The Current US Economy Is Like Being on the Titanic's Only Voyage

It occurred to me recently, that I see the current US economy much like being on the RMS Titanic during its maiden voyage in April, 1912. There are many beliefs and perceptions regarding our current economy that remind me of what Titanic passengers must have experienced.

Most of America's citizens believe strongly this country is too big to sink. They have been led to this belief by the news media and our esteemed politicians. Just like the Titanic we're in the good hands of an experienced and knowledgeable crew.

The ship's design was solid and unsinkable, and so is the foundation of this country. We live in complete confidence the crew will take good care of us through anything. We depend on our leaders to make the correct decisions to avert disaster.

The Titanic's captain, crew and many passengers had knowledge of the icebergs nearby, but didn't see them as dangerous. Only a few people thought the ship should take any kind of precautionary action. The masses were complacently denying the dangers around them.

The few who expressed concern were scoffed at, and called Doomsday Sayers. Most just considered them fringe lunatics, very much like people today warning of inevitable financial collapse from today's federal debt management.

Many people, who acknowledged the potential gravity of the situation in the highly unlikely event of an iceberg collision, figured so much chaos would erupt; they would end up going down with the ship anyway. Options for survival weren't even casually entertained by the vast, vast majority of passengers or crew. "Stay the course" they said.

Many others were having too much fun to consider the prospect of it suddenly ending. The ship was simply too great to sink, in spite of careless actions at the helm. Traveling full speed ahead, in the night fog, with icebergs everywhere was questioned by only a few "nut-cases".

Of course, the few who sensed something wrong had no way of predicting the exact outcome of an event; only that it might end badly. A few plans were likely developed based on very limited knowledge and data.

This was okay though. The masses had no plan at all. Some sort of contingency plan, even the wrong plan greatly increased their chances of survival.

As with today, the masses were counting on the captain and crew to make the right decisions to avoid danger. When the iceberg was hit, the leader who got them into this situation kept reassuring the passengers no danger existed. "No need to worry". Sound familiar?

The survivors weren't so involved with enjoying themselves to realize their peril. They weren't complacent. They were open to changing the course of their lives when it became essential to do so.

So, where are we now in this journey that so closely parallels the Titanic's journey? I think we're still at the stage where a few people recognize danger ahead, and think we should alter our course to avert disaster. The masses are complacent. They think things are much better than they really are.

Very few people are anticipating any radical changes in our lifestyle, and the government assures us the future they're leading us to is gloriously bright. The dissenters are labeled as crazy or radical whack-jobs.


To discover more about coins: collecting issues, money management, investing in the rare and bullion coin market, and much more, I invite you to visit http://www.heritagecoingallery.com for videos and free tips on buying coins at the best prices.

 

Economic Future For You and Your Loved Ones - Gold Is the Answer!

In order to build and preserve your wealth, you need a diversified portfolio that actually fits in with your schedule. There is a different type of portfolio that is appropriate for someone with time to handle investments day to day and for someone with a day job, a family and other interests to consider.

For people who want to maintain a life while securing an economic future for themselves and their family, gold is the safe investment. There are many ways to protect and build your wealth with gold. Here are just a few of the ways in which gold can help you secure your economic future.

Gold goes up when currency goes down or fluctuates.

You can protect and build your wealth with gold because it is less volatile than perhaps any other type of investment class. It is one of the safe investments even during highly volatile economic times because it is a basic component in many of the materials that are used in everyday life.

Many people will actually use gold as a buffer for many of their more speculative investments. At the same time, gold can also be an income producing investment. This is one of the greatest advantages of gold and other precious metals.

Gold holds its value above inflation.

The history of gold has shown it to be an investment that tends to hold its value above inflation. This is actually one of the most important aspects of any investment that an investor should consider. Because savings accounts and normal checking accounts have interest rates that are lower than inflation currently, people must find other ways to hold their money in long-term assets. Gold is one of the safest ways to do this.

Although there may be a bit more work involved in procuring a gold investment, it is certainly worth the time to an investor who understands the market truly. Gold is relatively easy to trade if there is a short-term emergency; however, the fact that the investment money is in a precious metal tends to keep people from turning it into liquid currency for anything frivolous. These unique characteristics make gold a unique wealth building tool that has been used by many of the most famous investors in the world today.

