China’s central bank has been on a buying spree that has so far spanning six months. In April, the bank added an additional 8.09 tons of gold to its reserves, now topping 2,076.47 tons.
As a reference, that much gold is the equivalent to 8,090 kilo gold bars.
During the first quarter of the year reserves at central banks increased by a whopping 228.4 tons as backlash against the dollar continues.
Announcements are expected during the upcoming BRICS summit this summer regarding the formation of a new basket currency.
There’s been lots of rumor and speculation with a few official leaks of small bits of information.
Here’s a few things that we know:
A new basket currency is being created that will be a combination of five currencies: Chinese RMB Yuan, the Russian Ruble, the Indian Rupee, the Brazilian Real and the South African Rand.
Pavel Knyazev, Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Foreign Policy Planning Department stated that member states are “actively studying mechanisms” to exchange financial information to develop a reliable alternative for international payments.
Recent central bank gold holdings by BRICS members:
Brazil: CEIC Data reports that Brazil is currently holding 7,602 tons, down from 8,036 tons reported in January. A significant drop 434 tons. Speculation is that some of this gold may have gone to China in exchange for yuan currency to hold in its reserves following the recent local currency trade agreement.
Russia: Trending Economics reports that Russia’s reserves are currently at 2326.52 tons, up from 2298.53, currently the highest ever reported by the country. Last year’s sanctions placed by the Biden Admin included Russia being booted from the LBMA. Some of the gold that would’ve been sold at the market exchange likely ended up being stacked in the country’s reserves. Additionally, Russia responded to the sanctions by exchanging gold for rubles within Russia, helping to keep the economy prosperous.
India: Recent news reports show that RBI added 34.22 metric tonnes of gold in the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2023, taking the total gold reserves up to 794.64 metric tonnes.
China: According to the World Gold Council, the PBoC reports that as of April they have added a whopping 120 tons since November 2022. The most recent reports show 2,076.47 metric tons in holding.
Russian authorities have detained a man at Domodedovo Airport in Moscow on suspicion of gold smuggling. Customs officials were alerted about suspicious items and searched inside the man’s luggage.
During the search, officials say they uncovered two recently minted gold bars weighing a combined total of 24.75 kg.
The man has not been identify has not been released by authorities. However, a video circulating on social media shows what appears to be a man in custody in an office with authorities photographing two 400 troy ounce LBMA-style gold bars laying out on a desk.
Russia: Person caught at Domodedovo airport in Moscow trying to leave the country with nearly $1.6 million in gold bars (24.75kg) minted in 2022 & 2023. pic.twitter.com/NTE9knt5mV
The gold bars are both stamped with РОССИЯ, the hallmark of the Russian Federation.
The bar in the top part of the frame is hallmarked with the insignia for Novosibirsk Siberia. Novosibirsk is home to the headquarters of a legendary gold refinery and bar manufacturing plant that was built during the USSR period.
The second bar shows the hallmark for Krastsvetmet. Krastsvetmet was established in 1943 during World War II with a focus on platinum group metals.
The gold refinery at Kastsvetmet opened in 1959 but was updated and expanded during the 1990s and is now the largest refiner of newly mined gold in the Russian Federation.
Prior to sanctions being implemented in response to the Ukrainian War, Russia had eight refineries that were listed a Good Delivery providers having LBMA Accreditation
The Russian News service reports that the man faces 3 to 7 years in prison for smuggling.
The American Palladium Eagle is the United States Mint’s official palladium bullion coin. Palladium is a precious metal that is part of the platinum group family. It has the appearance of a soft silver-white metal and is the least dense of all platinum group metals.
The 1 troy ounce coin is minted with .9995 pure palladium.
The effigy portrait on the obverse is a beautifully sculpted portrayal of Lady Liberty as the “Winged Liberty”. A design that first appeared on the Mercury Dime.
The reverse portrays a determined eagle pulling a branch from a rock with his beak. Inscriptions are shown indicating the metal, purity and face value.
The series debuted in 2017. The first issue was released with a bullion finish. A proof finish version followed in 2018. In 2019, a highly sought after reverse proof stunned collectors. A burnished version was available to investors in 2020. In 2021, the mint produced the proof finish for the second time. The reverse proof returned in 2022.
For 2023, the mint has announced a limited release uncirculated (burnished) coin is expected to be released in the fall.
Mintage amounts in each year are significantly lower than other precious metal bullion coins. Investors that are looking for the best deal can often find random year Palladium Eagles at the lowest price.
