Golden Opportunity
By Silvano DiGenova

Gold has always fascinated mankind. Virtually indestructible yet easily molded into beautiful shapes, this scarce yellow metal was viewed as the ultimate symbol of wealth and power in early civilizations. Today, many continue to place more trust in gold than they do in their own currencies.

The greatest gold-lovers were the Egyptians, who hoarded enormous quantities in the burial tombs of their Pharaohs. It was stored in bricks, bars, jewelry and goblets until around 700 BC when the first gold coins were struck in Lidia, a country in Asia Minor.

Thousands of coins bearing the image of Jesus Christ were struck during the Byzantine era. To this day, ancient coins dating from between 500
and 700 AD are dug up in parts of Turkey in near-mint condition (gold does not tarnish or disintegrate like copper or even nickel). They are so common you can buy one for a few hundred dollars. The U.S. Government did not officially use currency until around 1861 – but even then, people would often times prefer a $1 gold piece over a $5 bill.

Gold has always been hoarded, but especially in uncertain times when it is used as a means of protecting and storing wealth. Currently, some firms are even selling gold as part of anti-terrorist kits!

Gold – A Buyer’s Guide

It’s hard to think of a bad time to buy rare gold. There
have been a couple of peaks, but those who avoided the peaks have done very well. There have been solid gains in the rare coin market since around 1994, and the positive outlook continues.

Bullion gold hit a 20-year low a few years ago after peaking in 1980 during periods of rapid inflation. From that point through today, there still seems to be more room for growth in the gold market. Any correction (which happens on a daily basis) would be a time to get back into the gold market. 

Many people feel there is an economic tie between tangibles in general, specifically rare coins and gold. When gold shoots up, rare coins tend to go even higher because the supply is much more limited. And when gold corrects, coins tend not to correct as much.
 
We believe in diversification, and therefore recommend that you hold some bullion gold.  However, we recommend you view rare gold in the same way you would fine art – it is better to own one Van Gogh, Picasso, Rembrandt or Renoir than several works by a fourth-tier artist. Or to put it in real estate terms: go for the beach front properties, the downtown Manhattan penthouses. These assets are in extremely limited quantity and therefore extreme demand – thus will continue to rise in value. 

The best rare gold you can buy…

Early American Gold – Early U.S. Gold is quite possibly the most historically important of all the U.S. series.  These coins, which vary from $2.5, $5 and $10 gold coins from 1795 to 1838 represent the financial history of the United States.  These coins were the foundation for the financial
stability of our nation at its inception.  Since these coins from this era represent a considerable amount of purchas-
ing power at the time, several significant facts are worth pointing out.

First, for a coin to survive in mint condition is truly extraordinary since it would have taken considerable wherewithal to hold aside such an asset.

Second, we are certainly aware of our key forefathers’ personal interest in our coinage. Key
figures such as David Retinhouse, Thomas Jefferson and the like had a great interest in coins. Finally, since our forefathers were the elite of society at the time of the production of these coins, it is near certain that the origin of many of today’s choice surviving specimens were actually in their hands and passed down from them. Over the many years in numismatics, no other grouping has captured the imagination and desires of the top collectors as the early U.S. gold. 

Among the numismatic luminaries of Louis Eliasberg, John Jay Pittman, Harry Bass and many others, all extensively collected early U.S. gold.  Today the demand is even greater.  With a very small supply and ever growing demand, price appreciation is inevitable.  Add to this the amazing demand for historic Americana which has brought silver objects of our forefathers to seven figures and furniture to eight figures, we feel no better area of numismatics is possible.