GOLD BULLION COINS SPECIFICATIONS - TEST YOUR COINS

http://www.onlygold.com/TutorialPages/Coin_specsFulScreenVersion.htm

Country	Coin	Face value	Gold oz	Wt oz	Wt grams	Dia  mm	Thickness mm	Gold fineness
Australia	Lunar Series 1 oz	A$ 100	1.0000	1	31.1030	32. 10.	2.65.	999.9
Australia	Lunar Series 1/2 oz	A$ 50	0.5000	0.5	15.5515	25.10	2.20	999.9
Australia	Lunar Series 1/4 oz	A$ 25	0.2500	0.25	7.7758	20.10.	1.80	999.9
Australia	Lunar Series 1/10 oz	A$ 15	0.1000	0.1	3.1103	16. 10.	1.30.	999.9
Australia	Lunar Series 1/20 oz	A$ 5	0.0500	0.05	1.5552	14.10.	1.40	999.9
Australia	1 oz. Kangaroo	A$ 100	1.0000	1	31.1030	32. 10	2.65	999.9
Australia	1/2 oz. Kangaroo	A$ 50	05000	05	15.5515	25.10	2.20	999.9
Australia	1/4 oz. Kangaroo	A$ 25	02500	025	7.7758	2010	1.80	999.9
Australia	1/10 oz. Kangaroo	A$ 15	01000	01	3.1103	16. 10	1.30	999.9
Australia	1/20 oz. Kangaroo	A$ 5	00500	005	1.5552	14.10	1.40	999.9
Austria	1 oz Philharmonic	OS 2000	1.0000	1	31.1030	37.0	2.0	999.9
Austria	1/2 oz Philharmonic	OS 1000	05000	05	15.5515	28.0	1.6	999.9
Austria	1/4 oz Philharmonic	OS 500	02500	025	7.7758	22.0	1.2	999.9
Austria	1/10 oz Philharmonic	OS 200	01000	01	3.1103	16.0	1.2	999.9
Belgium	20 Francs		01867	02074	6.4508	21.00	1.30	900
Canada	1 oz. Maple Leaf	C$ 50	1 .0000	1	31.1030	3000	2.80	999.9
Canada	1/2 oz. Maple Leaf	C$ 20	05000	05	15.5515	25.00	2.23	999.9
Canada	1/4 oz. Maple Leaf	C$ 10	02500	025	7.7758	2000	1.70	999.9
Canada	1/10 oz. Maple Leaf	C$ 5	01000	01	3.1103	16.00	1.22	999.9
Canada	1/15 oz Maple Leaf	C$ 2	00666	00666	2.099	15.0	098	999.9
Canada	1/20 oz Maple Leaf	C$ 1	00500	00500	1.581	14.1	092	999.9
Country	Coin	Face value	Gold oz	Wt oz	Wt grams	Dia  mm	Thickness mm	Gold fineness
Chile	100 Pesos		05885	06539	203383	31.2.	2.50	900
China	1 oz. Panda	100 Yuan	1.0000	1	31.1030	32.05	2.70	999
China	1/2 oz. Panda	50 Yuan	05000	05	15.5515	27.00	1.85	999
China	1/4 oz. Panda	25 Yuan	02500	025	7.7758	21.95.	1.53	999
China	1 / 10 oz. Panda	10 Yuan	01000	01	3.1103	17.95.	1.05	999
China	1/20 oz. Panda	5 Yuan	00500	005	1.5552	13.92.	083	999
Colombia	5 Pesos		02354	02568	7.9873	22.00	1.50	916.7
France	20 Francs (3 Types)		01867	02074	6.4508	21.00	1.40	900
Germany	20 Mark		02305	02561	7.9655	22.50	1.40	900
Great Britain	I oz. Britannia	Lb 100	1 .0000	1.0909.	33.9303	32.60	2.79.	916
Great Britain	1/2 oz. Britannia	Lb 50	05000	05454	16.9636	27.00	2.08	916
Great Britain	1/4 oz. Britannia	Lb 25	02500	02727.	8.4818	22.00	1.63	916
Great Britain	I Sovereign		02354	02568	7.9873	22.05.	1.52	916
Great Britain	1/2 Sovereign		01177	01284	3.9936	19.22	099	916
Great Britain	I /10 oz Britannia	Lb 10	01000	01091	3.3933	16.50	1. 17	916
Country	Coin	Face value	Gold oz	Wt oz	Wt grams	Dia  mm	Thickness mm	Gold fineness
Hungary	100 Korona		09802	1.0891	33.8743	37.08.	2.29	900
Hungary	20 Korona		01960	02178	6.7742	21.00	1.00	900
Isle of Man	1 oz. Angel	1 Angel	1.0000	1.0000	33.9303	32.70	2.83	999.9
Isle of Man	I oz. Cat	1 Crown	1.0000	1	31.1030	32.70	2.60	999.9
