Generic gold price history

[JIM F.]

I recall that many years ago generic gold ran up to "bubble" prices. I didn't follow it closely enough to understand the driving factor. I had been expecting to see a similar runup since gold has been going crazy, yet there has not been such a run on the generic gold.

 

Appreciate opinions of those that can make sense of the difference between what happened a couple decades ago vis-a-vis today's market.

 

Thank You.

 

 

[DaveG]

Are you talking about the 1979-1980 gold bubble or something more recent?

 

How would you describe the difference between what you saw then and what you see now?

 

How do you distinguish between "gold" and "generic gold"?

 

 

 

The price of gold is pretty high right now and so are the prices of most gold coins.

[BillJones]

If you are referring to three decades ago, 1979-80, the answer was that people were driven from holding money to buying “things” in an effort to preserve their wealth from the effects of inflation. Gold and silver reached record high prices at that time. The silver market was heavily influenced by the strongly leveraged (excessive borrowing) activities of the Hunt brothers who had a hair brained scheme to corner the silver market. All they did was to convert their financial positions from very wealthy to bankruptcy.

 

My perceptions about gold went something like this. If bullion gold was a good investment, then gold with a collectors’ premium had to be better. Therefore a lot of people who had no real interest in numismatics flocked to coin stores to buy collector gold coins. I remember reading about people showing up at Stacks in Manhattan with their “life savings” asking to convert the cash into gold coins. Naturally most of these numismatic purchases were for “widgets” or common date pieces. Given the nature of supply and demand, the price of “widgets” went up given the increase in demand.

 

Today is a bit different. First, the high metals prices we see now are in anticipation of inflation. With the huge increase in the money supply, many people are anticipating that the buying power of the dollar is going fall or even collapse.

 

In the numismatic market a great many collectors and numismatic financial experts and advisors have come to look upon common date coins with distain. It seems that key dates are all that matter these days. Therefore, so far, there has not been the rush to buy “widgets,” and their prices have largely been a reflection in the increase in bullion prices.

 

[Kamillion]

gold isnt going up

 

the U.S dollar is going down

 

 

theres a difference this time.

[BillJones]

gold isnt going up

 

the U.S dollar is going down

 

 

theres a difference this time.

 

The dollar was going down 30 years ago too, at the rate of 20% a year inflation.

[JIM F.]

So, do you see market conditions becoming such that people may again flock to "widgets"?

 

 

[RGT]

If you are referring to three decades ago, 1979-80, the answer was that people were driven from holding money to buying “things” in an effort to preserve their wealth from the effects of inflation. Gold and silver reached record high prices at that time. The silver market was heavily influenced by the strongly leveraged (excessive borrowing) activities of the Hunt brothers who had a hair brained scheme to corner the silver market. All they did was to convert their financial positions from very wealthy to bankruptcy.

 

My perceptions about gold went something like this. If bullion gold was a good investment, then gold with a collectors’ premium had to be better. Therefore a lot of people who had no real interest in numismatics flocked to coin stores to buy collector gold coins. I remember reading about people showing up at Stacks in Manhattan with their “life savings” asking to convert the cash into gold coins. Naturally most of these numismatic purchases were for “widgets” or common date pieces. Given the nature of supply and demand, the price of “widgets” went up given the increase in demand.

 

Today is a bit different. First, the high metals prices we see now are in anticipation of inflation. With the huge increase in the money supply, many people are anticipating that the buying power of the dollar is going fall or even collapse.

 

In the numismatic market a great many collectors and numismatic financial experts and advisors have come to look upon common date coins with distain. It seems that key dates are all that matter these days. Therefore, so far, there has not been the rush to buy “widgets,” and their prices have largely been a reflection in the increase in bullion prices.

 

In addition to what you have stated there were other reasons that gold coins increased with respect to bullion. At that time there were no Gold American Eagles, Kruggerrands were illegal to import and there weren't many other ways to buy gold, which had only been unrestricted for about five years. Tthe Canadian Maple Leaf was introduced in 1979 to meet some of that demand but it wasn't enough.

 

Common date gold coins were probably the easiest way to accumulate gold at that time and demand drives price. Today there are many other ways to build a pile of gold and most people don't want to pay a numismatic premium when all they really want is bullion.

[michael]

FOR ME

 

common daTe gold coins

 

FOR EXAMPLE

 

saints in 62-65 ten indians 62-64

 

liberties $20 type three 61-64

 

LIBERTY FIVES 61-64

 

ON THE 60 61 62 COINS IT ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN THE HOLDER and yes i have seen some first and second generation pcgs/ngc 60 61 62 coins that would blow away coins graded a point or 2 higher but these are the exceptions rather than the rule

 

THE LIST GOES ON AND ON.................................

 

even the most common dates of the most common generic gold has become not so common anymore

 

and also semi numismatic to numismatic

 

and with the premiums the lowest i have ever seen to melt i feel they are great buys

 

 

NOW IMPORTANT I NEED TO CLARIFY MY CHOICES AS TO THE ABOVE

 

what i am referring to above has to specifically MEET or exceed these 6 SIX qualifications my opinion

 

1---- best to be (not totally necessary but it would be in your best interests) slabbed pcgs and/or ngc

 

 

2-----best to be cac stickered (not totally necessary but it would be IN YOUR BEST INTERESTS)

 

3--- has to be all there and actually high end for the grade if not undergraded

NO solid for the grade or overgraded

 

4--- has to have WAY ABOVE AVERAGE EYE APPEAL EVEN KILLER EYE APPEAL with original surfaces and great color and again killer eye appeal i suppose dipped is okie FOR EXAMPLE if you get a way above average for the grade 1924 saint ngc/pcgs cac stickered 64 that just has such amazing killer knock your socks off lustre it is okie if dipped

of course it is on a coin by coin basis

 