There are many different ways to invest in gold.

Depending on the time that you are willing to put into your investment, you have the ability to receive rewards that are far beyond the scope of many other types of investment classes. For instance, gold bullion gives investors the ability to become involved with precious metals at a very basic level, decreasing the volatility of the investment while increasing its wealth building capabilities. However, if you do not have time to get involved with gold at this level, you can also invest in gold derivatives through gold stocks, gold exchange traded funds and mutual funds that include gold in their holdings. There are many ways to invest in gold; utilize them all if you can. You can also invest in gold mining companies for a speculative option that may increase your holdings exponentially if the company is successful in its efforts.

There are many other reasons that goal can secure an economic future for you and your loved one; however, the reasons above are more than enough for you to get started in the industry. Make sure that you understand all of the risks that are involved in any investment before committing yourself to anything. In particular, be sure that you are well-informed about the precious metals industry and how you can make money through your involvement with gold investments.

Historically, gold has been one of the most popular and well performing investments of any precious metal. Whether you are just looking to get started or you are a seasoned investor with years under your belt, you can always find a great use for your money through some type of investment in gold.

 

Rare American Coins and 1840-1873 Liberty Seated Silver Dollars

The Liberty Seated series silver dollar is impossible to complete in MS condition because of very small mintages and low survival rates. The series started as a slight variation of Christian Gobrecht's original obverse design. The original Gobrecht soaring eagle reverse was replaced by a modified Heralding Eagle design by John Reich, first used on coins in 1807.

Robert Ball Hughes modified Gobrecht's original obverse creation in the "name of decency". He chopped some of her rock seat away, made the liberty lettering on her shield more legible, and added more folds to her left sleeve. He also added 13 stars to the obverse rather that placing them on the reverse.

It was minted initially in Philadelphia, then in New Orleans in 1846. Liberty Seated was the last silver dollar minted before the Coinage Act of 1873. The Coinage Act of 1873 stopped the production of silver dollars for domestic use, and initiated the use of silver Trade Dollars for foreign commerce.

The Coinage Act also ended private citizen being able to have their personal silver or gold minted into legal tender. The main source of silver prior to 1870 was from private citizens, and not much silver was normally brought in for minting.

By 1859, there was now a much better supply of silver from the Comstock Lode, therefore output of Liberty Seated dollars increased at the end of the series in 1871 and 1872. The Trade Dollar filled the gap between the Liberty Seated and the Morgan silver dollar.

The total production of all Liberty Seated dollar business strike is 6,487,747. The Philadelphia Mint produced 5,465,463 of these coins. In fact during 1871 and 1872, the Philadelphia mint struck a total of 2,179,300 coins, making them the most "common" in the series.

In 1851 and 1852 the Philadelphia Mint produced a total of only 2,400 coins. The branch mints only struck Liberty Seated silver dollars for four years each, early in production in New Orleans, and late in production in San Francisco and Carson City.

The New Orleans mint struck a total of only 875,000 of these dollars. The New Orleans pieces have by far the highest mint state survival rates of the entire series due to the 1962-64 US Treasury release.

It is believed that between one and three mint-sealed bags of 1,000 fresh 1859-O and 1860-O dollars were found among the bags of Morgan and Peace silver dollars sold to the public during the 1960's.

The 1870-S Seated dollar mintage is unknown. Estimates range anywhere from 25-300 pieces. Today's confirmed population is just a dozen specimens. In fact, the best known specimen 1870-S is MS-62. 1870-S is considered the king of the Liberty Seated series.

1866 was the first year American coins started to add the inscription "IN GOD WE TRUST". This date is actually more common in MS condition than many prior dates.

The Carson City mint produced a total of only 18,584 Liberty Seated dollars during its four years of production. The 1870-CC accounts for 63% of the total mintage, making it the most "common" of the Carson City produced in this silver dollar series. A "few" MS examples have turned up.

The 1873-CC is the second rarest date to the 1870-S with a total mintage of 2300, and a single MS-64 found. Because this series contains so many "stoppers" and is much more expensive to acquire than the Morgan or Peace series, the Liberty Seated series unfortunately hasn't had much collector interest.


To discover more about coins: collecting issues, money management, investing in the rare and bullion coin market, and much more, I invite you to visit http://www.heritagecoingallery.com for videos and free tips on buying coins at the best prices.

