Big Gold is Gorgeous

I really savor the heading the wordsmiths at The Royal Canadian Mint have hammered out. A breathtaking one-of-a-kind addition to your gold kilo collection!

Bigger than Biggest

This one kilogram coin is the largest coin to feature a hologram struck over an engraved surface! This feat of innovation further accentuates the details of the coin's design while adding spectacular dimension and colour to the coin!
   This proof coin has been accented with multiple polishes that not only highlight the relief, but also create subtle differences in the way light is refracted between the two leaves.
   This unique effect was created by tiny facets that were struck into the coin, which allow light to be refracted from various angles. This causes an iridescent hue that is viewed by turning the coin from side to side.

   So pick up the phone and call the The Royal Canadian Mint and order a couple. I am sure your coin collecting friends will be envious when you show them this crown jewel in yourgold kilo collection.
Pur gold kilo coin

XXL Silver Investment Coins

It is not unusual to get a rebate when buying large. Not so, for the Investor Coin Collectors.

If you are defining yourself as an Investor Coin Collector, you will run into some interesting phenomena, which do not follow the rule. As mention in another of my blogpost, you have to ask yourself. When does an investment coin cease to be an investment coin? Then follow up with the question: When shall I break my principles and buy a coin, which is double, triple or fourfold as expensive as the cheapest investment, coin on the market?

A rule of the thumb is 50 %.
Check out the day-price of a Canadian Maple Leaf one ounce coin. Today, 29.12.1015, the price is 150 NOK ($ 16,50). That means that you can allow yourself to buy investment coins up to 225 NOK ($ 25) an ounce. Probably will quit a few protest and say that this is giving the word “investment” a new meaning, but do not forget that you also are a coin collector. You buy coins because you see something more in them than pure silver.

   Anyway, silver coins, which weigh ½ ounce (15,6 gram) are not for the investment coin collector. Usually you have to pay 3-400 NOK ($ 30 – 40) for these coins, and thereby they belong in the world of collector items. You can buy three one-ounce coins for the price of one measly half-ounce coin. Never forget that you are at heart an Investment Coin Collector. J

Big, fat coins

With BIG coins, I have the 1-kilogram coins in mind. These are unpractical and difficult to store and handle, but the details are incredible. A kilo coin represent 32 one ounce coins and at the moment of writing you have to shell out 4800 NOK ($ 530) for a K of silver coin. That is, 150 NOK for one ounce, almost the same amount you pay for a one-ounce Maple Leaf coin. Then it is up to you do decide if you should buy 32 coins or a beautiful giant of a coin. If you are only interested in the silver go for the one-ounce coins, but if you also are interested in coin-art go for the 1-kilo coin.

Ekstra store investeringsmynter i sølv

av Robert Wood - Sosiolog - 
Vanligvis får man rabatt når man kjøper stort, men dette gjelder ikke for de som investerer i mynter.

Definerer du deg som en samler av investeringsmynter, vil du fort støte på noen artige fenomener som slett ikke er logiske. Investering kolliderer med samling.

Du bør stille deg selv spørsmålet:

Når opphører en investeringsmynt å være en investeringsmynt?

   Deretter bør du stille deg selv spørsmålet:

Når skal jeg bryte prinsippene mine og kjøpe en mynt som er dobbelt, tredobbelt eller for den saks skyld firedobbelt så dyr som den billigste investeringsmynten på markedet?

   En god tommelfinger-regel er 50 %. Ta utgangspunkt i dagsprisen til en Canadian Maple Leaf 1 ounce mynt. I dag, 17.12.2015, koster den 150 kroner.  Det betyr at du kan tillate deg å kjøpe investeringsmynter som koster opptil 225 kroner per ounce. Mange vil si at dette er å strekke investeringsbegrepet vel langt, men glem ikke at du har litt samler i deg også. Du kjøper også mynter fordi du ser mer i dem enn bare sølv.

    Uansett, når det gjelder sølvmynter som veier ½ ounce (15,6 gram), er de uegnete som investeringsmynter. De koster gjerne 3-600 kroner stykk og tilhører dermed samlerobjekt- markedet siden du kan få 4-5 én ounce mynter for prisen av 2 halv ounce mynter. Glem aldri at du er en investeringsmynt-samler.