5----- also has to have some other ummph to the coin if you have to ask you dont know/dont understand and this is something you need to learn and get a handle on if you can

 

6---- the older the holder the better with regards to pcgs/ngc especially so if it is a really nice undergraded superior eye appeal color whatever the case may be

 

 

sooooooooo how many generic gold coins have all of the above in the current marketplace that are offering for sale?? maybe 1-3 out of 100

 

so the key here is selectivity then if you select carefully it is for me not so generic anymore and actually worth a premium for tens of thousand sof people waho are seeking a gold type set as these coins make prefect additions and/or whatever you are collecting/hoarding/stacking et. el. etc. etc. blah blah blah

 

 

 

[jtryka]

If you are referring to three decades ago, 1979-80, the answer was that people were driven from holding money to buying “things” in an effort to preserve their wealth from the effects of inflation. Gold and silver reached record high prices at that time. The silver market was heavily influenced by the strongly leveraged (excessive borrowing) activities of the Hunt brothers who had a hair brained scheme to corner the silver market. All they did was to convert their financial positions from very wealthy to bankruptcy.

 

My perceptions about gold went something like this. If bullion gold was a good investment, then gold with a collectors’ premium had to be better. Therefore a lot of people who had no real interest in numismatics flocked to coin stores to buy collector gold coins. I remember reading about people showing up at Stacks in Manhattan with their “life savings” asking to convert the cash into gold coins. Naturally most of these numismatic purchases were for “widgets” or common date pieces. Given the nature of supply and demand, the price of “widgets” went up given the increase in demand.

 

Today is a bit different. First, the high metals prices we see now are in anticipation of inflation. With the huge increase in the money supply, many people are anticipating that the buying power of the dollar is going fall or even collapse.

 

In the numismatic market a great many collectors and numismatic financial experts and advisors have come to look upon common date coins with distain. It seems that key dates are all that matter these days. Therefore, so far, there has not been the rush to buy “widgets,” and their prices have largely been a reflection in the increase in bullion prices.

 

In addition to what you have stated there were other reasons that gold coins increased with respect to bullion. At that time there were no Gold American Eagles, Kruggerrands were illegal to import and there weren't many other ways to buy gold, which had only been unrestricted for about five years. Tthe Canadian Maple Leaf was introduced in 1979 to meet some of that demand but it wasn't enough.

 

Common date gold coins were probably the easiest way to accumulate gold at that time and demand drives price. Today there are many other ways to build a pile of gold and most people don't want to pay a numismatic premium when all they really want is bullion.

 

Technically Krugerrands were not illegal to import into the US until the embargo that was passed in 1986 (ironically the first year of the gold eagle), which was passed overriding a veto by President Reagan. Before that they were perfectly legal to own or import, and in 1980 they represented about 90% of the bullion coin market, but they were still so small in quantity that people had to look elsewhere for suitable gold to invest in, mostly pre-1933 US coins, British sovereigns, French and Swiss 20-franc, but for anyone that wanted a larger coin ~1 ounce, the only choices were double eagles or Mexican 50-pesos. Hence the huge demand.

[noow]

If you are referring to three decades ago, 1979-80, the answer was that people were driven from holding money to buying “things” in an effort to preserve their wealth from the effects of inflation. Gold and silver reached record high prices at that time. The silver market was heavily influenced by the strongly leveraged (excessive borrowing) activities of the Hunt brothers who had a hair brained scheme to corner the silver market. All they did was to convert their financial positions from very wealthy to bankruptcy.

 

My perceptions about gold went something like this. If bullion gold was a good investment, then gold with a collectors’ premium had to be better. Therefore a lot of people who had no real interest in numismatics flocked to coin stores to buy collector gold coins. I remember reading about people showing up at Stacks in Manhattan with their “life savings” asking to convert the cash into gold coins. Naturally most of these numismatic purchases were for “widgets” or common date pieces. Given the nature of supply and demand, the price of “widgets” went up given the increase in demand.

 

Today is a bit different. First, the high metals prices we see now are in anticipation of inflation. With the huge increase in the money supply, many people are anticipating that the buying power of the dollar is going fall or even collapse.

 

In the numismatic market a great many collectors and numismatic financial experts and advisors have come to look upon common date coins with distain. It seems that key dates are all that matter these days. Therefore, so far, there has not been the rush to buy “widgets,” and their prices have largely been a reflection in the increase in bullion prices.

 

In addition to what you have stated there were other reasons that gold coins increased with respect to bullion. At that time there were no Gold American Eagles, Kruggerrands were illegal to import and there weren't many other ways to buy gold, which had only been unrestricted for about five years. Tthe Canadian Maple Leaf was introduced in 1979 to meet some of that demand but it wasn't enough.

 

Common date gold coins were probably the easiest way to accumulate gold at that time and demand drives price. Today there are many other ways to build a pile of gold and most people don't want to pay a numismatic premium when all they really want is bullion.

 

Technically Krugerrands were not illegal to import into the US until the embargo that was passed in 1986 (ironically the first year of the gold eagle), which was passed overriding a veto by President Reagan. Before that they were perfectly legal to own or import, and in 1980 they represented about 90% of the bullion coin market, but they were still so small in quantity that people had to look elsewhere for suitable gold to invest in, mostly pre-1933 US coins, British sovereigns, French and Swiss 20-franc, but for anyone that wanted a larger coin ~1 ounce, the only choices were double eagles or Mexican 50-pesos. Hence the huge demand.