Why Invest in Physical Gold and Silver in a Self Directed IRA?

Investment in physical gold and silver has always been a hot and controversial topic of discussion in many trading and investment circles. You will always find proponents and opponents of investing in physical precious metals, this I can guarantee. Each side has their foundational beliefs rooted in their ideas of the pros and cons, which adds fuel to their staunch positions. This is a healthy debate, as an investor needs both viewpoints to determine what is right for their personal investment needs.

My viewpoint? I weigh in on the side of allocating a percentage of your portfolio to owning physical precious metals simply for sound diversification purposes. If history has taught us anything, it has taught us that economic crisis rears its ugly head in the most unsuspecting of times. Total diversification is paramount in those times... this I have learned the hard way.

A handful of benefits for investing in physical gold and silver:

· You can protect your purchasing power as inflation rises.

· Helps protect you against the Government's free flowing money printing press. Our country manages our debt by printing more money to pay off the debt on the money it has already printed. Trying to solve a debt crisis by creating more debt is surely not the answer... is it? Who is going to eventually pay that price? If you own physical gold and silver, most likely not you.

· It can help protect you against a major banking crisis, if that were to happen.

· Protect your savings against currency (U.S Dollar) devaluations.

· Gold isn't just for preserving money; it is a wealth builder as well. Historically, since 1971, gold has outperformed the S&P 500, real estate and currencies.

· Despite what some may say, gold and silver are very liquid compared to a lot of other types of investments.

· Physical gold and silver are tangible investments. If you wealth is tied up in what you can't see, is it really safe?

· Gold and Silver will NEVER be worth Zero.

· Supply is decreasing, there is an increasing worldwide demand

· When bought in an IRA, appreciation value grows tax-free.

· Gold investing is the secret of the ultra-rich. The world's wealthiest families are currently hoarding gold. Why aren't you? An IRA makes it possible.

These are just a few reasons I invest in physical gold and silver and the way I do it is through a self directed IRA. Why a self directed IRA? Simple, it's so easy to do and your investment is protected under the governing laws just like a regular IRA.

You can rollover an existing IRA into a self directed IRA with ease. Most investors that are seeking to diversify a portion of their existing IRA portfolio will fund a self directed IRA by rolling over a 401k from a previous employer or transferring a dormant IRA from another firm.

This article is just a taste of what can be done with a self directed IRA. To learn about my step-by-step process on how to build real wealth with gold, download my free copy of:

"Building Mega Wealth With Gold IRA's"

It can be downloaded here.

[http://www.GoldandSilverSpotlight.com]

Good Investing,

Chris Halpin

Download your free copy of my eBook, " Build Mega Wealth with Gold IRA's" at my website, [http://www.GoldandSilverSpotlight.com] to learn more about the benefits of owning Gold and Silver in a Self Directed IRA.

Where To Get Cash For Gold

With so many television advertisements on places to sell gold for cash, people facing a tough financial time have several options to choose from. It is advisable to beware of scam artists out to take off with your cash after measuring the gold. Various gold buying websites are the most common scams. Although, the internet may be the number one source of finding a gold buying company, you must ensure they are legit through some research and solid recommendations.

Another avenue for selling gold is jewelers who measure the gold and give the value upfront. However, before visiting a jeweler, it is best to research how much the gold may be worth. This is just so there is no chance of getting ripped off. Jewelers are available in towns and cities so finding one with good recommendations will not be very difficult.

Additionally, there are several legit local gold buying companies that come with good recommendations. One Australian report from 1999 shows how people can handle selling gold. It would be advisable to read through it before visiting any of these gold buying avenues.

Why Sell Gold?

There are a number of reasons why people sell their gold for cash;

The ability to get through a tough economic time. Easing the financial pressures through selling gold can help people meet their bills and even remain with some money to go on a vacation.

The high price for gold that skyrocketed during the recession period. This allowed people to get lots of cash for gold ornaments and products they were not using.

It is important to learn a few tips from legit informational sources such as the Australian Global Market Research on the handling and selling procedures of turning gold into cash.

What Is The Procedure For Selling Gold?

The process is very easy. Visit a gold buying company or jeweler, weigh the gold and get cash according to the weight. The beauty in the process is receiving the cash up front. No waiting for several business days for a bank to clear a cheque or someone to mail the cheque.

The process is a bit different when dealing with a legit website. People need to send a sample of their gold to the company for verification purposes. Once the buyers verify the gold is real, they will ask how much rest weigh and give an amount according to the weight. People can weigh their gold at home and send an appropriate figure. They can send the rest of the gold and a cash amount will be sent to their address.

Selling gold to a website may be risky due to some buyers giving a percentage of the sum they had initially promised. Therefore, extreme caution must be used. Use a website that a friend or family member had used earlier. That way, the legitimacy of the website can be verified.

Note that the price of gold goes up and down every time. Therefore, the price fluctuations should not cause worry when selling. Just research on the gold's worth before selling.

Abraham Barakat inherited some gold earrings, necklaces and bracelets from her grandmother. Since he had delayed making his mortgage payment, he sought to selling the gold ornaments. Gold Dealers Company made him a great offer that not only helped meet his mortgage payments but also go on a vacation with his family.

Rare American Coins and U.S. Pattern Dollars

Pattern coins were made as test coins during their developmental stages. They represent where our coinage might have gone and where our circulation issue coins come from. They might also represent the birth of a new issue, or an experiment with a new alloy.

You might also say some pattern coins are the evidence of seamier practices of mint officials, who produced coins for their own benefit. Mostly however, they are misfits. They usually are the coins never produced for use in commerce.

Pattern coins can be categorized as:

True Patterns: are used to test a design with the intention of using the coin for circulation.

Experimental Pieces: are usually variations of a coin, i.e. planchet thickness or diameter, shape or composition, etc.

Regular Die Trial Pieces: are regular issue coins struck in a metal other than used in their circulating variety. They are used for press setup or trying a new way to strike the coin. They are also used as inexpensive samples for study.

There have been many metals used in pattern coins. Some of them are: copper, copper-nickel, aluminum, brass, bronze, gold, nickel, lead, pewter, tin, steel, zinc and silver. The trial pattern can be struck on both sides of the coin, or on just one side. If it is struck on just one side, it is known as a "splasher".

Pattern coins are beautiful, rare and historically significant. They are real bargains when you consider their actual rarity. Pattern coins are an important part of the coin development process, and are rarer than any regular issue coin.

There were no pattern dollars for many of the years between 1794 and 1885. But some years such as 1873, there are many pattern examples following the demonetization of silver and putting the US on a gold-only standard.

1873 was a rich year for patterns, because the Coinage Act of 1873 provided for a revamping of US coinage. The Trade Dollar was authorized by Congress and the half dime, 3 cent piece and 2 cent piece were eliminated.

Very few people are either aware of, or interested in these specimens. Because sales are so infrequent, there are no reliable price guides for them.

Pattern dollars prices fluctuate with the coin market, but generally with less volatility. Pattern silver dollars cost from $2000 for lower grade "common" coins, to well over half a million for MS-65, 1794 Flowing Hair dollars.

There are very few experts in this field. Probably the first was J. Hewitt Judd. J. Hewitt Judd has established the rarity for each pattern coin from 1794 until 1885. Then he assigned a number to every pattern silver dollar the US Mint explored during that time. This was the era for pattern coins, as the US Mint became the nation's largest coin dealer.

Owning Gold ETFs Vs Owning Physical Gold - Which Choice Is Better for You?

It's only a matter of time.

Maybe you saw it on a TV commercial or a banner ad on the internet but the message was clear: The time is nigh for a coming financial Apocalypse. If the marketers got their way this message would've stirred up a small tornado of panic in your gut. You remember the great recession of 2008. You can't forget how it devastated your hard-earned savings.

All of the fever-pitched hyperbole aside, can we at least agree that predicting the future is a fallible at best? But one thing the investment gurus and the rest of us can agree on: The value of a diversified portfolio.

What does that mean?

Many experts will suggest holding a percentage of your assets in a hard, tangible asset.

While it is possible that financial Apocalypse may be in our future, making hair-trigger decisions based on irrational fear is never a good idea.

