Comments (20)

• Dr. Mark Thornton

  Great article Jeff. I wonder if there is a directory of coin stores that people can visit?

  Published: August 12, 2008 9:03 AM

• jeffrey

  Looks like I inadvertently deleted the following paragraph, which has been restored:

  "Have a conversation with the proprietor, who tends to be of a type: perhaps a bit crusty, but highly knowledgeable and independent minded. At his office, he lives amidst this history. He is surrounded by the truth about money that most people never discover. He is daily faced with the beauty of what once was, and perhaps too he imagines the possibility that it could be again. He is not usually the despairing type either. He sees the difference between what is permanent and what is transitory. If you take the time, you can learn from him."

  Published: August 12, 2008 9:50 AM

• Nathan Mayer

  I buy them from this site - good articles and pics of the coins. Good service.

  http://www.usagold.com/

  Published: August 12, 2008 10:10 AM

• David Ch

  Nice article. Of course, the gold coins are not always valued strictly according to metal content irrespective of form - some particular ones will command hefty premiums for for other attributes valued by collectors. And I find it exquisitely fitting that modern token coins which are minted with ERRORS are the ones most highly sought after by collectors, and priced accordingly. thats just beautiful.

  your closing comment 'They no longer believe in the great modern lie that the state is our wise master, in whom we should trust our very lives'. resonates particularly with me. for if I have to declare one insight Ive had during my brief tenure on this earth, it is this: While while our schools, teachers, bosses, parents and such all brought us up with the tacit belief that the people in charge know what they are doing , it is a myth. Because at any level, local ( town councillors) , school ( teachers) , business ( anyones boss) , provincial ( congresspersons or othe rnational equivalents) national ( Presidents) or supranational ( UN, NATO), the one truth stands out plainly for all to see: The people in charge seldom know what they are doing, and their progress consists largely in stumbling from one crisis to the next.

  
  

  Published: August 12, 2008 10:29 AM

• Scott

  This should have been the intro speech for "The Road Warrior."

  Published: August 12, 2008 11:12 AM

• Matthew

  Jeffrey -

  Absolutely wonderful article. As someone who's thought about opening a coin shop one day, I found your description of the proprietor quite amusing as it fits me perfectly!

  Although learning the teachings of the Austrian school is the first step, you really don't achieve freedom until you remove yourself from their evil tools and go on your own gold or silver standard. Privatized secession indeed! Cheers,

  Matthew

  Published: August 12, 2008 11:20 AM

• andras

  Mark,
  Try http://coininfo.com/ .
  They have a coin shop locator by state.
  Shop till you drop!
  

  Published: August 12, 2008 11:26 AM

• Jake

  Wow Jeffrey!

  Thank you for a beautifull article. I work in the coin industry and everything you've said resonates perfectly with WHY I ended getting involved in the industry.

  I'll be sharing your article with all my customers.

  PS: Today was a perfect example of Human Action in the price system. The gold price that came of so sharply overnight caused interest and Krugerrand sales to rocket today!

  Published: August 12, 2008 1:22 PM

• Scott F

  Great article! I have never invested in gold directly so I am clueless about the specifics. I would only be interested in purchasing for physical possession at this point. Any gotchas with regard to taxes that I should know about? Also, any good recommendations on how to store it safely? I can't say that the idea of a safety deposit box sits well with me. I notice that many coins are available in various sizes. Any recommendations with regard to getting smaller sizes versus large sizes? What about silver?

  Published: August 12, 2008 3:18 PM

• Florida Economist

  Authentic coins are a beautiful thing. They command a respect that no other money receives. It's something you can feel when you are close to them. It's unfortunate that they are out of reach of significant ownership by the vast majority of the people of the world becuase they can not afford them. And yes, a very lovely article indeed.