Isle of Man	1/2 oz. Angel	1/2Angel	05000	05000	16.9636	27.00	2.16	999.9
Isle of Man	1/2 oz. Cat	1/2 Crown	05000	05	15.5515	3000	1.90	916
Isle of Man	1/4 oz. Angel	1/4 Angel	02500	02500	8.4818	22.00	1.79	999.9
Isle of Man	1/5 oz. Cat	1/5 Crown	02000	02	6.2206	22.00	1.40	916
Isle of Man	1/ 10 oz. Angel	1/10 Angel	01000	01000	3.3933	16.50	1.20	916
Isle of Man	1/ 10 oz. Cat	1/10 Crown	01000	01	3.1103	17.95	1.00	999.9
Isle of Man	1/25 oz. Cat	1/25 Crown	00400	004	1.2441	13.92	070	91
Italy	20 Lire		02074	01867	5.8069	21.00	1.20	900
Country	Coin	Face value	Gold oz	Wt oz	Wt grams	Dia  mm	Thickness mm	Gold fineness
Mexico	50 Pesos		1.2057	1.3396	37.5009	37.08.	2.69	900
Mexico	I Onza		1.0000	1.1111	34.5585	34.54	2.55	90
Mexico	1/2 Onza		05000	05555	17.2777	29.00	2.03	900
Mexico	20 Pesos		04823	05358	16.6650	27.50	2.03	900
Mexico	1/4 Onza		02500	02777	8.6373	23.00	1.68	900
Mexico	10 Pesos		02411	02679	8.3325	22.50	1.40	900
Mexico	5 Pesos		01205	01339	4.1647	19.00	1.14	900
Mexico	2 1/2 Pesos		00602	00669	2.0808	15.50	086	900
Mexico	2 Pesos		00482.	00535	1.6640	13.00	1.02	900
Netherlands	10 Guilders		01947	02163	6.7276	22.50	1.31	900
Peru	I Libra		02354	02568	7.9873	22.00	1.52	916.7
Country	Coin	Face value	Gold oz	Wt oz	Wt grams	Dia  mm	Thickness mm	Gold fineness
South Africa	I oz, Krugerrand	None	1.0000	1.0909	33.9303	32.60	2.75	916
South Africa	1/2 oz. Krugerrand	None	05000	05454	16.9636	27.00	2.24	916
South Africa	1/4 oz. Krugerrand	None	02500	02727	8.4818	22.02.	1.52	916
South Africa	1 Rand	None	01177	01284	3.9936	19.43	1.09	916.7
South Africa	1 / 10 oz, Krugerrand	None	01000	01091	3.3933	16.46.	1.19	916
South Africa	2 Rand	None	02354	0,2568	7.9873	22.00	1.83	916.7
Switzerland	20 Francs		01867	02074	6.4508	21.00	1.20	900
U.S.A.	1 oz. American Eagle	US$ 50	1.0000	1.0909.	33.930	32.70	2.87	916.7
U.S.A.	1/2 oz. American Eagle	US$ 25	05000	05454	16.9636	27.69.	2.15	916.7
U.S.A.	1/4 oz. American Eagle	US$ 10	02500	02727	8.4818	22.00	1.78	916.7
U.S.A.	1/ 10 oz. American Eagle	US$ 5	01000	01091	3.3933	16.50	1.26	916.7
Country	Coin	Face value	Gold oz	Wt oz	Wt grams	Dia  mm	Thickness mm	Gold fineness
U.S.A.	1 oz. A.Arts Medallion		1.0000	1.1111	34.5585	34.30	2.41	900
U.S.A.	$20.00 Liberty Type		09675	1.075	33.4357	32.70	2.83	900
U.S.A.	$20.00 Saint-Gaudens		09675	1.075	33.4357	32.25.	2.79	900
U.S.A.	1/2 oz. A.Arts Medallion		05000	05555	17.2777	27.00	2.16	900
U.S.A.	$10.00 Indian Head Type		04838	05375	16.7179	27.00	2.03	900
U.S.A.	$10.00 Liberty Type		04838	05375	16.7179	27.00	2.03	900
U.S.A.	$5.00 Liberty Type		02419	02688	8.3605	21.60	1.59	900
U.S.A.	$5.00 Indian Head Type		02419	02688	8.3605	21.60	1.40	900
U.S.A.	$2.50 Liberty Type		01209	01343	4.1771	18.00	1.27	900
U.S.A.	$2.50 Indian Head Type		01209	01343	4.1771	18.00	1.14	900
U.S.A.	$1.00 Indian Head Type		00484	00538	1.6733	13.00	1.02	900
U.S.A.	$1.00 Liberty Type		00484	00538	1.6733	15.00	076	90
USSR	10 Roubles		02490	02767	8.6062	22.60	1.70	900