For you, we hope that you're more of a considering type. You're willing to take the time to do some research and have discovered many of the advantages of owning precious metals in your retirement portfolio. Maybe you're come to the decision that gold

Hopefully, you're more of a considering type. You've taken the time to do some research and have discovered many of the advantages of owning precious metals in your retirement portfolio. You've come to the conclusion that gold might be the ideal investment choice as you're looking for something longer term - the kind of investment that will not only diversify your portfolio, but grow it over time.

Should You Invest in an ETF or Is Physical Gold the Way to Go?

First the question: What Is an ETF?

An ETF (Exchange-traded Fund) is basically similar to a mutual or index fund in that it performs based on gold market value and is traded like a stock on an exchange. A gold ETF may hold various gold assets including stocks in mining companies as well as gold reserves. Unlike precious metals, though, an ETF is not a tangible, hard asset. With an ETF, instead of holding possession of the actual metal, you hold only paper. As some experts will say, if you don't hold it, you don't own it. ETFs don't provide investors with the most direct exposure to gold not in the way that owning physical metal.

As there are many ETFs from which to choose, deciding which is for you should be a decision based on performance, expense ratios, fees, etc. You can also purchase ETFs on margin. This means that investors only front a percentage of the investment's value. Investors with experience in margin buys know that when prices go up, you can magnify your returns handsomely. But it's also a double-edged sword: When you're on the downside, you lose money twice as fast.

Are You the Right Kind of Investor for ETFs?

Are you risk averse? Do you have an iron gut? Can you cover your loses? Then, maybe margin buying is for you.

If you're a steely-nerved high-frequency trader looking for something that'll allow you to quickly move in and out of positions multiple times a day, then ETFs may be your game. ETFs are best suited for the short term. ETFs also give investors the opportunity to participate in gold and silver without having to take physical ownership of any asset. But if you want to own physical gold or silver you'll need to be more patient. Precious metals are a longer term investment better suited to actual investors, not "traders."

Currently, gold is experiencing a selloff that is making prices low. Prices this low provide investors an excellent opening for accumulating a long-term position in physical holdings of gold.

ETFs vs Physical Gold

While an ETF allows the investor to benefit from the price moves of gold or silver, there are also several risks and other detrimental qualities that you don't encounter with owning physical metals.

The benefits of physical gold:

• It is a tangible asset with inherent value

• It's a time honored hedge against paper stock volatility

• It's balances the performance of your portfolio

• Protects against bank failures

• Great liquidity

What Don't You Get with an ETF:

• As a paper stock it holds no inherent value

• It offers little protection against stock market volatility

• Little accountability - custodianship of gold holdings are not audited

• High reporting requirements

Where to Get More Information

With the stock market and the U.S. Dollar at a five year high, and the spot price of gold at a five year low, there may be no better time to invest in gold.

But don't go into it blindly.

You can begin by downloading a FREE mini-course that can help answer many of your questions about gold and silver investing and Self-directed IRAs. (See link below.) This course is full of important money-saving investment tips and expert advice. This course was designed to help investors save precious time and possibly thousands of dollars.

John Roz is a Managing Director at a boutique precious metals wholesaler in Los Angeles. He has worked in the industry for over 15 years. He writes about precious metals investing and retirement accounts.

How To Sell Gold: 3 Things You Must Know

If you want to sell gold, you must be fully equipped with as much information as possible. This knowledge will help you get the best possible price.

What Is Involved In The Selling Process?

People who have broken or unwanted pieces of gold jewelry can easily sell them off to gold dealers and jewelers. These gold-buying companies purchase such jewelry and extract the gold from it. Therefore, your broken pieces of jewelry are still valuable, as long as they contain the precious metal.

When planning to sell your jewelry, it's always wise to check different offers from a number of jewelers. You're likely to find a better price from the second or third jeweler that you visit. Alternatively, you can check for different offers from gold dealers, many of whom offer online quotes.

How Much Money Can You Get From It?

Having a prior estimate of the price you might get for your jewelry is important. An assessment carried out by Money Saving Expert on April 2014, revealed some of the prices you would get for a sample of gold items:

- An 18 carat wedding ring would give approximately $103.

- A 9 carat gold ring had a price of approximately $47.

- A pair of 9 carat stud earrings would give you approximately $8.

- An old gold tooth crown (14 carat) had a price of approximately $55.

- A 9 carat butterfly back earring would give you approximately $1.92.

Such prices reflect the expected returns from selling old and broken items. You can expect higher returns from top carat items.

Taxes on Gold

When calculating your net profit from selling gold items, you must first consider the expected cost. Obviously, any taxes you pay will affect this calculations.

Two forms of taxation must be considered. These include GST (Goods and Services Tax) and CGT (Capital Gains Tax).

In the first instance, GST wouldn't apply to jewelry and numismatic coins, since they aren't considered investment grade gold. For a metal to be considered taxable under the GST Act, it must possess the character of that particular metal and not a different character, such as jewelry. This means that such precious metal must possess a specified fineness, apart from being in an investment form.

Some of the precious metals considered taxable under the GST Act include:

(I) Gold (in an investment form) bearing at least 99.5% fineness.

(ii) Platinum of at least 99% fineness and in an investment form.

(iii) Silver (in an investment form) bearing at least 99.9% fineness.

(iv) Any other substance that is in an investment form and possesses a particular fineness specified in the regulations.

According to the Australian Taxation Office, instances when GST is applicable include transactions when bullion dealers sell such products as 22k gold coins or 92.5% sterling silver coins.

On the other hand Capital Gains Tax would apply when you sell your gold jewelry. Capital gain is simply the difference between the cost of acquiring an asset and income received after selling it. The Australian Taxation Office states that CGT is actually part of your income tax.

The insights offered by Abraham can help you benefit from investing in gold. You too can achieve great financial results similar to his successful investment in gold. You can easily apply these practical ideas with positive results.

Cash For Gold: How To Avoid Getting Duped

With world gold prices soaring in the midst of another global financial wave of turmoil, experts are warning people that seek to cash in their jewelry to be cautious concerning those they transact with. Similarly, the festive season is fast approaching and many will be at the pawn or jeweler's shop to dispose some gold item for the needed cash. Before you head that direction, take a look at these steps and word of caution.

Check Your Gold For Hallmarks

Hallmarking is generally any distinguishing trait or characteristic on precious metals. Before you dispose your gold articles, make sure you have verified its hallmarking. This way, you will be having an estimate of its value. You can verify if your potential buyer is party to the international standards on hallmarking laid down by the Vienna Convention 1972 through their website. Alternatively, you could visit the World Gold Council (WGC) for more insights on this.

Hallmarking generally guarantees that jewelry has been tested and that it meets certain set quality standards. The hallmarking ought to contain jeweler's mark, year of marking, fineness, code letter and hallmarking center mark.

Melted Gold May Diminish In Value

If you are selling cash for gold, be aware that the dealers will only pay you for the actual gold content and not for other artistic or ornamental attributes contained therein. The other precious stones may be of no value to them. Make sure that you discuss everything with the buyer prior to agreeing to sell your gold items or have the precious stones removed first.

Confirm The Karat Content

Gold is a soft metal and has to be hardened by the addition of other metals like zinc and silver before it makes jewelry. The karat content informs you about the purity level of your gold. A higher karat count means the more pure is the gold and hence more valuable when selling. Therefore don't sell your gold unless you know the karat content. Pure gold stands at 24 Karats or 99.9% purity and 999 fineness.

Verify The Reputation Of Dealers

Generally, regulations internationally require that you identify yourself when selling gold. Similarly insist on them also identifying themselves by showing you their certifications and trading licenses. This ensures that you are not abetting money laundering. Insist on getting an official receipt for any gold sold.

Don't Sell When Under Pressure

While selling make sure that there is no pressure coming from the buyer or salesperson. G. Jeffrey MacDonald writing for the Christian Science Monitor in December 2010 in an article headed "Want to sell your gold, silver jewelry? Research first", warns that to get the best prices for gold, find out its weight and purity, then take your time and compare the offers.