   Når det gjelder STORE mynter, tenker jeg på mynter som veier ett kilogram. Disse er upraktiske og vanskelige å lagre og håndtere, men detaljene kommer utrolig godt fram. De er flotte kunstverk. En kilos sølvmynt representerer 32 én ounce mynter. I skrivende øyeblikk er det mulig å få kjøpt kilomynter til ca.4800 kroner. Det vil si 150 kroner per ounce. Det samme som en Canadian 1 ounce Maple Leaf mynt koster. Dermed blir det opp til deg å vurdere om du vil ha 32 mynter eller én kjempemynt. Prisen er det samme for selve sølvet.

Silver Coins for Investor Coin Collectors

by Robert Wood - Sociologist - 
It is not common to collect investment coins that are minted by the millions. As collector items goes, they will never be worth much more than the silver value they are representing.

Investing and collecting investing coins in silver and gold is not common. Most collectors do not collect coins which are minted by the millions and are never going to be worth anything as a collector’s item. However, some collectors, such as myself, collect investment coins because they are small pieces of art, fun to own and inexpensive. And, to be honest… I like to have a few bits of silver in my collection when the American dollar and the stock markets of the world collapse.

Start your collection with the following four coins

TheWiener Philharmoniker present music instruments.

 Mintage: 4.7 million in 2014

The Canadian Leaf has the National symbol.
Mintage: 29.3 million in 2014

The American Eagle – one of USA’s National symbols.
Mintage: 44 million in 2015

The Chinese Panda, cute favorite bear
Mintage: 8 million in 2015

When you are a collector of investment coins, you have to ask yourself: When does an investment coin cease to be an investment coin? It is difficult to give an exact answer because we can’t guess the price of silver in the future. If we, for example, are to compare the Canadian Maple leaf 150 NOK/ $ 16 with the Chinese Panda Bear 180/ $ 20 we get a 30 NOK/ $ 3 price gap. This means that the Panda is 20 % more expensive, and the word “Premium” shows its true meaning. The dealers manage to convince us that the demand for this coin is so pressing that we should pay a little extra. This in spite of a mintage of 8 million. Moreover, as it turns out… the panda bear motives are seducing us to do exactly that. The many panda bear coin collectors even have their own Facebook page.

An Eagle
The American Eagle coin is highly popular both national and international. The coin is minted in three variations. The pure investment coin costs 158 NOK/$17.50, which is well within the concept of investing. The coin is hardly 10 NOK/$1.10 more than the Wiener Philharmoniker coin 147 NOK/$16.30.

Sølvmynter for investormynt-samleren

av Robert Wood - Sosiolog - 
Det er uvanlig å samle investeringsmynter som er preget i millionopplag. Som samleobjekter kommer de ikke til å bli verdt mer verdien på sølvet.

Men noen samlere, som meg selv, samler på investeringsmynter i sølv fordi de er små kunststykker, morsomme å eie og relativt rimelige å kjøpe. Og for å være ærlig … Jeg vil ha noen sølvbiter i bakhånd når den amerikanske dollaren, og med den oljefondet, kollapser i en ikke altfor fjern fremtid.

Hvis du skal begynne en samling sølvmynter i dag, bør du starte med de fire som er omtalt under. Alle har vektenhet på 1 ounce, eller 31,1034768 gram sølv i seg. Dette betyr ikke at myntene veier dette, men at de inneholder overnevnte mengde edelt metall. Det øvrige metallinnholdet veier også litt. Jo renere sølvet er, jo mer nærmer myntens vekt og sølvets vekt seg.

