PAMP Suisse is one of the most notable and trusted names in precious metals. Since 1984, the company has been located in Castel San Pietro with a state of the art refinery operation that purifies gold and silver that is mined throughout the world.
Beginning in their first year of operation, the company include fractional the 1/2 troy ounce, 20 gram, 10 gram, 5 gram sizes that are all still minted today.
PAMP Suisse gold bars have featured the Lady Fortuna design since 1979. Other front designs have been introduced throughout the history of the company.
PAMP Suisse 2.5 gram Heart Pendant with Zebra Hologram
In the 1980s, the company expanded the fractional gold bar sizes to include 1 gram, 2.5 gram as well as 1 tola (11.7 grams).
In addition to the Goddess of Luck design, PAMP has developed and issued more than 50 unique and illustrative designs that have included flowers, birds and animals, Zodiac signs, Hindu gods, Buddha and other religious icons.
PAMP 24k Gold Bar Pendant Jewelry
In certain years, PAMP has included a line of fractional gold bars designed to be worn as pendants on a necklace. Some 24k gold pendants simply show the lady fortuna design into an oval shape on the obverse. A small hasp hole is manufactured into the top of the design with a small gold chain link attachment incorporated to make it easy to wear as jewelry on a chain.
The PAMP gold pendants are stamped on the back with their weight and purity and include the mint hallmark. They have been minted in a variety of denominations as small
PAMP Lunar Gold Bars
In 2012, PAMP launched the Lunar Calendar Series of gold bars. The series captures a unique design each year based on the 12 year cycle of the Chinese lunar calendar. The series is issued annually with three weight denominations of 100 gram, 1 troy ounce and the smaller 5 gram gold bar.
For the current year, the PAMP Suisse Lunar Series incorporates a lovely and warmly designed Rabbit. The design includes a tipped over basket as a reminder of the good that the animal brings to the world with butterflies fluttering above.
The back of the design includes the reverse of the portrait on the front, showing the back of the hare and his fluffy tail in front of the basket. The weight and purity are stamped on the back.
Newly minted 2023 Lunar 5 gram gold bars are offered sealed inside a specially designed assay card that includes a matching serial number that is laser-engraved on the bar.
All PAMP Suisse fractional gold bars are minted with .9999 fine gold.
The push toward dedollarization that began after the 2008 financial crisis has taken hold in recent years.
Many central bank are preparing for the elimination of the dollar from international trade settlements in favor of local currencies and are preparing by stocking up on gold and other commodities.
This week, the Iraqi central bank announced they are dropping the dollar and switching to the Yuan for their trade with China after the US Treasury forced stricter SWIFT transfer rules last year.
While the intent of the tighter rules was to curtail money laundering and to prevent the siphoning of dollars to heavily sanctioned countries. It is yet another political move that appears to have backfired.
As the rest of the world begins to transition to a gold-backed CBDC for international trade, the risk of out of control inflation to continue remains high and the chances of a soft landing for the economy is increasingly low.
The Federal Reserve has been piloting a number of different CBDC projects in recent months while recent legislation in Congress has been introduced to restrict the central bank from issuing any digital currencies to individuals.
In the long term, gold and silver preserve wealth and spending power while central bankers devalue fiat currency.
Even if the Fed is able to reduce inflation without destroying other sectors of the economy, the long term goal is to devalue the dollar by 2% annually with the inflation targets.
The global economy is shifting back towards some form of a gold standard. Everyone should be buying some physical gold and silver to have at home or in a secure location to be prepared for whatever happens this year.
The US Treasury continues to hold the largest gold bullion reserves. The January 31 report from shows 258,641,878.085 troy ounces, or roughly 8082.56 tons. According to some reports, 2,665 tons seized from citizens by FDR during the depression.
Storing physical gold and silver at home alongside firearms and other valuables is more common than you might think. If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it. Physical metals avoids counter-party risk.