Stick to these steps and words of caution and odds being duped get reduced dramatically. Gold is basically a costly item and its prices have in the last one decade almost tripled in terms of value. It pays to be careful and not live to regret later after the deal has gone sour. The trick is doing your homework comprehensively before you engage the buyers and online resources are plenty for this.

Where To Sell Gold

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABC) describes the discovery of gold in seven regions of Australia at different times. Traces were first discovered in Fish River, New South Wales in 1823 by Government Surveyor James McBrien, while the first sizeable nugget was found in Hargraves, New South Wales in 1851.It also describes the rising number of gold ownership and mining.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade gives the following statistics:

In 2010, gold exports were third in rank after iron ore and coal, with a value of 15 billion Australian Dollars. This was approximately 6.5% of the total exports. An increase by 3% per year has been registered steadily over the last ten years, indicating a healthy gold market. India and the United Kingdom are listed as the largest market, accounting for about 36% of exports. Thailand, Singapore and China are other big buyers.

Popular industries that purchase Gold locally and internationally are:

1. Coin Minting Industry

The Australian Nugget, minted by the Perth Mint, is an example of a currency made out of gold, and it comes in several denominations.

2. Governments And Financial Institutions

It is standard practice for many governments and financial institutions like banks or exclusive creditors to stockpile Gold reserves as a form of money reserve or trade purposes. The UK is a big buyer for this reason.

3. Jewelers

This is one of the largest 'consumers' of gold, India being the largest internationally.Rings, earrings, bracelets, purses, necklaces, shoes and bags are all adorned by gold and anyone spotted with gold is assumed to belong the upper economic class. Human nature predisposes us to wanting to outdo each other. This being so, it is not likely that the buying of gold jewelry or items draped in pure gold is about to stop.

4. Individuals

There are individuals who pride themselves as being gold collectors, while others, out of a supposed sense of a looming world economic crisis, collect gold to preserve their money. As it is, gold is an international currency.

5. Dentists

Lost teeth are sometimes replaced by gold coated artificial teeth.

6. Art And Decor Industry

Gold sculptures for the high end market are available to decorate homes and offices.

Ornate Gold Carvings, sculptures and statues are highly priced in museums around the world. A statue like the Golden Buddha, the world's largest gold statue, is priced at 250 million US Dollars (approximately 217 Australian Dollars).

7. Award Medals

Winners in almost all sports and championships are awarded gold medals as standard practice.

8. Motor Vehicle Industry

Safety air bags systems have crash sensors which include gold plated steel balls at the ends.

9. Electronics

Gold is an excellent conductor of electricity, is malleable and ductile. It is used in exclusive circumstances, instead of standard copper or aluminum, to make electric cables and in computer circuit systems.

10. Satellites And Rockets

Gold reflects heat, and was used to coat the Apollo 14, which was the first vehicle to land and on the moon. Satellites sent out to space are also coated in films of gold for the same reason.

Gold Dealers

Selling gold can be risky and by far, this is the most viable option since many gold dealers can take smaller denominations of gold even from individuals. They also are keener on market trends and prices, therefore making your sale easier. Virtually all of the other industries have a set minimum, which could be more than what an individual has. Reasonable prices are set and negotiation is easier with Gold dealers.


Australia Gold Dealers have been a registered and a valuable and trustworthy buyer of gold from countless individuals and enterprises. They offer fair prices and have a transparent process in the buying of gold, making them a trusted name for sellers. Abraham is a professional at AGD and incharged with monitoring the buying and sale of gold around the world on a daily basis

What To Know Before Looking For Places Where To Sell Gold Coins

If you are a first time investor in gold you may be wondering where to sell your gold. Before 1976, there were restrictions on the ownership and sale of gold in whatever form in Australia. Holding gold coins of more than $50 was possible only with the consent of the Reserve Bank. Sales were only made to the same institution. Press release number 29 of 1976, however, reversed the situation.

Gold coins sells in different markets depending on whether they are antique, collectible or valuable. Gold coins are actually more expensive than nuggets or bars. This is so because they are complex, rich in detail and elaborate, meaning it costs more to produce them. Consequently, they sell for more money per ounce. They also cost higher in buying the same unit.

Gold coins are sold in particular markets, since not everyone will recognize the value of a gold coin when they see it, they may not even know what kind it is, whether rare or common. Before you sell, walk around to assess and compare prices form various target buyers, in this case, coin minting companies or pawnshops with dealers whom you have concluded to be knowledgeable in different types of coins and exactly what they are worth. Bullion coins, produced en masse, have their prices fluctuating according to world prices while rare coins have a steady value.

If you have a huge collection, classify your coins from the most valuable to fairly cheaper ones and sell them as so. Rare coins obviously have a higher value. Weigh them for yourself with a digital scale preferably and estimate the costs.

The Most Common Coins In Australia Are:

1. The Australian Gold Nugget

2. Australian lunar gold bullion

Rare coins according to the Australian Coin Review and Coinworks include:

1. 1813 NSW Holley Dollar and Dump

2. 1852 Adelaide Pound

3. The 1930 Penny

Exporting Gold Coins

The largest buyers of Gold from Australia is India. The second and the third are United Kingdom and Thailand respectively as at 2010. Before you move gold coins out of the country however, especially in bulk, you should report it, according to the AUSTRACT Act of 2006 which makes moving physical currency whose value is above 10000 Australian Dollars illegal. Currency in this case may be interpreted by the courts to include gold.

Online Auctions

This is a big risk that could offer you great returns however. The best part about it is the auctioning, where prospective buyers will bid for the highest price possible. You might get a higher margin than when selling at a pawnshop or jewelers'. Start by selling the low value coins to 'test the waters'.

Keep in mind that there are wholesale and retail coin dealers. Retailers often give more money for gold coins. Wholesalers, most of the time, sell to retailers. A wholesaler will buy for less since they have two mediums to go through before the final sale of the gold coins is done. Whenever possible, deal with big names that belong to societies like The Numismatic Association of Australia, who require that members adhere to certain standards and ratify codes of ethics.

Rare American Coins and the True Rarity of U.S. Silver Dollars

Generic silver dollars in grades MS-60 and above seem common because there are over 6,859,000 NGC and PCGS graded MS-60+ Trade, Morgan, and Peace dollars. At first glance, Morgan & Peace dollars seem anything but rare.

There are an estimated 40-50 million uncirculated pre-1921 Morgans and 30-40 million uncirculated Peace dollars. The majority of these would grade MS-60 to MS-62 condition, especially in the Peace series.

Almost 850 million silver American dollars were minted between 1878 and 1935. The Pittman Act of 1918 resulted in 270 million Morgans being melted, then later replaced with 86 million 1921 Morgan, and 190 million Peace dollars.

Then, 52,739,000 Peace dollars were melted in 1942 for the WWII effort and never replaced. The total number of Morgan and Peace silver dollars melted between 1883 and 1964 is 333 million. Total surviving Morgan and Peace coins in all grades is around 514 million.

Investment level Morgan and Peace series coins in grades MS-65+ have a combined PCGS and NGC population of 975,000. This seems like a lot of silver American dollar coins available.

If you multiply the figure 975,000 by their average bargain price of $2100 that gives us a pitifully small market of $2.0475 billion. When you compare this to the hundreds of billions of dollars traded daily on equity and exchange markets, the rare silver dollar investment market is amazingly small. There are many Americans with a net worth of more than the total value of the investment grade rare silver dollar market.

Circulated and lower grade common MS silver American dollars are worth only a small price over their spot or melt value. Their market is very liquid and affordable for the average income silver dollar investor.

1794-1804 flowing hair/draped bust, 1840-1873 Liberty Seated & 1873-1885 Trade Dollars are incredibly rare compared to the Morgan & Peace series. 42.2 million Liberty Seated and 35.9 million Trade Dollars were minted.

27 million Trade Dollars were exported to the Orient, never to return to the US. That leaves only 8.9 million examples in all grades for collecting. Even though the Flowing Hair and Draped Bust series coins weren't melted by the US Government, their survival rate hasn't been high.

