Olympic Coins and Other Investments

[Will Martin]

Nice to hear from a pro in the field. Could you post some comments regarding
what the "resale" market on these Olympic coins will do after the government
or the Olympic Committeee stops selling them? What will happen to the unsold
leftovers -- will they be melted down or sold at a discount or scrap value
on a bid basis to a large coin dealer or a salvage operation? Will the
dealer community offer to buy these from individuals who want to sell
them only for the precious-metal value, or will the artificially-high issue
price have an effect of maintaining a higher sale value on these "coins"?

Do you expect that these will be available for sale from dealers at some
time in the future at a price higher than the metal value (of course!) but
lower than the current issue prices? If so, how long will this take?
(That is, will the value drop to this level the day after the issuer
stops selling them, or will it take months or years?) How long do you
expect this lower price to be maintained -- essentially forever (that is,
only inflation will raise the price back above the original amount), or
will they eventually become valuable enough that there will be a
"collector's premium" raising the price, thereby justifying them as
investments, albeit poor ones?

And, while I'm asking you to predict the future, where will silver be
next March? :-)

Regards, Will