March 2019, Volume 25 Issue 3 Liberty Coin Service’s Monthly Review of Precious Metals and Numismatics March 12, 2019 US Dollar Rebounds, Most Other Currencies, Gold And Silver Slide! Five weeks ago as I wrote the last is- 2019 Year To Date Results Israel Shekel -3.1% sue, the US dollar was reeling. Pre- Through March 11, 2019 Chile Peso -3.4% Russia Ruble -5.5% cious metals prices were on the rise. Precious Metals The price of gold kept increasing for U.S. Dollar Index 97.24 +1.18% Palladium +20.1% 13 more days. Silver finally peaked 14 Platinum +2.8% US And World Stock Market Indices days later. Platinum temporarily Gold +0.8% Shanghai Composite +21.4% swooned, then reached a more than 3- Silver -1.8% Russell 2000 +15.3% month high 22 days later. Palladium Numismatics NASDAQ +13.9% kept going strong, hitting its peak on US MS-63 $20 Liberty -1.0% Sao Paulo Bovespa +11.5% US MS-63 $20 St Gaudens -1.1% Standard & Poors 500 +11.0% March 1 at $1,536.00. Dow Jones Industrial Average +10.0% But, markets don’t move forever up US MS-65 Morgan Dollar, Pre-1921 -1.6% Australia S&P/ASX 200 +9.5% or down in a straight line. At some US Dollar vs Foreign Currencies Frankfurt Xetra DAX +9.3% point, the pendulum swings too far. Argentina Peso +10.7% Dow Jones World (excluding US) +7.9% Sweden Krona +5.7% Nikkei 225 +5.6% Currencies And Precious Switzerland Franc +2.9% Euro +2.0% 10 Year US Treasury Note interest rate Metals Vs US Dollar 2.643% -1.53% Denmark Krone +1.9% February 5, 2019-March 11, 2019 South Korea Won +1.7% Energy and Other Metals Asset Price Change vs US $ Japan Yen +1.4% Crude Oil, Brent +24.0% Taiwan Dollar +1.1% Nickel +22.6% Argentine Peso -10.0% India Rupee +0.4% Zinc +10.5% South Africa Rand -6.8% Hong Kong Dollar +0.2% Tin +8.3% Brazil Real -4.4% Philippines Peso +0.0% Copper +7.9% Silver -4.0% South Africa Rand -0.1% Lead +3.5% Chile Peso -2.9% Australia Dollar -0.3% Aluminum -2.1% Singapore Dollar -0.4% Natural Gas, Henry Hub -3.4% Sweden Krona -2.8% Indonesia Rupiah -0.7% Cobalt -41.3% Brazil Real -1.1% Indonesia Rupiah -2.4% Metal Content Value Of U.S. Coins Australia Dollar -2.3% Malaysia Ringgit -1.1% Thailand Baht -1.2% Lincoln cent, 1959-1982 1.94¢ Colombia Peso -2.1% Mexico Peso -1.2% Lincoln cent, 1982-date 0.72¢ Gold -1.9% New Zealand -1.7% Jefferson nickel, non-silver 4.03¢ Roosevelt dime, 1965-date 1.83¢ Mexico Peso -1.9% Peru New Sol -1.8% Canada Dollar -1.8% Washington quarter, 1965-date 4.58¢ Denmark Krone -1.4% Colombia Peso -1.9% Kennedy half dollar, 1971-date 9.15¢ Euro -1.4% China Yuan -2.2% Thailand Baht -1.4% Great Britain Pound -3.1% South Korea Won -1.3% least 2% annually. The massive amount of Japan Yen -1.1% Bull moves stall and retrench. Declines government debt plus the net present value Switzerland Franc -1.0% bottom out and recover. These periodic re- of unfunded federal, state, and local gov- New Zealand Dollar -0.9% versals will happen even if the overall long ernment liabilities for employee pensions, Taiwan Dollar -0.6% term trend stays intact. retiree health care benefits, Social Security, Singapore Dollar -0.5% From February 5, 2019 through yester- and Medicare now exceed day, the US Dollar Index rose 1.5%. Yes- Russia Ruble -0.5% $100,000,000,000 ($100 trillion), an terday it reached its highest level since No- amount beyond that can never be paid off Platinum -0.5% vember 27, 2018. Israel Shekel -0.4% in full in dollars at today’s purchasing pow- The US government is committed to er. Malaysia Ringgit -0.3% knocking down the value of the US dollar. Hong Kong Dollar -0.1% There’s one major obstacle with the US The Federal Open Market Committee re- government’s plan to clobber the value of China Yuan +0.3% peatedly states (though not explicitly) that the US dollar—it does not exist in a vacu- Philippines Peso +0.5% it wants the value of the US dollar to fall at Peru New Sol +0.6% Great Britain Pound +1.5% Inside this issue: A Formal Fed Capitulation page 2 India Rupee +2.6% The Impact Of Numismatic Hoards page 3 Palladium +12.1% Apollo 11 5 Ounce Silver Dollar Update page 4 (Continued from page 1) ance, deep down I would hope that pre- Patrick A. Heller’s Upcoming Speeches um. cious metals prices over the long term and Appearances Many other governments around the would stay stable or, even better, would world have also accumulated massive drop significantly. February 9 and April 13, 2019, East debts and unfunded