BULLION BARS AND COINS

What does it take to make pure silver coins and bars? This time we’re looking at the enormous task of mining silver. The video also reveals the key steps involved in the creation of doré bars – semi-pure bars that require further purification at a refinery before the silver can be used for minting.

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WEBSITE INFORMATION

Gold buyers please note that we have replenished stocks of popular 1oz Kangaroo minted gold bars for sale.

This range is currently available in all seven sizes – from 5g to 10oz – ensuring there is a suitable product for all small investors.

Housed in tamper-proof packaging, these bars offer investors a halfway-house between bullion coins and cast bars. They’re beautifully produced with designs that include our London Bullion Market Association registered assay stamp – a stylised swan.

Just a reminder too that our complete range of cast silver bars – 10oz, 1kg and 100oz – are also in stock and  available for purchase.

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 WHAT OTHERS ARE THINKING

There has been a lot of discussion around gold breaking through its 200 day moving average, with a focus on whether this means the gold bull market is over or whether it is just a correction.

The chart below from Nick Laird of Sharelynx puts the recent price drop in context. What make this chart different from other long term charts of the gold price is that the y-axis is on a logarithmic scale, which is an easier way of showing percentage (or exponential) increases.

The chart shows that the recent drop is still within the general uptrend band gold has formed over the past ten years. It is possible for gold to correct down to around $1,250 and for the bull market to still be intact, which would be a similar to the correction that occurred during 2008.

Gene Arensberg recently commented on gold’s correction by noting that he “… was laughed at in New Orleans this year (in October) when I said in a panel discussion that I wouldn’t be surprised if gold tested $1,250 at some point … The point was in the event we got into another major rush to liquidity, like in 2008, I thought there could be that much volatility, depending on the degree of panic.”

The silver trendline logarithmic chart looks very much the same as gold (a subscription is required to access the link, but you can sign up for a free trial here).

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WHAT OTHERS ARE THINKING

For thousands of years, people have been using gold as money. But why gold? Why not osmium, lithium, ruthenium or one of the other 100+ elements in the Universe?

The star of this cool video is a chemical engineer who explains why gold is all but unrivalled as the outstanding candidate for money!

While we’re talking science, apparently gold’s golden glow is explainable by Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity. For the boffins out there, John Walker’s Fourmilab website offers everything you need to know - and then some!

“The colour of metals such as silver and gold is mainly due to absorption of light when a d electron jumps to an s orbital. For silver, the 4d→5s transition has an energy corresponding to ultraviolet light, so frequencies in the visible band are not absorbed. With all visible frequencies reflected equally, silver has no colour of its own; it's silvery. In gold, however, relativistic contraction of the s orbitals causes their energy levels to shift closer to those of the d orbitals (which are less affected by relativity). This, in turn, shifts the light absorption (primarily due to the 5d→6s transition) from the ultraviolet down into the lower energy and frequency blue visual range. A substance which absorbs blue light will reflect the rest of the spectrum: the reds and greens which, combined, result in the yellowish hue we call golden.”

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WHAT OTHERS ARE THINKING

Responding to the question Will Silver Break Through $50 An Ounce In 2012?, Perth Mint bullion blog reader Billy Black Smith is adamant that the medium to long term outlook for precious metals remains bullish.

"I think we will crack 50 bucks in 2012.

As I see it, the stock-markets will crash in Europe, investors will sell gold and silver to cover their margin. They'll do this because they have made good gains on gold and silver over the last few years.

Once investors can get out of the stock-market, they'll convert their cash from the Euro to USD and of course doing this will make gold and silver take a good dip.

But, that's jumping from the fry-pan into the fire!

A run on banks by many investors, could also stop liquidity and of course we could see a banking collapse in Europe just like we saw in the US over the last few years.

Countries like Germany, may sell some of their gold to bail-out banks and (pay for debt) and of course this may also send precious metal lower, but only temporarily.

And of course when the smoke settles, what will be left? Who will investors turn to when they realise that the USD are being devalued? Answer...they won't know where to turn except to precious metal.

2012 and 2013 will be when gold will continue its trend skyward.

Imo, over the next few months is a good time to buy for what I see as a very bullish outlook for gold and silver in the medium to long term.

Sure, keep some cash in Aussie banks but it maybe a very good idea to buy precious metal if you don't have any."

Any thoughts?

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BULLION BARS AND COINS

Don’t forget you can win gold and silver coins as a reader of our bullion e-newsletter.

In the January 2012 edition, for example, we’ve got five 1/2oz Australian Koala silver bullion coins to give away as competition prizes.

If you are not currently an e-newsletter recipient, it’s quick and simple to subscribe here.

Signing up now will ensure you receive the January issue and more monthly chances to win bullion coins throughout the year.

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