical gold. It is incredible how so many of these high flying know-it alls seemed oblivious to the obvious risks in the Dollar and then the Euro. Do they really research their options or just deal over expensive meals and golf holidays. Could they not see the blatant crisi of Sovereign debt affecting the major economies of the world? One has to ask what they have been doing for the last ten years and how apparently well-informed intellects make such poor judgments? (Must be the constant intoxication of self-appreciation, greed, drugs and alcohol)

A steadily increasing demand since 2003

Particular strength can be found in emerging nations where the demand for gold is rising to the detriment of the Green-back: 12% for India and 21% for China. Also, Mexico has filled its coffers of 93 tons of gold in the 1st quarter of 2011. Asia accounts for 62% of the demand, some of it cultural such as in India, but also other countries now active in the market are seeking to catch up for lost time (private investment now allowed in China) but also because “Governments wish to increasingly diversify their foreign exchange reserves and to disinvest from the US dollar or other currencies in trouble” (Option Finance Agency, France).

Other sectors such as jewellery are also in high demand (+ 55%) despite the rise in the price of gold (+ 3.1%). For this first half of 2011, the demand increased overall by 25%.
The paradox is that the demand for investment is still low, which proves that the course gold has nothing to do with any speculative flows. Indeed, it is also estimated that there is a mass of net flows out of “paper gold” (such as ETFs) equivalent to 55 tonnes. Overall, investments in gold are less and less by speculators, which is positive for the gold price trend. The attraction of a safe haven and sure value during these difficult and uncertain times is populating the gold investment market with serious investors, both private and institutional. This is hardly surprising when one calculates the increasing risks attached to most other forms of investments (which are largely based on owning bits of paper and have proved catastrophic to large funds in recent years).

Physical gold, a healthy investment

This study also shows that despite a growing demand, mining production did not increase accordingly and in fact was virtually stagnant. Recent fears have also surfaced that South African mines will be closed by strike action.

Another surprising finding is that gold sold by individuals to be recycled is steadily declining. This shows that the masses wish to hold on to something of value and also that they are fed up with being ripped off by those crooks who run incessant TV ads.
Even in Greece and despite the crisis, gold plays its role as a life insurance and safe haven since it is often kept in the home. Despite the attractive gold prices Greeks will not sell that they already have and they are still likely to buy more as a protection for their future survival.
Finally, another unexpected discovery, physical gold investment is disconnected from gold shares (the gold shares represent only 1% of world market capitalization). This disconnection is partly explained by the increase in the costs of production for mining companies and the difficulties encountered by countries which are politically unstable (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire).

“Khrysos (Gold) is the child of Zeus, neither moth nor rust devoureth it; but man is devoured by this supreme possession” (Pindar, c. 522-422 BC).

Gold companies should eventually be seen as worthwhile value but for the moment it is physical gold that is benefiting from investment because it is a real, tangible asset that you own and not just a promise.

On Goldcoin.org we have always preferred physical gold to “paper gold” for many reasons, but if one were to cite a single reason it is that the providers/suppliers of  ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund) can fail themselves as a Company which means you lose everything as you do not own a specific piece or pieces of gold, they do. On the other hand, if all ETF holders asked to recover in physical form their investment in gold, it would be impossible because they have sold more ETFs than they have Gold– sound familiar? It is the equivalent of Fractional Reserve Banking but applied to gold because these providers work and think like banks – and we know where that type of mentality led us to!!
Unbelievable Shallow Arrogance
Finally, as we approach the eve of the US debt deadline it is worth paying note to the despicable behaviour of so called elected democratic representatives who would be chastised in primary school for the same childish squabbling. Worse still is listening to them speak as they grandstand before the world’s media playing out their silly games. They sound like caricatures from the Simpsons with their phony accents and voices and yet we are to believe these are the best the “greatest nation in the free world “has to offer – I pity regular Americans who are governed by such an inconsiderate bunch of self-interested marionettes. Here at Goldcoin.org we have previously discussed the true nature of these politocrats in “Conspiracy, Collusion and Con-men – Why don’t they want you to buy Gold?”

As they push ever closer to the deadline it seems that they actually want the US to default and let’s face it so should we all – it’s about time the Fed and the Financial giants got their come-uppance by losing everything so we could start again and hopefully with something better- honest would be a start. Their brinkmanship may just backfire as the markets decide to take them down anyway even if they agree!
We have previously referred to this in “Financial Meltdown and Black Swans – Myth or Reality?” .
Should the Dollar collapse, which is an increasing possibility even when they introduce QE3, Americans and the rest of us should prepare for hard times not yet witnessed by most of the generations alive.

To give you an insight we suggest  reading “The chaos of a currency collapse” and multiply the effects by millions!

The stage is set for the Chinese Yuan to take the place as the World’s Reserve currency and the American politicians are doing their best to make sure it happens!!

The strengthening demand for physical gold investment is no accident as more and more regular folk know they need to protect themselves before the chaos and crisis ahead.
Don’t miss the opportunity, buy some gold now as insurance against losing everything when the Wall St bell falls silent!

The worsening crisis in Greece has prompted savers to empty their bank accounts to exchange their Euros for Gold coins.
Concern is growing over the stability of the Greek banking system and of course the astronomic sovereign debt which is crushing Greece.
The Prime Minister George Papandreou may well have persuaded the parliamentarians to back further austerity measures and have won the vote from them but that will not change the resolve of the Greek people.
Greece would need 12% growth annually for at least 30 years to come anywhere near having the means to repay its debts.
How likely is that?
The Greek economy does not have the means to recover and the fact that they have secured the next gigantic loan from the EU and IMF changes little in real terms. This money will only payback the Banks’ debts and therefore not stay in Greece. Surely the only way to help the Greek economy is to inject some funding into it. The only winner in this situation is the Banks who’ll feed their greed for profits and the loan sharks of the IMF and EU who obviously take their cut of interest.
The losers are the Greek people who will still have an impossible sovereign debt blighting their future whilst falling below the poverty line from increased austerity.
On top of this the Government has agreed to prostitute the future of Greece to the lowest bidders who have the cash to buy whatever “good” state assets they have.

A decision that Greece will regret

Without a doubt this line of action will never save the Greek economy or start to rebuild some confidence for a decent future. Greece will stay in Debt for generations. The Greek people will never accept this and their strong protests are understandable. Headlines talk of a possible Greek default – Why? Greece has been bankrupt for over a year, since it first asked for a “bailout”.

The only route to recovery is to restructure the debts or simply declare the country bankrupt. This would be the best solution for the Greeks but of course they’re in a weak position and all recent decisions, including the political waffle and rhetoric, have been taken to secure the European banks that are hugely exposed to the Greek debt. Be under no illusion that the only reason for this action is to appease the power brokers that support the European Governments. The politicians including the Greek government don’t care one iota for the regular people of Greece and why would they because they are all sufficiently immune to the deepening crisis because their deep pockets are lined with personal wealth that removes them from harm’s way and any sense of reality or empathy with those suffering the effects.

The people’s retribution

The one way Greek people have of preserving and protecting their personal wealth is to opt out of the normal system and there is evidence that they have started to empty their bank accounts (maybe à la Cantona – see Eric Cantona’s French Revolution).
Firstly they are taking retribution on the Banks by weakening them and also showing their distrust for reckless, uncaring institutions.
Secondly they are storing their wealth in something tangible and much more reliable than invented currency which could devalue or collapse anytime – they are buying gold coins as they did during the Second World War because they know that this will maintain real value and purchasing power through the difficulties ahead.
Here is some evidence provided recently in the Financial Times by Kerin Hope

ATHENS — Greek citizens are emptying savings accounts and buying gold as they brace themselves for the possibility of a sovereign default and a run on the banks.

Pledges by socialist Prime Minister George Papandreou that his government would “save the country” have been widely discounted by the public. However, parliament gave him a vote of confidence late on Tuesday night. The socialists have a six-seat majority in the 300-member house.

Sales of gold coins have soared as savers seek a safer and fungible source of value.

“When the global financial crisis started, our sales of coins to investors overtook bullion for the first time,” said Harry Krinakis, at Sepheriades, a Greek precious metals trader. “Now the sales ratio has reached five to one.”

Tomas, a computer technician, has exchanged his euro savings for gold coins: “I keep them at home just like my grandmother did in the Second World War.”
Monthly bank withdrawals were running at E1.5 billion-E2 billion in the first quarter. Last year, depositors withdrew E30 billion, equivalent to 12.3 per cent of total savings, according to the central bank. Greek deposits worth an estimated E8 billion were transferred to banks in Cyprus in 2010. But the flow has dried up this year amid fears that Cypriot banks could suffer contagion.