A total of 162,000 Flowing Hair and 1,284,000 Draped Bust examples were originally minted. Studies show a 3% to 5% survival rate for these early silver dollars. That leaves a combined total of 43,000 to 76,000, 1794 to 1803 silver dollars remain in all conditions.

If 90 million uncirculated silver American dollars from all years of production remain in existence, perhaps one out of four people in the US could own an original issue, uncirculated example. Modern issue uncirculated Silver Eagles are far more plentiful than all the original silver dollars put together.

Even though the numbers sound high, when more people get interested in collecting silver dollars issued and intended as currency, there aren't enough to go around. I'd like to say modern Silver Eagles will always remain common, but there may come a time when they're considered rare also.

How to Invest in Gold for Inflation Protection

The four asset classes in a Permanent Portfolio include stocks, bonds, cash and gold. Each asset class hedges against one of the four economic conditions: inflation, deflation, prosperity and recession. We initially invest 25% each into each asset class and then rebalance the whole portfolio when one of the asset classes reaches a 35% or 15% rebalancing trigger. Gold can be a volatile asset in isolation but when its combined with the other asset classes, it has actually helped reduce the volatility of the overall portfolio. We don't buy gold because we think it will go up in price. We buy gold for the protection it can provide for the savings we can't afford to lose. You actually need to be agnostic about all four different asset classes in the portfolio; each one serves a well defined purpose and will do better than the others at different unpredictable times.

Gold is our hedge against inflation and an uncertain world. Gold prices react strongly to inflationary pressures, currency devaluations or political upheavals. We only use gold bullion in the Permanent Portfolio not gold mining stocks, other derivatives or commodities. Gold doesn't earn any income but it can produce capital gains when the other assets in the portfolio don't. Holding physical gold offshore in a vault and insured is the best way to invest in and hold gold. I also suggest that you purchase and store some one ounce gold coins like the American Eagle or Canadian Gold Maple Leaf in a safe deposit box in a bank close to your home in case of a local emergency.

Gold is the only hard asset that you can include in the portfolio, the rest are just paper assets. You never know what the future will bring, so it's always comforting to know that you have some assets you can get access to outside of the country you live in. If you don't live in Australia, that country could be a good location to store gold since they are a stable country and have a great reputation for storing gold for investors. In many situations though it may not be feasible to hold physical gold, like in your retirement account for example or it's just not convenient for you. In those cases a gold exchange traded fund (ETF) will be your best option. Here are some gold ETFs trading in the USA you may want to explore including their trading symbols:

iShares Gold Trust (IAU)
Central Gold Trust (GTU)
SPDR Gold Trust (GLD)

If you live outside of the USA you should explore similar ETF options.

Joseph Gal is a self-directed investor, author and consumer advocate with over 30 years of investing experience. Joseph doesn't sell investments, insurance or annuities; he educates only. Joseph wrote the book and video "Invest Safely & Generate Income for Life" which is available on his website for $1.99 and you can also contact him

Simple Best Way To Invest in Gold and Silver

If you are looking to increase the viability of your long term financial portfolio, then precious metals should definitely be a part of the discussion. There are many options available to those who want to invest in precious metals. The gold and silver investment strategy that some of the best investors in the world apply to their own portfolios is now available to the average investor.

No matter your previous experience in investing in gold and silver, the potential for profit is better than ever. No matter what anyone tells you about the viability of precious metals in a bear market or in a bull market, the fact remains that good investors can utilize the market for precious metals in many different ways, especially when the vehicle for investing becomes easy to use.

Here are some of the simple ways that you can invest in gold and silver.

- Find a stable precious metals ETF and use it in a diversified, long term strategy.

Whether you have ties with a mutual fund company or not, an exchange traded fund will always be available for you to trade. The ETF gives you the same options as a single stock while providing you with the diversification that is usually only available to people who are investing in mutual funds. Placed into a long term strategy of diversification, the precious metals ETF provides the average investor with a way to get into the market for gold and silver without giving away any financial information to an outside entity for no reason.

- Invest in gold and silver bullion.

Although governments across the world have attempted to make investment in bullion more difficult because they wanted to create a monopoly for themselves, it is still very possible to invest in bullion for yourself. The process is much more defined, and it goes through the government in most nations, but it remains one of the most profitable ways to place gold and silver in your portfolio.

No matter how much trouble it may be, any reputable financial advisor will encourage you to take the time to do the research for obtaining bullion in your portfolio. If done to scale, the effort will have a great chance of paying off for you in the long run.

- Invest in gold and silver products.

Even if you do not want to do the research to invest in gold or silver bullion, you can still invest in gold and silver products very easily. Much of the world's most valuable jewelry is made from gold and silver and still contains a high percentage of the precious metals in the product. Buying one of these products is almost the same as making a purchase of gold and silver bullion, with the added feature that the product can be used in day to day life.

For instance, many of the top investors in the world have made it a point to purchase watches from esteemed companies that are known to put high grade gold and silver content in their products. In this way they are able to invest in the precious metals, maintain the value of their investments no matter how the market moves, and create the added value of social prestige with the product that they have invested in. This example of watches is far from the only way that this can be done. There are all kinds of investment artwork, cars and other precious metal featured products that can be invested in.

Easy Investment Guide to Gold and Silver

Since long time ago, gold and silver have gained the recognition of being valuable. They are the best precious metals in the world.

What are precious metals?

These are metals that include gold, silver, platinum as well as palladium that are majorly used as units of trade. All the mentioned metals have specific kind of value in the industrial sector. Metals such as silver are regularly used in quite a good number of companies. People buy these metals for economic purposes and values. It is significant to note that these metals are very rare, and this is what makes them worth. As far as History is concerned, the metals were used as currency and got featured in jewelry.

Precious metals investment for beginners

As a beginner in this sector, it is important to note that gold is the most valued of the precious metals. The color of gold is bright yellow, and the metal often gets used in jewelry. Gold is a rare precious metal and hence has very few industrial uses.

Silver is another precious metal that a beginner should know. It is in most cases paired with gold investments. Silver is known to have a high conductivity of electricity. It also has a high thermal conductivity of any metal. This makes it fit for use in the field of industry.

Why should a beginner invest in Precious Metals?

Expansion and watchful management of risk are imperative keys to investing achievement. It implies that you need to have numerous sorts of ventures, so that if one speculation does not do well, you will be secured.

Precious metals have been proven to make up around 5 to 15 percent of your complete investment portfolio. Gold and other item metals truly keep up an inherent quality and have a tendency to move steadily inverse the dollar. It means that if the dollar proves to be worth less, your gold will automatically be worth more and the other way around.

Gold, silver, and different valuable metals are unique in relation to different investments. They don't acquire an interest. These belonging are similar to wealth insurance, an approach to ensure that, regardless of what happens in the economy, you will dependably have stores accessible to you. In view of this, individuals looking to valuable metals as a long-haul venture don't frequently sell or exchange.

Advantage of investing in gold and silver

The major advantage of investing in gold and silver is that you can ensure your investment funds against the currency downgrades. You can also ensure your acquiring of power as inflation is consistently rising.

It is advantageous because you can ensure your investment and riches if an economic emergency in China, the US or Europe happens. Regardless of the fact that an economic crisis would bring about (impermanent) flattening, you would be preferred off with gold over being in paper cash or paper resources. It, therefore, ensures that as an investor of gold and silver, you are on the safe side of things.

Gold is the only cash that has never fizzled in the 5,000-year history of its utilization by people. On the other hand, Silver is a 'marvel metal'. It is second just to oil as the world's most valuable product.

In times of emergency, gold is the most secure venture that additionally has the best potential to build your riches. As research has proven, those who venture in the business of gold are the richest people. They have a regular flow of cash, and their businesses are steady. The fact of the matter is that gold is a totally private and mysterious venture that is likewise greatly compact.

In conclusion, venturing into precious metals investment for beginners is the best idea and that one can make in his or her life. with reference to the above discussed points, it is clear that this is one of the surest business that cannot fail a beginner for whatever reason.

Eisenhower Silver Dollars, Last of the Traditional Silver Dollar Type Coins

Dwight Eisenhower proved to be a successful leader in World War II, which led to the surrender of the Germans. He later was pursued by both parties for president. He won the 1952 election and again in 1956 as a Republican, and was known as an inspirational leader.

