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The Olympic Gold Medal, Well Sort Of

 

The Summer Olympics. Nations coming together in sport every 4 years. All the character stories, the athletic accomplishments and the Olympic Medals. What a sham...

Yes we are talking about the medals. Those shiny sought after pieces of rare accomplishment. These being the largest medals ever produced for the Summer Olympics. The gold and silver medals weighing about 412 grams and bronze weighing in at 357 grams, each medal is 85mm in diameter, and 8-10mm thick.Contrary to what the name might suggest and most people beliefs there is hardly any gold contained within a gold medal. 

The Olympic charter guidelines state that at least 6 grams of gold must be used in each medal. Shockingly, This year's Olympic gold medal is comprised of 92.5 % silver,  and only a whopping 1.34% gold, and the rest  6.16 percent is made up of copper. 

A little bit depressing I would say. As well, I feel terrible for the unfortunate athlete who days of glory have passed, now down on their luck that will need to visit their local pawn shop. What a true disappointment that will be.

-Blogging4Bullion

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What Does a $50 million Gold Coin Look Like?

 

Yep that is it pictured above. Made by the Royal Canadian Mint with a a kangaroo on one side and the Queen's profile on the opposite side. The coin is more than 10X  the size of the world's previous largest gold coin. The coin in question is in the shape of a giant disk and weighs in at more than one ton. Currently it is valued at roughly more than $50 million.The Perth Mint created this coin to comemorate Queen Elizabeth's visit to the city. According to the Perth Mint CEO Ed Harbuz, creating it was "an incredible challenge" and took more than a dozen people to complete. 

For those of you that store precious metals at home,  just imagine trying to find a safe to store this monstrosity in. Let alone dealing with trying to transport this ton of beauty to a secure location. Oh the possibilities of owning 1 ton plus worth of gold.

 -Blogging4Bullion

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Breaking: European Banks To Stop Gold Sales..

Very interesting developments in the precious metals markets. According to news sources: "Europe’s central banks have all but halted sales of their gold reserves, ending a run of large disposals each year for more than a decade." To me this is somewhat of a shocking development as gold is close to a record high.

Just the announcement of "halting gold sales" may prove to have a psychological impact as it may cause a rush to the metal thereby driving up prices. This is a pretty hefty development and we will keep an eye on the charts over the next couple of days to see how this truly plays out. Interesting times indeed if you are precious metals investor.
-Blogging4Bullion

Sources:
CNBC
Financial Times - Europe's Central Banks to Hault Gold Sales (registration required.)
Kitco Charts

US Mint Running Out of Silver (and Excuses)

By: Tarek_Saab

In Title 31 of the US Code, the United States Mint is required by law to supply "in quantities sufficient to meet public demand, one dollar silver bullion coins of specified size, weight, and design." (Source) This law is widely referenced, and I have criticized the US Mint in the past when it fails to meet consumer demand because of poor planning, despite the availability of silver.

However, there is an incredible amount of confusion about a second law which allegedly states that the US Mint must supply its silver "blanks" from domestic resources. At present, two of these resources are the Sunshine Mint and Stern-Leach. On June 5th, 2008, during the first massive Silver Eagle shortage, the director of the US Mint published the following statement:

"By law, the United States Mint's American Eagle silver bullion coins must meet exacting specifications and must be composed of newly mined silver acquired from domestic sources. The United States Mint will continue to make every effort to increase its acquisition of silver bullion blanks that meet these specifications and requirements to address continuing high demand in the silver bullion coin market."

This interpretation of the law is extremely relevant because Silver American Eagle sales are now on the verge of surpassing total domestic silver mine production.
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Russia on the Move - Buys 16% of Global Gold Production

According to the central bank of Russia, gold reserves were up by 1 million + ounces during the month of May. This by far is the largest single month purchase of the metal in the last 3 years. Global output is roughly 7 million ounces and once you do the math you get about 16% of all total production. That is a lot of gold that the Russians are getting there hands on.

My past posts have also been mentioning China and India as well on these gold buying sprees. Something is definitely up and these super powers on the asian continent are all to aware of it. All signs are pointing to a possible super massive economic collapse on a global scale and the push of a Russian or China currency backed by gold. Stay tuned.