Start med disse myntene

Wiener Philharmoniker har musikkinstrumenter som motiv. Opplag: 4,7 millioner i 2014

Canadian Leaf har nasjonalsymbolet som motiv. Opplag: 29,3 millioner i 2014

American Eagle – et av USAs nasjonalsymboler. Opplag: 43,7 millioner pr. november 2015

Kinesiske Panda har alles favorittbjørn som motiv. Opplag: 8 millioner i 2015

Når man samler på investeringsmynter, bør man stille spørsmålet: Når opphører en investeringsmynt å være en investeringsmynt? Det er vanskelig å si helt nøyaktig fordi man aldri vet hvor høy/lav prisen på sølv vil bli i framtiden Hvis vi for eksempel sammenligner Canadiske Maple Leaf mynten til 150 kroner med den kinesiske Panda mynten til 180 kroner, får vi en differanse på 30 kroner i sølvverdi. Det vil si at Panda’n er 20 % dyrere. Akkurat her blir Premium begrepet tydelig. Forhandleren klarer å innbille oss at etterspørselen etter denne mynten er så stor at vi bør betale ekstra for den søte bjørnen. Dette til tross for at det er preget åtte millioner eksemplarer Akkurat når det gjelder pandabjørn- mynten er det lett å bli forført av de morsomme motivene. Mange samler på denne mynten, denne samlergruppen har egen Facebook side.  

En fjær i hatten
American Eagle mynten er ekstrem populær både nasjonalt og internasjonalt. Og den finnes i tre varianter. Investeringsvarianten er den rimeligste og koster 158 kroner. Noe som er vel innenfor investeringsbegrepet. Den er knapt 10 kroner dyrere enn en Wiener Philharmoniker mynt til 147 kroner.

BIG LIES are gold-gilded lies

by Robert Wood - Sociologist -
Wikipedia’s definition of A BIG LIE it is a propaganda technique first coined by the Infamous German dictator, Adolf Hitler when he dictated his book Mein Kampf.

A BIG LIE is so enormous that almost nobody can imagine that is it not The Truth. There are quite a few big lies floating like harbingers in the mogul controlled Media Machines. You might have heard that gold is valuable; that the US economy and dollar are safe and sound; that Greece has no money to spend or that the gold buying of the Indian people is hurting India’ s economy. Of course there is some truth in big lies. Gold is valuable because you believe it is valuable. The same goes for the American dollar. The Fed can still convince us that their paper bills are worth something for someone.

 United States Federal Debt
Today’s United States Federal Debt is about $18,815,065,075,000. A sure sign of severe national illness. When the quantitative easing inflation and the debt plague hit the dollar, it is not difficult to guess what will happen to the world’s stock markets. Goodbye pension funds! (Update: US National Debt  $202 021 966 00 235 -  US Total Debt $ 67 887 452 156 621 (03.10.2017). US Total Debt $ 73 689 978 079 848 (06.05.2019) US National Debt Clock

Greece has been Golden Fleeced
Greece has 112,5 tons of gold in stock. However, Greece Central Bank has been coerced by the European Central Bank not to exchange the gold into hard needed cash for hospitals, schools and general upkeep of the country. And why not? Because the European Central Bank believes… I quote World Gold Council: Today’s statement from the European Central Bank (ECB) reasserts the crucial commitment of CBGA signatories to continue the coordination of gold transactions in order to avoid market disturbances. To avoid market disturbances? For whom? The mega-rich who speculate in this commodity? To be sure: Not the people of Greece.

India. Help us! We are so poor!
Yes, you might say that it is stupid to put your money into gold, but pretty smart if the population as a whole does not have a dependable bank system. However, Prime Minister Modi (not to be confused with the word “modie”, a little chomper dog which attacks people.) then again claims that the millions of gold buyers are the main cause for India’s trade deficit of $ 137 billion in the 2014/15 fiscal year. Yes, gold widen the trade deficit, but Modie might have forgotten that he does spend billions upon billions of dollars on new weapons. Reuters News: India is expected to choose Sikorsky Aircraft’s S-70B Sea Hawk helicopters at a 16-aircraft tender worth over $ 1 billion. US defense sales to India have grown to more than $ 9 billion since 2008.

BIG LIES do their job
BIG LIES are difficult to accept as lies because they are "truths" we have lived with our whole lives. The value of gold might not be the biggest of all lies, but there is a nugget of truth in Warren Buffet words of wisdom: Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.

