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Astroid Mining Company Prepares to Launch Demo Refinery this Spring

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While SpaceX is currently the leading company in commoditizing space travel, a new startup is preparing to launch a prototype demonstration outer space refinery.

Space mining startup AstroForge raised $13 million in seed funding last year. The company is poised to launch their first of two launches aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

Their goal is to test their orbital refinery and scout an asteroid for mineable resources.

The demonstration unit will be filled with an “astroid-like” material that will be incinerated into gases to separate the metals.

AstroForge also intends to explore asteroids for platinum-group metals. In addition to platinum itself, the metals in the group include palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium. All of these metals have many industrial uses.

Backers of the industry are enthusiastic that extra-terrestrial and asteroid mining will grow to become a trillion industry.

Gold Prices continue a bull run for the sixth consecutive week.

Gold continues week-over-week gains. The market is keeping a close eye on this week’s Fed meeting and anticipating remarks from Chairman Powell at the end.

Inflation, interest rates, the looming debt crisis and the NATO activation of tanks and other artillery support in Ukraine weighing on traders.

Other key economic data points are likely to impact markets.

Though recent data shows that inflation bay be easing, analysts from the Wall Street Journal and others share concerns from Fed regulators that tightening of the labor market in recent years may cause prices to spike.

Uprisings in Peru Impacting Copper and Silver Output

Peru is one of largest producers of copper and silver. Ongoing protests, uprisings and riots against the current government has led to the shut down of at least one mine.

Industry analysts at mining.com report the shutdown may impact up to 30% of the countries copper (Cu) production. Silver is typically found along with copper in large deposits and is mined as a byproduct.

The largest importers of Peruvian silver are Brazil and the United States. The disruptions in Peru are likely to impact copper and silver futures as global inventories have reached record low levels.

Mining Company Issues Apology for Lost Radioactive Capsule

Mining giant Rio Tinto is on the hook for accidentally losing a capsule containing radioactive element caesium 137.

The global mining company operates an Iron Ore mine in Western Australia.

The truck arrived in Perth with the capsule missing. Authorities believe that the capsule fell off the truck during the 870 mile journey through the desert to Perth.

Cesium-137 is a radioactive isotope that is used in medical and industrial equipment.

SD Bullion Launches New 5 oz Silver at Spot Price Deal

Before the pandemic, several online bullion offered regular deals to buy silver at spot price. The silver supply chain has begun to recover.

Online bullion dealer SD Bullion has launched a special promotion to buy a 5 oz silver bar at spot price for new customers.

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Buy Silver at Spot Price Returns to SD Bullion

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Pre-pandemic, many online bullion dealers would offer new customers the opportunity to buy 5 oz or 10 oz of silver at spot price.

These incentives are a great for those who are new to investing in precious metals. They offer an opportunity to experiment with a new asset without very little risk.

Why? because silver and gold maintain intrinsic value.

The 5 oz silver at spot price deal is back at SD Bullion. New customers who sign up are offered the chance to purchase a five troy ounce silver bar with no premium and no markup.

SD Bullion provides free shipping on orders over $199. In order to capitalize on the free shipping, it is best to add a few more ounces to you cart to get the best of this deal.

Our list of silver at spot deals updates regularly as these offers become available. Be sure to check out the latest offers from dealers.

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US Mint Struggles while Perth & the Royal Mint Shine

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Both the Perth Mint and the Royal Mint have announced huge increases in year over year sales of precious metals.

According to the Royal Mint, gold sales increased 25% above 2021, silver demand was up by 29%.

Earlier this month, the Perth Mint reported that gold sales were up 10% for the year, noting that there was a drop in demand during December.

The Perth Mint is owned by the government of Western Australia and it is reported to be the largest refiner of newly mined gold in the world.

Meanwhile, the US Mint has been struggling to keep up with demand from domestic silver investors.

Sales of Silver Eagles slumped in 2022 as demand continues to soar. This led investors to buy silver coins from Australia and England.

Why is the US Mint struggling to keep up with the demand from investors?