Both Florida and Indiana have recently passed laws banning the use of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as money in those states.
These laws explicitly exclude a CBDC from the definition of money in Florida and Indiana, effectively banning its use as such in these states.
The Florida law defines central bank digital currency as a “digital medium of exchange, or digital monetary unit of account issued by the United States Federal Reserve System, a federal agency, a foreign government, a foreign central bank, or a foreign reserve system that is made directly available to a consumer by such entities” and that is “processed or validated directly by such entities.”
In the law, central bank digital currency is specifically excluded from the definition of money under the Florida Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) which regulates commerce in the state.
The provisions in the new Indiana law are similar, but the bill took a very different path to enactment.
Investing in precious metals is a big commitment. The notion of taking a portion of your cash savings buying a physical asset goes against the mainstream narrative.
The Federal Reserve has announced that the FedNow service is NOT a CBDC. Most “conspiracy theorists” are suggesting that the Fed may not be telling the truth. Luckily, a few states like Florida and Texas have efforts to reject any fed issued digital token.
More people want precious metals as a store of value in lieu of cash and deciding which is the best metal to buy can be a laborious choice. Ideally, having a balanced portfolio that is diverse with a portion in both gold and silver, alongside traditional investments, can provide extra assurance to cover many unexpected financial scenarios.
Silver is Cheaper Per Ounce
The most obvious reason many investors prefer to buy silver is the enormous price gap per ounce. The average per ounce premium is often higher on silver as a percentage of the price.
However, just like with the stock markets, the commodities markets also have bull and bear periods where the returns on silver can shine or tarnish.
For example, at the start of the pandemic in 2020, the price per ounce of silver hit a low of $11.77 per ounce. In three years, silver is already trading up more than 100%.
Silver coins and bars
Gold prices have been trading at record highs in recent weeks. Rumors have been circulating for weeks about an upcoming announcement from the BRICS summit in South Africa related to a new gold-backed reserve currency.
Easier to Liquidate
This has some analysts continuing to suggest that gold prices will continue to climb higher as central banks in many emerging economies continue adding gold to their reserves.
A portfolio containing many smaller silver coins, such as Britannias or 1 ounce silver bars is naturally more convenient to sell than larger bars or a full ounce of gold.
Silver stacking is far more popular than most people realize. Many find it to be a convenient and effective way to set aside a little bit of cash each week or month.
As a physical asset, it’s a little more difficult to spend than cash and easy to keep stashed at home is available in a variety of formats that span from naturally fractional junk silver to larger kilogram and 100 ounce silver bars.
There are many options, both locally and online that make selling silver easy when the time comes. Whether it’s for an unexpected emergency repair or to raise some cash for a new venture.
While selling a portion of silver coins is a straightforward process, it’s not as easy or practical to cut a gold bar in half.
Growing Industrial Consumption
Silver is consumed by various industries in considerably greater quantities than other precious metals. Although undeniably an excellent store of value, silver is also one of the best conductors of electricity and is used everything from iPhones and other consumer devices to solar panels and EV batteries. According to statistics released since was used in smartphone manufacturing.
The largest growth in consumption industrial consumption continues to be driven by globalist climate change and green energy initiatives. Global statistics on solar panel manufacturing shows consistent year over year growth likely to continue based on the 2030 narratives.
Renewable energies represents an area where many see potential for continued increases in consumption. Compared to other metals, silver is relatively scarce in nature. There are very few naturally occurring silver ore deposits.
Most raw silver is mined as a by-product of other metals such as lead, copper and gold, which makes the mining of these other metals relatively more important.
Medical Applications
Silver plays a huge role in medical technology and with natural antibiotic properties. The invention of x-rays, MRI and other medical imaging technologies would not have been possible without silver.
Silver bromide is a chemical compound that is sensitive to light and plays a key role in X-Ray and photographic films.
Silver plays many hidden crucial roles in countless ways throughout our everyday lives. Around half of all silver mined annually is consumed during the production of over 3000 various technologies including integrated circuits, medical radiology equipment, water purification, photographic imaging and even explosives.
Silver is Undervalued
The gold-silver ratio is a great way of keeping track of silver’s fluctuations and its current value relative to gold. It demonstrates the relationship between their respective values and can be a way investors spot potential opportunities.
Over the long-term, the price of silver has steadily increased relative to the dollar due mainly to inflation.
Recent CPI data indicates that inflation continues to rise at a steady rate while the data used by the Fed in decision making lags behind the reality that consumers face each day.