Sølv- og gullmynter for investorer og samlere

av Robert Wood - Sosiolog - 
Myntsamlere er lykkelige mennesker. Sølv- og gullmynt-samlere er dobbelt lykkelige, for de har det beste av to verdener.

Den ene verden er samleverdien på myntene, den andre er metallverdien i myntene. Den ene består av en myntsamling og den andre av en ansamling av ettertraktet metall. Myntene kan selges på samlermarkedet som samleobjekter. Sølvet og gullet kan selges til sølv- og gullkjøpere hvis ikke myntene er verdt noe på samlermarkedet.

Ferskvare
Samler du på ferskvare samler du på nye sølv- og gullmynter som selges akkurat nå. Metallverdien redefineres fra dag til dag av spotmarkedet, forhandleren og hva kjøperen er villig til å gi for metallet. Spotmarkedet er prisen for edelt metall på børsen. Forhandleren legger til et Premium – et tillegg – som blir deres fortjeneste. Premium styres av variabler, for eksempel konkurranse om kunden, dollarens verdi, etterspørsel fra samlere, hvor mange mynter som preges, hvor mynten kommer fra, motiv, reklame, illusjoner og moteretninger.

Spesialisering
Som alle andre samleobjekter, er sølv- og gullmynter ikke verdt mer enn det du er villig til å betale. Hvis du vil samle mynter som ferskvare, ta utgangspunkt i mynter du synes er vakre kunstverk, spennende, sjeldne eller morsomme. Begynn med et snever spesialisering.

Norges Bank – Gull er tull

World Gold Council melder at sentralbanker rundt om i verden kjøper inn store mengder gull. 3 kvartal 2015 økte innkjøpene med 175 tonn, den nest største mengden noensinne. 

Hittil i år har sentralbanker kjøpt inn 425,8 tonn. Spredning av valutareservene er hovedmotivet. Spesielt utviklingsland tror at økonomiske og geopolitiske utsikter ikke nødvendigvis er lyse. Mer utviklede land, som for eksempel Kina, bekreftet i 2009 at landet hadde økt sin gullbeholdning med 57 % og verdens nest sterkeste økonomi fortsetter å kjøpe inn mer gull. Bare i tredje kvartal 2015 kjøpte Kinas sentralbank inn 50 tonn. Russland er den største kjøperen og sentralbanken økte gullreservene med 77 tonn i tredje kvartal. I det hele tatt er sentralbanker og privatpersoner så sugne på gull at Den Europiske Sentralbank har forbudt EU's banker å selge gull.

Gubbene mot strømmen
Norges Bank er en av de få sentralbankene i verden som ikke tror at gull har noen funksjon i norsk økonomi. Banken har ikke kjøpt et eneste gram siden den solgte unna det lille gullet Norge hadde i 2004. Argumentasjonen til Norges Bank var at 37 tonn gull utgjorde bare vel en prosent av bankens internasjonale reserver, og at det i liten grad bidro til å spre risikoen i reservene. Dessuten hadde gullet historisk gitt lav avkastning. Exit gull.

Framtiden ankom i går
Men det var den gang da i 2004. Verden har forandret seg både økonomisk og geopolitisk i løpet av 11 år. Oljeprisen har stupt som en astronaut i fritt fall. Fra langt over $ 100 pr. fat til $ 40-60 per fat. Kronen har svekket seg 40-50 % mot Euro og Dollar. Arbeidsløsheten øker og frykten for terror og destabilisering av Norge som velferdsstat lurer i form at valutasammenbrudd, terrorfrykt, ukontrollerte flyktningestrømmer og tafatt politisk ledelse.

Etter syv gode år kommer xxx dårlige år
I det hele tatt virker det som en god idé hvis Norges Bank hadde gjort som andre sentralbanker. Sikret seg et lager av gull som buffer mot dårlige tider. Ledelsen i Norges Bank og børsspekulantene deres har lenge sittet henslengt på en sotete trone av miljøødeleggende olje. De helt har glemt at etter syv gode år kommer xxx dårlige år.

En negl-full av gull

Noen gullmynter er så små at du kan legge dem på lillefinger neglen.