I personally don't care much for Eisenhower silver dollars. I include them here because they were the last of the 1 ounce silver dollar sized coins America ever produced, and a few even contained some silver.

The decade of the 1960's was a time of turmoil and change for the US. It was seen as not practical to use silver in circulation coinage any longer. The transition to cupronickel clad coins began in 1965.

From 1965 to 1969, silver clad copper which formed a 40% silver content was used. Then in 1970, cupronickel replaced silver in all fractional silver coinage. The new coins needed to be accepted by vending machines, the public, and be cost effective to produce.

A huge driving factor in eliminating silver in US coinage was that silver consumption was outpacing production. There was a concern that at the current rate of consumption, the Treasury's supply of silver would be exhausted by 1969. Silver was simply becoming too scarce for continued large scale use in coins.

Dwight Eisenhower died in 1969, and the Joint Commission on Coinage decided to honor him with a silver dollar sized coin. On December 31st, 1970, President Nixon approved the production of the Eisenhower silver dollar coin. The Eisenhower dollar was produced from 1971 through 1978.

Since no silver dollar sized coin had been produced since 1935, mint employees at all 3 branches were unfamiliar with striking coins that large. Denver got some practice with the 1964 Peace dollar, but Americans never got to see the result of their efforts.

San Francisco was the only mint to strike Eisenhower silver dollars with any actual silver in them. San Francisco struck both silver dollars containing silver and the cupronickel versions.

Proof coin production was moved to San Francisco in 1968. The San Francisco Mint struck Ikes containing 40% silver as proofs, and a few special "collector" uncirculated business strikes. None of the circulation strike Eisenhower silver dollars from any mint contained silver. All circulation strikes were cupronickel clad over a copper core.

If you can see a copper core along the rim of the coin, it isn't silver. If there is no copper visible on the rim, it is the collector edition 40% silver strike.

Even the "silver" versions were a compromise. They were.800 silver clad over a.210 silver/copper core. That gave the coin as a whole, 40% silver content.

Mint proof sets didn't necessarily have coins containing any silver either. Proof mintage exceeded 1 million coins, and up to 4 million coins every year of production. Business strikes approached a staggering 175 million coins in 1972. With these mintage figures, the lack of silver content, and low production quality, there is nothing rare or valuable about these coins.

The Eisenhower silver dollar, like the one dollar coins that followed was a package of compromise that completely failed as a circulating coin. The design was uninspired and production quality very low. No wonder there is so little collector interest in it.

Unfortunately as a young person, I saved as many of these coins as I could. I figured they would someday become valuable, and pay me back handsomely. I wish I'd collected Morgans in the 1970's instead. At least they did gain considerable value.

Gold Versus the Dollar

The U.S. owns about 258 million Troy ounces of gold that is of course mostly stored in Ft. Knox, and that gold in 2015 is worth about $310 billion dollars. That's a relatively paltry sum when you think about it, it's only about 1.7% of our current $18 trillion dollar national debt.

Gold increased in value from about $400 per Troy ounce in 2005 to about $1,200 per Troy ounce in 2015 or about three times (3X) in 10 years. Our national debt however went up from about $500 billion dollars to about $18 trillion dollars or about thirty-six times (36X) over the same period.

Doesn't it bother you that gold has increased so little over the past 10 years while our national debt has increase so much over the same time period? Trillions and trillions of paper dollars or just electronically created dollars and the value of gold has hardly moved? Does that make any sense?

It has been argued that the value of gold can not be directly related to dollars but only to its relative value in goods. An example often used is "if a Troy ounce of gold purchased a suit in 1920 the same quality suit could be purchased for an ounce of gold today." I'm sorry, but in my opinion that is a ridiculous comparison. Gold is valued on a supply and demand basis and when there is anxiety about the monetary system money gold prices take off. Gold is one of the few things that is difficult to create. You can't just decide you want to "create" a trillion dollars worth of gold, it just doesn't appear.

As long as gold is seen as a commodity, a material that makes beautiful jewelry, and there is no instability in the monetary system, gold's relationship to currency will remain disconnected. Gold is however scarce, that 258 million Troy ounces of gold the U.S. owns may grow with mining but compared to government dollar creation it's a very small increase.

China, in its ongoing attempts to dislodge the dollar as the favored reserve currency, is said to be hoarding gold and not reporting its holdings. Maybe China is one of the only countries that recognize that gold is a better foundation for money than a printing press. The dollar has defied logic by increasing in value in relation to gold based on nothing more than faith in the government. The question is how long can our increasingly monstrous house-of-paper and debt maintain that faith before gold again becomes a form of money.

1900 Lafayette, America's First Commemorative Silver Dollar

The Lafayette commemorative silver dollar was not only America's first commemorative silver dollar, but the first coin to have a portrait of our first president on it. This also was the only silver dollar commemorative coin minted until 1983.

These coins dated 1900 were actually struck on December 14th, 1899, which was the 100th anniversary of George Washington's death. This was technically in violation of the Mint Act of 1873 which required coinage to display the actual year of mintage as the date. 50,000 coins were minted in one day to be sold as fund raising souvenirs.

So, who was Lafayette, and why were they commemorating him with a silver dollar?

Marquis de Lafayette was born in 1757 to French nobility. He went to college, and then joined the French Army in 1771. In 1777 he became interested in the American Revolution, so he came over to offer his services.

Congress gave him a commission of Major General in the new Continental Army. He soon became good friends with George Washington, and influenced the French to join the Americans in an alliance against the British.

Lafayette's involvement in the American Revolution swung the war effort in the American's favor. This led to the British surrender in 1781.

The year 1900 was the year for the Paris Exposition, a monumental event for the time. All of France was celebrating and the US decided to join the party. The US planned on donating a large statue of General Lafayette on his horse, sculpted by Paul Bartlett.

This coin was minted to help raise funds for this impressive statue. The cost was estimated at $100,000. Therefore 50,000 coins were produced to be sold at $2 apiece to defray the cost.

The Mint's own Charles Barber designed this silver dollar with the pair of heads of Washington and Lafayette on the obverse and Bartlett's early sketch of the statue on the reverse.

School children contributed their pennies to help meet the statue's cost. In honor of their efforts, an inscription was added to the reverse which states "ERECTED BY THE YOUTH OF THE UNITED STATES IN HONOR OF GEN. LAFAYETTE".

The monument was unveiled on July 4th, 1900 in Paris for the Exposition.

Of the 50,000 Lafayette silver dollars produced, only around 36,000 were actually sold. The other 14,000 coins stayed in bank vaults until they were melted sometime before 1945.

Lafayette commemorative silver dollars are mostly found in circulated condition, as the American public didn't see them as particularly special at the time. AU+ examples are plentiful, but truly mint state specimens are really rare American coins.

Unfortunately, these coins are typically poorly struck, with dull luster and many bag marks. The 1900 Lafayette silver dollar is one of the rarest commemorative coins in MS-65 and higher condition.

The Truth About Gold

The gold market today is full of people beaten down and demoralized. Many bought gold on predictions of inflation that would cause their cash savings to evaporate into thin air. Others have been waiting for a coming crash in the bond market that would push huge pools of money out of the so called "safe haven" of the US dollar and into real assets, more specifically gold, causing an unprecedented rise in its price. As we can see once again the two drivers of fear and greed have been behind the very volatile market. Regardless of the reason, if the person bought on speculation of a higher price in terms of dollars, they have been spectacularly wrong since the bull market broke down in September of 2011 and many now are ready to throw in the towel. I do not discount the predictions that I mentioned above and they very well may come about. I would only like to point out that if you are feeling depressed about your gold allocations performance throughout the last couple years, there is a good chance that you had the wrong notion of buying gold in the first place.