The US Mint outsources the production of blank silver planchets to private mints.

The Mint cancelled the commemorative 2022 Morgan & Peace silver $1 coin series due to issues with acquisition of raw materials.

The planchet manufacturers need to adhere to all legal definitions. The main one being that coins be minted from domestically mined sources.

The pandemic exposed a lot of problems with America’s supply chain. Many in the mining industry continue to worsen with inflation and looming recession.

Many of the top silver and gold mining operations in the United States all reported encountering various production delays throughout the last year.

Many of the top miners have reported delays and higher fuel costs associated with the transport of slurry concentrates from remote mine locations to refiners for further upstream processing and smelting.

The US Mint began outsourcing the production of planchets that are used to produce coins.

While the current list of suppliers is not readily available, Sunshine Minting and LeachGarner are two of the private mints that have had previous contracts with the Mint.

Most of the world’s largest and most capable precious metals processing companies are located outside the US, making it more difficult for the Mint supply chain.

Some of the ore extracted from domestic mines is handled by multinational corporations.

Many of the world’s leading refineries such as PAMP Suisse, Metalor, and Valcambi are based in Switzerland.

The Perth Mint and Royal Canadian Mint operate the largest and most advanced refineries in the world.

Why is the US Mint continuing to outsource mining and smelting operations to foreign companies?

The five largest mines in the US:

Greens Creek Mine, Alaska

The Greens Creek Mine is owned by Hecla Mining Company. The mine is located on Admiralty Island in the Alexander Archipelagos Islands, roughly 40 miles south of Juneau.

In 2021, Greens Creek produced 9.2 million ounces of silver and 48,088 ounces of gold.

Projected production outlook for 2022 is expected to be slightly higher, between 9.3 and 9.6 million ounces of silver and from 44,000 to 48,000 ounces of gold.

However, issues with the quality of the base metals, primarily zinc and lead, Hecla had postponed shipments of silver concentrates to upstream refineries.

Red Dog Mine, Alaska

Located 105 miles north of the Arctic Circle near Kotzebue, Alaska. It is one of the largest zinc mines in the world and is operated by Teck Resources (TECK).

The Red Dog Mine is believed to be the largest deposit of zinc in the world. Roughly 4% of all of the zinc is produced from this mine.

Ore concentrates of the mine are trucked over 50 miles where they are stored in port.

Due to the extreme location, the silver slurry can only be transported by ship from the arctic during the months from June through October.

The mine has been operating since 1989. With current production levels, the mine is expected to continue operating only until 2031.

The Red Dog Mine is one of the largest domestic sources of critical minerals.

Zinc has a variety of industrial uses. It is also an essential part of the green economy, component manufacturing for electric vehicle, windmills and solar panels.

Silver, germanium and lead and other minerals are byproducts of the primary operations.

Over 7.7 million ounces of silver was dug out of Red Dog mine in 2017.

Continental Mine, Montana

The Continental Mine is located near Butte, Montana. Also where the World Museum of Mining is located.

The main commodities of the Continental Mine are copper and molybdenum. Molybdenum and copper are also critical metals and minerals needed in the domestic manufacturing of electrical devices, motors for EVs and other electrical components.

Silver and gold are extracted from the copper-molybdenite ore. Recent mine output data is not  publicly available.

Marigold Mine, Nevada

The Marigold Mine is located in northern Nevada. The primary deposit is mineralized gold. The gold is extracted from sedimentary rocks including limestone, siltstone, breccias, meta-basalts and quartzite.

The mine is owned and operated by SSR Mining. The Marigold Mine began operation in 1989. The mine is expected to continue to sustain current production levels through 2032. Exploration and development of other nearby properties is expected to extend operations beyond.

Marigold is an open pit operations where blasted rocks is dumped onto heap leaching pages. A chemical process extracts precious metals and minerals from the ore and stored in carbon columns for later extraction through electrowinning.

Reports from SSR earlier in the year showed signs of delays in production with expectations of producing between 215,000 and 245,000 ounces of gold in 2022.

