Times like these may never come again...

Greetings Collectors,

Or should the greeting be to "Collectors and Investors". Some of you know me fairly well and some only know me only from what I write here at the CS journals. I realize that we have a "coin collecting" forum here and I do not want to try and pass myself off as some investing guru. But I have grown to know alot of you pretty good and whether I know you well or not at all, I do feel a "kindred"(sp) toward you all and really enjoy hearing when one of you get that special coin or start a new set that has caught your fancy. Having said all that I would like to share a little about me so you have a better idea as to who I REALLY am.

I was born in 1954 in NE Florida and was introduced to coins/money in general at an early age. My paternal grandparents had a small dept. store in NW La. and my maternal grandparents had a dairy in SE Ga. I grew up sitting on the counter that I could not even see over and was allowed to play with the cash register and even ring up supervised sales. My "Me Ma" would always send me coins in cute little "grandma cards" and I can still recall the excitement coming home from school and my mother handing me that heavy envelope, unbalanced and the thrill to open it up and see those Mercury dimes or Buffalo nickles or whatever it was taped across the card that did not get read 'til way later. I had my little whitman folders and I would see how many more holes I could fill. I truely cherish those early "numismatic" years.

I have had one business enterprize after another to fuel my collection of money, from cutting lawns in the summer to cutting firewood in the winter, along with catching snakes to sell to the local petshop. I even took my 27 cent lunch money and would spend it all on penny candy before the bus came and then sold each one at break for 5 cents so when lunch came I had my lunch money and would come home every day with almost a "buck" to put toward my coin collection.

Now I am in home remodeling and and the buying and selling of houses. I drive a 1989 chevy Astro van and also have my Chevy 3500 one ton, a 1996 model. My personal home is paid for but I have three kids that negate most of the positive I just mentioned, mainly due to a 24 year old daughter who is in her second year of law school at Univ. of Fl. (go gators) along with a couple of teenage and pre teen (11&13) boys who also want to be gator lawyers.

My main reason for this rant and ramble is that we all are at a point in a world economy that presents a wonderful opprotunity for gold and silver. I know some of you may have lost your job or have had to take a pay cut to keep your job, I am truely sorry for those of you that are going thru tough times. But for the rest of us, we all have bills and I know it's hard to find that extra money to use for coins. We have wives or girlfriends who continue to harp, "you spent that much for ONE coin! And we counter with, "but honey, I got a great deal on it and I can always, er, ahhh, sell it if times get real bad. And if they are like my ex-wife they counter with "but you never do! (sell it)

The market just closed and gold and silver did just what it should have done after yesterdays 1.2 Trillion cash infusion into the federal reserve. Oil is up over $3 today at last glance and May contracts for it are over $52. Wheat, copper, aluminum and everything "commodity" wise is heading thru the roof. I pretty much don't know squat about anything but money. I don't know it all but what I'm driving at is simple economics. Governments around the world are doing nothing but printing money and "throwing" it at the problems they see. Will this help? maybe so maybe not. I tend to think it will but I DO know what the byproduct will be and that's inflation.

I think we may have seen the bottom in the stock market. I know all of you that have been watching their IRA's and 401-K's be cut in half or worse are way past ready to hope that is the case.

I would like to say in closing that if it is at all possible, to consider an alternative to that next coin puchase. And that is to buy a little gold or some silver rounds or "junk silver" (90% pre-1964 halves, quarters and dimes) If you do, you will most likely make some good money in a short period of time. Please don't think that with gold up $65 today and silver up over 13% today alone that you have missed the boat, because you haven't. This ride is only beginning. I wish all of you the best! Happy Collecting! (and investing) WKF

P.S. Continue to FULLY fund your retirement plans and even increase the amount to take advantage of "dollar cost averaging" and don't put off buying as much gold and silver that you can possibly afford. Good luck to you and yours.