Andreas, a supermarket manager, transferred the family savings to Munich earlier this year. “The Swiss banks aren’t interested unless you’ve got several hundred thousand euros,” he said.

“We can’t trust the politicians to get us out of this mess [and] have to protect our families,” said Sakis, a garage owner, at an anti-austerity protest in Athens’ Syntagma Square. “A bank collapse has got to be in the cards.” He added he had withdrawn his savings and placed them in a bank safe deposit box “for security. Who cares about interest right now?”

Others put their savings into land when prices fell after Greece’s first European Union-led rescue last year. Angelos, a software specialist, bought a neighbour’s olive grove. “I grabbed the opportunity,” he said.
“A year ago I wouldn’t have considered making such an old-fashioned investment.”

It is no accident that other European countries, particularly Germany and France, have experienced dramatically increased investment in gold coins during the last three months. In France investors own more gold than the Bank of France and transactions in coins have increased by 35% (source AuCoffre.com) since January. These countries have aan historical reference to gold coin investments and their benefits so it is no surprise to witness such an increase during periods of crisis. In fact one can determine the “temperature” of concern from this rising activity and people are seriously concerned about an impending crash on the horizon that will have global significance.

Countries like the UK are rather slow on the uptake and the gold investment market tends to be reserved for the extremely well-off and well-connected. What a shame so many people are misled by false information to detract them from participating or they are just ignorant of the facts.

Anyway their loss is someone else’s gain and come the day they will be left holding bits of paper good for burning while their European neighbours use their gold coins to pay for provisions and ultimately survival!

Remember that the signs of crisis were ignored by myopian political rhetoric pre-2008 leaving millions of ordinary folk open to its consequences. The signs of crisis have been with us ever since and still they pretend all will be well and their policies are “working”.

2008 was just the prelude and the worst is yet to arrive.
Be warned and be prepared or once again you will be hung out to dry!

An investment in gold is a survival kit for your future.

Last month Belarus witnessed the effects of a collapsed currency when the Government cut the rouble’s value against the US dollar by almost half. Previously 3155 roubles would buy a dollar but in the blink of an eye they decided 4930 would be needed. This was not even the reality because perception of the collapsing currency meant the situation was even worse as people scrambled for foreign exchange on the black market where you needed at least 6000 roubles to buy a dollar.

So what sparked this crisis?

President Lukashenko had promised to raise public sector wages by a third during his election campaign, which he duly carried out. This was sustainable only because of the support Belarus received from Moscow in terms of loans. However, as fears grew about the country’s finances, support from Russia waned and even near neighbours from the EU didn’t fancy the risk thus sparking a sharp drop in confidence in the currency.
To exacerbate the problem there was a shortage of foreign exchange currencies, dollars or euros, in the country.

The consequences of a collapse

Wide spread panic broke out as the economy effectively became paralyzed and people suddenly realised their currency was of diminishing worth. Shops were quickly emptied of everything that could be bought. Everyday food was snapped up at “luxury” style prices as people thought of survival but also they also bought electric goods like toasters, microwaves, canned goods and virtually anything that was for sale as they rushed to convert their currency into “any tangible assets” that were not losing value as quickly as their roubles.
The empty shelves throughout the towns seemed eerily reminiscent of the Soviet controlled days.
Shoppers knew that anything they could purchase could be more useful as a form of barter than the diminishing currency in their purses and wallets.

The human cost was quickly evident from the stories of employees sent on unpaid leave as companies also struggled to cope and comprehend the impact. Andrei, a computer company employee explained how he queued for a week in Minsk trying to buy dollars but didn’t even get one. “In just one month, I have been made bankrupt, the entire country is bankrupt” he said, adding that “even during the Soviet collapse we never suffered such a nightmare”.

There are many more stories of hardship, families without food or the means to buy any, shops without stock for them to buy even if they had the means.

Dmitry who is a 48 year old factory worker explained how he closed his bank account to get out 5 Million roubles in cash so he “could buy something before my money turns to dust”.

Tensions are growing as many people blame the President for mismanaging the economy.
Staple food supplies are now hoarded but people feel anxious that unrest is starting that could spill over into conflict at any time.
Revolution is always more likely when the population are starving.

Which country is next?

This may all seem so far away from wherever you are reading this but the causes of currency collapse may be closer to your doorstep than you think.

How many countries are in deep debt and reliant on support loans and bailouts right now?
Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Japan, USA, Belarus and virtually all of Eastern Europe and the Euro zone (only they never put it in the headlines!)

What happens when the support cannot be maintained?
Currency Collapse.

It could be the US Dollar, the Euro, the Yen who knows?
But even if it isn’t your currency that collapses what will be the knock on effects in every developed country if one of these currencies collapses?
The same as in Belarus.

Globalisation has been the buzz word for expanding Capitalism but it also means that economies are now inextricably linked and inter-twined to such an extent that when one sneezes they all catch a cold!

Remember the level of Sovereign Debt is spiralling out of control in the US, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and others are close behind such as Spain and the UK. Austerity measures in all countries are hurting normal folk badly – they are losing their jobs, suffering pay freezes, inflation and pension erosion. Social unrest and industrial action looms large across Europe and this will itself impact the recovery and debt repayment. This has already started in Greece, Portugal, Ireland and large scale protests in the UK are gathering momentum with the Autumn likely to be the boiling point of anger.

The discontent and despair of regular folk is understandable as they are bearing the brunt of all the hardship and it just isn’t fair.
Politicians spout their practiced rhetoric about how to fix things but the reality is they just don’t care that much as they are not the ones affected. They have means to isolate them from the hardships and many of them are actually responsible for producing the mess. How can they care about regular people or preach what we need to give up when they don’t – ever met a poor politician? Enough said!

There is now even talk of a “sub-prime” type problem in China because of over-indulgence in property speculation, leaving huge swathes of developments empty or under-occupied and therefore leaking money and ready to default.

We need more than lip service!

Mainstream news outlets are all controlled by self-interest groups (private and Governments) and they never provide the whole story about global economic frailty as there would be worldwide panic if they told the truth. The situation right now is on a knife edge and the next Belarus is not far away. Politicians won’t admit it but then again they won’t suffer like the rest of us as they’re all rich enough and well connected to see out any storm. They care too much for their own popularity to be honest.
Posh boys and rich kids rule the world and their assets are well protected in advance.

Remember what happened when panic struck in Belarus, people bought any tangible asset they could because it would maintain value better than their currency.
This phenomenon is happening daily – your bank account is the best place to keep currency if you want it to devalue!

Currency is not a means of preserving wealth because it has no inherent value especially when confidence is lost – then it is just a piece of paper.

The only real money available is a tangible asset that maintains its value whatever happens to printed bits of paper currency – and that is gold!

A lesson on Money and currency

We need to understand the difference between money and currency as one is real and the other a promise. Money can be defined as a medium of exchange and a store of value and until fairly recent times was in fact coins made out of precious metal with an intrinsic value or for ease of use, notes backed by precious metal.
Money, when considered as the fruit of many years’ industry, as the reward of labor, sweat and toil, as the widow’s dowry and children’s portion, and as the means of procuring the necessaries and alleviating the afflictions of life, and making old age a scene of rest, has something in it sacred that is not to be sported with, or trusted to the airy bubble of paper currency. Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809)
Currency is still a medium of exchange but is not a store of value as it only derives its value by government degree or “fiat”. It’s value is based on the issuing the authority’s guarantee to pay the stated (face) amount on demand, and not on any intrinsic worth or extrinsic backing. All national currencies in circulation, issued and managed by the respective central banks, are fiat currencies.

The problem is that fiat currency runs the risk of central bankers printing too much and causing large inflation or worse. The more that is printed the more the currency is debased just as the Fed is doing now with the dollar. This has been going on for decades with central banks indiscriminately creating money to cover expenditure and ever increasing debt. There are examples throughout history and in the 20th Century most of us are aware that in Germany in 1923 it would take a barrow load of Deutschmarks to buy a loaf of bread but an ounce of gold could buy a reasonable house and one dollar was worth 4 trillion marks.

