Who Owns the Most Gold ?
The top ten largest owners of gold in the world are reported to control a total of 24,258.3 tonnes, or over 855 million ounces. At current spot prices, this gold would be worth approximately $804.35 billion and represents about 15.4% of all the gold ever mined. 612.5 Tonnes The Netherland central bank, De Nederlandsche Bank, oversees all of the the Dutch national finances, including the country’s 612.5 tonnes of gold . The Dutch gold is currently worth over $20 billion . 765.2 Tonnes Japan is ninth largest gold owner in the world, with 765.2 tonnes of gold that accounts for only2.1% of the nation’s total foreign reserves. On the open market, Japan’s gold reserves are worth approximately $25.4 billion and are managed by the Bank of Japan. 1040.1 Tonnes The Swiss National Bank oversees the country’s 1,040.1 tonnes of gold. The gold is believed to be stored in huge underground vaults near the federal Parliament building in Berne, however the Swiss National Bank treats the location of the gold reserves as a secret. Switzerland’s stockpile is worth approximately $34.5 billion in today’s gold market. 1054 Tonnes The world’s most populous country also has the world’s seventh largest gold reserve. With a population of 1,330,440,055 (A rough estimate as of July 2009), the country holds about $26 worth of gold per person, worth a total of almost $35 billion. 1120.6 Tonnes Originally listed on the New York Stock Exc...
Two-Legged Buffaloes?
by Len Ratzman – California Numismatist – Vol. 6 No.2 (Summer 2009) When a mint error is first discovered, a predictably lengthy process is begun involving multiple recognized experts in the field to examine and scrutinize the coin?s authenticity under high magnification to separate a bona fide error from a manufactured counterfeit. Ideally, after sufficient time and examinations have been made, the coin is either accepted or rejected by the numismatic community. But, in reality, there is a third possibility – unending disagreement among the experts. This outcome, of course, leaves many of us who are looking for definitive answers in relative limbo. If decades go by and recognized, numismatic authorities still are conflicted as to the authenticity of the coin, what then? If, for instance, someone tried to buy or sell a specimen with this error to a dealer, another collector or at auction, how could they vouch for the legitimacy of the error and, in turn, ask a realistic price? This article is devoted to one such enigma that the author discovered by accident. In a relatively recent attempt to determine if the Smithsonian Institute?s buffalo nickel collection was missing any specimens after all these years, an email inquiry was sent in early January to Mr. Richard Doty, the senior curator of numismatics for the Behring Center. Sent from the American Museum of Natural History Behring Center where the coins are stored, Mr. Doty?s e-mail responded, “Your in...
1849 Quarter Dollar Date Positions
By Greg Johnson from Volume 5, Issue 5 (May 2009) of The E-Gobrecht I purchased an 1849 quarter in November of 2006 that I was, at the time, unable to attribute using Briggs? “Comprehensive Encyclopedia of United States Seated Quarters” (Lima, OH 1991 ISBN 1-880731-05-3). A short article by John McCloskey in The Gobrecht Journal (Issue 98, pages 35-36) published the following March described in detail a coin from the same die pairing as the coin in my possession. During the past two plus years I have examined every 1849 quarter that I could find, whether in auctions, at bourse tables, or on eBay (when photo quality permitted) in an effort to complete the puzzle. I now own four distinct business strike die marriages of the 1849 quarter and though there is not yet a definitive conclusion, I do have what I call a working hypothesis. I believe that the “unknown” obverse is actually obverse 3 in the Briggs Encyclopedia and that there are a couple of typos in the description that have caused some confusion. First, the date location of “just right of 5″ is in error and should read “6/7″. Note that date position is determined based on an imaginary line drawn along the right side of the upright portion of the “1″ in the date. The date position number then references where this line intersects the shield above with respect to the shield lines numbered from left to right. Second, instead of “slopes up left to right”...
The Top Ten Mint State Saints
Much has been written about the $20 Saint-Gaudens series since it is quite possibly the most popular gold coin sought after today. I?d like to discuss the rarity/value relationship of the top ten scarcest dates, in mint state condition. I will exclude the 1933 from this discussion since there is only one coin legal to own and therefore unobtainable by the majority of registry collectors. Although most coins have appreciated in value over the last 10 years, the Saint-Gaudens series has been the area of some of the biggest increases. In compiling this list, PCGS and NGC population numbers are used as a starting point as well as CDN values over the last ten years. Needless to say, population report numbers are not entirely accurate due to resubmissions; however they do still represent a high degree of accuracy. The increasing popularity of registry sets makes such analysis important for current and future collectors. (All population data is current as of 2/2/07) #10) 1908-S: The 1908-S has the distinction of being the lowest mintage date (22,000) in the series (aside from the 1907 $20 High Relief) Since we are focusing on mint state examples today, some would be surprised to see this date in the top ten list, however with a certified PCGS population of 121 and an NGC population of 124 in all mint state grades I rank it number 10. Most Uncirculated coins have soft satiny luster and an adequate strike. There are a small number of heavily abraded and unattractive lower grade...
Too Good to be True
By Len Ratzman – The California Numismatist – CoinLink Content Partner The high only lasted a couple of hours. It took only that long to find out that my friend?s 1795 Flowing Hair 3-leaf dollar in MS-55 (my estimate) that had been left to her by her greatgrandfather was, sadly, only a good counterfeit. When Sarah called me from work that day, she didn?t even say hello. Her fi rst, excited words were, ?Len, what do you know about old dollars?? I told her my thirty-plus years in numismatics coveting only buffalo nickels didn?t include silver dollars of any age. But, since she knew nothing about coins, she knew from 20 years of friendship that I could research the coin for her. When she told me over the phone that the dollar was dated 1795, it didn?t take a specialist in the hobby to know instantly what potential value laid waiting to be realized. I jumped into the car and made it to the restaurant where she worked in 11 minutes?normally a 20 minute drive. With my loupe already in hand, I said, ?Hi,? and with indescribable anticipation asked her to show me the coin. Although my grading skills only covered buffaloes from 30 years of studying them, I could still tell from the fi ne detail that, if genuine, the grading companies would probably register the dollar as an MS-55 or better. Cha-ching! The next two hours were a blur of researching the Internet, visiting coinrelated Web sites, phone calls to local dealers and opening that latest Red Book to a section I hadn?...