DC Dawg

Very interesting design. I was quite taken how well it worked. Youse guys did a good job.

BTW... it works just fine on an iMac running Snow Leopard using Safari 5, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera. I also had no problems using Firefox under Ubuntu Linux on a virtual machine created by Parallels.

As for those defiantly using IE7 because it allegedly works, please note that there are security issues that will leave you open to attack. I do this security stuff for a living and only use IE for internal programs that use MS tools (Sharepoint... and I wish I never had to use that!). I never use IE to surf the web. For that, I have Firefox and Safari under Windows that does not leave me exposed to Internet-based security risks.

For my one suggestion: on the page that shows what is in a particular set, you can only see four and the most of a fifth entry. Can you make that box bigger? I would like the option to see more of my set at a glance. Let me decide if I want to scroll a box or the whole page rather than limit my view.

Otherwise, it looks real good!

Scott

The best bet is to save your money, and always buy the NGC 70 coin.

 

Nope - the best bet is to cherrypick a nice 69 coin regardless of the holder its in. In most instances, your eyes won't be able to tell the difference between a top end 69 and a low end 70 - but your pocketbook will!

OMG! TDN and I agree on something!!

Unless you are putting together registry sets, buy the coin and not the holder!

With certain exception of some rare coins, coins I have for registry sets, and a few others, I am about to liquidate my slabbed coins. I would rather have the albums since I find them easier to see and enjoy. I find it more satisfying to look at the complete album of Peace Dollars than the individual holders. But that's just me... YMMV.

Scott

(side note, a few years ago, the custodial gold was reclassified to "deep storage" which many in the gold community took to mean stored in the ground as unmined deposits since all the refined gold had been sold - this is goldbug humor).

Forgetting the rumor mongers, the legal definition of "deep storage" is the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

But this is not at all likely to happen unless things get really bad and our foreign friends start demanding payment in something other than dollars and the Feds are forced to go back onto some form of gold standard.

Not only is this unlikely, but it is illegal. The repeal of the "Gold Clause" (31 U.S.C. §5118) prevents an FDR-style gold recall. FDR issued Executive Order 6102 on April 5, 1933 (allegedly) to prevent the mass export of gold under the Trading with the Enemy Act. The Trading with the Enemy Act was repealed a long time ago (I forgot the reference) and the Gold Clause repeal was passed in 1972 (P.L. 92-258). Any attempt by any president to try an FDR-style recall would be met with a flurry of lawsuits!

They must pay current market prices, hence in FY08, the Mint made a 1.9% profit margin on bullion products with sales of $948.8 million, cost of goods sold of $922.6 million and SG&A of $8.4 million.

The US Mint is required to pay market prices for bullion and base their prices on the market price of bullion. For purchasing, 31 U.S.C. §5112 has repeated a few times:

"The Secretary shall acquire gold for the coins issued under this subsection by purchase of gold mined from natural deposits in the United States, or in a territory or possession of the United States, within 1 year after the month in which the ore from which it is derived was mined."

And for the pricing of silver bullion (Eagles):

"The Secretary shall sell the coins minted under subsection (e) to the public at a price equal to the market value of the bullion at the time of sale, plus the cost of minting, marketing, and distributing such coins (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and promotional and overhead expenses)."

Like I said in my last post, the prices published in the law are statutory prices for bookkeeping purposes, not what the government pays or will pay.

Scott

The Fed pays USD for gold? Is that at the ridiculous "official" price of $42.22 per ounce or the real market price?

 

Could someone please elaborate on this? Where did (does?) this price come from? How often is it updated? What is the purpose of this price? What is the history of this price?

 

I have heard a number of conspiracy theories regarding the so-called "official price" of gold, and I'm hoping someone (with sources, please) can clear it up.

The statutory price of gold is "42 and two-ninths dollars a fine troy ounce" according to 31 U.S.C. §5117(b). The price was last changed in 1976.

To read "31 U.S.C. §5117(b)," this is Title 31, Section 5117, subsection (b) of the United States Code. To verify the date change, if you click on Notes on the right side of the page, it will indicate that the price was changed by 1968, Pub. L. 90–269 (the 269th Public Law passed by the 90th congress signed by the president--in this case Lyndon B. Johnson) and was reset by executive order on October 19, 1976 by Gerald Ford.