Den 1/20 oz. (1,56 gram) Panda gullmynten får uten vansker plass på en negl. Men, spør deg selv… Hvorfor skulle du kjøpe ett gram gull? Mynten er ikke imponerende, den er usannsynlig dyr, 715 kroner. Folk flest vil ikke forstå hvorfor du er gal nok til å bruk så mange penger på åtte millimeter. Men som samleobjekt har pandamynten sin misjon.
   Hvis du føler trang til å kjøpe gull som investering. Kjøp en 1-ounce Canadian Maple Leaf gullmynt, 31,103 gram, til ca. 11 000 kroner per 0703.2017. Da koster ett gram bare 354 kroner. Som alternativ kan du kjøpe et flunkende nytt førsteklasses tv for samme sum. ;-) Pandamynt

Expensive Looney for Mad Collectors

True lovers of comic books would also enjoy collector's items in pure silver

The Looney Tunes coins are minted by the Royal Canadian Mint and are quite expensive if you consider the pure silver and gold content. These coins are for the coin collectors and the comic book/film fans. For people who are collecting for the pleasure of collecting. For people who love the madness of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Sylvester the Cat.
   Some of the coins are quite colorful and if you got a dollar to spare you can always buy one of the ten 1 kilos Bugs Bunny gold coins. Price…. A measly $ 69 000 Canadian dollars (You get the box free ;-) ). So, if you Tawt You Taw a Putty Tat! Visit The Royal Canadian Mint.
Looney Tunes coins

Superman - Stålmannen

Tegneseriesamlere er også glad i ting og tang som er knyttet til deres favoritt seriehelter.

Den svart-svarte kaffen i det sorte Batman kruset minner om den åtte kilometer, livsfarlige
Svartis tunnelen. Gi meg Arkham Asylum, anytime.
   Det blir preget nye mynter med tegneserie helter. Dette er samleobjekter til forholdsvis høy sølvpris. De kan kjøpes gjennom Gold Source. Supermann

Myntbarrer - Kunsten å unngå merverdiavgift

Det er merverdiavgift på sølv- og gullbarrer fordi det er en vare, men ikke hvis de er påført et landnavn og myntenhet og kjøpes av in importør i Norge.

Det er IKKE merverdiavgift på nye importerte sølv- og gullmynte hvis du kjøper dem over disk i Norge av en forhandler. Dette til tross for at Tollregion Oslo og Akershus påstår at det er en vare.
   Du må betale merverdiavgift på gullet i en investeringsmynt (bullion) overstigende 6000 kroner. det betyr at du må betale ca. 1500 kroner på en eneste 1 ounce American Eagle 50 dollars mynt. Verdigrenser for toll

Myntbarrer er ikke bare barre
Det er IKKE merverdiavgift på såkalte myntbarrer av sølv du kan få kjøpt i Norge. De er rektangulære og ser ut som andre barrer, med den forskjell at de er påstemplet et landnavn  og en valutabetegnelse på 2 dollars. Myntbarrer kan kjøpes hos Realverdier

Gold Eagles and Customs Revisited

All Gold Eagles are taxable, but some Gold Eagles are less taxable than others.

By paraphrasing the best known sentence in Orwell’s book, Animal Farm, I’ll make a summing up on the Newspeak letter from Tollregion Oslo og Akershus. (Customs).They are careful to repeat at the end of the letter that whatever they have been writing to me about Value-Added Tax taxation about the American Gold bullion coin, it is not a law Decision.

   The letter to me is simply information of what they mean is properly to tax based on the information they have been able to gather on the issue at hand. That is… I have to pay 25 % VAT if I bring the Eagle (and other gold bullion coins) into the country.

Retail Gold Coin Sellers don't Pay VAT
In my letter to Customs I made an issue of pointing out that 50 dollars American Eagle gold coins were sold as bullion coins without Value Added Tax from a number of retailers. ThesGovernment proposale retailers, such as Goldsource, K.A Rasmussen, Realverdier and Tavex, to mention a few, were on their web-sites pushing a special sales pitch; the “no VAT on bullion coins” to potential customers.