Gold analysts' forecasts and commentary for 2012. All prices are in US dollars.

Gold analysts' forecasts and commentary for 2012. All prices are in US dollars.

↑	high	low	average	range
Anne-Laure Tremblay - BNP Paribas	$2,100	$1,500	$1,775	$600
Average forecasts -	$2,055	$1,443	$1,766	$612
Bayram Dincer - LGT Capital Management	$1,950	$1,450	$1,770	$500
Bhargava Vaidya - B.N. Vaidya & Associates	$1,900	$1,440	$1,600	$460
Carl Firman - VM Group	$2,012	$1,410	$1,689	$602
Daniel Brebner - Deutsche Bank	$2,100	$1,545	$1,825	$555
Daniel Smith - Standard Chartered Bank	$2,075	$1,525	$1,875	$550
David Jollie - Mitsui & Co Precious Metals Inc	$2,075	$1,480	$1,770	$595
Eddie Nagao - Sumitomo Corporation	$1,800	$1,300	$1,525	$500
Edel Tully - UBS	$2,500	$1,400	$2,050	$1,100
Frederic Panizzutti - MKS Finance S.A.	$2,120	$1,550	$1,808	$570
James Steel - HSBC	$2,050	$1,450	$1,850	$600
Jeffrey Rhodes - INTL Commodities	$1,975	$1,465	$1,727	$510
Martin Murenbeeld - DundeeWealth	$2,125	$1,450	$1,835	$675
Matthew Turner - Mitsubishi Corporation International (Europe) Plc	$2,100	$1,425	$1,782	$675
Michael Jansen - JPMorgan Securities	$2,150	$1,450	$1,869	$700
Michael Widmer - BAML	$2,000	$1,500	$1,850	$500
Peter Fertig - QCR Quantitative Commodity Research Ltd	$2,150	$1,390	$1,730	$760
Philip Klapwijk - Thomson Reuters GFMS	$2,005	$1,530	$1,760	$475
René Hochreiter - Allan Hochreiter (Pty) Ltd	$2,000	$1,450	$1,650	$550
Rohit Savant - CPM Group	$1,800	$1,200	$1,612	$600
Ross Norman - Sharps Pixley Ltd	$2,100	$1,590	$1,765	$510
Suki Cooper - Barclays Capital	$2,200	$1,400	$1,875	$800
Thorsten Proettel - LBBW	$1,950	$1,220	$1,640	$730
Tom Kendall - Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd	$1,960	$1,475	$1,755	$485
William Adams - Fastmarkets	$2,230	$1,500	$1,785	$730
Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach - Degussa Goldhandel GmbH	$2,010	$1,425	$1,750	$585
YTD actual at 21-Sep-12	$1788	$1538	$1648	$250