 

Why Do I Need to Save and Hold Gold?

Why do I need to buy and hold gold? There are many reasons. To understand why you need gold, you need to understand our current money system. In the United States, when the Federal Reserve prints a dollar, the government owes the Federal Reserve a dollar, adding more debt to the already mounting debt from other expenditures. Other countries buy the debt, in the form of treasury bonds. Lately, the US has bought back a lot of its bonds. To pay just the interest on the US debt, what do we do? Print more dollars. Thus owing more money to the Federal Reserve.

In 1933, each dollar was backed by gold. One ounce of gold was equal to about $20.00. This could buy a formal suit, a car, or a vacation. Later that year, President Roosevelt took the dollar off the gold standard. He intended this to be temporary during the war, but it was difficult to adjust back to after the war. In 1935, he adjusted the value of an ounce of gold to $35.00, to enable a return to the gold standard. This held, with more adjustment, until the 1970's, when the gold standard was abandoned. Now, one ounce of gold will still buy what it did in 1933, but the same 20 or even 35.00 won't even buy a week's groceries.

So what form of gold should I buy? It is almost universally agreed that it is best to buy physical gold, that you can hold in your hand. Lately the paper gold certificates have been popular, but when people start trying to redeem them for physical gold, there is a good chance that gold supplies will run out before all certificates are redeemed. There are still a variety of physical gold options. The best option is pre-1933 gold coins. This is because of the law enforced by President Roosevelt during the war, forbidding citizens to hold large amounts of gold. The exception was collectible coins. This law, although not enforced anymore, is still on the books, and could, theoretically, be reinforced. They also have the advantage of numismatic, or collectible value. Other options are modern-day gold coins and bullion. There are various grades of modern coins, but many gold dealers will still just pay spot price for them.

At $1169.70 per ounce at the time of this writing, buying a full ounce of gold is cost prohibitive for many people. There are some companies that sell smaller amounts, even down to 1 gram. This is my personal preference, because it is more affordable, and, in case of economic crises, could be more easily traded for goods/services. There are different grades of gold bullion also. When buying gold bullion, look for gold that is LBMA certified. This is gold from a refiner approved by the London Bullion Market Association. This gives you assurance that the gold you are buying is high quality, pure gold. You also want to make sure you are buying 24 karat gold. This is the same as.999, 99.99% pure, or "currency grade". You can take a bar of LBMA certified, 24 karat, or currency grade, gold, to a bank and pay a loan with it.


My company offers just such LBMA certified, currency grade, 24 karat gold in small denominations. For full product and business information, or just for current news affecting gold prices, please visit my website.

Hi, my name is Christina St. John. My business is Golden Times Monthly. I maintain a blog of economic news that affects the price of gold. I also sell 1 to 5 gram increments of 24 karat, LBMA certified gold bars. There is also a home based business option. My website for the blog ishttp://goldentimes.my-free.website/blog. For product information, you can link from there or go directly to http://goldentimes.my-free.website/our-products. Thank you for visiting.

What You Need to Know About Engelhard, the Private Mint and Precious Metals Refinery

Engelhard was founded in 1902 in Newark, New Jersey. This company soon became the world's largest precious metals refiner. In the mid-1970's Engelhard made gold, silver, platinum & palladium bullion bars.

It wasn't until the early 1980's, that the company started to produce bullion rounds known as the Engelhard Prospector. They were struck from 1982 until 1987 when their production of precious metal ceased. 1987 was the second year of the American silver Eagle, which became vastly more popular.

American Prospector gold and silver rounds were struck in 1/10, 1/4, 1/2, and 1 oz sizes. The fractional sized silver rounds were produced in smaller numbers and only in 1985. Understandably, they have higher premiums due to their rarity.

As with other numismatics, the Prospector series has a key date. The 1983 is far more difficult to find than the other coins in this short lived series. The rounds generally follow the silver bullion market, but the 1983 will typically cost three to four times as much as the other rounds in the series.

Engelhard silver and gold rounds are far rarer than the American Silver Eagle, with only 700,000 silver rounds ever minted. The lowest Silver Eagle production year was 1996, when they made only 3,603,000.

The Engelhard mint was the only private mint at the time who could say they rivalled federal mints from around the world. They are certainly worth the premium they don't seem to get on their products.