Rochester Mine, Nevada

The Rochester mine is an open pit, heap leach silver-gold operation in northwestern Nevada.

The silver-gold ore is extracted from sulfide deposits layered during Permian-Triassic period volcanic lava flows.

In 2021, the mining operations produced 3.2 million ounces of silver, while gold output was roughly 27,000 ounces.

Saudi Arabia experimenting with CBDC and alternative currencies to the PetroDollar

During the last year there has been a lot of media speculation regarding trade relations between Saudi Arabia and BRICS countries.

The Chinese central bank has been identified as buying roughly 300 tons of gold bullion in 2022. With Central Banks of other countries doing the same.

China has been wooing Saudi Arabia and making significant investments throughout the Middle East as part of the Belt & Road Initiative.

Saudi Arabia becoming part of BRICS and selling oil in a new basket currency would compete with both the Euro and the Dollar.

It seems pretty logical that China would intend for BRICS launch a CBDC digital currency that is backed by gold resources of the basket currency. Given that many central banks are experimenting with CBDC there will need to be interoperability between local currencies.

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Which dealers sell silver at spot price deals?

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silver at spot price deals

The best deal is when you’re able to buy silver at spot price. In the past there were often three or four dealers that regularly offered spot price deals. The offers were primarily a means of attracting new customers.

Silver spot price deals are an incentive for new customers to buy silver from a dealer that they may not have bought from before.

The silver at spot price deals are special offers targeted at attracting new customers. Acquiring a new customer by offering a spot price deal allows a dealer to show new customers that they provide better service and at a better price than their competition.

Silver at Spot Price Deals Are Good for Dealers and Buyers

For people that buy silver, the silver at spot price deals allow them to buy from a new dealer without the risk of high premiums. Silver buyers and investors are always looking for the best deal, especially as dealer premiums from the largest dealers continue to rise.

Smaller dealers that offer a silver at spot price deals use it as a way to earn the trust of a new customer. Showing a new customer the quality of their customer service, allows the dealer the opportunity to contact that customer after the first transaction to show the customer that they offer better pricing than the big guys.

Dealers with Silver Spot Price Deals

A comprehensive list of Silver Spot Price Deals is available on our website. Most of those offers have yet to return. Some of the historical spot price deals that were popular prior to the start of the pandemic.

  • SilverGoldBull – 10 oz Silver Bar at Spot Price, limited to one per household
  • BGASC – 5 oz Silver Bar at Spot Price – One bar at spot price can be added on to each order. This offer is not limited to one per household.
  • SD Bullion – 1 oz Silver Round at Spot Price, limited to one per household
  • Provident Metals – (10) 1 oz Silver Prospector Rounds at Spot Price, limited to one order per household
  • JM Bullion – (10) 1 oz Silver Rounds at Spot Price. The JM Bullion Silver Starter Pack is limited to one per household
  • BOLD Precious Metals – Offers two different spot price deals for new customers. Only one offer can be redeemed at spot price.
  • Monument Metals – (10) 1 oz Silver Rounds at Spot Price, limited to one order per household

Several times per year other dealers will offer flash sales of silver at spot price as a way to move excess inventory. FindBullionPrices.com keeps track of when the dealers offer silver spot price deals.

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2023 King Charles Britannia

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For nearly 1000 years, tradition in the United Kingdom dictates that a portrait of reigning monarch be incorporated into the obverse design of coinage.

The traditions of the British monarchy are part of the pomp and circumstance that many of their royal subjects have come to expect.

King Robert II of Scotland – Silver Penny

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth late in 2022, the designers and sculptures at the Royal Mint have been very busy preparing and producing new designs for all of the coins that they mint.

The official coronation of King Charles will occur in May. The Royal Mint is releasing new coin designs to celebrate this historic event and transition. The Type 2 design for the 2023 Britannia features a newly sculpted portrait of His Majesty King Charles III.

The Type 1 design featuring his mother, Queen Elizabeth are likely to start becoming scarce in the coming months. The new coins are already shipping from the mint.

