Should You Hoard Nickels?

As precious metals like silver, gold, and platinum continue to increase in price as the US Fiat Money Paper Dollar is overprinted into financial oblivion, base metals are attracting some side glances as well. In particular copper pre-1982 pennies and nickel coins (75% copper & 25% nickel). Indeed, due to the rise in the commodity price of both copper and nickel, coinflation.com lists the metallic value of the current US nickel at close to $0.07 cents! If it wasn't for a pesky law passed in December of 2006 forbidding the exportation and / or melting of US nickels, enterprising speculators might be lighting up the cauldrons already for profit!

However, given the assumption that most US citizens who've chosen to start hoarding nickels are lawful people, what could possibly be their motive for stacking the 5-cent pieces in their garages, sheds, basements etc? Well, it can't be for ease of storage and portability (always great in survival situations). For example: $20,000 worth of gold coins could be easily carried by your 85 year old grandmother in her purse. $20,000 worth of American Silver Eagles weighs 40 pounds, and can be carried by an average man some distance. However, $20,000 worth of nickels (face value) weigh 4,410 pounds, and isn't going anywhere without a forklift and a light truck or heavy duty pickup! As far as ease of storage gold and silver win hands down as well. My wife hardly even notices my hiding spots for my gold and silver coins. On the other hand, how is any married man (who presumably wishes to stay that way) going to schmooze his significant other into letting him store a mere 400,000 nickels or $20,000 worth around the house! I suppose you could form the nickel bricks into coffee tables and other furniture, but I just can't see my wife sitting down quietly while a truck is backing up to the house to unload the massive cargo.

I don't want people to get me wrong. I am very sympathetic to any person whose goal is to diversify out of the US(less) Dollar into more valuable commodities. I imagine the typical nickel hoarder may have missed the gold and /or silver trains, and is hoping to catch the more modest nickel and copper rockets before takeoff. However, I just see the logistics mentioned above to be major stumbling blocks to realizing an eventual profit from hoarding nickels, to say nothing of the thorn in the nickel-guys paw that is the US Law also detailed above.

Finally, I'd like to offer my advice. Forgo the nickels with the numerous logistical and legal roadblocks, and buy American Silver Eagles and Junk Silver (pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves) on every dip in silver prices. Silver is headed to $50 and beyond. You may have missed the first quarter of the game, but there is still another three to go with a nice half-time show in the middle (NO CHRISTINA AGUILERA I PROMISE - I LOVE AMERICA TOO MUCH)!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

A Return to the Gold / Silver Standard?

The State of Utah has passed legislation that would allow gold and silver coins to be used as a legal tender in the State. This fiscal move is widely viewed as a hedge against the value erosion that the US Dollar is currently undergoing.

The new wave is not restricted to Utah, as a dozen states have proposed such a bill.

In Virginia, the legislature there has passed a bill (which is yet to be signed by the governor) that would allow the state to mint gold, silver and platinum coins. This is expected to protect the state from the scourge of high inflation.

In fact, a Virginia delegate tried to initiate a resolution that would allow the state to have its own currency, but the effort fell through. Recently, there were unconfirmed reports that China is on a move to opt for a gold standard.

The US had been on gold standard for a major part of the 20th century, but Richard Nixon decoupled gold from currency in 1971.

In November last year, World Bank President, Robert Zoellick called for considering by nations a return to gold standard to better accommodate currency fluctuations.

The Utah bill is yet to be signed by the State Governor. Once this is through, there are arguments that the legislation may spur the US Congress to consider adopting gold standard.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Does Investing in Pennies Make Cents?

All pennies minted in the United States prior to and during the first part of 1982 were composed of 95% copper and 5% zinc. After 1982 the composition of pennies was changed to 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper. Pardon the bad pun, but does investing in 95% copper pennies make any (cents) sense? Copper prices have hit new highs, and the theoretical melt value of a 95% US copper penny is close to $0.03!

So the key question is buying pennies a good idea? I say absolutely no, and here's why:

• The Melting Ban:
  On December 14, 2006, the United States Mint implemented interim rules that made it illegal to melt or export nickels and pennies. On April 17, 2007, the U.S. Mint announced a final rule to limit the exporting, melting or treatment of one-cent (penny) and five-cent (nickel) United States Coins.

What good will it do you to own ten million pennies (face value $100,000) and three times as much in copper melt value if it's ILLEGAL TO MELT THEM?

• Bulk:

It takes 10 million pennies to get a face value investment of $100,000. Such a penny cube would be six feet high, wide, and thick & weigh 31.3 tons! That means you're going to need a couple of semis and a forklift for delivery or whenever you want to move these things.

