The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts as well as the Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee have both made their recommendations concerning their favorite designs for the five 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters due out next year from the US Mint, according to Bob Van Ryzin on this week’s Coin Chat Radio during his segment of "What’s In The News."
The five sites being honored next year: Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon. Both review boards had several designs to choose from for each location and also made recommendations as to design improvements that should be considered. The Treasury Secretary will make the final call on what designs will be used.
Next on the program, President and CEO of American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX) of Edmond, OK Scott Thomas takes a few minutes to talk with Numismatic News Editor Dave Harper about the bullion market and using American Eagles as investment tools in an Individual Retirement Account.
Harper initiates the conversation by asking Thomas what he thought about the recent gold price fluctuations.
"I’d like to think that we’re just building a bottom somewhere around a thousand dollars, building some stability. So, you know, whether it’s $990, $950, $1020 I think it’s great for the price of gold." Thomas states.
"It’s not as hectic and crazy as it was back then (earlier this year)," Thomas continues. "The issues we had back then were supply issues where mints and manufacturers were not able to keep up with the demand. Since that time period, a lot of mints and manufacturers have been able to build in some supply and kind of catch up with demand."
Conversations turns to using bullion as investments in retirement accounts. Thomas is a big proponent of utilizing precious metals as a portion of most retirement accounts to combat the traditional stock and bond market fluctuations and works with many customers to achieve this goal.
"I would say if you only had $50,000 or less in an IRA and you wanted to invest in precious metals, it may not make sense," Thomas explains his recommendations on precious metal investment. "But you know, $50,000 or $100,000 or more, it certainly would make sense to have some of that diversified into precious metals.
And for the fee that it costs to establish another IRA, you know which may be $50 or $100 a year, the type of defensive asset that gold or silver is inside your IRA can certainly help soften a blow if we were to take this market that has just gone up nearly 50% in the past six months, if it were to take a turn for the worse."
Online Editor Lisa Bellavin talks with Krause Market Analyst Tom Michael about the Spanish gold auctions from Aureo y Calico. Michael discusses a bit of the history of the Barcelona based auction house as well as the sale of the three-generation Calico collection.
Closing out the October 1st edition of Coin Chat Radio is Editorial Director Debbie Bradley who interview Editor and Author (and also Coin Chat Radio host) Bob Van Ryzin about his new book Fascinating Facts, Mysteries and Myths About U.S. Coins.
Many interesting stories are relayed including background on the designs for the Augustus St. Gaudens Double Eagle, the Buffalo Nickel and the Roosevelt Dime. For those interested in numismatics or just interesting US trivia, this book is full of stories that will fascinate.
Those interested in listening to this episode or others of Coin Chat Radio may find them at their website www.coinchatradio.com. Sites like Coin Collecting News also host the free Coin Chat Radio Player with access to all episodes.