   I also pointed out that I found it unreasonable that I, as an individual, should pay VAT on the coin while the retailers could bring the Gold Eagle, the gold Australian Kangaroo, The Chinese Panda gold coin, and the Canadian 999.9 Gold Leaf and any other bullion coin into the country without paying VAT.

Outside Customs' Competence
Customs pointed out to me that the question about Value Added Tax that are to be paid when commodities are sold inside the borders of Norway, is outside Customs’ competence. Consequently, they do not want to comment on this issue. This is another nice piece of Newspeak. Customs must know (I presume) that VAT are expected to be paid when commodities are imported to Norway and passed down the line to the consumer. 

   Since bullion gold coins are defined, in the eyes of Customs, as a commodity the above mentioned retailers should pay the same tax as I have to do if they import exactly the same types of gold and silver bullion coins into the country.

   All Gold Eagles are taxable, but some Gold Eagles are less taxable than others. In short, you and I have to pay VAT. The precious metal retailers don’t have to!

The Truth is Hidden in Red Tape

The question of gold and silver bullion coins is almost cloak and dagger stuff. You will run into contradictionary information and face the black wall of bureaucracy and Newspeak from the three official instances; The Ministry of Finance, Customs and the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten). They are responsible for the contradictory information on VAT and other kinds of taxation on gold. A Modest Proposal

   Have a look at Prop. 1 LS from the Department of Finances on the issue of VAT on bullion coins. Not quite the same information I received from Customs.

Postings on Importing Bullion Coins to Norway

If you want to bring bullion coins legally into Norway check out:

Merverdiavgift på American eagle gullmynter

Gold Eagles, Customs and Newspeak

Gold Eagles, Customs and Blackwhite

Gold Eagles, Customs and Doublethink

Gold Eagles, Customs and Doublethink

Orwellian Newspeak is the method Norwegian Customs controls  thoughts through language. Doublethink is the technique of directly controlling your actions and thereby lead your thoughts away from the matter at hand.

In my two previous postings, Gold Eagles, Customs and Newspeak and Gold Eagles,  Gold Eagles, Customs and Blackwhite I looked at Customs’ practice and ideology stating that they do not know enough to decide, but you have to do what they do not decide. I have understood it that we have to pay Value Added Tax on the gold in 50 dollars Gold Eagles since it is a commodity and not legal tender, even if it is legal tender and not a commodity in the US.

An E-mail form Customs
The next section in the letter from Customs (Tollregion Oslo og Akershus) is simple to understand if you are a linguistic genius with a master’s degree in Doublethink.

Can the coin be imported as a collector’s item?
Translated from the email: If the coin in question does not qualify to be a circulation coin (Customs has already stated that it is a commodity) as mentioned above (in their letter), we will decide if the coins can be defined as collector’s items. Many coins fall into this category and can be imported with a consultation on the taxation to 20 %.
   However, for this to take place the general rules for a coin to be defined as a collector’s item must be fulfilled in accordance with the laws and regulations on Value Added Tax § 1-3-3. (However, I can’t find this regulation in the VAT regulation book). This rule refers among others to Custom Tariff position 97.04 (Which has not been valid since 1997).

I’ll accept, but grudgingly
However, Customs statement that I only have to pay 20 % tax on the Gold Eagle if… I repeat…. If the coin is a collector’s item. To be defined as a collector’s item Customs will look at the coins’ rarity and grade. And Customs’ conclusion?
   Translated from e-mail: Gold 50 dollars American Eagle coins are marketed as a collector’s item and we will presume that the coin has a value as a collector’s item. We therefore presume that this coin can be imported with a reduced calculation basis.

Doublethink
A nice piece of Doublethink, for if Customs had taken a quick look at United States Mint Web pages they would presumably have seen this statement: Authorized by the Bullion Coin Act of 1985, American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins quickly became one of the world's leading gold bullion investment coins. US. Mint In other words, the producer of the American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin markets the coin as an Investment coin!

Rarity
One of the criteria Customs is using for their evaluation is the rarity of the coin. A quick look at the United States Mint’s bullion sales figures for 2015 show that so far this year 542 500 one oz. gold coins are sold. Not exactly a rare coin in my eyes.

