Category: Gold News

Gold Settles Near 4 Month High

kilo gold bar

Gold settled to a three-month high on Thursday while silver marked its best close since late January. Both, along with platinum, are riding a three-day winning streak.

Gold for June delivery tacked on $7, or 0.6%, to end at $1,225.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement price was the highest since Feb 13 when gold closed at $1,227.10 an ounce.

According to Ken Ticehurst gold is an extreme value, but price stagnation remains in the short term.

Patience and an open mind are still required for the next few months, until we see genuine evidence that gold is either an extreme value play (still our preferred scenario), or it has gained enough energy to start to breakout in the months ahead. Either way, we are looking for evidence that sentiment is changing rather than concentrating on the great story that will inevitably drive prices far higher.

 

The Gold Confiscation Millionaires of 2015

1933 st gaudens gold coinsThe Associated Press has issued a report following the decision by a Federal Appeals Judge to return 10 very valuable 1933 St. Gaudens coins to the Langbord family.  Why so valuable?  If you know your U.S. History, 1933 was the year that private ownership of gold coins became a punishable crime. See: Executive Order 6102. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on April 17 vacated a previous declaratory judgment by a district court that declared the coins as government property that was unlawfully removed from the U.S. Mint.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A U.S. appeals court Friday overturned a jury verdict and awarded a Philadelphia family the rights to 10 rare gold coins that could fetch $80 million.

U.S. Treasury officials insist the $20 Saint-Gaudens “Double Eagles” were stolen from the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia before the 1933 series was melted down when the country went off the gold standard. They argue that Joan Langbord and her sons cannot lawfully own the coins she said she found in a family bank deposit box in 2003.

Her father, jeweler Israel Switt, had dealings with the Mint in the 1930s and was twice investigated over his coin holdings. A jury in 2012 sided with the government.

However, the appeals court Friday returned the coins to the Langbords because U.S. officials had not responded within the 90-day limit to the family’s seized property claim, filed in about 2004.

How Much Gold Does The US Treasury and Federal Reserve Hold?

federal reserve gold totals 2015

In an extensive report from CoinNews.net, we are given a rare behind the scenes accounting of total ounces of gold held by the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve.   In the following table, note that the book value is not calculated by current market prices but rather the 1973 Book price of $42.22, the statutory price of gold for accounting purposes.  While overall market value has fallen in the past 4 years, precious metals hedgers have made a handsome profit and experienced very little risk

This table breaks down the status of U.S. Treasury-owned gold:

Fine Troy Ounces Book Value
Summary
Gold Bullion 258,641,878.074 $10,920,429,098.79
Gold Coins, Blanks, Miscellaneous 2,857,048.156 120,630,858.67
Total 261,498,926.230 11,041,059,957.46
US Mint Held Gold – Deep Storage
Denver, CO 43,853,707.279 1,851,599,995.81
Fort Knox, KY 147,341,858.382 6,221,097,412.78
West Point, NY 54,067,331.379 2,282,841,677.17
Subtotal – Deep Storage Gold 245,262,897.040 10,355,539,085.76
US Mint Held Treasury Gold – Working Stock
All Locations- Coins, blanks, miscellaneous 2,783,218.656 117,513,614.74
Subtotal – Working Stock Gold 2,783,218.656 117,513,614.74
Grand Total – Mint Held Gold 248,046,115.696 10,473,052,700.50
Federal Reserve Bank Held Gold
Gold Bullion:
Federal Reserve Banks – NY Vault 13,376,987.715 564,805,850.63
Federal Reserve Banks – Display 1,993.319 84,162.40
Subtotal – Gold Bullion 13,378,981.034 564,890,013.03
Gold Coins:
Federal Reserve Banks – NY Vault 73,452.066 3,101,307.82
Federal Reserve Banks – Display 377.434 15,936.11
Subtotal – Gold Coins 73,829.500 3,117,243.93
Total – Federal Reserve Bank Held Gold 13,452,810.534 568,007,256.96
Total – Treasury Owned Gold 261,498,926.230 $11,041,059,957.46

Market Value

Of course, market conditions have changed significantly over the last 40 years with gold’s value at about 28 times higher than the 1973 set $42.2222 per ounce statutory price.

To highlight some of those changes, the chart below shows total ounces of U.S. Treasury owned gold over the last few years, the recorded book value and the approximate market value of the precious metal based on the London price of gold at the time of the report.

Treasury Owned Gold Book and Market Values

Report Date Ounces of U.S. Treasury Owned Gold Book Value (based on $42.222 an ounce) Approximate Market Value
January 31, 2012 261,498,899.316 $11,041,059,487 $456,054,080,407
January 31, 2013 261,498,926.247 $11,041,059,958 $435,330,337,470
January 31, 2014 261,498,926.247 $11,041,059,958 $327,135,156,731
January 31, 2015 261,498,926.230 $11,041,059,957 $329,554,021,781
March 31, 2015 261,498,926.230 $11,041,059,957 $313,014,214,697

The market value of the gold today, May 1, is $307,509,662,300 at the latest London gold price of $1,175.95 an ounce.

Gold Pamp Suisse 1 oz Bars at +$19.99

725x376-PAMP-suisse-1-oz-gold-bar-web-banner-2Looking for a solid deal on Pamp Suisse Gold Bars in a one ounce denomination?  Apmex is offering these gold bars as low as $19.99 plus spot gold per ounce.   In order to qualify for this rate you must purchase 25 or more.  Single ounce purchases are priced starting at about +$27 per ounce for cash equivalent payments, credit cards start at about +$75.

Details:

As low as $19.99 per bar over spot!
This deal expires on 4/30 at midnight. This newly designed 1 oz PAMP Suisse Gold Bar captures the remarkable beauty and quality PAMP Suisse is known for. As a leading Precious Metals refiner, PAMP Suisse guarantees the purity and authenticity of each Gold bar.  This deal also qualifies for Apmex’s FREE shipping.

Bar Highlights:

  • Contains 1 oz of .9999 fine Gold.
  • Accompanying assay card guarantees the Gold metal weight and purity.
  • Tamper-evident packaging makes it easy to tell if the bar has been questionably handled, further ensuring its authenticity.
  • Eligible for Precious Metals IRAs.
  • Obverse: The word “Suisse” appears in a repeating diagonal pattern.
  • Reverse: Depicts the PAMP Suisse logo, weight and purity, along with unique serial number.

With a new design, this PAMP Suisse Gold bar allows you to add a different look to your bullion collection.