This irresponsible printing of money has eaten away at the value of the world’s reserve currency the USD dollar and dollar based assets, to such an extent that they have lost 82% of value since 1971, the year the US cut links with the gold standard. The GBP has fared even worse that the USD losing around 85% of value since 1971. There are many illustrations of then and now and how owning gold with intrinsic value would have more purchasing pro rata than currency. E.g the latest model Cadillac Eldorado would have taken 180 ounces of gold at $42.02 to pay the showroom price of $7,546. This same 180 ounces is now worth over $200k and would buy two Cadillac convertibles with enough left over to fuel to first service. In the UK an average family car cost £1000 around 60 oz of gold and now the same would cost £17000 around 23 oz of gold. The 60 ounces would have bought the same family car for you a sports car for your wife and a hatchback for your son or daughter. Gold retains its purchasing power year after year.

Not long ago the gold standard imposed monetary discipline on countries as they had to hold enough gold to cover the money in circulation but this all changed with the Jamaica agreement in 1971 when the decision was taken by President Nixon on the 15th August 1971 to suspend the direct convertibility of dollars into gold, the keystone of the financial system created in July 1944 (the Bretton Woods Agreement). On the 1st October 1971 the general assembly of the IMF asked the board of trustees to study and propose a comprehensive reform. This would be adopted by member States during a meeting held in Kingston (Jamaica) on the 7th and 8th January 1976, and included a set of provisions which put an end to the reign of gold. The US money supply in 1971 was $776 billion and quickly became an upward curve which rose dramatically over the last decade where the US money supply doubled from below $7 trillion to $14.3 trillion indicating that spending is out of control.

The US National debt is now greater than this!

The US though still likes to play the rich kid on the block and bizarrely gives aid to those supporting its debt as a report in the Daily Mail of London illustrates:
The U.S. is providing hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid to some of the world’s richest countries – while at the same time borrowing billions back, according to report seen by Congress.

The Congressional Research Service released the report last month which shows that in 2010 the U.S. handed out a total of $1.4bn to 16 foreign countries that held at least $10bn in Treasury securities.

Four countries in the world’s top 10 richest received foreign aid last year with China receiving $27.2m, India $126.6m, Brazil $25m, and Russia $71.5m. Mexico also received $316.7m and Egypt $255.7m.

And yet despite the massive outgoings in foreign aid, the receiving countries hold trillions of dollars in U.S. Treasury bonds.

China is the largest holder with $1.1trillion as of March, according to the Treasury Department.

Brazil held $193.5bn, Russia $127.8bn, India $39.8bn, Mexico $28.1bn and Egypt had $15.3bn.
Maybe it’s just additional interest on the debt to keep them sweet!

Greece figures predominantly in the spotlight and unrest is growing – will the Government have to mortgage the Acropolis and Parthenon or even sell them off to pay their debts?
Clearly they can never work their way out of this debt because they would have to increase GDP by 12% a year for 30 years in order to grow their way out of debt.
The Sovereign Debt crisis is well and truly out of control and the only solution will be to default on the debts and devalue currencies.

As discussed in the example of Belarus, chaos ensues when currencies collapse and regular folk suffer badly as they don’t see it coming or refuse to believe it could happen to them.

Be warned: A currency collapse is coming near you.
Be prepared: don’t put faith in bits of paper which have no inherent value.
Protect yourself: Invest in tangible assets that hold real value at all times, especially during a crisis.
Remember: Real money has inherent value, it is worth something because of what it is not because of what is written on it.
Now you know why people buy gold to protect themselves from crisis – it always holds value and is the only real money.

In summary:
• Currency is not money and its value can be changed by monetary policy makers
• Currency can be created and printed at will with no substance to support it
• Currency depreciation in value is accelerating with subsequent loss of purchasing power
• National debt is increasing to disastrous levels with threat of sovereign debt default
• Confidence in the USD is waning and its use as a reserve currency is under threat
• Countries and investors are shedding their dollar assets
• Central Banks are diversifying into gold and out of dollar assets
• Smart investors are diversifying their portfolios with a proportion of gold
• The value of gold has been consistent in retaining its purchasing power
• Gold is insurance for your wealth
• Gold is the only real money

I rest my case!

When it comes to gold for investment too many buyers pay little attention to the quality of coins at the time of purchase and all too often they realise the importance of this to their investment when it is too late, at the time of resale. In effect, at the moment you wish to sell your gold investment coins they briefly revert back to a numismatic object that will be evaluated and priced as such.

In other words “it’s a gold coin, a twenty franc Napoleon which I should be able to sell with a 20% premium during a period of crisis” quickly loses meaning if you haven’t taken the time before you bought it to verify the quality.

You see when trying to sell on gold coins to professional dealers they will be intractable about the coin quality. In fact they will know so much more than you that every little imperfection they can describe downgrades the value of your coin to them. They will use this to negotiate the price down by reducing or eliminating the premium you were expecting. Additionally they may only offer to buy your coin by its weight and relative gold content weight, minus their commission and a little extra because you have devalued the coin by “handling” it. Finally you will arrive at a price considerably less than you were expecting and certainly less than you’d worked out using the spot gold price or professional quotes for coins.

You may act surprised but then why would you be knowing that any investment in physical assets of such value requires or even demands that you do your homework on what you are buying and how it is assessed or valued. You would certainly need to consider the eventuality of resale and how that should be best done for the best price and at the profit for you – wouldn’t you?

Well gold is no different and you should familiarise yourself with the important factors to consider when procuring gold coins.

Obviously there are some coins that are so rare they demand an ever increasing price but this is solely based on its numismatic (collectible) value. That is to say an extremely rare coin is not as sensitive to a period of crisis or the ups and downs of the gold price but moreso its value is determined and measured by the availability (or lack of it) of other coins like it. An example we can use is the French 100 Franc Bazor which is highly sought after but very rare. Its price is very high (given its gold content alone) because there are very few left in the world. The price will rise in time for its “collectible” value but it is unlikely to double within 3 weeks which a 20 Franc Napoleon of good quality can because of its premium. Rare coins are also being looked at slightly differently in terms of taxation and whereas investment gold coins are exempt from VAT (Value Added Tax) throughout Europe, these rare coins are no longer automatically exempt.

What is the minimum quality of condition for coins still considered to have a premium?

Generally speaking a quality of “very fine (VF)” upwards, “extremely fine (EF)” and “mint state (MS)”  are considered as coin conditions that still enjoy the benefit of a premium. These are the types of coins you should consider for gold investment. Apart from some rarities, the qualities of condition “fine (F) and “very good (VG)” will be bought and sold for their gold content weight and often finish up in the smelting pot for recycling.

Coins declared as “uncirculated (UNC)” are basically new coins that have never been in circulation or were never meant to be circulated. These will have an elevated basic premium due to them being issued direct from the Mint or in some cases may be very rare. In both cases the elevated premium makes them less attractive as an investment because their premium differential is weak. The premium differential is the % difference between the premium associated with the coin during normal economic conditions and the premium it may rise to during a period of crisis. A high starting premium as with UNC coins means there is less room for growth. Many of these UNC coins will be of interest to pure numismatists ie. Collectible.

Things to avoid

Even once you have seen the table below you may not feel sure of what to look out for or feel capable to accurately judge a coins condition. It is exactly for this reason that we advise you to avoid buying coins from small ads, individuals or maybe through bid sites like eBay. It is hard enough to know which coins are in which condition but the photos you see are not necessarily going to help and who knows what a seller really knows about their product if you know even less! The trick is to buy from professional sources where you will find fully certificated, verified and referenced coins that are what they say they are. Coins which are professionally inspected and sealed in their packaging maintain their quality so they will still be as valuable when you come to selling them. If you were to keep your coins in a box , unpackaged, taking them out occasionally to admire them you are effectively damaging your own investment by downgrading their quality through handling. Of course that is the difference with gold coin investment and gold coin collecting. An investment produces maximum yield when its integrity is protected and the physical asset is in no way altered to undermine its value.

Please also note that it is the most worn side that determines the condition quality so be sure to look at both sides of any coin.

Be aware of over-shiny coins: these will have been cleaned using polish, chemicals or abrasion to buff up the look and hide imperfections. It is recommended to use a magnifying instrument to inspect any coin as the naked eye cannot always detect the craftsmanship of the precision engraving. These are a great indicator of condition as wear & tear erodes precious detail of the design. Naturally one should always check for the obvious dents and scratches caused by rough handling or shocks. Do not be swayed – these will affect the value of your coin because they affect its condition quality.

It’s also worth noting that some damage inflicted like scratches and dents may have removed gold from your coin. A simple test for this is to weigh your coin accurately on an electronic balance. A French 20 Franc Napoleon should weigh between 6.44 and 6.46g to be considered as valuable. Anything from 6.43g down should be left alone.

You will find some useful information in our glossary as well as some photos that may help you choose wisely.

