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Breaking news from the precious metals industry. Gold, silver and platinum group mining, refineries and refining technologies, minting and distribution.

News and information about the global drivers of prices in the precious metals markets. Including central banks, interest rates, industrial manufacturing, electronics and investors.

Understanding Silver Eagle Premiums

The US Mint is one of the oldest continually operating minting operations in the world and all other mints use variants of the Mint’s processes. The Mint remains one of the world’s largest producer of coins today. Issues related to the production of bullion coins have led to huge increases in Silver Eagle premiums in recent years.

Many investors are looking to buy sovereign bullion coins from other mints. While many are still buying 1 oz silver eagles, some are concerned that the Mint suppliers are also making huge profits from the record high premiums caused by the shortages.

HSBC, Bank of Nova Scotia & Deutsche Bank Win Dismissal of Silver Price Manipulation Litigation

The litigation began in 2014 with the government accusing the banks of being involved in a multi-bank trading conspiracy to manipulate the price of silver. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan dismissed the case against HSBC and Bank of Nova Scotia. In 2016, Deutsche Bank settled with the government for $38M in … Read moreHSBC, Bank of Nova Scotia & Deutsche Bank Win Dismissal of Silver Price Manipulation Litigation

Zimbabwe Sells $14 Million in Gold-Backed Digital Tokens

Zimbabwe 1 oz gold coin

The token’s initial offering is backed by 140 kilogram gold bars that have been allocated from central bank reserves

The offering from Zimbabwe is causing a ruckus with the IMF that is reminiscent of the outrage posited against El Salvador when it established bitcoin as a legal currency and began issuing bitcoin bonds.

Investors Losing Confidence in the US Mint, while Coin Minting Reports $171 Million Net Loss

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Keeping up with investors demand has been a difficult task for the US Mint. The pandemic lockdowns caused a total shut down of mint operations, forced mine closures and caused other widespread disruptions throughout industrial supply chains.

Problems for the Mint only got worse as investor demand for bullion investment coins skyrocketed because of the pandemic. For a few months, the minting of Silver Eagle coins was secretly shifted to the Philadelphia Mint for the first time in history as backorders began to pile up.

FBI Seizes $86 million in Cash from Customer Safe Deposit Boxes

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Back in 2021, the federal agents raided U.S. Private Vaults, a private vaulting and safe deposit box company located in Beverly Hills, CA under the suspicion that the owners of the company were involved in money laundering.

More than $86 million dollars in cash and millions of dollars worth of jewelry and other valuable personal items were seized from the rightful owners, most who are innocent of any crimes or wrongdoing.

After two years of legal battles, some customers have managed to recover roughly $25 million in cash taken by the government.

Texas Committee Passes Bill To Create 100% Gold And Silver-Backed Transactional Currencies

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Legislators in Texas are leading the charge against the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on fiat money by offering an option for people to conduct business in sound money.

Physical gold and silver that would support the backing of the digital currency would be stored in a pooled account at the Texas State Bullion Depository.

North Carolina joins Texas, Florida and South Dakota in Fight Against CBDC digital dollar

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US banks are ramping up in anticipation for the introduction of the FedNow system later this year. Various government agencies actively deny that Fednow is related to CBDC implementation. However, the instant payment service could provide the underpinnings to support institutional transfers that incorporate near real-time settlement.

Earlier this year, legislators in Texas became the first to offer a solution against a federal CBDC by introducing legislation to create a state managed gold-backed digital currency.

This week, legislators in North Carolina pushed forward a law that would ban the state’s agencies and institutions from accepting any payments in central bank digital currency (CBDC).