Plainly shipping and warehousing costs would be a significant drain on any large penny investment. Companies like the Portland Mint offer storage options, but that means they retain the pennies while you just get the bills for the storage, which isn't cheap. Of course, there's always the worry of proving ownership should the Portland Mint go out of business or even change ownership.

In short, invest in gold and silver and take delivery of your metals.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

How Would You Invest $100,000?

How would you invest a $100,000 windfall? Well, if you're like the Chief Investment Officer of Sprott Asset Management you'd do the following:

"I would probably put 80% in precious metals, 10% in energy, and another 10% in agriculture, as well as special situations stocks. In the precious metals area, I would put at least 60% into something oriented toward silver. I think silver will appreciate on a percentage basis way more than gold over the next decade and trade back down to a gold-to-silver ratio of 16:1, where it has historically been. It’s something like 48:1 now. In the energy sector, I’d own some oil and gas and uranium stocks, while in agriculture, it would be potash and phosphate."

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Is Gold In a Bubble?

Every time the price of gold goes down a few dollars all the empty talking heads start saying the gold "bubble" is about to burst. Let's get a quick reality check, please!

The fundamentals have not changed. They remain the same. If anything, getting worse with each passing day.

The amount of debt is worse and still growing - at ALL levels.
Inflation and value deflation continues to worsen.
Currency devaluation is ongoing and slowly worsening.
Underemployment remains unacceptably high.
Residential foreclosures have not even peaked yet!
Commercial real estate failures have yet to peak.
Financial malfeasance and accounting fraud abound.
The amount of political and moral ineptitude is astounding.
Monetary and fiscal policy will not change in the short term.

Gold in a bubble? I don't think so!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

How I Survived Hyperinflation!

Earlier this evening, I received an email from a man who lived through the great Yugoslavian inflation (1993-1994).

Given the debt situation here in the U.S., hyper-inflation can certainly not be ruled out as a possibility. His comments on how he survived the hyper-inflation, and what it was like might become valuable to US citizens like you and me.

He said, of course, that once he got paid, he spent the money immediately, as in a week the value of the currency would be half. “It was a lot of paper,” he said.

He said you quickly learned to buy things with credit cards. If you bought some furniture, you put it on the credit card and by the time it came time to pay the credit card bill, what it cost you for the furniture was now what it cost to buy a pack of cigarettes, because of the quick devaluation of the currency. Since wages climb up roughly as fast as other prices, to pay off the credit debt becomes a minor cost.

He said you learn to drag out and not pay your utility bills, like the telephone and electric bills, until the last minute as the currency would have depreciated so fast that the bills become inconsequential expenses.

He said everyone lived poorly except for those who had foreign currency or gold. He said if you had access to even only ten German marks per month or gold and silver coins you could live like a king because everyone valued anything that offered price stability.

The man lives in the U.S. now and he says he never wants to live through that again. He says he now divides his savings into three parts. He puts a third into the dollar, a third into the euro and a third into gold and silver.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies:

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Buying Silver for Dummies!

Whether you decide to buy silver for investment purposes, hyperinflation, or economic collapses your choices can be numerous and confusing. My goal for this article is to give a beginner the 10 basic facts they need to know to make the best silver purchase without getting scammed by the many sleaze merchants out there today.

1. Buy from reliable sources. APMEX.com APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles has been in business for decades and is widely respected. Gainesville Coins or eBay are good as well. When buying on eBay make sure the seller has excellent reviews and use PayPal to secure your purchase.

2. Start buying "junk silver". Junk silver is any US dime, quarter, or half dollar dated 1964 or earlier. These coins were once circulating currency and contain 90% silver. $1.40 face value of junk silver equals one troy ounce silver (approx). Check out Coinflation.com for updated coin pricing based on silver content.

3. Avoid Goldline International like the plague. They have an "F" rating with the BBB and use high pressure sales and scare tactics to rip off the newbies.

4. Buy American Silver Eagles after you've built up a junk silver reserve. They are the single most respected and popular one pure ounce silver coin in the world and is a real US dollar.

5. Avoid silver rounds and bars which are made by private companies. Bars have to be assayed when sold (adding to costs) and rounds are unknown to most Americans.

6. Buy US coins only! Stay away from European and even Canadian coins.

7. Buy Gold only after you're satisfied with your silver stockpile or unless you feel you'll need to flee the country. Gold is easy to smuggle through customs when emigrating, but is impractical for day to day trading.