Commonwealth countries will likely be following the lead and updating their coins with their own designs of the new ruler of the legacy British monarchy.

The new King Charles III 2023 Britannia Silver coin is also available in gold and platinum.

2023 Britannia Silver Coin - King Charles Obverse
2023 Britannia Silver Coin – Type 2 – King Charles III Obverse

This is a unique opportunity for investors.

There are many loyal fans of the Royal Family and many of obsessed Royalist fans will be adding many of these coins to their collections.

For 2023, the two designs of the Britannia bullion coins offers investors with opportunities for the lower mintage coins to become rare and over time will likely lead to higher premiums.

Speculative investors may do well when buying up the Queen Elizabeth 2023 Type 1 Britannia coin and holding them.

Premiums on the Type 1 Britannia are starting to rise as the limited number of coins available sells out. Many buyers are already scooping up the First Issue of the 2023 Type 2 Britannia that is adorned with a portrait of King Charles.

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Gold Price Jumps on CPI Report

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The December 2022 CPI numbers were released by the Labor Department this morning.

The latest report shows that the rate of inflation slowed slightly in December, with the index showing that overall prices increased roughly 6.5%.

The largest gains in prices were the basics of housing, food, gas and utilities.

Grocery prices continue to skyrocket with the December food numbers showing an overall increase in prices of 11.8%.

While the CPI report confirms what many analysts had expected, others are skeptical that the underlying data may not be completely accurate.

Gold futures prices rose above $1,900 before the news.

Egg prices continue to soar. The price of a dozen eggs is up by more than 64% with California leading the list with an average of $6.72 per carton.

We have also seen the premiums for silver bars and rounds dropping significantly.

Layoffs continue to hit Wall Street Banks and hedge funds. Goldman Sachs announced that they will be cutting 3,200 jobs, citing a downturn in investment and bleak economic outlook for the year.

Leading hedgefund Blackrock Advisors is cutting 500 positions with the markets facing a recession.

The tech industry lost over 150,000 jobs in 2022. This year has begun with more layoffs announced by Amazon and Salesforce, with up to 18,000 more workers facing unemployment.

Central banks are buying gold at the fastest pace in over 55 years. China’s central bank has continued its gold buying spree into December.

After record breaking sales in 2021, the US Mint face supply chain issues early in 2022.

In March 2022, the Mint announced that they would be cancelling the commemorative $1 Morgan and $1 Peace silver dollar coins. The release was anticipating by collectors and investors.

According to sales and mintage data for American Silver Eagle coins, year-over-year, the 2022 mintage was the lowest since 2019 with only 15,963,500 coins.

By comparison, more than 25 million Type 1 silver eagle coins were sold in 2021, along with almost 3 million of the Type 2.

While demand remained strong throughout the year, the US Mint struggled to keep up with order demand driving premiums to record highs.

This led to new sales records for some sovereign government mints.

The Perth Mint announced record breaking sales for 2022. Reports from the mint show that more than 23 million ounces of silver were sold, along with 1.14 million ounces of gold.

Some experts in the industry say is a better gauge of global bullion demand.

The Perth Mint produces a variety of native animal themed bullion investment coins.

The flagship is the Australia Red Kangaroo 1 oz Silver coin is typically at a much lower premium than the ASE.

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Gold Price Spikes to 6 Month High at Start of Year

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The spot gold price futures hit a six month high at the start of the year.

Rising expectations of a recession and a general decline in stocks and crypto have led to growing demand from central banks and investors.

Analysts from CNBC are anticipating precious metals price will rise, calling this year the “new secular bull market.”

Central banks bought record numbers of gold in the final quarter of 2022. Led by China reporting purchases of more than 300 tons of gold bars.

CNBC analyst Juerg Kiener, managing director and chief investment officer at Swiss Asia Capital, said last month that the current market conditions mirror those of 2001 and 2008.

“It is not going to be just 10 or 20%, I think I’m looking at a move which will really make new highs”.