 

 

http://www.lbma.org.uk/pages/index.cfm?page_id=142

Deutsche Bank: GOLD IS MONEY

Is gold money?

It's become a tireless debate: goldbugs seem to cling to the shiny yellow metal with a religious fervor not usually displayed by anyone toward other asset classes, and it's been known to frustrate some who don't share their views.
Gold often gets lumped in to investment forecasts with other "commodities" – real, consumable things like oil or food.
But Deutsche Bank analysts Daniel Brebner and Xiao Fu say gold is seriously misunderstood, and in a new report – wherein they update their gold target to $2000/oz sometime in the first half of 2013 – they explain that "gold is not really a commodity at all."
The undisputable evidence for the case that gold is money, according to the Deutsche Bank analysts:

While it is included in the commodities basket it is in fact a medium of exchange and one that is officially recognised (if not publically used as such). We see gold as an officially recognised form of money for one primary reason: it is widely held by most of the world’s larger central banks as a component of reserves.

That's their take. But there's more – the analysts differentiate between "good money" (gold) and "bad money" (fiat paper currency):

We would go further however, and argue that gold could be characterised as ‘good’ money as opposed to ‘bad’ money which would be represented by many of today’s fiat currencies. In describing gold as such we refer to Gresham’s Law – when a government overvalues one type of money and undervalues another, the undervalued money (good) will leave the country or disappear from circulation into hoards, while the overvalued money (bad) will flood into circulation.

What's interesting is that all of the arguments against gold propogated by the anti-goldbugs – that it's not really a consumption good, that it serves no industrial purpose, etc. – are all the exact reasons why Brebner and Xiao call gold "good money."
The analysts elaborate on this point in the report:

In our view the ideal medium of exchange must balance the paradox of representing value while having little intrinsic value itself. There are very few media which can do this. Fiat currencies physically have no use other than that which is prescribed to them by government and accepted by the public. That fiat currencies cost little to produce is of a secondary concern and we believe, quite irrelevant to the primary purpose.

Gold is neither production good nor consumption good. Jewellery we see as a form of storage or hoarding (the people of Portugal have all but exhausted their personal gold stores – hoarded in the form of jewellery – having converted them to survive the crisis). If gold did have a meaningful commercial use we believe that it would make the metal less attractive as a medium of exchange as the value of the metal in whatever market it was used in could periodically interfere with its medium-of-exchange role...

Other characteristics are important of course in fulfilling the requirements for ‘good’ money: indestructibility, divisibility, transportability and universal acceptability.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/deutsche-bank-gold-money-2012-9#ixzz27ByizgyA

http://precious-metal-investment.blogspot.co.uk/

Gold Hits New All-Time Highs Around the Globe, Every Portfolio Should Have Gold

 On Friday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for December delivery jumped $7.80 to settle at $1,778 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) edged 4 cents lower to close at $34.64. Gold hit new all-time highs in terms of the Euro, Swiss Franc and Brazilian Real.