8. Keep your coins where you can get to them quickly. Safe deposit boxes are vulnerable to fire, theft (government and otherwise) and banks can be ordered closed during economic chaos. Don't pay your coin seller to hold your coins for you. Scams in this area are rampant.

9. Store your silver in non-polyurethane containers away from moisture which can cause tarnishing and/or corrosion.

10.Remember silver and gold have been valued by human society for 5000 years! Let's see how long the US Dollar lasts!
Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Hyperinflation Can't Happen in the USA...right?

Hungarian Street Sweeper Cleaning up Discarded Paper Money - 1946

Many Americans when they think about hyperinflation (inflation of more than 50% per month), invariably see it as a foreign problem that could never happen in the USA. History, of course, contradicts this false assumption with very real examples of hyperinflation that occurred right here during the American Revolutionary War and in the Southern Confederacy during the American Civil War. Indeed, history further tells us that anytime a nation introduces unbacked paper "fiat" currency inflation, hyperinflation, and complete economic collapse is only a matter of time. Other examples of hyperinflation from around the world and time include Ancient Rome (when they lowered the silver content in their coins), China (the first country to introduce paper money), Russia, Hungary, Weimar Germany, Iceland, Argentina, and Zimbabwe to name a few.

The root of the next faulty conceit I've encountered is the belief that "Big Brother" or the government will somehow prevent the worst from happening and pass some laws to protect US citizens and our wealth. Certainly, it seems the US government is doing nothing nowadays to disabuse any citizen of this childlike trust and dependency. More and more we're being seduced by governmental promises that assure us that medical care, retirement, health, food and housing costs will be taken care of by our good 'ole Uncle Sam if worse ever comes to worse. If we make a mistake by buying a house we can't afford or invest stupidly (Madoff scam), the government will rush to our rescue and have our back. Finally, the blind belief in the power of the government to "make it all better" extends to the terrible threat of hyperinflation.

A typical governmental reaction to fast rising prices in hyperinflation is to implement wage and price controls. Nixon did as much in the early 70's to control inflation with dismal results. The basic theory behind the pricing controls is that the government can stop rising prices in a market economy merely by mandate. Of course, as always theory never works as well in practice. History tells us that if the price controls are not rigidly enforced with real penalties they are soon ignored by both seller and consumer. However, when the laws are rigidly policed, product scarcity quickly results and thriving black markets are created. Scarcity of commodities results as sellers become reluctant to sell their products at the low governmental prices as they would lose money in the transaction. Factories often curtail production or close down altogether rather than manufacture and sell their items at a loss. Black markets and even worse price gouging then begins to thrive as a means to fill the gaping demand for goods created by the ill-considered governmental attempts to control the free market.

In the final analysis we see that the US with its busy money printing presses and skyrocketing multi-trillion dollar debt can and quite possibly will experience hyperinflation within the next few years. Further, if and when that economic catastrophe befalls us the average American will NOT be able to rely upon their Uncle Sam to ride to their rescue and feed their families with laws and dictates.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Chicken Little Hates Gold & Silver!

A recent article in Fortune entitled Don't Believe the Rosy Forecasts confidently predicts the popping of the "alleged" gold and silver bubble. See the following excerpt:

"From 1983 to 2004, gold prices averaged around $400 an ounce. Today, the price for an ounce stands at $1390, or 3.5 times its historic average. The rub is that the production cost of gold is still in the $400 range. It's a combination of speculative demand and a temporary shortage of supply because of the long lags in mining the yellow metal that accounts for the surge. The spread of gold ATMs and ads luring people to sell their jewelry are sure signs of a bubble. Look for gold prices to drop sharply, and silver, copper and other metals to follow."

I've been reading articles like this daily for the last two years that have conveyed much the same Chicken Little "the sky is falling" advice. Luckily, I've paid the advice no mind and my portfolio is up 79% this year! If silver and gold are truly in a peaking bubble then all of our investor friends and family should have precious metal stakes, right? Do me a favor, go ahead and conduct your own informal survey. You'll find that 98%-99% of your investment buddies own zero gold and silver, especially the real physical bullion.

What many writers and talking heads fail to realize is that we are in a totally different investment paradigm now. The old tried and true methodologies that were based on a strong dollar and sound economic policies have been scrapped in favor of the money printing press and multi-trillion dollar deficits. The US dollar is headed for the trash heap of history and the very real possibility of hyperinflation is now no more than two years in our future.