The Engelhard trademark started as a capital E overlaying a world globe. They used this logo on all their products until sometime in 1984, when the Prospector reverse became a flying eagle. This allows collectors to buy both the 1984 with eagle reverse and with the original "E" reverse.

The bars came in many sizes, but the most popular sizes are 1, 5, 10, and 100 oz denominations. Their silver bars have the famous "E" logo along with their name written out on both sides of the bar. All of the bars are clean cut and uniform. Silver bar production amounted to roughly 4,000,000 units.

Engelhard may be the most well-known name when it comes to silver bars, but they aren't the only big name in the field. Other popular names include Sunshine Minting, Johnson Matthey, Pamp Suisse, and Silvertowne. Each of these companies has been around for many years and enjoys a reputation similar to Engelhard.

Probably, the best place to buy an Engelhard silver bar or round is on the internet. You will be able to choose from the lowest mark ups, and may even find versions of the bar that you didn't even know existed before. There are many, many variations of their silver bars.

To discover more about coins: collecting issues, money management, investing in the rare and bullion coin market, and much more, I invite you to visit http://www.heritagecoingallery.com for videos and free tips on buying coins at the best prices.

Just How Rare and Collectible Are the US Trade Dollar Coins?

Trade dollars were despised at home and loved in China. They were 4 grams heavier than either the Liberty Seated or Morgan silver dollars used for domestic trade. These silver dollars were very short lived, and only used from 1873 to 1878.

When silver prices crashed in 1876, the Trade Dollar flooded the American economy. They had an actual value of $.80 even though their face value was a dollar. They were worth their weight in silver bullion, not the dollar stated on the reverse. In July of 1876 Congress withdrew its legal tender status.

They offer the chance to buy truly rare American coins for reasonable prices.

Three significant factors contribute to the rarity of collector grade Trade Dollars.

1. Original mintage: Mintages were small compared to most US silver coins.

2. Relatively few of the coins actually remained in the United States. Huge quantities of them were melted for their silver value in China and India. It's believed that half the 1878-CC mintage was melted.

3. Chop marks: Many Trade Dollars were counter stamped in the Orient with merchant acceptance as payment. Many others were abrasively cleaned. Both disqualify the coin from being graded.

Business strikes are dated from 1873 to 1878 and produced in Philadelphia, San Francisco and Carson City. The business strikes minted from 1873 to 1878 comprise 6 Carson City issues, 6 San Francisco issues, and just 5 Philadelphia Mint coins. This results in only 17 different date/mint mark combination.

Mintage of over a million coins is relatively rare for the Trade dollar. The highest mintage was the 1877-S with 9,519,000 struck, then 1876-S taking second place with 5,227,000 and the 1875-S taking third place with 4,487,000 examples. Fourth place is the 1878-S with 4,162,000 coins.

As you can see, only the above dates of 1875-S, 1876-S, 1877-S and 1878-S would qualify as "relatively common" and even these are still difficult to find in Mint State. All the other date/mint marks are scarce, rare, extremely rare or unknown in Mint State.

Trade dollars have somewhat more collector interest than Seated Liberty dollars, because they have at least some chance of completing a full date/mint mark series. None would be considered an unobtainable rarity. The most elusive coin of the group is the 1878-CC, which also happens to be the lowest mintage of the series.

If you ignore the 1884 and 1885 limited proof issues, there might be a chance of a complete series collection. There were only 5 total 1885 proofs struck. The 1885 trade dollar has all of the elements of intrigue and desirability of the more famous 1804 Draped Bust silver dollar.

Disregarding 1884 and 1885, proof versions of the business strike Trade Dollars were produced in very limited numbers for collectors. There wasn't much collector interest, and little attempt was made by the mint to generate collector interest in them.

If a collector wished to retain an example, he would purchase a proof from the mint. Proof Trade Dollar coins were issued for collectors from 1873 to 1883. The high mint state versions are usually only available as proofs.

These coins never got hoarded the way Morgan and Peace dollars have. In other words, there isn't much chance of future discoveries of someone's secret stash.

Business strikes are often very rare in Mint State, but relatively obtainable in circulated grades, even AU. In higher mint state grades, business strike versions of the Trade Dollars are among the ultimate rare American coins.