Using data available from CME Group, analysts from FX Street see rising interest in the futures markets. The number of open interests in gold futures rose by more than 8k contracts for the third day in a row.

Miners are expecting bullish returns in 2023 as they expect the gold prices to catch up with inflation.

The Fed’s decision to hike interest rates higher and more frequently and in such reactionary manner despite experts predicting dire consequences.

Long time gold bug, Robert Kiyosaki is predicting that gold prices can reach $3,800 an ounce this year.

He’s also bullish on other metals, predicting that we will see silver prices will rise to $75 per ounce this year in a recent Tweet.

Dealer premiums on 1 oz gold bars have drop to as low as 2% in recent weeks.

Now is a great time for retail precious metals investors. Premiums on 100 oz silver bars have recently dropped as low as $1.49 per ounce over spot. This is similar to the premiums when shopping from online bullion dealers prior to the pandemic.

The FOMC committee is meeting. Powell’s remarks following the meeting in December indicate that the Fed is going to continue rate hikes this year, albeit at a slower pace. Today’s announcement is expected after 2:00.

Update:

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) is responsible for managing the key interest rates that drive the economy.

In December the Fed announced their decision to continue the aggressive rate hikes.

The meeting minutes that were released today provide some guidance on the Fed’s plans for 2023.

The Fed is expected to continue to raise interest rates this year as it attempt to reduce the rate of inflation towards a target of 2%. Albeit with smaller incremental increases.

Recent CPI data shows that prices suggests that inflation has slows to around 7.1%, down slightly from 7.7%.

Yet, egg prices have climbed more than 49% in recent months. Some videos circulating on social media show egg prices in some NYC stores approaching $10 per dozen.

It’s expected that prices of basic essentials are expected to continue to rise as the impact of the rate hikes start to ripple across the economy.

Spot gold price held onto some earlier gains, silver prices are down slightly on the news.

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Military and Veteran Discount From Bullion Dealers

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JM Bullion, BGASC and Provident Metals all offer discounts on purchases for military veterans and active duty personnel. The discount offer is “As Low as” quantity pricing.

You will need to contact customer service before you place your order in order for the discount pricing to be applied to your account. For active duty personnel, you will need to submit either your Statement of Service or Leave and Earnings Statement.

For veterans, you will need to submit a copy of the front and back of your Veteran Affairs ID along with a copy of your discharge form DD-214.

More information and the full details of what is identification and paperwork are required can be found on JM Bullion’s knowledge center.

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Survival: Prepping with Silver

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Not too long ago, the idea of prepping, and having the tools to survive in the event of a disaster seamed pretty far fetched.

These days, it’s wise to be planning ahead as even the CEO of Chase has offered only dire predictions for the coming year.

The conditions we saw at the start of the pandemic with empty store shelves and limited supplies of basic necessities are likely to return.

Liquidity in both the stock and crypto markets continues to suffer while more companies announce layoffs following a year of record profits.

A new survey, published in January 2023, shows that more than 56% of households are unable to cover a one-time $1,000 emergency expense from their savings.

The amount of emergency savings needed by each person depends a lot of their expenses and emergency expectations. LifeHacker recommends that to calculate what you might need, you can estimate a week’s worth of expenses for food, bottled water, medications and any other necessities for your family.

Silver Preps

Having some money saved in the event of difficult financial times is practical and common sense. Stagnant wages and high inflation have already been making things difficult.

One of the first notions that comes to mind is to having fractional silver on hand for bartering.

“Junk Silver” is the best option for having fractional silver at home. It’s readily available and easy to authenticate. Most importantly, it’s affordable and easy to make regular purchases on a budget.

The coins in everyday circulation minted prior to 1965 were made from 90% pure silver mixed with some copper for durability.

These are coins that are of little interest to most collectors since most will show some wear and tear from circulation .

Each silver half dollar, quarter and dime minted before 1965 has known and verifiable amounts of pure silver and a small amount of copper.

Bag full of Junk Silver Quarters
Pile of junk silver quarters

During the time when silver was still circulating, the coin had real intrinsic value.