I'll take precious metals like gold and silver that have been valued by all human societies for over 5000 years over your green paper funny money any day of the week!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Paper Money Slaves

Since the US government dumped the gold standard in 1933 and the silver standard in 1964, it has consistently colluded with big banking interests to contain the prices of these two precious metals. Why?

Well, one easy answer is that high silver and gold prices in dollars makes the US dollar look anemic and highlights economic weakness. Higher interest rates usually follow as well, and when you owe the trillions the US owes that's just plain bad news.

However, I think the real reason the US has promoted fiat paper money over the better part of a century is due to a more sinister reason. The banking cartels and the super wealthy who are the puppet-masters behind our alleged democracy like the fiat money system for the power, wealth, and control it affords them. Gold and silver gives any citizenry economic and therefore ultimate political independence as these metals have been used in commerce for over 5000 years all around the world. They can't be easily created on demand merely by the command of the Powers-That-Be as paper money can and does. When a man owns gold and silver coins he isn't dependent on any government or economic regime for his life and well-being. If he doesn't like the men governing him he can throw them out or move elsewhere, knowing his fortune will be intact. Unfortunately, paper money is printed and "backed" only by the issuing governmental body. History is littered with examples of worthless paper money and impoverished inhabitants following a political collapse or revolution.

Today, 99% of all US citizens have the majority of their assets in paper dollar denominated funds. In addition, they have come to depend upon the promise of governmental programs like Social Security and Medicare for their old age retirement. New health legislation has introduced the specter of a future in which no government health card would mean no healthcare. Of course, welfare and food stamp programs continue to grow without pause.

I believe that our fiat money system, together with the bewilderingly wide variety of government sponsored entitlement programs, have carefully created an entire slave caste in our country that's growing steadily. These slaves are now so hooked into the "Matrix" that even the mere thought of rebellion is terrifying to them. Any future US government will be able to treat it's "dependents" in any way it sees fit with no fear of retaliation. After all, why would any sane person rebel if it meant starvation, utter impoverishment, sickness, and death for himself and his loved ones?

So how can a freedom-minded patriot help to insure his liberty now and in the foreseeable future? Buy gold and silver. These precious metals have always existed outside the total control of any political regime, including the US government, and will insure the USA will always own one less slave!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Don't Buy Real Estate for Hyperinflation!

50 Million Mark Note

Some people think their property ownership will get them through a hyperinflationary period. Apart from the value of food grown in the backyard garden, these homeowners couldn't be more wrong! Check out the table below which details how the value of real estate plummeted during the Weimar Hyperinflation 1922-1923 in Germany, while the prices for food and clothing soared.

Housing/Rents as a Percentage of Household spending

WEIMAR - Living Costs, Family of Four

Weekly Cost : Total in Marks : - - - - Percentages - - - -
========== . . . . . . . . . . . : Food / Housing / Clothing
1914 (prewar) : ............ 21.5 : 46.5%/. 25.6% / .. 27.9%
January 1920 : .............. 164 : 52.4%/. 04.9% / .. 42.7%
January 1921 : .............. 218 : 63.8%/. 04.1% / .. 32.1%
January 1922 : .............. 396 : 64.8%/. 02.8% / .. 32.3%
July...... 1922 : ............ 1232 : 56.8%/. 01.1% / .. 42.0%
January 1923 : .......... 25,123 : 52.1%/. 01.2% / .. 46.7%
July...... 1923 : ........ 654,608 : 59.8%/. 00.4% / .. 39.8%
Nov. ..... 1923 : ... 14.408 Bn. : 64.9%/ 00.26% / .. 34.8%

source: Hyperinflation handout

Here it is : 0.26%, in Nov.1923, down from 25.6% in 1914.
That's 1/100th of its original percentage - an enormous collapse !!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies, APMEX Gold and Silver and Silver American Eagles.

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Canadian Penny to Die?

The Bank of Canada says the copper-plated coin has lost 95 per cent of its purchasing power since 1908, when it was first produced in Canada.
It now costs more to produce the penny — about 1.5 cents each — than the coin’s actual face value.

The Royal Canadian Mint has been forced to sharply increase production of the penny in recent years as more and more Canadians hoard, rather than use the copper.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has mused in the past about doing away with the penny and his department has reportedly been studying the penny-free economies in Australia and New Zealand.
The Bank of Canada has also studied the potential inflationary impact of eliminating the penny and has concluded it would be negligible.

“On some transactions, the merchant loses and the consumer wins; on some, the merchant wins and the consumer loses,” Pierre Duguay, the bank’s deputy governor, told the Senate finance committee last spring.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!