Similarly we would suggest you browse through the Gold Coin buying guide from our friends at LinGold.com who have kindly let us provide this for you.

Below is a summary of the basic qualities associated with the gradings of  coin condition and some useful translations for those looking internationally.

Gold Coin Gradings

Brilliant Uncirculated (UNC) or “Fleur de Coin”(FDC) – A perfect coin ( no traces of use, handling, shocks, scratches) which has 100% of its design remaining and still has a full mint sheen. These coins as the name indicates have never been in circulation and are exactly as the moment they were struck. They are indeed rare because even uncirculated coins may have been transported together from the mint to a vault and therefore have tiny abrasions or scratches from the journey. A coin in this condition must be flawless. Their rarity means they are of more interest to Numismatists and their elevated basic premium means they are not considered as a logical investment.

In other countries this is referred to as

• USA: MS65
• France: Fleur de Coin (FDC)
• Germany : Stempelglanz (STG)
• Italy : Fior di Conio (FDC)
• Spain: Flor de Cuño (FDC)

Uncirculated (UNC) or Mint state (MS) – as implied these coins have never been in circulation and therefore have no visible traces of use, design erosion or scratching. However , they do not have the full mint sheen all over the coin which is usually due to transportation.  Some countries still consider these coins as FDC.

In other countries this is referred to as

• USA: MS63
• France: Splendide (SPL)
• Germany: Fast Stempelglanz
• Italy -
• Spain – SC

Extremely Fine (EF) – This is a condition of a coin that is almost perfect but which has had a little circulation and therefore will possess some small faults although often difficult to detect with the naked eye. Using a magnifying glass one can see some light scratches and some erosion of certain raised details such as hair, beards, moustaches, feathers that form the design. The mint sheen is missing and there may also be evidence of some little dents from transportation of coins.

In other countries this is referred to as

• USA: AU 65
• France: SUPERBE (SUP)
• Germany: Vorzüglich (VZ)
• Italy: Splendido (SPL)
• Spain: Extraordinariamente bien conservada (EBC)

Very Fine (VF) – A coin in this condition shows obvious signs that it has been in circulation but it still has a good appearance. The coin rim can be slightly worn but still apparent and the relief features of the design can appear “tired” but not worn away. The signs of use are visible but the coin srtill has an agreeable appearance. This type of condition is considered as an average “plus” state of conservation which still allows the coin to attract a premium to its value.

In other countries this is referred to as

• USA: XF 40
• France: Très Très Beau (TTB)
• Germany : Sehr Schön (SS)
• Italy Bellissimo (BB)
• Spain : Muy bien conservada (MBC)

Fine (F) - This condition indicates a coin that has been well circulated. Some of the engraving detail has started to flatten (ribbons, hair, inscriptions etc). The metal surface is dull or in some cases much too shiny because of polishing. Deep scratches are clearly visible as well as dents from impacts with some deformation of the engraving being apparent. This condition of coin can still be of interest to a numismatist but it no longer supports a premium and is therefore not recommended for investment which is better served by coins in the conditions above.

In other countries this is referred to as

• USA: F 15
• France: Très Beau (TB)
• Germany : Schön (S)
• Italy Molto bello (MB)
• Spain : Bien conservada+ (BC+)

Very Good (VG) – Even though these coins are considered “very good” they are nevertheless traded purely by weight. They are very worn coins which have a mediocre appearance and have been circulated a lot. We can still just about distinguish their designation but some details are completely worn away or missing. The rim detail, engraved relief features are all but indistinguishable and any images are no longer sharp. These coins inevitably find their way to the foundry for melting unless they happen to have numismatic significance. However, in the light of being investment coins they are to be avoided. One doesn’t know how much gold has been eroded, the weights can vary greatly and there is absolutely no premium attached to these coins.

In other countries this is referred to as

• USA: G6
• France: Beau (B)
• Germany : Sehr Gut Erhalten (SGE)
• Italy Bello (B)
• Spain : Bien conservada (BC)

This covers the principal gradings of coin conditions applicable to gold although one may also hear certain other terms used for « intermediate » grades such as ;

About Uncirculated (XF/UNC) which falls between Uncirculated and Extra Fine. It does not have an equivalence in every country and is therefore less used.

One may find various numbers attached to certain conditions particularly in France which allows grading within any given condition eg; SUP 55-62 which grades the “Superbe” from 55 to 66. However this should not be a concern for coin investors as the grading is a purely numismatic tool for specialists. The gold investment quality of all “Superbe” is the same as is their premium.

Finally there are even lower conditions such as “Good” and “Poor” but these are frankly of little interest to us because their condition is well below those required for investment and they are only good for the smelting pot!

Remember:

Gold Coins are an investment that you own!

They are not linked to Sovereign Debt like other investments.

You can buy them when you like.

You can sell them when you like.

Gold Coins have a better potential than Bullion because they have a dual leverage – Gold price and Premium.

Gold coins are transportable, great for liquidity and easy to resell.

Related articles include:

Half-Napoleon 10 Francs Gold Coins

The Premium on Gold Coins

Should I Buy 32 Krugerrands or a 1 Kg Gold Bar?

Krugerrand – The original Bullion Coin

Investment Gold Coins

Latest Gold Coin Prices

Paper money or Gold?

Gold Money, a currency of the past…. and the future?

Recently, a wave of panic swept the precious metals markets and there was talk about the end of the cycles of mega-rise in raw materials! And whereas some thought there was a bubble on gold, it was on silver that the bubble inflated, then burst: The Wall Street Journal talked about the sudden   fall in the grey metal which “ fell 12% in just 11 minutes when the fall was at its most severe. Spot silver saw its informal open at $47.863/oz before rising to a peak of $48.150/oz; it then sold off sharply to a base of $42.210 before stabilizing.

The move down is the first break in an extraordinary run for silver, which has more than doubled in price over the past six months as investors bet on rising prices from renewed industrial demand and as a cheap safe-haven alternative to gold.”.

A piece in the  Financial Times asked  “Did the Silver bubble just burst?”,  illustrating with a chart that “the grey precious metal has tumbled 20 per cent in a week”.

The feeling was that a rapid rebound would be unlikely as expressed by Phillip Klapwijk, executive chairman of the precious metals consultancy GFMS, who said of silver’s position, “I think it could be over on the upside for the next little while.”

The FT also explained the extent of the early May slump saying “Silver prices plunged for the fifth consecutive day on Friday(6th May) as the grey precious metal suffered its biggest correction since the billionaire Hunt brothers cornered the market in 1980.” As the week drew to an end they summarised “The reversal of fortunes for silver – which until this week’s 25 per cent drop had been up 56 per cent since January – has led a wider sell-off in commodities markets, which were heading towards one of their worst one-day falls on record.”

Market manipulation rumours were rife and silver faced additional challenges because of rule changes by the CME Group. “The volatility in silver has been exacerbated by a series of increases in margin – or the amount of cash that investors must set aside to trade each contract – by CME Group, which runs the silver futures exchange in New York.

CME has raised its margin requirements five times in the past 15 days. Investors must now set aside $14,000 per silver futures contract, worth about $180,000 at current prices. The rate will rise to $16,000 on Monday (9^th).”

The grey metal, with a predominantly industrial use, is traditionally much more volatile than gold.

So where does gold feature in all this?

According to the FT “gold has managed to remain relatively unscathed compared with its poorer cousin”

It remains on top, as always!

Silver has never been able to compete with gold

For a long time, these two precious metals have been linked by a ratio of 10 to 15.5. In the time of the Pharaohs, it was said that there was a ratio of 13.3 between gold and silver. In 440 BC, this ratio was of 13 during the Roman Empire it was set as 12.

In 1876, Henri Cernushi wrote in “The Bimetallic Currency” that “gold and silver are two natural and eternal currencies. Nobody can produce them artificially nor by decree and this is why they remain a trustworthy guarantee”. During this era most fiduciary systems fixed the parity between gold and silver at 15.5.
In 1840 Europe, the situation was tense because almost everyone felt that there was a tendency to believe that the ratio of 15.5 tended to overvalue silver.  Indeed the grey metal was abundant due specifically to heavy production in the United States.

These historical references are interesting because they are not too distant from geologist’s estimates that Silver is 17 times more abundant than Gold in the earth’s crust. This has given rise to some investors believing this ratio is the natural balance between the two metals and that one day we should somehow return to it.

