The Silver Lining of Market Friday

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The Silver Lining of Market Friday
dswigle (74)in Market Friday • 24 days ago (edited)

I must say that I am rarely political. In fact, I thought my days of unrest were over. Coincidentally, my mother was visiting me and I took her to a peaceful rally. She was excited and afraid, she had never gone to a riot before. I could see the difference in our ages in the way we looked at things. :) Anyway, she was not disappointed and we even made the local news. We were in Washington, DC, not realizing that someday, I would actually call it home. As I look at my country today, all I can see is the US spiraling out of control. The ruling elites are deliberately dividing the nation, destroying the economy, encouraging mass illegal immigration and encouraging liberal violence while simultaneously going to extreme efforts to silence and persecute any voice of descent from these destructive actions. They are destroying entire industries (mining, coal, oil, natural gas) and forcing massive changes (at great expense) to other industries (health, medicine, automotive, transportation, insurance, education). They are ruining the livelihood and seizing the civil rights of productive citizens in the name of health and ecological emergencies. They are handing out massive subsidies, the Feds are pumping unbelievable amounts of “money” into the economy to keep the house of cards from collapsing. Is it me or are giving up our world status by negotiating with and surrendering to terrorists, while enriching one country, supporting another's gas industry and encouraging all of our adversaries to become more aggressive? Who would have thought two years ago that it’s ok riot, to burn cities, even to kill police. The Department Of Justice is seriously trying to figure out how they can declare parents that object to the liberal indoctrination their children are receiving in school as domestic terrorists. I am truly and undisputably horrified at what has happened to my country, the one that I love so much. Surely not everyone thinks this way. It is a little dramatic, but, I wanted to give you the reasons why I am a stacker and why I use a little bit of diversity in my financial portfolio.

After 35 years, the flipside of the American Eagle Coin got a makeover this year, so I indulged in a little bit of stacking and purchased it on its rollout. This is the American Eagle One Ounce Silver Coin (W) with its reverse design!
Mint and Mint Mark: West Point – W
Denomination: $1 Coin
Weight: 1.000 troy oz. (31.103 grams)

Why do we have American Eagle Silver and Gold Coins? Very interesting! Let’s start at the beginning. Approaching a hundred years old, in 1982, it was announced that the Statue of Liberty was in poor shape and needed a major restoration. In that same year, President Ronald Regan established the Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Centennial Commission to raise the funds needed for the repairs. There is a lot of history about this great commission that I’ll skip over, but, only because it is already long

Fast forward to 1985 when still President Reagan signed the Liberty Coin Act paving the way for minting millions of 99.9% pure silver coins to help fund the Statue of Liberty restoration. Known as Public Law 99-61 after it was signed into law, the Liberty Coin Act authorized the minting of 500,000 five-dollar coins, ten million one-dollar coins and twenty-five million half dollar coins. The design of the coins was to “be emblematic of the centennial of the Statue of Liberty” and they were required to contain inscriptions of the year “1986”, and the words “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, “United States of America”, and “E Pluribus Unum”. The size, weight and mineral composition was specified for each of the three coins, as was the source of the bullion. These coins were to be sold at a price equal to the face value, plus the cost of making them, plus a surcharge of $35 per coin for the five-dollar coins, $7 per coin for the one-dollar coins and $2 per coin for the half-dollar coins. All of the resultant surcharges were to restore and renovate the Statue of Liberty and the facilities used for immigration at Ellis Island. These surcharges (along with HUGE private fund raising) resulted in a magnificent renovation of the Statue of Liberty.

Wait, I didn’t get the connection for the American Eagle Coin Program. What did I miss? Ah yes, there is a proverb that rules in DC: Never let a good crisis go to waste. It seems that in addition to a lot of potatoes, Idaho also mines a lot of silver. During this timeframe the market was very soft for silver, so James McClure, a bright U.S. Senator from Idaho, sponsored the Statue of Liberty Act (the Law specified using bullion mined in the USA). The Act only authorized 35,500,000 coins, so, that isn’t a permanent solution…unless you make it a permanent solution. The good Senator from Idaho also added an amendment for starting the American Eagle Coin Program. Voila!! We have Bullion Coinage demand for all the silver that Idaho can produce. A definite win-win for Idaho and the bullion collectors - and the Statue of Liberty!</center

I cannot even explain to someone who doesn't care for coins the thrill it is to open up one of these cracker jack boxes. Oh, it is always about the prize, isn't it?

The American Eagle Coin Program (Silver and gold – added by the 1985 “Gold Bullion Act”) started the same year (1986) providing investors with a cost effective, convenient way to add physical gold and silver to their investment portfolios. Since the program started, American Eagles have become the world’s leading source of bullion coin investment products. Because of perceived demand, the program has subsequently grown to include American Eagle Platinum Coins (1997) and American Eagle Palladium Coins (2017).

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We live in an uncertain society. There are so many counterintuitive actions going on that we can’t even determine if inflation will get worse, change to deflation, or if the economy will simply collapse. What seems clear to me is that the US stock market is way overvalued, we are currently seeing supply shortages, too many people unwilling to work and that the US dollar is going to suffer for all this insanity. In my view, smart people should start keep in atock necessities and shifting savings they might be blessed with, into resources other than the US dollar that might retain most of its value when the dust settles. To me that means physical things that hold value… precious metals, land, art, jewelry etc. To that end I’ve recently started buying more gold and silver, but, too can you ever have too much of a good thing? That is what diversifying is all about. A few weeks ago, there was a large drop in the cost of gold and silver and I took the opportunity to “buy the dip” and bought these Silver Eagles. On top of being bullion, the design of the US Silver Eagle changed this year, so there is only a half year production of the old (type 1) and the new (type 2) Silver Eagles. This lower production timeframes will eventually add numismatic value to this year's production.
Okay. Crypto. There is always and forever the crypto. But, that is a subject for another day. This #MarketFriday was all about the silver purchase, so I am trying not to complicate it with the crypto.

Why silver and not gold? Actually, I do buy both. While gold takes all the headlines, gold’s primary uses are for investments and jewelry. Silver however, is primarily used in industry. Silver is very resistant to corrosion and is said to be the best thermal and electrical conductor of all metals. This makes it ideal for electrical applications from cell phones to solar panels, there is no end to the industrial uses for silver. This industrial demand for silver, ensures a constant, healthy demand for silver.

STOP!! BRAIN TEASER AHEAD!!

Question: You are given 100 dollars to buy 100 sponges. Now, you may buy no more or less than 100 sponges and also, the total price must be 100 dollars. There are three types of sponges: Red Sponges costing $6, Yellow Sponges costing $3 and Blue Sponges costing $0.10.

CC.@cryptoind