Let me start off by saying that I am a BIG fan of gold. I'm sure that to most people it sounds completely insane for a person to love a shiny rock but I have a reason for my admiration. Since the dawn of man gold has been the best element to use as money. This can be proven rationally and empirically. Rationally though the recognition that the element of gold possesses certain characteristics (durability, portability, divisibility, intrinsic value) which just happen to best fit the bill for what money is (unit of exchange, unit of account, store of value). It can also be shown empirically by pointing out that gold has always been chosen as the preferred medium during instances throughout world history where there has been global trade without a currency being forced on the population. In other words, I love gold because it is the money of free people. It's real, it's tangible, it's value will never fall to zero and it's mostly untraceable. I want to be clear that I am not advocating for a gold standard. People should be able to choose whatever they would like to when trading with one another, it just so happens that this always turns out to be gold.

That being said, this does not mean that I think everyone should go rush out and spend all their money on gold. It is important to think clearly as to your intentions when putting a portion of your portfolio into something so as to not get burned as many are in the gold market today. I feel completely content with every once of gold that I have ever bought. I would like to point out the common misconceptions that have caused those that are upset to learn for their mistakes.

Gold is not an investment

I will start with the most widely held misconception first. Whenever you are considering "investing" there are several parameters that you should be looking at, first and foremost is cashflow or passive income. Cashflow is how much money the asset will put into your pocket on a monthly or quarterly basis. Obviously a gold coin does not produce monthly profits i.e. cashflow, therefore it is not an investment. If you are expecting price appreciation then you are not investing but speculating which is fine as long as you are prepared to lose the money that you are speculating with. You can invest in the gold market by buying gold mining stocks which pay a dividend, not by holding bullion. I think that it is a futile exercise to watch the price of gold but if you are determined to compare it's price appreciation with other things than you should compare gold up against other currencies or forms of money.

Gold is not money

This may seem to be completely counterintuitive to what I wrote earlier but it is not. I said that gold is the money of free people, unfortunately this does not describe society today. We are all forced to use paper "fiat" currencies issued by the government for all taxes, debt and dues by legal tender laws. Also, the cult of John Maynard Keynes has convinced most of those working in the western financial markets that gold is a barbarous relic which deserves no attention in the modern economy. This is how the government has taken away the naturally chosen money of gold an replaced it with paper which they run off of a printing press. Through the insidious process of inflation and debasement of the currencies the governments of the world are able to fund their atrocities without directly taxing the population. What this means practically is that gold is not held by a majority of the population and is therefore very volatile and not a good store of value.

You should never leverage a speculation

Using leverage is a great resource for those that want to acquire a cashflowing asset but a horribly bad idea for those speculating in the market. If not calculating your financing in terms of ROI, you might as well be borrowing money to throw on a roulette table. Also, when leveraging up make sure to read the terms closely and only do so in a corporate entity so as to not be personally reliable if the odds go against you.

No one can predict the market

No matter how much of a sure thing it seems that an investment is, it's not. There is no such thing as a sure thing and this is especially true in a market with unaccountable participants from all over the world. This does not mean that you should never look at market conditions and try to see if you can make some money, but only do so with money that you are prepared to lose. Market prediction is more of an art than a science and although there are many people out there that will convince you that they know which way the market is going, they don't, no one does. For this reason having more than 1/4 of your assets in only one thing is never a good idea.

The bottom line

You should look at gold as your financial insurance. Just like a life insurance or medical insurance, gold is something that you should buy and hope that you never have to cash in. If you cash in your financial insurance it will be in a time that the majority of people are desperate for a stable unit of account which usually means it is a time of all around financial chaos. At a time like this what you do not want is a piece of paper laying claim to some gold on the other side of the world. You want physical bullion that you can put your hands on. The best way to hold gold is in secure places that you can access if times get rough, this could be P.O. Boxes or safes at property owned by you or your family members. Although you may be tempted to tell people about your stash it is not something that you want to advertise, keep the location of your gold to yourself and maybe one or two very close family members. You should spread out you holdings in different locations in different countries and for God sake don't keep all of your gold in the United States. Buy it and forget about it, don't check the daily spot price and don't listen to gold brokers telling you to back up the truck because this time you can make a fortune. Make money in the way that you know how and sleep well at night knowing that no matter what happens in the markets you will never be completely wiped out.

Opportunity Arises Out of Crisis: Buy Gold by the Gram

Some things stare you in the face and you don't see them. Nobody was trying to hide the truth from you. The information has been reported via TV, national magazines, talk shows, books, documentaries you name it. However, you didn't pay it any attention or think about the ramifications to your way of life, your family or your future.

Then something totally unrelated happens and you start to think: The light bulb starts to burn brightly and you can't turn it off. Your immediate reaction to your new found knowledge is fear. Then you settle down and start to think about what you can possibly do to dodge the bullet or minimize the effect of being shot in the face at close range. The one thing you know for sure is that the bullet is coming.

I've been around the Internet marketing block for 20+years. With that knowledge (being fooled enough times will make you wise up) I say no to just about everything you can think of selling. Recently I was impressed by a product because it deals with finance at its base level. I'm in finance by profession and trade in the Forex market. I have a vested interest in global news that affects currency rates, especially Gold prices.

While researching claims about why everyone should buy gold, I heard rumors about the Dollar collapsing. Initially, I gave the prediction the same amount of thought as I gave the prediction that the real estate market was going to collapse: It did and people in the US (myself included) are still hurting from the economic fallout. Not wanting to be fooled again so quickly, I started doing some research on the collapse of the Dollar and how this could affect me and my family.

I was amazed at what the experts are saying could happen within hours of the Dollar collapsing. You can see this drama played out in southern states every time the weather forecast calls for snow, or freezing temperatures. All the basic food in the grocery is gone within hours. People react frantically like the storm will last a week and the truck won't be able to get to the store. If the Dollar collapses, their fears will probably become a reality. The truck may never leave the warehouse coming to their store again. The groceries may not be replenished.

Don't get stuck at the grocery store. Think about all the other ramifications of the Dollar collapsing.


Your job can not pay you in an acceptable currency that's exchangeable for goods and services.
Stocks have no value (the stock market crashed).
There's no money to fund government social programs (food stamps, welfare, housing, energy bill payments, etc.) which almost everyone needs all of a sudden.
You can't buy gas for your car or for heating.
The Dollars in your savings account are worthless.
Crime is running rampant. Riots, home invasion, people killing people to protect property and family, Martial Law. When people can't get food they do desperate things.

The collapse of the Dollar would truly be a bigger tragedy than we could ever begin to imagine. And, the experts say there could be a war and the depression last up to 25 years.

We cannot stop the Dollar from collapsing. It's already been set on a course of no return, and history shows that fiat currency (money back by nothing) returns to its original value, zero. But we can get educated on how we can survive in a post Dollar economy. The new money, if Russia and China buying all the Gold they can get their hands on for years is any indication, will probably be Gold or backed by Gold. We need to become Gold buyers and we need to do it now!

We can purchase 24 Karat, 999.9% pure Gold by the gram now. The price of Gold per gram is less than the cost of dinner for two at a mediocre restaurant. A gram of Gold is so small you can store it yourself (I wouldn't put it in a US safe deposit box), or have it stored offshore free of charge. There are monthly gold savings plans available to help us accumulate Gold quickly.

Yes! Opportunities Arise out of Crisis. You can become a Gold dealer and help others prepare for the crisis that's headed our way. Here's the 54 million Dollar question (excuse my pun). From this point forward, are you going to save Dollars or are you going to save Gold? You've been informed. The rest is up to you!

The Pivotal Grading Point of Rare American Coins

The pivotal grading point of a rare coin is defined as the MS grade where the next higher grade is worth more than double the grade just below it. This is essential information for the rare American coin investor as well as collector.

Generally, two conditions will be present for a pivotal point grade. Learn to identify pivotal grading points and use this information to your advantage.

First, the third party grading service population report number of the higher grade must be less than 50% of the lower grade coin. If you review population reports, this is almost universally true.

Second, there will be at least a 100% price increase between the lower grade and the higher grade. Often, there is considerably more than double the price increase.

Pricing information for this article is based on the CDN Greysheet listings for Morgan and Peace dollars.

There is virtually always more than one pivotal grade point for a key date mint state coin. It's the combination of population and price that determines the initial and secondary pivotal point.

The secondary pivotal grading point usually has a more dramatic price increase than the initial. There are a few exceptions to this rule. The 1893-S Morgan is one of them.