Many traders, speculators, and investors focus on the gold/silver price ratio in determining which metal is under or overvalued. In recent weeks and months the ratio has collapsed from above 65:1. The ratio of gold to silver prices is at its lowest since 1980, and has plunged from 46 in January this year to 33

Throughout the twentieth century, the gold/silver price ratio went to nearly 100:1, occasionally dipped below 30:1, and only briefly hit a ratio of 17:1 in 1980.

Put against gold, silver does look distinctly volatile and vulnerable.

Simone Wapler (Editor of MoneyWeek France) writing in La Chronique Agora explains why this ratio dropped:

“The gold/silver ratio collapsed because gold, like silver, has been demonetarized. Silver even more than gold. The central banks still have some gold in their coffers, but not silver. Gold is always popular in the jewellery market, but aside from  monetary uses, the uses of silver are in decline (traditional  photography, silverware). For many silver is just a poor man’s gold. When one cannot afford gold, one buys silver.

However this argument although valid is not strictly true because of innovations that make gold investments even more accessible and in a way that is not restricted by individual budgets.

Investors no longer need to settle for second best when they can have the real thing.

It is now possible to start investing in gold by the gram including a savings account that encourages investment in physical gold (that you own outright) with a plan to start from as little as 1g of gold per month.”

Similarly this form of investment is finding increasing favour from businesses looking to protect their contingency funds against inflation and the risk of traditional portfolio investments that are vulnerable to sovereign and national debt issues. Holding physical gold as an owned asset has an increasing appeal   as an investment with security and profits.

But when the figures speak for themselves…

Simone Wapler also adds that “when gold goes up, so does silver, but to a lesser degree. When gold drops, so does silver, but to a greater degree”.   Furthermore, gold gains twice as much as silver during a rise yet silver loses twice as much as gold during a fall. Before the bubble on silver this rule was proved, clearly meaning that something was going on. The sharp current correction reminds us that there was an unfounded rush on silver- and today the rate should be around 25 euros. Above that it is overheating.

If you are not convinced, here is a brief outline of the evolution in the rates for silver and gold, in recent days and over the last 5 years.

In short, when gold sneezes, silver catches a cold, and when silver starts to take take-off, gold reaches towards its peak!

Gold remains a safe haven

According to the French daily Le Monde, one reads that in spite of the fall in rates, “gold should remain protected by its status as a safe haven when faced with inflationary threats, and a prolonged decline in oil prices does not appear very likely. Worldwide demand remains solid and supply remains under the shadow of tensions in the Arab world, with light crude from Libya still cruelly lacking.”

In MoneyWeek France we are told that “Falls are necessary and compulsory in a large bull market we are more than ever convinced that gold has a promising future ahead. Let’s give time for the new world order to be created, for the former rich countries to become aware that they are the new poor and that they live well above their means… in short, there is still quite a while to go”.

Arguments in favour of gold

Indeed, gold has recorded a slight fall recently, but if you need additional arguments to be convinced of its role as a tangible asset;

• gold is “reconverting into money”: it is clearly not the case for silver
• silver has lost its status as a safe haven contrary to gold
• silver is a rare industrial metal, very volatile just like other raw materials.   Let us take for example palladium: the market for palladium remains confidential and prices extremely volatile. The production of palladium is concentrated within Russia and in South Africa. This concentration of production confers a certain instability in the market with regards to price and reliability of supply. And uncertainties with regards to its provision have even caused the price of palladium to rise in October 2010, reaching its highest level since June at 605.13 dollars an ounce. Demand is increasing consistently, mining development is limited, a hold by the Russian State on reserves and lack of investors: such are the characteristics that have led to the palladium market finding itself in deficit.
• silver is not a product for protection against crisis. It is rather comparable to platinum which had fallen in 2008 because the automotive industry was at its lowest point (noteably platinum is used in catalytic converters)
• silver is increasingly rare and difficult to revalue. Silver is a non-renewable resource and experts agree that by 2021 -2023 the exhaustion of silver supplies will be final.  In any event, silver is a metal which cannot be synthesized and for which no substitute exists. And even if the exact date of a drain in the metal market still remains on hold, in 2010, with a production of 19,300 tons, and demand standing at 25,200 tons, reserves are clearly running low. Remember that principle industrial uses consume the silver
• silver takes up space in storage, and savers prefer gold which in value and in volume is better
• because of its scarcity, industrialists are trying to replace silver as soon as possible. This  linked article deals  with the uses of silver in particular in the manufacture of RFID Tags for stock control and identity cards. If we imagine that one day industrialists find another metal or synthetic to replace this need what leeway will remain for silver? This article is based on a completely biased study of silver. All industrialists say if one day they are able to do without silver, they will do so because it is expensive. The use of gold in industry itself remains limited compared to its use for investment purposes and jewellery.

This is exactly what one is looking for from gold, once again it becomes  a private currency, regardless of form.

Let us leave silver to those who want to get their fingers burnt with molten metal…

“A black swan is the illustration of a cognitive bias (error in decision-making or of behaviour adopted when faced with a given situation).

If one encounters or observes only white swans, one will quickly deduce in error that all swans are white and that is what Europeans believed, for a long time, before making the discovery of the existence of black swans in Australia, in the 17^th century.

In point of fact, only the observation of all existing swans may give us the confirmation or invalidation that these are indeed still white but taking the time and means to observe all swans on Earth before confirming that they are all white is just not possible.

It is thus preferable to make the hasty assumption that they are white, in the expectation of seeing the theory dropped by the observation of a swan of another colour.

Thus we create arguments by starting off with incomplete information, which leads us ending-up with false certainties.”

What is the relevance of this story to the economy and your investments?

Quite simple really. Read on and observe the trend emerging.

- The University of Texas uses gold for its cash-flow….
Important information that has gone unnoticed is that the University of Texas has just invested approximately 1 billion of its cash-flow in gold. You will find below the article by Bloomberg.

The Board members see gold “just as another money but one which cannot be devalued by an additional printing of notes”.

Interestingly, they asked to take delivery of their gold – 6,643 gold bars,  which is stored in a New York vault because of the fear of a Comex paper gold scam.

It should be noted that this university also trains economists.
So what should one think of such a strategy?  Only that more and more private individuals and institutions are starting to have increasing doubts on the continuity of the global economic system in its current make-up. It also suggests that those in the know prefer hard physical assets to “paper promises”.
Yet “experts” previously thought that this was unimaginable and impossible!

.

But that is not all. These last weeks have been exceptional in terms of alarm signals.

- Two year rates for Greece exceed 25% for the first time ever. It means that Greece is perhaps only a few days away from a re-scheduling of its debt over which inevitably world banks, starting with French banks, will ruffle a few feathers. For information purposes, it is the Crédit Agricole which is the most exposed to the Greek risk, with all banks being nevertheless concerned.
Yet “experts” previously thought that this was unimaginable and impossible!

- The monitoring of the US debt by the credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s,

For those who have not yet understood or who really do not wish to understand, the US economy remains the leading global economy. A US default in payment would lead the world into an economic chaos without precedent. Inveterate optimists tell us that they do not believe in it. The very same people who did not believe in a seism of a magnitude higher than 9, followed by a tsunami of more than 15 metres in height, coming to destroy 6 reactors of a nuclear plant… and which exposed a whole country to radiation if not making people tremble with fear over the prospect of the entire contamination of the Northern hemisphere.

Yet “experts” previously thought that this was unimaginable and impossible!

- So what else have we learnt? –  that the Morgan Stanley Bank has just made a voluntary default in payment of $3.3 billion on a 32 storey tower building which it owns in Tokyo. This repayment failure is significant because it was the largest of its kind in Japan and marked the latest fallout from a series of highly leveraged investments by Morgan Stanley, one of the most aggressive investors in worldwide property markets before the global financial crisis In short their loss seems of little importance to them because the value had plummeted and they just had to get rid of this building. What can be the motive of such a decision which is a historical first for this “venerable” institution?

Yet “experts” previously thought that this was unimaginable and impossible!

- To this we can add that CDSs (Credit Default Swaps) currently reflect an anticipation of cancellation of debt of some European countries able to reach 75% (CDSs act as “insurance” against the risk of bankruptcy).

Yet “experts” previously thought that this was unimaginable and impossible!

- And then there is China which wishes to diversify its foreign-exchange reserves and significantly reduce its holding in American dollars. Indeed, the depreciation of a currency is a means of refunding one’s debts only in devaluated monopoly currency. But it is done at the cost of the currency holder. Our Chinese friends no longer seem to want to be the guinea pigs and are looking to diversify into the Euro.

Yet “experts” previously thought that this was unimaginable and impossible!