Grade
Another of the criteria Customs looks at is the grade of the coin. The American Eagle coin is sold as a grade MS-70, Perfect Uncirculated. It should not be too difficult for Customs to decide the grade of the bullion coins sold by the thousands in Norwegian shops – without Value Added Tax!

Gold Eagles, Customs and Blackwhite

The Value Added Tax rules were once quite ridged, but time blasted holes in the taxation wall. The rules are now corrupted by multiple choices and arbitrary decision processes. What applies for the few does not apply for the many.

In the letter I received from the Norwegian Customs, concerning 50 dollars American Eagle coins, they are careful to point out that all commodities, including American Eagle coins, imported to Norway are liable to Value Added Tax § 3-29. According to the letter American Eagle coins are regarded as a general commodity.

The Wrong Commodity
BUT…. and there are always buts... Quite a few commodities are vat-free; books, newspapers, magazines, electric cars to mention a few. I quote from the letter:
   Coins and bills which are in circulation as legal tender are exempt from Value Added Tax when imported to Norway, §§ 7-1 and 3-6 letter d.
   Ok, to repeat myself, which is necessary when working with governmental Newspeak, Customs tries to convince me that 50 dollars gold American Eagle coins are not legal tender because the coins are not in circulation. In other words: Since the coins are not in circulation they are not legal tender, and therefore the gold in the coin is liable to 25 % tax.

Dollars are not Dollars
In the eyes of Norwegian Customs it does not matter that The United States Mint, Department of the Treasury declares that the coin is legal tender. Norwegian Customs tells me that they do not care what The United States Mint tells their bullion buyers in the USA. Legal tender in the US is not necessary legal tender in Norway! If you bring Gold Eagle coins into Norway, you must pay VAT! If not Customs might confiscate the gold eagles.

Kroner are Kroner
So far so good? Again, not so. Now the time has come to apply the Orwellian word Blackwhite.
   This word has two mutually contradictory meanings. It means that you can claim that black is white in contradiction to the plain facts.
   So, what has BlackWhite with Customs’ statement? The 50 dollars American Eagle gold coin is not money. It is a commodity because it is not a circulation coin.
   Enter the Norwegian 1500 kroner gold coins ($ 180)! These coins were minted by The Central Bank of Norway. And, just like the American Eagle coin in the US, defined as legal tender like other Norwegian coins.
   However, the Norwegian 1500 kroner gold coin is not defined as a circulation coin by the central Bank. This 1500 kroner gold coin is NOT a commodity and therefore NOT liable to 25 % Value Added Tax if you by any chance should bring some of these coins into the kingdom.

Newspeak is Supression
As Newspeak goes, in Orwell’s book 1984, this way of explaining, or rather confusing the people, is designed and controlled by the state in order to suppress and limit free thought. In this case, a gold coin is not a coin, but a commodity. However, a gold coin is not a commodity, but a gold coin. Black is White. White is black.
   Orwell’s language is a study in where linguistics and psychology meet. An analysis of Newspeak reveals the ways in which Orwell’s fictional language can subtly take control of characters’ actions, their moods, and even their minds.

In my third blogpost on Gold Eagles. If you find this posting interesting you might also find the previous posting worth reading : Gold Eagles, Customs and Newspeak

Gold Eagles, Customs and Newspeak

In George Orwell’s epic book, 1984, he introduces the concepts of Doublethink and Newspeak , a way of speaking that had been devised to meet  ideological needs of the bureaucracy.

The Norwegian Customs (Tollregion Oslo og Akershus) must have learned quite a few Newspeak techniques from the book. In short, it is not possible to get clear answers form Customs. They are covering their back by throwing multiple number of tax law paragraphs in my face. Paragraphs, which are contra dictionary and therefore liable to arbitrary decisions from individual custom officers. I formulated the following question to Customs: Are American Eagle Gold Coins liable to VAT taxation if you bring them into the country?

   The answers can only be classified as Newspeak: Customs does not have enough information, in this case, to make a decisive decision whether “a 50 dollars American Eagle” coin shall answer to Value Added Tax when imported to Norway.

