ximmy
14th August 2011, 09:32 PM
Report From the Coin Dealer Front Lines (http://news.coinupdate.com/report-from-the-coin-dealer-front-lines/)
With the surge in gold prices over the past week or so and a lackluster silver price, what have people been actually buying and selling in physical gold and silver products? My own companies serve three customer niches. First, we buy and sell rare coins with collectors. Second, we buy and sell bullion-priced gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and ingots with investors. Third, we are active buyers of gold, platinum, and silver jewelry from the public. These niches have moved in different patterns in the past week.
The market for non-bullion related rare coins is slow and steady. It does not seem like we have as many customers for these coins in the past year or so as we did 30 years ago. Higher gold prices have persuaded some collectors to let loose of some of their gold coins, especially $20.00 Double Eagles. Other than that, the buying and selling continues at pretty much an even keel.
Our investor customers have been buying like crazy in this past week, but they are buying silver almost to the exclusion of gold, platinum, or palladium. There has been very little liquidation....
We talk with dozens of coin dealers around Michigan and the country every day. They are reporting the exact same pattern of activity as we are experiencing....
Our investor customers are doing research to understand what is really happening in the markets. They tend to dig behind the headlines to find out what is really going on. What they are seeing is a global fiscal crisis that is getting worse every day. So they want to get rid of their US dollars for precious metals. I believe they are tilting their purchases toward silver for two reasons. First, the absolute price of gold is getting high enough that it is more difficult to afford. Second, by not rising over the past week, silver appears to be the comparative bargain....
When all three market niches are combined, times are extremely active for coin dealers. In the past few days, the average in-store customer has had to wait 10-15 minutes for an employee to be free to serve them. Normally, they could be served promptly upon arrival. It has been difficult to handle phone calls and keep up with emails. More than a few lunches have been missed. Some of us have seen less of our families than normal. While I enjoy the action, it does make me sad to think of the political malfeasance that is the main reasons why gold and silver prices have soared so much in the past decade....
http://news.coinupdate.com/report-from-the-coin-dealer-front-lines/
With the surge in gold prices over the past week or so and a lackluster silver price, what have people been actually buying and selling in physical gold and silver products? My own companies serve three customer niches. First, we buy and sell rare coins with collectors. Second, we buy and sell bullion-priced gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins and ingots with investors. Third, we are active buyers of gold, platinum, and silver jewelry from the public. These niches have moved in different patterns in the past week.
The market for non-bullion related rare coins is slow and steady. It does not seem like we have as many customers for these coins in the past year or so as we did 30 years ago. Higher gold prices have persuaded some collectors to let loose of some of their gold coins, especially $20.00 Double Eagles. Other than that, the buying and selling continues at pretty much an even keel.
Our investor customers have been buying like crazy in this past week, but they are buying silver almost to the exclusion of gold, platinum, or palladium. There has been very little liquidation....
We talk with dozens of coin dealers around Michigan and the country every day. They are reporting the exact same pattern of activity as we are experiencing....
Our investor customers are doing research to understand what is really happening in the markets. They tend to dig behind the headlines to find out what is really going on. What they are seeing is a global fiscal crisis that is getting worse every day. So they want to get rid of their US dollars for precious metals. I believe they are tilting their purchases toward silver for two reasons. First, the absolute price of gold is getting high enough that it is more difficult to afford. Second, by not rising over the past week, silver appears to be the comparative bargain....
When all three market niches are combined, times are extremely active for coin dealers. In the past few days, the average in-store customer has had to wait 10-15 minutes for an employee to be free to serve them. Normally, they could be served promptly upon arrival. It has been difficult to handle phone calls and keep up with emails. More than a few lunches have been missed. Some of us have seen less of our families than normal. While I enjoy the action, it does make me sad to think of the political malfeasance that is the main reasons why gold and silver prices have soared so much in the past decade....
http://news.coinupdate.com/report-from-the-coin-dealer-front-lines/