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Gold Coins in Short Supply, Command 50% Premium
Commodity Online CALIFORNIA: Popular gold and silver coins such as the one-ounce gold and silver American Eagles produced by United states Mint is not available for sale in the market and those who sell do it at a premium of 50 percent or more on spot price, according to Michael Maroney, Vice President, Monex Deposit Company.
"One-ounce and smaller gold and silver coins . . . ten-ounce and hundred-ounce silver bars . . . ten-ounce ingots and 32.15 ounce "kilobars" of gold have virtually disappeared from the marketplace," explains Maroney. "They're in private hands now, and people are holding onto them, unwilling to sell them back into the market."
"We've seen a tremendous increase in demand for these tangible assets from private, individual investors who are, quite frankly, shocked and appalled at the steep decline in the value of many of their paper assets over the past few months. These people are angry, they're scared and it appears that many have come to the conclusion that one of the very few reasonable investment alternatives at the present time can be found in the physical precious metals markets," says Maroney.
But many people are discovering that one-ounce and smaller gold and silver coins are becoming harder and harder to find every day, according to Maroney. When these coins can be found, says Maroney, sellers are demanding (and receiving) premiums of up to 50% or more over the per-ounce spot price. "Investors are getting a classic lesson in the laws of supply and demand," says Maroney. "When demand increases for a declining supply of anything, the price tends to increase."
"It's the exact opposite of what's been happening in the 'paper investment' world," notes Maroney. "In stocks, in real estate and other 'paper-based' markets, demand is actually decreasing for an increasing supply of 'paper'. . . and accordingly, we're seeing far lower and even plunging prices in these markets," says Maroney.
"As a result," says Maroney, "I see this as a 'Red Alert' buy signal for investors who may be interested in buying precious metals. The time to buy gold and silver is when prices are relatively low, and when there are supplies available. Prices right now are well below the historic highs set earlier in the year.
And although Monex still has plenty of gold and silver bullion and coin products available, the supply squeeze is starting to affect us as well. I believe physical supplies of metal will continue to tighten, perhaps dramatically so, and I believe prices are going to skyrocket in the not too distant future. There may never be a better time to buy gold and silver than right now," reasons Maroney.
According to Maroney, "Gold and silver have traditionally been held as hedges against both economic and political uncertainty for centuries. And it's no secret that there's a lot of uncertainty throughout the world right now. The U.S. government has bailed out one troubled financial institution after another this year, costing taxpayers at least $700 billion, and counting. Our national debt is now well over $10 trillion. Banks have gone bust. The stock markets are off more than 20% (so far) this month alone! Housing prices have been plummeting with foreclosure rates at unprecedented levels. It's a mess out there right now."
"In troubled times, investors quite naturally gravitate towards 'safe haven' investments that tend to offer more stability and intrinsic value than 'paper investments,'" says Maroney. "Gold and silver fill that bill for many investors. Owning something that is real and tangible . . . something that people have held onto during the 'bad times' for centuries . . . something that the politicians and Wall Street types can't easily manipulate - well, it's no surprise that gold and silver are of great interest to a wide range of people today."
"And at today's relatively low price levels - prices today are 30% to 40% below March 2008 market highs - this could be an ideal time to get started in precious metals or add to an existing position," says Maroney. "As I look around the world's markets right now, I can't see much outside of precious metals that I'd want to own right now. The future for 'paper investments' looks pretty bleak to me. Gold and silver, though, that's a different story. It's pretty obvious that lots of people want precious metals right now."
Says Monex Deposit Company VP Mike Maroney, "If you're worried or concerned about what you seeing happening in this country and around the world right now, and how that could affect your wealth in the years ahead, I think you owe it to yourself to find out how precious metals could or should become a part of your portfolio of investments. We talk to thousands of people a day about that very subject. And an amazing number of them are buying right now . . . more and more people, every single day."
(Courtesy: PRWeb Press Release Newswire)
www.commodityonline.com/news/Gold-coins-in-short-supply-command-50-premium-12471-3-1.html