Gold received heavy attention today after Ray Dalio, founder and co-chief investment of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, expressed his views to CNBC on the global economy and alternative currencies. On the current slowdown and deleveraging process, he said, “I think there will be a combination of monetary policy and printing a certain amount of money to relieve it. And at the same time, there’ll be a deleveraging and restructuring of debt…I think we’re going to see both because you have to lower the debt-to-income ratio so you have a higher level of growth than you do of interest rates. And at the same time, there’ll be a deleveraging and restructuring of debt…I think we’re going to see both because you have to lower the debt-to-income ratio so you have a higher level of growth than you do of interest rates.”

Dalio also said he thought Warren Buffett was “making a big mistake” by publicly bashing gold. He explains, “We have a situation now where when you have too much debt. Too much debt leads to printing of money to make it easier to service. So all of those things mean that some portion of an investment portfolio should be in gold.”

 By the end of the trading day, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) closed 0.29 percent higher, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) edged slightly lower. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) and Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) both jumped about 1 percent. Meanwhile, Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) and Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) gained 0.66 percent and 0.86 percent, respectively.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/gold-hits-new-all-time-highs-around-the-globe-every-portfolio-should-have-gold.html/

http://precious-metal-investment.blogspot.co.uk/

South Africa mines hit by wildcat strikes after Marikana police shootings

ANC's former youth leader Julius Malema alerts soldiers and urges strikers to shut mines as unrest spreads after deaths

Three of South Africa's biggest mines came to a standstill on Wednesday as wildcat strikes spurred by a police massacre and firebrand politician threatened to paralyse the industry.
A walkout at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, where 34 workers were gunned down by police last month, showed no sign of relenting, with the company reporting attendance down to 1.8% at all its shafts.
The unrest continued to spread elsewhere as security guards fired teargas at strikers at Gold Fields' KDC west gold mine, near Carletonville, where 85% of the workforce downed tools. The company said the workers had been intimidating and threatening contractors.
The world's top platinum producer was also hit. A column of 1,500 marchers, chanting and waving sticks, confronted riot police backed by armoured vehicles in a tense stand-off at Anglo American Platinum's Bathopele shaft. The company said it had to redirect its staff from the premises for their own safety.
The mining sector, which accounts for a fifth of South African gross domestic product, has been in turmoil since the strike at Marikana last month which led to the deaths of 44 people, including police and security guards.
On Tuesday, near the area where miners were striking, another, unidentified, body was found with deep cuts in the back of the neck.
The flames have been fanned by Julius Malema, a former youth leader who was expelled from the governing African National Congress for ill discipline this year.
ANC officials and unions have accused him of exploiting the situation at the mines so as to revive his career, but Malema's ferocious anti-elite rhetoric has struck a chord with angry miners who feel betrayed by the government. Malema has toured mines making soapbox speeches and urging a national strike.
In an interview on South Africa's Talk Radio 702 on Wednesday, Malema said: "We are calling for mine change in South Africa. We want the mines nationalised. We want the workers paid a living wage … and somebody has to listen.
"Maybe this call has been ridiculed … by the authorities and mining bosses. Now we want to show them that we mean business. We are going to be engaging in very peaceful yet radical and militant action that will hit straight into the pockets of white monopoly capital."

Malema, who is facing an official investigation into corruption, widened his campaign on Wednesday by addressing disgruntled members of the South African army, prompting the country's military bases to be placed on high alert for the first time since the advent of democracy in 1994.
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the defence minister, accused him of trying to "mobilise against the state".
Speaking to about 60 soldiers in civilian clothes at a recreation centre south of Johannesburg, Malema said he would never conspire to overthrow the government through undemocratic means, but told his audience to mobilise in a disciplined way to save their jobs.
He condemned the president, Jacob Zuma, for treating them as a low priority and he drew attention to the president's polygamous lifestyle.
He said: "I don't know what is a priority to him, maybe getting married every year. He specialises on that one. Maybe that is what is going right for him.
"Here, children don't have books, people in hospitals don't have the necessary machines, they don't have roads or clean water.

 

Continued

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/12/south-africa-mines-wildcat-strikes?newsfeed=true