Most countries fill their reserve vaults with gold, there are a few countries holding significant silver stockpiles such as Peru, Mexico and China.
The Zimbabwean economy is no stranger to hyper-inflation. In 2009, the country adopted the USD as an official alternative to their local currency which helped to stabilize prices for a while.
The economy in the landlocked nation in the southern zone of Africa is based on natural resources and the country’s largest export is gold. In a sense, the economy of Zimbabwe is like a canary in a coal mine and can give investors of a sense of the direction things are heading at home.
Inflation set in again in recent years and the country’s leaders are looking to step away from the USD in favor of gold. The initial launch of the country’s gold-backed digital currency The token’s initial offering is backed by 140 kilogram gold bars that have been allocated from central bank reserves.
The offering Zimbabwe caused a ruckus with some international lenders, with the IMF issuing a statement reminiscent of the outrage posited against El Salvador when it established bitcoin as a legal currency began issuing bitcoin bonds.
A major announcement about a gold-backed basket currency is expected from the BRICS conference in South Africa in August. The BRICS gold-backed currency will offer emerging nations greater opportunities to flourish without being dependent on the dollar currency for settling cross-border transactions.
The US Mint operates with a lean business model that operates in a just-in-time manner, managing incoming blank planchets from designated materials suppliers based on sales demand from Authorized Purchasers as a gauge of investor demand.
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.
The US Mint is required by law to mint Silver Eagle coins in quantities “sufficient to meet public demand.” However, data provided in recent mintage reports shows monthly sales of the coins are down significantly when compared to the same period in 2021.
The latest reports show that for January, monthly sales totals were 3,949,000 coins. Most of these coins were minted during the final months of 2022 when the mint announced it would start minting the coins early. The mint stockpiled the coins, waiting to ship them to bullion dealers until after the start of the year. Did they hedge the price of silver during that time?
Since then, the mint appears to be on track to shipping only 900,000 coins per month, consistently. Far less than the monthly sales volumes reported just a few years ago.
For 2021, the monthly sales figures for February, March and April of that year being: 3,191,500, 4,087,000 and 1,053,000 respectively.
So far, the Mint has provided no explanation for the current production shortages, leaving investors shopping for silver bullion coins looking at options from alternative government mints.
Both the Perth Mint and Royal Mint have announced reaching historical sales records in recent years. Silver bullion coins from both mints have significantly lower wholesale and retail premiums as those mints. Neither appear to be having issues keeping up with demand from investors or industry.
At the retail level, premiums have, at times, exceeded 90% over spot price per ounce. The wholesale premiums that dealers pay to Authorized Purchasers has reached historic highs as well, forcing retail dealers to offer record prices over spot on buy backs. Some long-term silver investors have been able to take advantage of the current price spread compared to retail premiums paid several years ago.
The Mint also pointed to production and supply chain issues in its decision to the postpone the production of the Morgan and Peace $1 silver coins that were highly anticipated by investors and collectors in 2022.
Investors have grown extremely frustrated with premiums on Silver Eagles and lost faith in the US Mint. Most have already started to buy silver coins from foreign governments that are able to provide a dependable and continuous supply of investment grade precious metals.
With the cost for minting each penny being roughly 2.5 cents, and nickels topping 7.42 cents, total losses on these coins have been steep, with pennies taking a net loss of $92.7 million to produce, and nickels losing a total of $78 million, totaling $171 million in gross loss.
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.
US Private Vaults had over 800 customers at the time, the vast majority were law abiding citizens that felt it necessary to use a secure storage facility to store their valubles.
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.
The government intends to keep the contents of more than 350 vaults, alleging that the money, precious metals, watches and other goods that they contained were the fruit of unspecified criminal activity without any proof.
Some others’ were rented by state-licensed marijuana dealers with limited access to banks due to federal regulations.
Benjamin Gluck, an attorney who represents some of the box owners believes it’s a money grab by the government, insisting that “the constitutional and moral bankruptcy of the U.S. attorney’s office by showing that they’re willing to give immunity to an admitted criminal so long as he doesn’t interfere with their illegal scheme to seize money from innocent box holders.”
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. The principal idea reverses Gresham’s Law, wheregood money drives bad money out of circulation and the people can choose to decline to accept less valuable fiat money from the Fed.
If the bill becomes law, it would require the state comptroller to establish and provide for :
The issuance of gold and silver specie – A specie is a physical coin or token, typically made from a precious metal that is suitable for or customarily used as currency.