Buying 90% junk silver coins is the most practical fractional silver to stack that is hard to counterfeit and simple to authenticate.

Identifying 90% Silver Coins

Visually, you can identify junk silver pretty easily by looking at the rim of the coin. Coin roll hunters often use this trick when searching through boxes of bank rolls.

Weighing the coins is also a simple method to determine genuine junk silver. You will need a scale that measures in either troy ounces or grams.

Most kitchen scales or the herb scale you can get at the local gas station or from Amazon is often sufficient.

The table below shows how many grams of silver contained in each denomination of 90% junk silver:

DenominationFace ValueGross WeightASW
Half Dollar50 cents11.34 grams10.206 grams (.328 ozt)
Quarter25 cents6.25 grams5.625 grams (.1808 ozt)
Dime10 cents2.5 grams2.25 grams (0.0723 ozt)

Each $1 USD of face value yields approximately .715 ozt of silver. So, a $10 Face Value roll of silver quarters has roughly 7.15 troy ounces of pure silver.

Holding onto even a small stack of silver helps to understand the intrinsic value and why it has been used as real money for hundreds of years. We’ve seen in the wake of hurricanes and other natural disasters that debit cards, Apple Pay and ATM machines don’t work when the power grid goes out.

Junk silver is the most logical starting point when it comes to financial prepping with precious metals.

  • It fits all of the characteristics that are important in a SHTF scenario.
  • It is naturally fractional.
  • It is easy to authenticate in the field.
  • It is difficult to counterfeit.

40% and 35% Silver Coins

From 1964 until 1970, the Kennedy half-dollar coin was minted with an alloy that contains 40% silver. Not long ago many investors overlooked these coins because of the reduced silver content. Though 40% Kennedy half dollars can often be found with much lower premiums.

The war nickel was minted during World War II. From 1942 until 1945, nickel was a critical metal needed for the production of tanks and armor for vehicles. The metal used for the coins was reformulated to an alloy containing 35% silver.

1 oz Silver Coins and Rounds

After building a stack of junk silver, the most practical .999 fine silver options are typically 1 oz silver coins, rounds or bars. This weight is very common to find available from online bullion dealers and marketplaces or local coin shops.

As the recession takes hold, one ounce silver coins and rounds have become a popular way to hold an investment in silver.

Many people have similar questions when prepping with precious metals.

What is the difference between a coin and a round?

There is only one single characteristic that distinguishes a silver coin from a silver round.

Coins are minted by governments and are designated as legal tender.

This provides a guarantee that the weight and purity of each coin is minted to the exact specifications as outlined in the law.

For example, the face value on bullion coins such as the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf, is one Canadian dollar ($1 CAD). But the intrinsic value is based on silver spot price.

Silver rounds are similar to coins in shape, composition and dimension. They are designed to mimic the feel of coins and have the similar composition and silver purity.

The distinguishing factor is that silver rounds are produced and distributed by private mints and have no legal tender face value. One ounce silver coins and rounds share the exact same intrinsic silver value.

Premiums on silver rounds are lower than coins because of the face value and they have the backing of a trusted sovereign government.

Silver rounds from private mints will typically be less expensive than coins.

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BGASC Changes Shipping Policy – Orders over $199 Ship Free

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vintage gold coins

Changes have been happening behind the scenes at BGASC since being acquired by A-Mark Precious Metals earlier this year.

Over the last few months we’ve seen the launch of a new website incorporating a deep catalog of new and historic products.

For many years BGASC has had the reputation of being the best place to buy 1 oz gold coins. Even though they have the lowest silver prices on many popular items, their high order minimum for free shipping kept a lot of buyers away.

Newly minted custom branded silver rounds and silver bars minted by Silvertowne with the BGASC logo have been added in the new product offering.

The low premium generic 1 oz silver rounds have quickly become on the most popular amongst stackers.

Recently, BGASC made changes to their shipping policies that makes it easier for investors to save money on premiums.

BGASC is now offering free shipping on all orders over $199.