The higher the coin grade, the more pivotal it becomes.

Generally speaking, the majority of Morgan and Peace silver dollars have their initial pivotal grade points at MS-65 and a secondary at MS-66.

The really common date Morgan and Peace dollars will have their pivotal point at MS-66 instead of MS-65. For example, the 1922 Peace silver dollar will initially pivot at MS-66 and again at MS-67.

The 1921 Morgan dollar will pivot initially at MS-65, with a secondary pivot at MS-66 and a tertiary pivot at MS 67. This very common coin is relatively uncommon in higher mint states.

Perhaps around 25% of Morgans are at MS-64 initially. Semi-common Morgan and Peace dates pivot at MS-64 or MS-65. The secondary is often between MS-65 and MS-66.

If you look at a price guide, you'll notice the rarer the date, the lower grade the initial pivotal point it will have, and the more pivotal points it will have.

1893-S Morgan dollar prices increase substantially throughout its grading scale, but when you hit MS-60 the price jumps to 6 times the price of the AU-58. Then it pivots again at MS-65, but his time the secondary pivot point isn't greater than the primary.

The difference in price between every pivot point in the mint state coin grades will be substantial, usually several thousands of dollars. To find the exact pivotal grade point, look on current price charts to determine where it is and what the exact price difference is.

What does this mean to you as an investor? Generally speaking, the greatest gains will be made for the grade just below the initial pivotal point. Again, generally speaking, the MS-64 Morgan has the greatest potential for price increases. Consult current price guides for specific information.

The grade right below the pivotal grade has a far larger market than the pivotal grade, especially in a down market. That's because, most collectors and many investors are happy to pay a whole lot less for almost as good.

Rare American Coins and Morgan Dollar Branch Mint Proofs

There is a widespread belief that Philadelphia is the only US mint to produce proof Morgan silver dollars. This is generally true, but the other 3 mints occasionally struck proofs as well. These coins were struck with the extra pressure, from highly polished dies, one at a time and handled with extra care.

All the dies for Morgan and Peace silver dollars were made in Philadelphia. The final steps of basining and polishing were performed when the dies arrived at the respective branches.

Because of the low mintage numbers of branch mint proofs, and how infrequently they were struck, it's commonly believed the branch mint proof dies were just modifications of the business dies. The largest known branch mint proof production amounts to 24 examples.

There is a lot of controversy and conjecture around these coins. Determining positively that a coin is indeed a branch mint proof is difficult. These examples usually don't exhibit the square rims or bold design details of the Philadelphia proof silver dollars.

Employees of the three mint branches weren't experienced in striking proof quality coins. Therefore these coins didn't get the attention to detail the Philadelphia versions got.

Proof coins from the 3 branches are hard to distinguish from exceptional prooflike business strikes. That means they must be authenticated by an expert in the field.

The late Walter Breen was considered to be the ultimate authority on the subject. He had been authenticating these coins since 1963, and was possibly the only person expert enough to authenticate coins as proofs originating from a branch mint.

Montana coin dealer, Wayne Miller may be a close second to Walter Breen in this field. I'm not sure whom PCGS or NGC uses for this purpose.

Authentication starts with mint records indicating that the respective branch had produced proof coins in a given year. The existence of the coin must be well documented to begin with.

The well documented dates, proof coins were struck at branch mints are:

· 1879-O, 12 pieces, of which 4 are known to exist.

· 1883-O, 12 pieces, of which 2 are known to exist.

· 1893-CC, 12 pieces, of which 4 are known to exist.

· 1921-S, 24 pieces, of which 5 are known to exist.

There are other dates that exhibit definite proof qualities, such as the 1887-O, 1883-CC, 1884-CC and 1895-O, but not adequate mint records.

These examples are more than simply prooflike. Legitimate differing opinions exist among several leading and knowledgeable experts as to whether these are genuine proof coins produced at the mint branch or simply specimen type coins.

The well documented dates are known as class I proofs produced by the branch mints. The 1879-O is probably the best known, because it commemorated the reopening of the New Orleans mint, closed since 1861.

The 1893-CC was struck for the closing of the Carson City Mint. The 1921's were struck for coin dealers Farran Zerbe and Henry Chapman. I can't find any commemorative reason for the production of the 1883-O version however.

Where To Sell Gold Bullion, Coins And Jewellery

As the gold price soars to near historic highs reaching in excess of $1,000 per ounce, sellers have been faced by a onslaught of glaring electronic signs, flashy billboards and top level TV ads promising them that it is possible to make a killing through trading in their unwanted gold items especially jewelry. However what those ads are not saying takes the shine off the whole pitch by gold buyers. People are thinking that there is a huge, very easy and fast cash grab that awaits them while this is not necessarily the case. Gold dealers are operating in a self-regulated and controlled industry, which makes it essential for the gold sellers and buyers to fully comprehend how the transactions work.

The big question that needs answering is just how simple is it to dispose of and realize the true worth of your gold ingots, sovereigns, jewellery or unusual gold coins like the US Buffalo, the Austrian Philharmonic or the Chinese Panda? Below we look at a number of tips for those who are interested in knowing where to sell gold.

Get Your Gold Appraised First

Before you sell gold, get an appraisal done by an in independent valuer. Look for an appraiser who is licensed, if possible one who is already an accredited affiliate of a nationally or internationally recognized organization. The American Society of Appraisers would, for instance, be good place to have your gold appraised.

Know The Gold Buyer

If you are going to mail out your jewelry, first carry out research on the company's reputation. Before dispatching, certify and then insure them for protection against theft or loss. In Australia, most jewellers are members of the Jewelers' Association of Australia (JAA) and their website would a good place to start your research. You also could confirm if the company has ever received any customer complaints at your local Better Business Bureau website. It is also in the best of your interests when you only deal with businesses which have established reputations and actual storefronts.

Know The Gold Karat Content

It is important to appreciate that the quality of gold varies. The majority of gold jewelry is normally in the range of 14 to 18 karat, and rarely does it come as pure 24-karat gold. In most cases, the karat content is etched somewhere on your jewellery.

Do Shop Around

Before accepting a sale, obtain several offers from diverse gold dealers. The recommended business technique is to get at least three quotes before you decide as this is to your advantage. Patience is a virtue in any business sale transaction.

Be Vigilant With Gold Coins

When you plan on selling your gold coins, be wary of doing that by the gram. It is possible that they could be worth much more in the eyes of a gold coin collector.

Taken on the face value of it, ingots or bars may look like the better option in terms of value for money, since they usually are sold and bought in larger quantities. However, in an article with the heading, 'Buy gold, they say - but how do you sell it?' by Emma Simon published on The Telegraph in March 2013, she advises that in case you wish to just cash in a portion of your gold assets, this could be simpler and easier when you possess coins. For example, when you got 10 sovereigns, you could opt to sell just one.

Reasons To Sell Gold For Cash

Selling gold became one of the most popular ventures since the recession. Why? The reason is because the value of gold jumped through the roof during that period. It has succeeded in continuing to give some great cash benefits over the years. Instead of buying stock, people searched through every gold item they had to sell for instant cash, whether damaged or not.

Another reason is the opportunity it creates for people to settle their financial problems, especially with the rise in living standards. The cash they get from selling gold goes a long way to cover most of their bills and mortgages.

There is also the business opportunity that comes with making a career out of selling gold. Some people buy gold from family members, friends and neighbors. They pay them a small sum of cash and turn in the gold to gold buyers for a profitable sum.

How To Get Cash For Selling Gold

There are many gold buyers out there who would trade in some cash for gold. One of them happens to be local jewelers. People need only walk into their places of business, have their gold items weighed and given cash depending on the weight of the gold.

Gold buying companies also exist for the same reason jewelers do. The process is the same in these companies as well. Walk in with the gold, weigh it and cash is provided.

Gold buying websites are other avenues to venture when in need of selling gold. The selling process here is a bit different as it does not require a face-to-face approach. People should first send a sample of the gold they intend to sell as proof. Then they weigh the gold and communicate with the website of their weight which follows with a value provided of how much the gold is worth. Afterwards, they send the gold to the gold buying company on the website and their cash is sent in immediately after verification of the weight. This process takes longer, but it is just as effective in the long run.