-Blogging4Bullion

UPDATE - Afghanistan: Rich in Gold, Iron and Copper

Well a day or two after writing the original post below, I was scouring the news sites and ran across this article from wired.com explaining how the US government was well aware of those natural resources in a 2007 report that was done by the Navy and Geological survey team. I am pretty sure they knew long before that report was generated back in 07' of all the goodies that Afghanistan has to offer. Read the article from wired.com

MY EARLIER POST:
American geologist have just discovered large deposits of gold, iron, copper, cobalt and other key industry metals like lithium within Afghanistan borders. Currently it has been valued at more than 1 trillion US dollars.

I am pretty sure that Russians were well aware of these rich mine deposits prior to their war with the region back in the 1970's but were to bogged down in guerilla fighting to start mining.

News like this is just going to add fuel to the fire on the true reasons why we are over there. To think, everyone thought it was just the poppy fields.

-Blogging4Bullion

Afghanistan: Rich in Gold, Iron and Copper

American geologist have just discovered large deposits of gold, iron, copper, cobalt and other key industry metals like lithium within Afghanistan borders. Currently it has been valued at more than 1 trillion US dollars.

I am pretty sure that Russians were well aware of these rich mine deposits prior to their war with the region back in the 1970's but were to bogged down in guerilla fighting to start mining.

News like this is just going to add fuel to the fire on the true reasons why we are over there. To think, everyone thought it was just the poppy fields.

-Blogging4Bullion

Speculators Grab Gold Faster Than Mines Can Produce It

Bloomberg
By Nicholas Larkin, Claudia Carpenter and Millie Munshi - May 24, 2010

Speculators are buying gold faster than the world’s biggest producers can mine it as analysts forecast a 27 percent rally that may extend the longest run of annual gains since at least 1920.

Exchange-traded products backed by bullion added 41.7 metric tons in the week to May 14, the most in 14 months, data from UBS AG show. China, Australia and the 15 other largest mining nations averaged weekly output of 41.6 tons last year, researcher GFMS Ltd. estimates. Even though prices have fallen 4.6 percent to $1,191.65 from a record $1,249.40 an ounce May 14, the median in a Bloomberg survey of 23 traders, analysts and investors shows it will reach $1,500 by the end of the year.

Buying accelerated as the MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations’ stocks tumbled as much as 16 percent since mid-April and the euro weakened to a four-year low against the dollar. Holders of ETPs, including George Soros and John Paulson, accumulated a record 1,938 tons by May 21, eclipsing all but four of the biggest central-bank holdings.
Full article

German ProSieben TV Channel Finds 500 Gram Tungsten Bar At W.C.Heraeus Gold Foundry With Bank Origin

German TV station ProSieben finds what appears to be some evocative proof of gold counterfeiting, in the form of tungsten gold substitutes coming to the W.C.Heraeus foundry, which is the world's largest privately-owned precious metals refiner and fabricator, located in Hanau, Germany. The foundry has isolated at least one 500-gram tungsten bar due for melting, originating from a (so far) unnamed bank, which as the head of the foundry stated made the unpleasant discovery that "not all the glitters is gold.

Watch the video here

U.S. Mint now suspends all one ounce gold coin sales due to shortage of physical gold!

Once again the U.S. mint has had to suspend sales of all its one-ounce gold coins, and some fractional ones too, as its supplies of physical gold cannot meet the demand.
Author: Lawrence Williams
Posted: Monday , 07 Dec 2009

LONDON -

"The United States Mint has depleted its inventory of 2009 American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Bullion Coins. ... No additional inventory will be made available. As additional information becomes available regarding 2010-dated American Buffalo One Once Gold Bullion Coins, you will be notified." So said a memorandum issued Friday to authorized purchasers of U.S. Mint gold coins and reported by Jim Sinclair..
Full article

US Mint Reporting Shortages

Mint news blog is reporting gold coins are selling out over at the us mint.

Yesterday, the US Mint released information related to the status of their gold and silver bullion coin offerings. These are the bullion coins sold via their network of authorized purchasers, and not the collectible coins offered for sale on their website.
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China to become world's No. 1 gold consumer - GFMS

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China looks set to overtake India as the world's largest gold consumer in 2009, with total demand for jewellery and investment forecast at 432 tonnes, a senior official at major metals consultancy GFMS said on Friday.
Full article

Gold Hoarders

More Evidence Gold is Being Hoarded as Comex Fulfills Gold Contracts With Paper
By Duncan Davidson|Dec 2, 2009, 1:31 PM

My bet that by 2020 we will return to some form of gold standard is looking better. Something is up when gold is being hoarded to such an extent that the futures exchanges cannot fulfill with metal but have to try to stiff the contract holder with paper. Now, they have done this in the past, and gotten away with it, but according to this story, never so aggressively.
Full article