While not directly coin related the prices of precious metals are of definite interest to coin collectors because it can often result in the intrinsic bullion value of a coin exceeding it's collectable value. The run up in silver prices we wrote about recently ended up with silver closing at just over the US$50 mark and then crashing over a 3 day period by more than US$15 per ounce. It appears now, that with economic troubles in the European Union and the poor state of the US economy that gold bullion is being chosen as a 'safe' asset instead of the US dollar.
US$1600 per ounce is record territory for gold but we're still not seeing record prices in Australian dollar terms due to the high value of the Aussie dollar against the greenback. Gold prices of more than AU$1500 per ounce occurred nearly two years ago when the Aussie dollar was valued at around US$0.70 compared with US$1.06 today. Still, the World Gold Coin Calculator suggests that a gold sovereign is now worth AU$355 in bullion alone, not an insignificant amount for common date coins that usually trade barely above the gold value.
We don't like to offer investment advice on this blog but anyone caught up in the 'gold rush' would do well to bear in mind the rapid 3 day fall of the silver price in May. We'd hate to see anyone experience the same situation if they'd put all their money into gold!
Posted by mnemtsas at July 19, 2011 11:28 AM
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