liabilities that they Lansing, Michigan. Boy Scout Troop 2 will never be able to pay off in local What? Coin Collecting Merit Badge Workshop. Not open to the general public. currencies at today’s purchasing power. For the past five weeks, as you can see When people buy insurance, on their June 19-20, 2019, East Lansing, Michi- in the table on page 1, most other gov- life, home, car, or health, they are all best gan. “Coin Collecting For Fun & Profit” ernments have been more successful at off if they never have to collect on a claim. class at the 4-H Exploration Days at Mich- depreciating their currencies than the Literally, they hope what they pay for in- igan State University. Not open to the US government has been at driving surance ends up not being worth anything. general public. down the dollar. People still purchase insurance even For more information on any event or to Therefore, on a net basis, the value of though they hope never to collect, because arrange for a presentation at schools, sen- the US dollar appreciated against most the law of averages says that some people ior citizen groups, coin clubs, Scout organ- currencies and precious metals since will face huge losses they cannot afford. izations, fraternal or business organiza- early February. Life runs smoother paying an insurance tions, call 800-933-4720 or email him at In my judgment, this recent strength in premium than having to recover from a [email protected]. the US dollar is temporary. After all, major loss if it ever occurs. most all governments around the globe That also applies to owning bullion- priced physical gold and silver as wealth their parents owed a record $1.56 trillion. are committed to the destruction of their Among these borrowers, 11.5% were own currencies. At different times one insurance. If the economy does well, busi- ness profits increase, leading to higher more than 90 days delinquent or in de- nation or another may lead or lag in this fault. Since those tending to default are race, but the ultimate result is not in stock prices. Bonds can be paid off in full instead of at a discount. Paper currencies likely to be those owing larger amounts, doubt. Right now, nations such as Ar- potentially $200 billion of bad debts are gentina, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe may will generally hold their values. In such circumstances, there will not be a rush to looming over the US economy from just have some of the fastest declining cur- this one market niche. rencies. But, once these currencies purchase safe haven assets such as pre- cious metals. As of the end of the 3rd quarter 2018, crash, the money of other nations will Americans owed a near record $1.174 then lead fiat (paper) currencies down- If the economy were to perform spectac- ularly, that could even lead to a major fall trillion for automotive loans, much higher ward. (adjusted for the effect of inflation) than Markets will always remain volatile. in gold and silver prices. While people owning precious metals might not be hap- the peak before last decade’s Great Re- As one asset class appreciates, another cession. According to the latest report will stagnate or decline. Your intention py to see them lose value, they should still be happy because the bulk of their invest- from the Federal Reserve Bank of New would be to have most of your funds York, more than 7 million borrowers held in niches that are appreciating over ments are doing great. But, while I am hopeful for a bright eco- (6.5% of the total) are at least 90 days de- the long term. linquent on payments or in default on au- nomic future in the long run, I fear some Why You Would Really major bumps in the road before then. tomotive loans. This is the highest rate of delinquencies and defaults in at least 19 Want Lower Gold And Sil- Therefore, owning physical gold and silver as wealth insurance can help you sleep years. ver Prices better at night knowing that you have pro- The news is better with home mortgag- I advocate that the prudent person tection against that risk. es. At of the end of the 4th quarter 2018, should allocate a minor percentage of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis re- their investment portfolio or net worth to What Now? ports that about 3% of mortgages extend- the ownership of bullion-priced physical In 2017 and 2018, the price of gold reach ed by commercial banks were at least 90 gold and silver.