- More dramatically, Mc Donald’s (the restaurant chain) launched a big campaign to recruit  50,000 jobs in a single day. Pathetic scenes showed to what extent the situation of many American families is disastrous. Almost 3 million people turned up to get work, some even camping the day before just to be sure of being interviewed. The situation simply turned to drama in Cleveland (click here to see video ) when a crazed driver ran over 4 people in the car park!.

Yet “experts” previously thought that this was unimaginable and impossible!

- And finally, on a lighter note, after the initiative by ex-footballer Eric Cantona even Mayors are having a go, at least the Mayor of the city of Ghent in Belgium for one, who has just taken  the decision to withdraw his funds from two banks, namely Dexia and KBC, in order to protest against the policies of these two institutions and has invited all cities to follow his example…

Yet “experts” previously thought that this was unimaginable and impossible!

It is now obvious that more than ever before how vital it is to adopt a particularly defensive investment strategy.

I invite all private investors to take their potential profits out of the share market and to quit the financial markets. Particular caution is advised with regards to all the securities of insurance companies and banks.
A share in gold of approximately 10% of the total financial assets is to be seriously considered in order to protect one’s financial assets.
It is also strongly advised to get out of bond investments, except from a speculative point of view, starting first with Euro funds in life insurance contracts. These Euro funds are overwhelmingly made-up (approximately 75%) of sovereign debt, i.e. government bonds. Imagine how vulnerable they are to default and complete collapse.

… and remember this is NOT impossible, unimaginable or unthinkable – it is highly likely to the point of being inevitable.

I do not know if you have noticed, but I find that lately we can see more and more black swans.

Yet, as everyone knows, swans are white…. until proved otherwise.

Translated and Adapted from an original article by Charles Sannat

Here at Goldcoin.org we have always been suspicious of the Politocrats, Bankers and Global fortunes that endlessly manipulate markets and misinform the masses through the mainstream media.

Let’s face it they all have one thing in common and one goal – looking after themselves by milking the masses to increase their own personal wealth.

Governments around the world tell their voters that they are “doing it for the country”, “thinking of the future, the families, the under-privileged etc. etc.”

They lie. The only interest a politician has is keeping the power, its privilege and saying whatever it takes to stay there.

In reality nothing ever changes even when the ruling party does because they’re all in it together. They talk of democracy yet if you are not born into privilege, educated with privilege and financed by the wealthiest (who you must subsequently appease with policies that suit them) you have no chance of ever approaching the dizzy heights of Government where you can begin to change things for the common good.

Even Obama, the charismatic President of Hope, had to bow to the rich lobby with backroom deals to ensure he got into the race for the top. Where does the money come from to organise the campaign needed? Unless you’re a multi-billionaire you have to play along. So where is the democracy? It’s always the same interests that pay the candidates bills therefore buying the White House and controlling policy.

Look at the British model – Cameron, Clegg, Osbourne etc. – all posh boys with a lifetimes supply of money, public school and Oxbridge education. Same before with Blair, Brown, Darling and the dark lord himself Mandlesson (the biggest hypocrite on the planet). What do any of these have in common with their voters apart from the same type of passport. How can they have the audacity to preach what is right for the country and “sharing the pain” of austerity when it will never affect their own privileged lives.

Have you ever met a poor politician?

Have you ever met a politician apart from Nelson Mandela who has experience of real life, who has known hardship and suffering?

The political class all over the world are the same – self-centred, greedy, hypocritical, power-hungry and serve themselves before thinking about their peoples or country.

Yet when they spout their prepared rhetoric they expect us to believe what they tell us, they even convince themselves that they know what they’re doing. They’re ready to take the credit at the hint of a success yet they remain completely unaccountable for all the failures and the misery they create. No such thing as performance related objectives and pay for them. How many failed politician end up as a well paid consultant, after dinner speaker or in the House of Lords like Prescott (Socialist in only the drivel from his mouth and very much Capitalist in his lifestyle, cars and bank account)!

The Rothchilds, Rockerfellers, Murdochs and other similarly rich and shady “families” control everything from Governments, Fiscal policy and of course the markets.

One particular example is the manipulation of the Gold markets. This has long been explored and proven by our friends at GATA and it is worth reading some of their factual proof at  http://www.gata.org/.

The Federal Reserve don’t want you to own Gold because they need you to borrow their printed bits of paper to make even more money for themselves. If they were a serious organisation would they have allowed a $14 Trillion + debt to run out of control? Would they be paying it off with bits of paper they keep printing (and therefore creating a devalued dollar by flooding the currency pool)?

In France, private investors hold more gold than the Bank of France and their affinity with the yellow precious metal goes back through history. The private investment in gold is continuing to increase as they arm themselves against this crisis. Eurozone sovereign debt issues are of great concern and people are taking no chances. The Greeks and Irish will default on their bailout packages and move to restructure. Portugal will follow.

The Euro will face a complete collapse or severe devaluation.

This is not a prediction but an eventuality. These three countries have no hope and no means to be able to cope with their debts and the austerity measures crippling their economies means growth is impossible. They face decades of misery, low standards of living and with inflation biting on daily necessities will soon be faced with civil unrest on an unprecedented scale.

However, a recent article by a prominent government adviser  in France shows the unscrupulous lengths they will go to. His name is Philippe Chalmin who is a Professor of Economics and sits on the Governments advisory committee. He gave a ridiculous outburst decrying and demeaning the value of Gold and called it “completely stupid”.

This from a country that survived WWII because of hidden gold.

This from a government puppet trying to put investors off the scent!

Similarly an article posted on the Marketwatch website by a Wall Street journalist, David Weidner, completely trivialises Gold. He should know better and his views are akin to a rabbit caught in the headlights!  You can see the detail via our friends at GATA here.

There is a stark contrast in the East where the Chinese are stocking up on gold. The Government, the Central Bank and private investors are actively being encouraged to buy. This shows intent to replace the weakening Dollar  by the Yuan as the world’s reserve currency and to back it in gold. The irony is that the biggest attack on the US Dollar is from The US Federal Reserve  by excessively printing bits of paper to buy off the US defecit.

The Establishment is petrified that people will ditch currency because Gold is a better protection against crisis and inflation – FACT.

The Establishment is petrified that people will stop investing in paper promises, stocks, shares, ETFs because they are all linked to debt and are vulnerable to collapse in a crisis – FACT.

The Establishment is petrified that they are losing control of the masses because we are not as stupid as they would wish and the real information flows freely and quickly via the net – FACT.

The Establishment is petrified that mere mortals like us are buying gold which leaves less for them and impinges on there “privileges” – FACT.

This is why don’t they want you to buy gold.

Greed, jealousy, protectionism, elitism.

Conspiracy and collusion by Con-men who seek to control everything.

So hit back and spit in their face

Buy what you want not what they tell you.

Beware of the mainstream media which is edited by those seeking to control.

Buying gold have never been so accessible and that scares them.

Buying gold protects your wealth against inflation and the effects of a crisis.

Central Banks, Governments and the Biggest fortunes in the world are all investing in huge quantities of Gold right now – do they know something you don’t?

Not now!

Here is a Goldcoin.org insight into the real problems facing Spain today provided by one of our esteemed colleagues at our Spanish blog linGORO.info.

The surreal panorama left over from the Spanish housing boom

In some parts of different cities in Spain, we are able to find landscapes which have a desolate and eerie feel. They leave us with a feeling of nostalgia for that time of bonanza which was enjoyed for many years but which will not return, at least not in the way it was.

In this section we will focus on the economy which fed on itself until there was nothing left. It originates from the property bubble which according to many was born in 1997 but which ended up by exploding in 2007, this being the year in which this country fell on hard times and it seems that we have still not reached bottom yet.

The problem, apart from having channelled all activities towards this sector, resides in activities which were neither ethical nor transparent and in which so many banks and local authorities became involved who were blinded by their desire to get rich out of this business and entered into a maelstrom of distressing activities such as: reclassifying non-building land, sudden spectacular increases in interest rates, excess credit, etc which dramatically accelerated the collapse of this wealth cycle.

We find urban areas with large plots of buildings which are half-built, forgotten by the bank responsible for their financing owing to a lack of liquidity alongside those which have been finished and are waiting for a buyer who, for the moment, is not coming.
And how will buyers come?, if there is fear in the air about what happened, not to mention high unemployment figures throughout the country and low purchasing power today, we cannot allow ourselves this type of investment, which apart from giving you a roof also gives you an increasing debt year after year to which you will be wedded for the rest of your life up to the age of 65.