Require the comptroller to authorize the Texas Bullion Depository as issuer of the specie as legal tender in payment of debt and readily transfer the specie to another person
A mechanism to use 100% backed gold and silver digital currencies in everyday transactions
Use the digital currency as legal tender in payment of debt.
By electronic means readily transfer or assign the digital currency to another person.
Physical gold and silver backing the digital currency would be stored in a pooled account at the Texas State Bullion Depository.
Fractional gold coins are a great way to invest and provide a less expensive and practical way to accrue and stack gold.
Having a portion of savings set aside in precious metals can help provide a stable safety net or hedge against inflation and other investments.
Most countries throughout the world utilized currency coinage that was minted of silver and gold throughout the 1800s and into the early 1900s. The French Franc currency played an extensive role throughout the era and around the world.
The Latin Monetary Union (LMU) was a trade treaty signed by numerous European countries in 1865 that established the franc as a unified common currency based on the gold standard that helped to shape global trade for many decades. The treaty thrust the 20 francs gold coins into a role as a fundamental coin of merchant trade. A role it played for nearly one hundred years.
Each member nation began minting gold coins to the same standards to circulate for international merchant trade. All 20 francs gold coins are minted with planchets created from an alloy of 90% gold and 10% copper. The coins are each 21 mm in diameter with an overall gross weight of 6.45 grams.
The actual gold weight in each 20 francs coin is 5.80 grams, the equivalent of .1867 troy ounces. A stack of five of these coins is almost an ounce of gold.
These are one of the most popular gold bullion coins for investors. Vintage gold 20 francs are government minted coins that are today sold as bullion for their intrinsic value. These are often the cheapest gold coins available and are perfect for stacking.
Below is a brief description of some of the coins that were minted by France from the early 1800s until the early 1900s.
The era in the history of France commonly referred to as the Napoleonic Wars and lasted from 1803 until 1815, led by Emperor Napoleon I. At the height of his power, the emperor and his vast armies had taken control of much of mainland Europe. The First French Empire spanned from the eastern shores of Spain to the southern tip of Italy, all the way to the borders of Russia.
Napoleon had an extensive impact on the lands he conquered, improving and modernizing society through liberal reforms. Along the way, the wars brought vast amounts of gold into the French Empire and most of it was minted into 20 francs gold coins.
Napoleon I 20 Francs
Napoleon I brought sweeping reforms throughout the country, and helped France win significant military victories, eventually being granted the title of Emperor of France in 1804.
There is a broad variety of 20 francs gold coins that were produced bearing portraits of Napoleon, across dozens of mints throughout the France, Italy and even as far away as the Netherlands.
The 20 francs gold coins minted from 1804 until 1814 feature a leftward facing portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Bullion coins from this era can have a mix of obverse design as various portraits and titles were used throughout these years. The coins you receive when buying Napoleon I 20 Francs Gold coins are chosen at random from available inventory and could be from mix of years and mint marks.
The early coins featured a young Napoleon with hair cropped wavy and long that was carved by Pierre-Joseph Tiolier, General Coin Engraver from Paris. The first coins include the title Premier Consul inscribed surrounding the portrait. This was later updated to read “Empereur”.
Louis XVIII 20 Francs
Following Napoleon’s second exile from France, King Louis XVIII reigned from 1815 until his death in 1824. The gold coins minted during this era had a right facing effigy bust of Louis that was modified in 1816 to remove the appearance of the military dress uniform.
The coins feature inscriptions on the front that include the name of King Louis XVIII, along with his title “ROI DE FRANCE”. The mark for the artist and engraver is incorporated below the portrait.
The reverse side of these coins contains a simple wreath motif that shows the face value and year-date of minting.
Charles X 20 Francs
Charles X 20 Francs gold coin
The reign of King Charles X last from 1824 until 1830. During the short reign lasting just six years, the king lost popularity amongst the liberals of French society.
The conservative policies directed from his regime are largely responsible for leading to the July Revolution which deposed the ruler and put in place his more liberal cousin, King Louis Philippe I.
The portrait was engraved by medalist and sculptor Auguste-François Michaut with the obverse engraving bearing his name and title reading “CHARLES X ROI DE FRANCE”, which translates to “Charles X King of France”.
Roughly 1.5 million Charles X 20 francs gold coins were produced with this design across four French mints.
Louis Philippe I 20 Francs
Louis Philippe I was nicknamed the “Citizen King” and served as the King from 1830 until 1848. Under his reign, known as the July Monarchy, the French economy was dominated and largely influence by wealthy industrialists and bankers
Louis Philippe expanded relations with Great Britain and sponsored colonial expansion, most notably with the acquisition of Algeria.