This is a statutory price, not a market price. This is the price that the US government values its holdings for bookkeeping purposes. It has no basis in reality, which is noted in the US Mint's Annual report where they report both the statutory price and market price. For reporting, the market price used is the London PM Fix price on the last business day of the government's fiscal year (9/30/08).

Just to be complete, 31 U.S.C. §5116(b)(2) fixes the price of silver to "$1.292929292 a fine troy ounce." This was last changed in 1985 in Pub. L. 99-61 as part of the bill that authorized the Statue of Liberty commemorative.

I hope that the sources being the pointers to the appropriate sections of the law is sufficient!

Scott

Underappreciated = 3CN

That's a great term... "under appreciated!"

VIVA VI... err... LAS VEGAS!

Scott

The Fed pays USD for gold? Is that at the ridiculous "official" price of $42.22 per ounce or the real market price?

First, I made a slight mistake... the NY Fed does not "pay" for the gold. They will lend the money or arrange for a loan through another institution using the gold as collateral. The service has a fee that is paid by the borrower (in addition to the interest on the loan). If the country wants the money in dollars, it is shipped by the NY Fed.

I also would be interested to know if the Fed leases or forward sells any of it. I read from one source that Saudia Arabia had deposited silver with the Bank of England and then when they wanted it back, it was not there. It had been sold in the forward market and the Bank Of England had to go out and buy the bullion back. I do no not know if this story is real or not though.

The Fed is not allowed to lease or sell the gold in their vaults. That would make them equivalent to an investment bank and broker, which would be a violation of their charter.

Scott

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York maintains a vault that lies 86 feet below sea level, resting on Manhattan bedrock. By 1927, the vault contained ten percent of the world's official gold reserves. Currently, it is reputedly the largest gold repository in the world (though this cannot be confirmed as Swiss Banks do not report their gold stocks) and holds approx 5,000 metric tons of gold bullion ($160 billion as of March, 2008), more than Fort Knox. The gold is owned by many foreign nations, central banks and international organizations. The Federal Reserve Bank does not own the gold but serves as guardian of the precious metal, which it "protects" at no charge as a gesture of good will to other nations. Free tours of the vault are available to the public.

Some additional facts about the NY Fed Gold Storage:

• There is more gold stored at the NY Fed than there is in Fort Knox. That has been the case since the establishment of Fort Knox Bullion Repository in 1937.
• Anyone may store gold reserves in the NY Fed (there is a minimum).
• The NY Fed does not charge for the storage but does charge for the services required to deposit and remove the gold from the vaults.
• In order to work for the NY Fed in any area supporting the transaction of money or gold, the employee would undergo a background check similar to the one required for a Top Secret National Security clearance (very similar to the TS/SCI for those who know what that means ).
• During the era that international transactions were paid in gold, the NY Fed would take direct deposits, store the gold directly in the vaults for the country.
• Nowadays, the NY Fed will accept deposits of gold and pay out US Dollars to the depositor. The NY Fed is responsible for international transaction and ships 70-80 percent of the currency it buys from the BEP overseas.
• Robbing the gold from the NY Fed was the main theme around the movie Die Hard With a Vengeance. However, the way the bad guys did it presented an inaccurate view of the construction of the vault. The subway line does not run that close to the vault and the vaults are deeper than the subway.

Scott

I originally picked up two of these, one for me and one for Pendragon (Michael). Both coins had an abrasion on the obverse I missed during my initial examination. Well, I picked this one up at a local dealer. It has far more lustre than the first one. Sorry Michael, this was the last one in his case. If he gets more, I'll let you know.

Scott

Corroded? Who cares?

Corroded? I didn't see corrosion. I see a great coin!

Scott

I love the silver Britannias. I have a complete uncirculated siver set! The Royal Mint does a great job with these coins... and I cannot wait to see the 2007 in Silver!!!

Excellent coin... enjoy!!

Scott

Now that's cool!

Scott

having-fun

Which is just what I am doing!