Describes reasons behind the purchase of 129.7 million ounces of silver by the world's second wealthiest man (behind Bill Gates). Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, gave their reason for the purchase as: "the equilibrium between supply and demand was only likely to be established by a somewhat higher price." The article goes on describe how Berkshire Hathaway can earn money on their investment by leasing silver. And this value investment is compared to the failed effort by the Hunt Brothers to corner the silver market in late 1979 to early 1980.

New Federal Regulations Make It Easier Than Ever to Include Precious Metals in Your IRA ... And Now We Know the Details.

Newly published guidelines for The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 state that only bullion coins or bars that sell for less than 15% over their intrinsic precious metal value can be held in IRAs. The only exceptions are Proof American Eagles. All of the acceptable Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium coins and bars are listed. The procedure and approximate costs for opening a precious metals IRA are indicated.

The professionals' silver predictions (COMEX close on December 31, 1998) ranged widely from $4.25 to $12.00, with an average of $7.60 per ounce. The most optimistic price projection for gold (COMEX) was $429, while the most pessimistic estimate was $300; the average prediction was $340.23. Platinum prognosticators picked a low of $350, a high of $500, and an average of $425.03 (NYMEX). The dealers also predicted that Mint State Gold Type Coins would be the best performers in 1998 over the nearest runner-up by a margin of 2:1.

Stella's Extremely Fine Adventure.

Sandi Fletcher has penned a poem that includes at least 38 distinct coin-related terms. See how many you can discover.

How Can You Get $310 an Ounce for Gold, Even If the Price of Gold is $292. It's Not Magic, It's the Mountie.

The Royal Canadian Mint has issued 30,000 1 oz. fine "Mountie" gold coins with a guaranteed redemption value of US$310 until January 1, 2000.

The Asian Contagion.

Describes how the collapse of the Asian markets (i.e. down by over 50% in Thailand and Indonesia) that began in October 1997 may significantly impact the price of precious metals - particularly gold and platinum - over the coming years. Tells the poignant story of a South Korean auto plant supervisor whose "stock lost almost all its value in a few days" but the gold "that his grandparents insisted he buy" held its value and gave him and his family the means to live.

NGC Certifies, Photographs the Rarest of the Rare - the Only 1866 No Motto Seated Liberty Dollar.

Just two examples exist of the 1866 No Motto Seated Liberty Dollar. One of these - the du Pont specimen -- was stolen in 1967, and its whereabouts is unknown. Enlarged full-color digital images of the unique known specimen are pictured. This coin is now being offered for sale with a purported 7-figure price tag.

Phenomenal Response to the Platinum Eagle. Another Exclusive Interview with Philip Diehl, Director of the US Mint.

Diehl indicates that the response to the new Platinum American Eagle Bullion Coin Line "has been phenomenal. As of March 17 we've topped 100,000 ounces of Bullion Eagles, not including proof sales. That was our 12-month target; we have achieved it in under 6 months. This is by far our most successful coin program since ... early 1994."

Your Chance to Select the Most Beautiful Coins of the 20th Century.

Here are the first two finalists - the fabled Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, minted by the United States from 1907-1933, and the "Menorah" Israel Independence Commemorative Coin, minted in 1958. Because President Theodore Roosevelt thought that United States coinage was "artistically of atrocious hideousness," he asked America's greatest sculptor, Augustus-Saint Gaudens to redesign our coins, based on the beauty and high relief of the coinage of Ancient Greece. One of the results was the magnificent high relief portrayal of "Liberty striding energetically forward ... the drapery flowing in the breeze." In the words of Elvira and Clain-Stefanelli, Curators of the Numismatics Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, Israel's first Independence Commemorative Coin is "simple and graceful ... highly modernistic ... expressing an old and venerable religious tradition."

How Did All Those US Gold Coins Get to Europe?

This revealing and entertaining tale is related by a "coin detective" whose job for nearly a quarter of a century has been to ferret out US gold coins overseas for sale to collectors and investors, mostly back in the US. While stating that "If I had all of the answers, I'd be richer than Bill Gates," he must have most of the answers, since he's responsible for importing more than a million US gold coins. This is a must-read for any collector or investor.

What's the Coin Grading System All About, and How Did It Get that Way?

Traces the history of grading from the early years of the hobby -- when subjective terms such as Good, Very Good, Fine and Uncirculated sufficed - to the modern precise Sheldon system - with numerical grades ranging from Poor-1 (barely recognizable) to Mint State 70 (perfect). Indicates how grading services (i.e. NGC and PCGS) have "created a liquid market in which thousands of rare coins are bought and sold sight-unseen." But concludes that "Many collectors and investors still want to examine individual certified coin before purchase. After all, coins are a bit like snowflakes - no two are exactly alike."

On Sydney 2000 Olympic Coins, the Millennium is Now.

The first ever joint venture between the Royal Australian Mint and the Perth (Australia) Mint will produce the first series of coins showing the year 2000. Commemorating the Summer Olympics that will be held in Sydney, Australia, varieties will range from an inexpensive set of 28 aluminum-bronze coins to the first use of color on Olympic (gold) coinage.