Some turn to gold and silver as economy falters; experts advise diversification is best
Arizona Coin Collector
On the story below, does the United States Mint buy there
Silver and Gold from both domestic and foreign suppliers?
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FROM:
http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2008/09/24/092508_1a_Gold_investing.html
Some turn to gold and silver as economy falters; experts advise
diversification is best
By ANNA MARIA BASQUEZ
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
There is a near run on silver locally, and gold is getting
harder to find at coin dealer shops as dealers say more
people are placing their wealth in tangible assets they
can monitor.
"In the last three or four months, I have seen people
taking their money out of the banks and putting it into
precious silver, because they want hard assets," said
Teresa Mays, owner of International Coin & Stamp Inc.,
440 Main St. "My customers are telling me they have
little faith in the U.S. dollar. They are trying to put
their wealth into something they think will increase
in value."
Mays closed a sale Wednesday for someone buying 134
ounces of gold in one transaction. Mays and other
dealers are seeing silver either obsolete or in very
small amounts.
"About three months ago, it started to become a little
more difficult to get some of these products. Then about
a month ago, it's like the door closed," Mays said.
"There is not any silver available."
The U.S. Mint halted production a month ago on the gold
eagle coins, and production of the silver eagle has
been on and off since March, she said.
"Therein lies the mystery," she said. "Why can't they
get the planchets? Why aren't these (domestic mining)
companies producing planchets like they did before?"
While people rush toward the coin counters, they should
start small first, says one local dealer.
"If you had $100,000 in the bank, and you buy $100,000
of silver bullion, and tomorrow the price of silver
goes down, you got hurt pretty bad," said Don Taylor,
owner of Century Coin Shoppe, 532 Iowa Ave., in Palisade,
where there is still some silver inventory that he said
likely will be sold by week's end. "Have some silver,
have some gold. But don't put your whole nest egg in it."
The price of silver dropped for a bit in mid-2008, he
said. Both gold and silver dropped between spring and
summer, he said. Silver is now at $15 an ounce and is
fluctuating daily, while gold is running around $900
an ounce.
"I do more of the rare coins, and that market is out of
control. It's gone nuts," Taylor said. "When the value
of the dollar starts falling, precious metal starts
going up."
Mays advises people to continue to diversify their
portfolios.
"Some people are cashing out of stocks altogether,
" she said. "I really don't recommend that. I recommend
them to diversity and think about adding some gold
and silver to their portfolio."
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