Gold coins are popular again
In poor economic times, gold coins have been considered a stronghold investment. Lately, they're so popular the U.S. Mint can't supply people fast enough. Dan Grech reports on the coin's increased demand.
A gold coin of first lady Abigail Adams, from a special series of first spouses printed by the U.S. Mint (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
More on Investing, America's Financial Crisis
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: As the stock markets tank, everybody's on the hunt for safer investments. Gold coins have become pretty popular. Marketplace's Dan Grech has more on that.
Dan Grech: Last year, people bought 38 tons of gold coins in the third quarter alone. This year, that figure jumped to 61 tons.
Robert Mish is a coin dealer in Menlo Park, Calif.:
Robert Mish: The public's demand for gold coins has increased so much that not only myself but all of my colleagues have seen their inventories depleted.
The U.S. Mint cannot keep up. The Mint used to fill new orders for gold coins immediately. Now it can take up to seven weeks.
Mish: Gold has no debt against it, cannot go to zero, and throughout history has been the storehouse of value simply because the marketplace has given it that status.
Over the past month, the dollar has strengthened. That's pushed the price of an ounce of gold down $200 from its high last month. But dealers say that's only increased the demand for gold coins.
I'm Dan Grech for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.