This king was considered a repressive ruler following his brother’s reign and many at the time felt him to be an illegitimate king. Many uprisings occurred in France throughout the 1830s, Louis-Philippe clamped down on dissent and gained a reputation for supporting the interests of the rich.
Many of the poorer class of citizens grew resentful and Louis-Philippe escaped from eight assassination attempts before he finally fled to England.
During his 18 years in power, the more than six million Louis-Philippe 20 Francs gold coins were minted at various minting facilities throughout the country. The obverse bust portrait was created by engraver Joseph-François Domard. The reverse depicts the crowned coat of arms enwreathed with the year-date of minting and legal-tender face value of 20 Francs.
Napoleon III 20 Francs
Napoleon III was President of the Republic of France from 1848 to 1852 and remained the last monarch until he was deposed in 1870. During his time leading the country he focused on building infrastructure for the country, leading to growth in the industrial base, economic expansion and the creation of new banks.
The banks provided the funding for Napoleon III’s major projects, which included massive steamships to reach far away colonies and railways and canals to connect the country’s major cities and trade hubs, and the rebuilding of Paris. Funding from the banks was funneled into developing new neighborhoods that are among the most famous and prominent amongst the Right Bank, such as rue de Rivoli, Opéra, and place de l’Etoile.
Various styles of the Napoleon III 20 Francs Gold coin were minted under his reign with two similar, though notably different obverse designs that commonly circulated during this period that are frequently found when buying random 20 francs gold coins.
The first, issued from 1853 until 1860 featured a rightward facing Napoleon III that was created from a portrait by artist Jean-Jacques Barre. The portrait features a bare headed emperor. More than 135 million gold coins were minted with this design over the seven year period making it a popular coin with bullion investors. These 20 francs gold Napoleon III coins have maintained their intrinsic value for more than 150 years due to the underlying gold content.
The second 20 francs Napoleon III gold coin was minted from 1861 until the end of his reign in 1870. The coin features a similar portrait, the primary difference appears to be that the monarch wearing a laurel wreath upon his head. More than 50 million of these coins were minted during this 18 year period.
It is very common to receive these as bullion coins when buying random year 20 francs gold coins, which remain incredible popular with investors. These coins were minted in mass quantities due to the establishment of the Latin Monetary Union during this period.
Lucky Angel 20 Francs
After the second exile of Napoleon III, the country turned to focus on more domestic measure starting with the Paris Commune in 1871. The Génie coin, often referred to as the Lucky Angel gold coin, was minted from 1871 until 1898.
The obverse design for the coin was created by artist and medallic sculptor Augustin Dupré who was the student of the sculptor David. The French Revolution gave him the opportunity to develop his art of engraving medals for soldiers as well as various coins. The iconic image on this coin represents the Guardian Angel Genius writing the constitution fresh on a blank tablet.
20 Francs Lucky Angel Gold Coin 1871-1898
The genie is turned to the right and is writing the word “constitution” on a table laid on a stone pillar. Other French cultural symbols are hidden in the design such as the cockerel, the lictor beam with the hand of justice above. The words “Republique Française” are written above the angel and Dupré’s signature mark can be found at the bottom.
The reverse design takes some added freedom in its departure from the previous designs. The traditional wreath and denomination value remain on the reverse in the center. In addition, inscriptions were added that instill some of the cultural values of the French people, including “Liberte”, “Egalite” and “Fraternite”.
More than 95 million 20 Francs gold Lucky Angel coins were minted from 1871 to 1898, with many surviving coins available today makes it one of the most popular fractional bullion coins for investors.
20 Francs Rooster Gold Coin
20 Francs Gold Rooster
The 20 Francs Gold Rooster was minted from 1899 until 1914. It is the last of the French 20 Francs Gold coins that was intended for circulation. Over 117,000,000 gold coins were minted. The denomination (known as the Franc Germinal) was in continual use through the 19th and 20th centuries.
The obverse of the coin has a profile of Marianne, the Goddess of Liberty who is symbolic of the French Republic. She is a symbol with origins in the 3rd French Republic and is a personification of liberty and reason. Inscribed around her are the words “République Française”.
The reverse displays a portrait of Le Coq Gaulois or Gallic Rooster, colloquially named Chantecler. The reverse includes the date and legal tender face value and is surrounded with the words “Liberté Egalité Fraternitén”, values that are still preserved in the culture of France today.