The Minister of Finance, Elena Salgado, is guaranteeing that the same thing will not happen to Spain as happened to Portugal because it has done its duties, namely: raising taxes, increasing the age of retirement, freezing pensions, etc.

If this is doing things right then we must trust God to help us when they do things badly. For the moment we are waiting for alternative solutions to mitigate the damage caused by the property phenomenon. The generating of employment which is what will help the country move forward does not seem to be around the corner and, as a result, the queues of unemployed people going to the offices of the INEM to submit the necessary papers to receive assistance which barely helps them live, continue to grow. This is to say nothing of those who do not receive anything.

Speaking of this type of subject causes a lot of indignation because we see the future of many people who have great talent and potential being undermined by the erroneous actions of those who lead the country. Directly or indirectly the economic situation affects us all either because we are living it ourselves, or because we have friends, family or acquaintances who are going through it.

The best thing to do at this time as one door closes is to open another one ourselves. If we only focus on one thing (as did Spain with its exuberant construction programme) we shall be left waiting for a miracle to happen and unless you are a great believer, there are very few who have the opportunity to experience one and talk about it.

As a result we need to diversify talent, diversify professions and diversify safe investments (such is offered to us by gold at this time) which give us a little peace and tranquillity knowing that at any time they may help us to get over the hurdles that lie in our path. There is no doubt that this is the best plan B we can have at this time.

Translated from an original article by Lizette Paternina

Here’s a Goldcoin.org look at some beautiful Spanish Gold coins with terrific potential for investment.

Alfonso XII 25 pesetas coins

Without doubt the Alfonso XII 25 pesetas coins are on the list of the most important coins in the history of Spain.
His life started with the coup d’etat on 3 December 1874 by General Pavía which brought about the end of the Republic and the establishment of the “Regency Ministry” by Antonio Cánovas, whose commitment was to re-establish the Bourbon monarchy.
All this effort culminated in the arrival in Spain of the son of Isabel II, who had ascended to the throne three years earlier while in exile.

With the Bourbons again at the helm, a new period started to strengthen the pesetas after 10 years of being minted only in copper and silver. This in turn saw the rebirth of the process of manufacturing in gold thereby demonstrating the maturity and growth of the new monetary system which over this period exceeded some 30 million coins.
Design of the new gold coins to be put into circulation occurred three months after the arrival of Alfonso XII by means of a Royal Decree.

Seal of Guarantee for this Currency

There were very few people involved in the design of this coin which propelled the kingdom’s economy for more than a decade. In concrete terms, there were seven experts over this period who were tasked with guaranteeing the quality of the product. Their duties required the printing of their initials on each coin, thereby certifying the process, the exact weight and its authenticity.
The nominated engraver was Gregoria Sellán Gonzalez who saw his work live on in the design of the coins of Alfonso XII and in the first two struck by his son Alfonso XIII.

The seals on these coins are the following:
Engraver: G.S. Gregoria Sellán Gonzalez

Assayers and Weigh Masters:
DE M: Eduardo Diaz Pimienta, Julio Escosura Tablares and Ángel Mendoza Ordoñez
EM M: Julio Escosura Tablares, Mauricio Morejón Bueno and Ángel Mendoza Ordoñez
MS M: Mauricio Morejón Bueno, Pablo Salas Gabarrell and Ángel Mendoza Ordoñez
MP M: Mauricio Morejón Bueno, Félix Miguel Peiró Rodgrigo and Ángel Mendoza Ordoñez

Description and wording on the Alfonso XII 25 pesetas coins

ALFONSO XII (1874-1885)
Year: 1876
Gold: Ley 900 milesimas
Diameter: 24,09 mm
Weight: 8.08 gr.
Striated edge
Description
Obverse: ALFONSO XII – POR LA G. DE DIOS 1876/76 (between stars with six points). Head facing right. G.S. (Gregoria Sellán) shown at the bottom of the neck. Pointed fringe.
Reverse: REY CONSTL-DE ESPAÑA D.E. 25 PESETAS. Crowned, draped arms in the collar of the golden fleece and covered under the Royal cloak with the arms of Castilla, León, Aragón, Navarra and Granada; in the centre the Bourbon coat of arms. Pointed fringe. (Information extracted from Book: Gold Coins from the Collection of the Bank of Spain).

ALFONSO XII (1874-1885)
Year: 1881
Gold: Ley 900 milesimas
Diameter: 24.11 mm
Weight: 8.07 gr
Striated edge
Description
Obverse: ALFONSO XII – POR LA G. DE DIOS 1881/81 (between stars with six points. Head facing right. G.S. (Gregoria Sellán) shown at the bottom of the neck. Pointed fringe.
Reverse: REY CONSTL-DE ESPAÑA D.E. 25 PESETAS. Crowned, drapped arms in the collar of the golden fleece and covered under the Royal cloak with the arms of Castilla, León, Aragón, Navarra and Granada; in the centre the Bourbon coat of arms. Pointed fringe. (Information extracted from Book: Gold Coins from the Collection of the Bank of Spain).

The manufacturing of these coins started in 1876, with the King’s image being reversed in order to distinguish them from the copper and silver coins. In 1962 a special commission was made by an American company based in Switzerland who made a prepayment both for the stipulated costs and the profits. Original stamps were used with the print date of 1961 and 1962 appearing between the stars.
On the edge of the coins there is an engraving of 27 lily flowers comprised of three groups of nine each.
For the manufacturing proofs and quality check on the engravings, copper coins were used which were subsequently destroyed to avoid them being put into circulation after being gold plated.

	Run	Rarity	BC	MBC	EBC	SC
1876* (18-76) DM M	1,281,474	C/C	16,000	21,000	24,000	28,000
1877* (18-77) DM M	10,047,885	C/C	13,000	18,000	21,000	25,000
1878* (18-78) DM M	5,000,000	C/C	15,000	19,000	22,000	26,000
1878* (18-78) EM M	3,192,442	C/C	16,000	20,000	23,000	27,000
1879* (18-79) EM M	3,447,644	C/C	16,000	20,000	23,000	27,000
1880* (18-80) MS M	6,862,947	C/C	14,000	18,000	21,000	25,000
1881* (18-81) MS M		RR/RR	1m.	2m.	3m.	4.5m
(Table extracted from the Book: The Peseta,  Basic Catalogue by José Maria Aledón)

In 1881, it was decreed that the king’s image be updated and the result of this shows a great difference compared to the initial one from 1876. Such differences were not so noticeable in the mints from 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879 and 1880 where only slight changes can be seen to the head and features of Alfonso XII.

	Run	Rarity	BC	MBC	EBC	SC
1881* (18-81) MS M	4,266,234	C/C	16,000	19,000	24,000	28,000
1882* (18-82) MS M	413,741	E/E	35,000	18,000	65,000	140,000
1883* (18-83) MS M	668,855	E/E	30,000	19,000	70,000	145,000
1884* (18-84) MS M	1,032.744	E/E	30,000	20,000	45,000	100,000
1885* (18-85) MS M	502,613	E/R	95,000	20,000	140,000	375,000
1885* (18-85) MS M	491,143	R/RR	180,000.	2m.	375,000	1.1m
(Table extracted from the Book: The Peseta,  Basic Catalogue by José Maria Aledón)

After his death, all the coins (with the exception of the 2 pesetas) continued to be minted upon the order of his wife, Maria Cristina of Habsburg, until 1886 when his son Alfonse XIII was born and a year later Sellán made the first design with the image of the successor and thereby resumed the task of manufacturing the coins, a period which saw the issuing of the 20 and 100 pesetas coins.

Why do we consider that this is a good coin to buy?

The 25 pesetas coin is one of the most popular in the catalogue of gold coins which are currently in circulation in Spain, and which are also in demand from individuals from other countries who are interested in its historical and financial value. Given that it is one of the most known, its premium can increase considerably in times of crisis, thus acquiring values which are attractive and well-positioned in the world of offer and supply, which happened with the Napoleon in France, for example, and which can reach a premium of 100% during times of crisis.

We should recall that the premium is the difference between the price of the precious metal from which the coin is made and its market price, and that its value depends on many factors which we have explained in our article: “The Premium on Gold Coins”.
It is a type of coin destined to be saved in the future given its good condition and quality.

Translated from an original article by Lizette Paternina

The interaction of the world’s markets plays an important role in the fluctuations and evolution of the Gold Price. Politics, economic policies and strategies, world events and currency changes can all have an effect on the demand for Gold as investors, private and institutional look to protect their wealth resources. At Goldcoin.org we champion the safe haven that gold and gold coin investment can offer in these troubled ecomonic circumstances where we have rising inflation, instability across the world and are on the verge of a new period of severe financial crisis.
Here’s a snapshot update from our regular expert analyst Bill Downey who explains where the gold price is, where it might be going and some of the factors that are affecting it.