Last year, the US Mint sold 980,000 troy ounces of gold eagle coins, a substantial drop from the 1,252,500 ounces that were sold in 2021.
Though 2022 saw an increase in sales of US Mint Gold Buffalo coins by nearly 60,000 troy ounces which shows that some gold bugs have been turning to .9999 fine gold.
Premiums on current year 1 oz Gold Eagle coins have fallen with online dealer premiums as low as 4.6% of gold spot price, and premiums on random year 1 oz Gold Buffalos are slightly higher from 5.14%.
Gold Eagles are minted from a 90% pure gold that is alloyed with small amounts of copper and silver. The addition of silver helps to gives these coins their unique color and luster.
Gold Buffalos are minted from .9999 pure 24k gold. The coins are beautifully sculpted and minted from gold that is refined from US mines.
Both coins each contain one troy ounce of pure gold.
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.
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.
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:
Denomination
Face Value
Gross Weight
ASW
Half Dollar
50 cents
11.34 grams
10.206 grams (.328 ozt)
Quarter
25 cents
6.25 grams
5.625 grams (.1808 ozt)
Dime
10 cents
2.5 grams
2.25 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.
Gold $1867.90 Silver $23.72 Platinum $1046.30 Gold/Silver Ratio 78.75
Confidence in the stock market continues to wane amid concerns over escalating issues involving Ukraine and inflation taking hold in the US economy. Oil and other commodity prices have risen sharply this week.
Many people struggle to save money under normal circumstances. The pandemic has brought a tremendous amount of economic uncertainty for many people. According to a recent report from Bloomberg, more than 30% of American’s earning $50,000 or less have lost almost their entire life savings due to the As the economy continues to recover, more and more people are looking for alternative ways to save money and store value. Precious metals is one of the best ways to save money.
Financial experts recommend that everyone have enough money set aside in liquid savings to cover six to twelve months of expenses in the event of a sudden job loss.
The most popular selling products among silver stackers in recent months has been 10 oz silver bars.
Precious metals markets are closed for the weekend.
Most Americans are already feeling the pain of inflation and there is rising concerns that issues at home and overseas will continue to disrupt a recovering economy.
Supply chain issues are getting worse with trucker protests causing shutdowns along the Canadian border many consumers routinely fine grocery store shelves are still bare.
Having trust in any bank today is challenging. The fees charged by all banks continue to rise. Whether it is ATM fees, monthly service charges or other hidden fees we should expect banks will follow the trends from fintech and newer payment providers.
Most people have already gotten used to paying fees on sending money with apps CashApp, PayPal and others. Consumers already expect to pay fees when shopping online or sending money to friends with Venmo.
Every corner of the economy has found a way to hide fees into every transaction and that trend is likely to continue as banks and merchant providers race to implement blockchain technologies into normal everyday life.
All payment methods aside from cash have some sort of transaction fees associated with it that go straight into the profits of the banks. Alternate payment methods like PayPal, bitcoin and cryptos charge varying fees on both sides of each transaction.
Using credit cards, debit cards and PayPal to shop online has gotten more expensive. Merchant providers automatically charge at least 4% in fees on top each transaction that most online stores hide by raising their prices or charging other fees.
Many online bullion dealers hate the fees too. Some have found creative ways avoid the fees charged by merchant providers and banks. Most online bullion dealers will offer a “cash discount” when paying with alternatives to credit and debit cards. Similar to how some gas stations still have different prices for cash and credit cards. This is a perfectly legitimate to save additional money on premiums by avoiding excess fees charged by banks.
You can also buy silver online from many dealers using digital tokens such as bitcoin as payment. Some of the out of pocket fees associated with buying precious metals online can’t be avoided. Using crypto to buy silver can reduce the fees charged by banks and leave you with the lowest premiums on silver.
The lowest premium are secondary market silver bars which had once been bought when they were newly minted. These are often sold to pawn shops, “We But Gold” stores, jewelers, local coins shops and other local bullion retailers. Most online bullion dealers will also buy silver and gold from you.