What To Do Before Turning In Gold For Cash

It is always is important to conduct some research on the current value of gold and the selling process before engaging in any selling. This is so people do not get ripped off for a lower sum of money or no money at all.

Therefore, the first thing to do is weigh all the gold items. The next step is to find out what the current market gold value is and come up with an estimate of the amount of cash to receive. The next thing is to conduct some research on gold buying companies that someone may want to sell their gold to. This way, one can know their nature of business, if they are legit or not. When it comes to websites, reading a couple of reviews would be very helpful.

Better Business Bureau stated gaining some knowledge on the different kinds of gold weighing scales is also very important before selling gold. This is because companies and jewelers use different types of scaling machines with different gram sizes for an ounce of gold. For instance, the standard weight of an ounce of gold is 28 grams. However, some companies and jewelers use the Troy ounce which weighs an ounce of gold at 31.1 grams. Others use a pennyweight which is 1.555 grams.

Rare American Coins and Morgan Silver Dollar Proofs

Proof coins are the showpieces of the series of any coin and are therefore handled with extra care every step of their production. They represent the ultimate examples of that coin series.

In the case of Morgan silver dollars, by far the most proof examples were produced in Philadelphia. On rare occasions, the branch mints would strike proofs. This is covered in another article I've written on branch mint proofs.

The planchets are hand selected for perfection, the dies are carefully polished. The press runs slowly and exerts far more pressure than on the circulation strike. Finally, the blanks are hand fed and retrieved to minimize damage during production.

To qualify as a proof, the coin details must be exceptional and fully struck. Morgan dollar specimens will exhibit squared off rims compared to the business strike.

If a proof looking Morgan dollar doesn't exhibit the telltale squared off rims, no matter how good it looks, it isn't one. Prooflike circulated silver dollars can occasionally be so well struck, they can almost fool the casual observer into thinking they are actually the real thing.

The fields will always appear mirror-like and are very easily damaged. Unlike their circulated siblings, care was taken at the mint during handling to avoid nicks and bag marks.

Even with all the care taken during production, these Morgan silver dollars still have a problem with hairlines in the mirror fields. Hairlines are the extremely fine scratches that show themselves because of the shiny field surfaces.

After the Morgan proof silver dollars left the mint, they were still subject to damage from handling. This came about because, the few coin collectors in the 19th century had no way to properly store their prizes. Back then, consideration was rarely given toward proper handling techniques.

Careless handling sometimes caused scratches to the mirrored silver surfaces. Depending on the location, depth, and length of the scratch, the coin may be deemed ungradable. Scratches, unlike hairlines are painfully obvious from any angle.

During the 20th century, some examples were harmed from albums or the edges of plastic flips. At least this sort of damage appears on the high points where it is less noticeable.

Some Morgan proofs have weak strikes even though the coin presses are supposed to exert significantly more pressure on proof coinage. Problem years are from 1888 to 1893 and to a lesser extent from 1901 to 1904.

Proof Morgan silver dollars will continue being at the top of collector interest in this series. They have a long term track record of significantly outperforming the circulation strike coins in price appreciation.

Rare American Coins and Prooflike Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars

A prooflike silver dollar is struck from a polished die that produces a reflective surface usually on the field and occasionally on the device. Prooflike coins were intended for circulation and no special care was taken in their handling.

Most prooflike Morgan silver dollars are boldly struck, but a few will lack full detail. The degree of reflectivity varies from mirror like, to little more than a regular frosty circulation grade silver dollar, which is known as semi-prooflike.

Prooflike silver dollars are highly desired among collectors due to their tremendous eye appeal, and form a special niche in the market.

Morgan dates can have a high circulation strike number, with only a few prooflike specimens or just the opposite can happen. The degree of reflectivity will vary from date to date, and mint to mint.

Three factors contribute to a circulation strike silver dollar looking like a proof. They are: reflectivity of the mirror surface, degree of contrast between the device and field, and mint made surface imperfections resulting from careless handling.

The cameo version of the Morgan silver dollar is the closest thing to an actual proof coin of any of the business strikes. They are the easiest to identify and of course the most valuable.

What's known as brilliant prooflike Morgans have a shiny finish on both the fields and devices. They can be distinguished from polished coins because the date, lettering and mintmark won't be shiny. Obviously this won't happen on a polished example.

A grey brilliant prooflike silver dollar has a subdued luster. It is reflective, but will never appear cameo. Because these coins aren't easily recognizable as the cameo, or brilliant, they aren't as desirable.

Prooflike dollars show bag marks, abrasions and wear very easily. They frequently have annoying hairline swirls in the fields caused by incomplete die polishing.

The mirrored surfaces are easily dulled or destroyed. Temperature and humidity changes over the years can produce cloudy or milky spots on the reflective surfaces. Salt water will also ruin their surfaces.

Several factors alone, or in combination with others contribute to the prooflike traits of Morgan silver dollars. They are:

First, the master die was a cameo die with a highly polished field. This was then transferred to the working die. Generally, the first 500 to 2000 coins struck from these dies have the attributes of a proof.

Cameo circulated Morgans were fairly common in the early years, and had disappeared by 1900. This is because the cameo master die had weakened with duplication of working dies over the years. Die deterioration made successive examples less reflective, and therefore semi-prooflike in appearance.

Second is in the planchets. Planchets formed by new rollers would have a shinier surface than ones made by rollers worn from service in later years.

Third is when left over proof silver dollar dies were pressed into service after their initial use was complete. They still had a lot of working life left in them and made exquisite business strike coins.

With so many prooflike Morgan silver dollar specimens produced, you might wonder about proof and prooflike Peace dollars. Well, there aren't any. A possible reason could be that Peace dollar working dies weren't basined (or polished).

Technology advances had eliminated the need to individually hand polish working dies by the early 1920s. There also weren't any proof Peace dollars struck. Therefore none could be pressed into service for business strikes.

Rare American Coins and the Creation of the Peace Silver Dollar

Farran Zerbe was the coin collector who founded the Chase Manhattan Bank Money Museum in New York City with his own superb coin collection. Farran Zerbe is credited with initiating the interest by Congress in a new silver coin commemorating the recent peace from the World War.

He campaigned for a new silver dollar coin intended for circulation. Finally, on May 9th, 1921 a joint resolution by the House and Senate brought the Peace Dollar into existence.

The Pitman Act now provided for replacement of the 270 million silver dollars melted for the war effort. President Warren Harding signed an Executive Order on July 28th, 1921 for a new Peace silver dollar coin.

It still took until November 23rd, to announce a competition for Peace silver dollar proposals from 8 prominent sculptors. Entries were due by December 13th, 1921. Mint employees worked furiously to have the working dies ready by the deadline of Monday, December 26th.

Because of the extremely condensed timeframe for having a working prototype, the contest winner, Italian immigrant, Anthony de Francisci used his 23 year old wife, Mary Teresa Cafarelli as the model to represent the Lady of Peace. She was the last model to pose for a representation of Liberty on a US coin.

Anthony de Francisci lived from July 13, 1887 to October 20, 1964. He immigrated to the United States in 1905 and was married to Mary Teresa Cafarelli in 1920. Mary Teresa Cafarelli de Francisci lived from May 4, 1898 to October 20, 1990 and died exactly 26 years after her husband to the day.

The original high relief design quickly proved to have problems during production, because the extra striking pressure considerably shortened die life. High relief dies broke easily and had a very short service life.

The relief was reduced soon after production began to solve the initial problems. Reduced striking pressures made the coin flat and weakly detailed. This made the Peace Dollar one of the flatter silver dollars minted in the US. It is second only to the Eisenhower silver dollar.

Unfortunately, the flattening process made this coin lose most of the beauty intended by its designer. The beauty and bold design of this coin was lost in 1921, never to return.

The pride taken in minting the Morgan silver dollar didn't carry over to the Peace dollar. The Philadelphia Mint produced coins with off white blotches and San Francisco was famous for its poor strikes. They DID manage to get a half million coins out of a die pair though.