07 June 2012

To my Greek readers: The sale of gold and silver coins by the Central Bank is a rip-off


On April 30 the Greek Ministry of Finance issued a press release announcing the sale of gold and silver collector coins. It is a rip-off, so keep clear!
The calculation is as follows:
1. Gold coins
17 g / coin @ 1,615 $/oz (1 troy oz= 31.1g) = 702.58 EUR / coin (1.2565 USD / 1 EUR)
Selling price: EUR 2,100 i.e. 3 X the value of gold!!!
2. Silver coins
24 g / coin @ 29 $/oz (1 troy oz= 31.1g) = 17.81 EUR / coin (1.2565 USD / 1 EUR)
Selling price: EUR 90 i.e. 5 X the value of silver!!!!!
Please also note that the title of precious metal is on the low end at 916/1000 of gold and 925/1000 of silver.
You are better buying alternative coins quoted on the market or gold bars. For example, for EUR 2,100 you could buy a 1 oz Canadian Mapple Leaf with 999.9 / 1000 purity and get 14.1 g more gold, a better purity and still have EUR 700 to go shopping! (and I included a fat 5% broker commission).
This deal is much worse than the issue of gold and silver coins by the French Mint in April 2011…et do not tell me that that the “collector” value makes the difference!
Source:
Ministry of Finance: Press release
http://www.minfin.gr/content-api/f/binaryChannel/minfin/datastore/f5/a3/e8/f5a3e8c5477c1dfd193356144901e5120f657bec/application/pdf/ANNOUNCEMENT+75+YEARS+BoG.pdf

Markets & Beyond: The French mint issues a limited series of gold and silver coins: a rip-off!

http://marketsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2011/04/french-mint-issues-limited-series-of.html