In Tuesday nights website update — initial resistance in gold was listed at 1464-1468 and the high so far is 1467. Second tier resistance for today was listed at 1474-1478 — and that would be the area to watch if we can continue to move higher today.

Initial support was listed at 1444-1455 and the low so far today is 1453.60

London Gold Fix $1461.25 -$8.25

While the June gold contract saw an initial downtrend overnight, gold prices have recovered above the prior session’s closing value in the early Tuesday US trade action. Gold appears to be partially undermined by declining oil prices and a dampening of overall inflationary fears.

News that a major commodity trading brokerage firm was recommending profit taking in commodities, may also be undermining the gold market slightly. However, another key brokerage firm suggested that gold would outperform most commodities directly ahead and that might help gold prices stand up to the partial liquidation wave in some commodity prices.
Indian gold prices were slightly weaker overnight and news of another quake in Japan applied some minor pressure to gold and other commodity prices overnight. While the trade balance report from the US can drive gold prices, expectations for a slight narrowing of the US trade deficit might be seen as a negative to gold prices, especially if that report lifts the greenback and adds pressure to the bond market. If that would be the case — we think it would be temporary. The US dollar is under pressure again today and the Euro has now traded at the 145 level — a very IMPORTANT price point.

While the gold market generally saw dovish comments from the Fed yesterday, dialogue from the Fed’s Hoenig today might be add to the downside tilt as they are trying to “TALK” their way into making the markets think that there is not going to be more stimulus. So that is the one thing that could return gold to testing the lower areas from last night.

Equity markets in Asia and Europe were weaker during overnight trading and early indications are for the US stock market to open today’s session with moderate losses as Alcoa reported lower than expected earnings and Japan raised the danger level of its on-going crisis. The Japanese Economics Minister said that last month’s earthquake and tsunami would likely have a larger negative impact on the Japanese economy than earlier projections. A proposal by the African Union to end the Libyan conflict was rejected by rebel forces. The German CPI during March was up 2.1% year-on-year, in line with forecasts. A survey of German economic sentiment during April was 7.1, lower than estimates. The UK CPI during March was 4.0% year-on-year, lower than projections. The UK Trade during February was 6.78 billion Pounds, a smaller deficit than forecasts. Major US economic numbers to be released this morning include the February International Trade Balance, as well as Export and Import Prices at 7:30 AM, and surveys of store sales will also be released during the session. In addition, Fed Regional President Dudley will give a speech during the session. The first leg of the Treasury’s monthly refunding, the 3-Year Note auction, will have results announced at 12:00 PM CENTRAL time.

Going to the gold charts:

Last nights low was right at the dotted trend line on 30 min chart we published on the website and as long as the 1444-1455 area holds the trend remains up. The market is NOT AS BULLISH as it looked when we entered the week — and even though gold has come back 13 dollars from the low — we’re not out of the woods just yet on this pullback. The 1468-1470 area is probably the most important price point to watch today. We want to see gold above 1468 on a closing basis to add more potential that the pullback is complete. Until then — we can’t rule out more downside pressure today.

It seems like the 9am-10:30AM EST period today might be where the rubber meets the road — and that time frame is when gold would be the most likely to try and pullback.

In summary — the trend is still up —but not as solid as last week– the 1468-1470 area is resistance. Support is the 1444-1455 area. We still favor the bulls —- but we might remain in the 1450-1470 area today in price.

by Bill Downey

Don’t forget Exclusive Free trial to Goldcoin readers on Gold Trends.net
Login: demo-feb Password: spot2see

The most detailed info that GoldTrends.net publishes is available on the web site via paid subscription.

People often ask if it is the right time to buy gold?

Quite simply it is always the right time to buy gold if you are looking to protect and preserve your wealth.

Sure the price can vary but the real value in owning physical gold is that it is your outright property which cannot be wiped out during a crisis or financial collapse. So think of a stocks and shares investment (or any other “paper” investment) the day after a crash – now think of physical, tangible gold assets that you own the day after a crash. The difference is obvious – one is worthless and may even lead to debt, the other has inherent value that will still be sought and can therefore be traded or sold.

Buying gold nowadays is simple and accessible to everyone.

You do not need to physically possess gold at home to fully participate, indeed quite the contrary – keep it safe, keep it in a vault and keep it accessible to sell whenever you choose.

For further information click here.

Here at Goldcoin.org we regulalrly feature expert Analysis from Bill Downey of Goldtrends.net to keep readers up to date with possible moves in the market.

Bill’s comments are drawn from a wide variety of sources and provide an up to date overview of the evolution of the gold price.

Here what Bill is saying:

In Sunday nights website update — resistance for today was listed at 1483-1490 and the high so far is 1476.50 — support was listed at 1458-1463 and the low so far is 1464.50

London Gold Fix $1469.50 -$1.00

Late Sunday night in the US and early in the Asian Monday trade saw commodities on the rise. However, news of a possible Peace deal in Libya and another 7.1 earthquake in Japan seemed to prompt a pause in oil price upside and in other commodity markets.

News of ongoing inflows into gold derivatives at the end of last week is lending to gold support so its generally a sideways choppy action we are undergoing this morning. The reversal in oil prices seemed to shift the attitude in a number of commodity markets this morning to a more sideways movement. With the big rise last Friday in commodities, it looks to be profit taking at the moment and not a start of a downtrend.

The Bretton Woods meeting hosted by George Soro’s over the weekend has calls for the US dollar replacement — but that was to be expected. The G20 meets in Washington DC on the 15th of the month and it would be interesting to hear the conversations that will take place there. With that meeting coming up at the end of the week — it is possible that gold may stay have some restraint later in the week, but the overall short term trend is still up.

The US Dollar is slightly bouncing this morning back to the 75 level but remains at key levels on the long term charts.

The Commitments of Traders Futures and Options report as of April 5th for Gold showed Non-Commercial traders were net long 230,758 contracts, an increase of 16,775 contracts. The Commercial traders were net short 287,091 contracts, an increase of 23,006 contracts. The Non-reportable traders were net long 56,332 contracts, an increase of 6,229 contracts. Non-Commercial and Non-reportable combined traders held a net long position of 287,090 contracts. This represents an increase of 23,004 contracts in the net long position held by these traders.

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit near the Tokyo area today, causing water pumping at the Fukushima plant to be shut down for 50 minutes. Major banks in the UK were told to raise their capital levels and separate their retail operations from investment banking activities. Chinese Exports during March were up 35.8% year-on-year, while Chinese Imports during March were up 27.3% year-on-year, both of which were above market expectations.

Going to the gold chart — the breakout from a five month trading range last week is in play and while there is consolidation today from last Friday’s upmove — it does not look like a downtrend is beginning at the moment.

A new red line on the chart shows the short term FIRST support for this weeks action near the 1455 area on a closing basis. Additional support would be the 1444-1450 area on intra day pullbacks. THus the two key areas are the red trend line —and the lower purple line on the up channel. As long as price is above those price areas — the trend remains up. Resistance is the upper purple line near the 1490 – 1492 area.

In summary, todays consolidation in the 1460 area is normal after a nice upmove from last Friday and the bulls still have the short term advantage. First support will be the Red trend line — and resistance for the remainder of today looks to be in the 1473-1478 area. A pullback in the 1445-1455 area this week might provide an area for finding initial support. The bulls still have the advantage at the moment and the action does not at this point indicate that the trend has turned down — but rather is consolidating in the 1460 zone.

by Bill Downey

Don’t forget Exclusive Free trial to Goldcoin readers on Gold Trends.net
Login: demo-feb Password: spot2see

The most detailed info that GoldTrends.net publishes is available on the web site via paid subscription.

People often ask if it is the right time to buy gold?

Quite simply it is always the right time to buy gold if you are looking to protect and preserve your wealth.

Sure the price can vary but the real value in owning physical gold is that it is your outright property which cannot be wiped out during a crisis or financial collapse. So think of a stocks and shares investment (or any other “paper” investment) the day after a crash – now think of physical, tangible gold assets that you own the day after a crash. The difference is obvious – one is worthless and may even lead to debt, the other has inherent value that will still be sought and can therefore be traded or sold.

Buying gold nowadays is simple and accessible to everyone.

You do not need to physically possess gold at home to fully participate, indeed quite the contrary – keep it safe, keep it in a vault and keep it accessible to sell whenever you choose.

For further information click here.