  Published: August 12, 2008 3:21 PM

• Scott Friday

  Great article! I have never invested in gold directly so I am clueless about the specifics. I would only be interested in purchasing for physical possession at this point. Any gotchas with regard to taxes that I should know about? Also, any good recommendations on how to store it safely? I can't say that the idea of a safety deposit box sits well with me. I notice that many coins are available in various sizes. Any recommendations with regard to getting smaller sizes versus large sizes? What about silver?

  Published: August 12, 2008 3:23 PM

• Scott Friday

  Sorry for double post. The first timed out without ever indicating it went through... doh!

  Published: August 12, 2008 3:30 PM

• Karl Dengler

  Great Article!
  To find a dealer in your area go to
  www.coininfo.com
  

  Published: August 12, 2008 7:03 PM

• MJ

  Great Article
  This is economics in its most pure form. One thing to note about coin collecting (for non-collectors), that is that there are various grades attached to these coins, the higher the better. And this is what reporters on the likes of Bloomberg miss when they presume every buys bullion bars etc but coin collectors are far smarter than that, a really good example would be a Saint-Gaudens double eagle graded MS65 which would at least sell for $2300 (some sell for millions) although gold is say $800 an ounce, because economic value is added to these coins so their price tends to diverge from their bullion value with time. And better still you can hide them away from the states prying eyes and you don't have to pay annual interest income to the government, who pays a negative annual return anyway! So there is no real market price for gold, silver etc only the new bullion price. The same could be said of old dollars, halves and quarters that sell for tens of thousands in mint state but silver is only $14 an ounce. Why? Because Uncle Sam ain't making any more good money that smart people trust and besides the inflation figure is a lie! So when people ask you what the price of gold is always reply "what's the price of a new pre-Roosevelt double eagle"?

  Does anybody dream of taking modern motoring and entrepreneurial health advances back to a time when these beautiful coins circulated on a daily basis and tax was non-existant?

  Published: August 13, 2008 7:07 AM

• Dennis

  I would add that until the early-to-mid-twentieth century U.S. coins, in the large majority of cases, bore an artistic rendition of liberty. On our modern circulating coins, liberty has been replaced by images of our presidents. This change is an indication of the decline in our political values that mirrors the decline of our economic rationality (and morality) exemplified by the removal of gold and silver from our coinage.

  Published: August 13, 2008 7:27 AM

• Jim

  "You will possess a store of wealth that is not subject to wild bubbles"

  This is not exactly true as anyone who bought gold/silver during the bubble of the late 70's, early 80's can attest. Anything and everything is subject to a wild bubble! Still have to be smart about things.... I'm sure anyone who paid $1000 for gold this year has that sinking feeling right about now.

  Published: August 14, 2008 1:44 AM

• Ben Van Meter

  Excellent article, the only thing I would add was what I thought the article would be about when I saw the title, and that is how little gold and silver most coin shops have to sell these days, despite the manipulated low prices. Low prices of anything would seem to indicate a surplus of that particular item, not so with metals today. Coin shops and bullion dealers alike have depleted inventories. They were low last March during record high prices due to panic buying and they are low today due to people in the know buying low to sell high or hang onto. This tells the tale. Check out the statement on APMEX's site and buy anything that this trustworthy dealer has to sell. Avoid the others that offer to sell what they don't actually have in stock (one in particular in Washington state.) Get it while the geting is good.

  Published: August 14, 2008 12:21 PM

• David White

  "And here we have the short history of how money came to be destroyed and how the modern world came to host the ghastly leviathans that dominate the world. Here is the basis of destructive and unnecessary wars that last and last, the character-shredding welfare state, and the swarms of bureaucrats who run our lives in every respect. It all comes down to the way money was destroyed."

  How truly said, Jeffrey, and oh, what the history books will have to say about it.

  "Doh" comes to mind.

  Published: August 14, 2008 9:51 PM

• Jerry Woodlock

  Thank you for the thought provoking article.

  Dr. Thorton, for coins from collectors see http://www.coinbug.com.

  Published: October 20, 2008 9:52 PM

• Coin Collector Market

  That is one amazing article.

  Published: November 7, 2008 2:40 PM