Not enough information?
Customs claim that they have not enough information! Fair enough? NO! Not fair enough, because they are kicking my question back at me and swamp me with Newspeak. We do not know, but maybe you can figure out whether you shall pay VAT or not? So, if the lawyers at customs are unable able to solve the riddle of the taxation labyrinth, how can they expect that I, a commoner of the kingdom, shall be able to do it? To be sincere … They don,t! Because no matter how I approach the matter at hand I hit Doublethink. The following sentence illustrate this beautifully: But we will explain our reasoning and criteria a little more for which we assume are necessary for the taxation of the single commodity at hand.

Legal Tender is a Commodity
Have another look at the sentence. Focus on the word commodity!  Customs has in the beginning of the letter already classified the American Eagle gold coin as a commodity, not as money and legal tender. This in spite of that The United States Mint claims that the American Eagle 50 dollars gold coin is legal tender.
   Legal tender is not taxable in Norway– commodities are! In short… Norwegian Customs presumably does not see American legal tender as money. However, since they do not have enough information they can not answer my simple question with a direct yes or no.
The purpose of Newspeak was to make all other modes of thought impossible.

Shall, shall not?
Nevertheless, as stated above, if you bring these coins legally into Norway you might or might not pay 25 % Value Added Tax on the value of the gold in the one ounce coin (31,105 gram) At the moment of writing 21. October 2015 the price of one ounce is US dollar 1176 or NOK 9643. In short, you have to pay 293dollar of 2410 kroner in tax IF the custom officer at the entry point decides that the coin is a commodity and not a legal tender. BlackWhite

Black is White and White is Black
My next post will penetrate deeper into the letter from Tollregion Oslo og Akershus (Customs) regarding the American Eagle 50 dollars gold coin. I find the Orwellian word BlackWhite a proper approach. This word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Orwellian applied to an opponent, it means that you can claim that black is white in contradiction to the plain facts

Regnskogfondet og gullrike land

av Robert Wood - Sosiolog -
Regnskogfondet ble tildelt TV-Aksjonen for 2015. 18. oktober banket en bøssebærer på din dør for å tigge om penger. 

De innsamlede pengene skal kanskje gå til bevaring av verdens gjenværende regnskoger. En god tanke! En riktig tanke! Hvis det ikke hadde vært for at regnskoglandene allerede har store mengder gull liggende som død kapital i bankhvelv. (Sannsynligvis i hvelvene til Federal Reserve Bank of New York). Gull disse landene kunne ha solgt. Steindød kapital disse landene kunne brukt til å bevare regnskogene for framtidige generasjoner. Grådigheten til politikerne i regnskoglandene overstiger vår villeste fantasi. Hva betyr vel noen hundre tusen nedhuggede fotballbaner av regnskog hvis det kan finansiere et privat jetfly.

207 milliarder i banken
Ifølge World Gold Council september oversikt sitter Bolivia på 42.5 tonn til en verdi av 12915172000 kroner (13 milliarder), Brazil har 67.2 tonn til en verdi av 20421166080 kroner (20,5 milliarder), Ecuador 11.8 tonn til en verdi av 3585859520 kroner (3,6 milliarder), Indonesia 78.1 tonn til en verdi av 23733527840 kroner (23,7 milliarder), Malaysia 35.8 tonn til en verdi av 10879133120 kroner (10,9 milliarder), Papua New Guinea 2.0 til en verdi av 607772800 kroner (0,6 milliarder), Peru 34.7 tonn til en verdi av 10544858080 kroner (10,5 milliarder), Venezuela har fantastiske 367.6 tonn til en verdi av fantastiske 111708640640 (111,7 milliarder) og Bolivia 42.5 tonn til en verdi av 12915172000 kroner. (12,9 milliarder). Til sammen disponerer disse landene; 207,4 milliarder kroner.

Hvorfor bruke av egne penger?
Men hvorfor bruke egne penger når man kan få enda flere penger fra blåøyde nordmenn? Landet som hvert år gir bort 32 milliarder kroner til utviklingshjelp som ikke fungerer. Hver eneste borger av Norge tvinges til å sløse bort over 6000 kroner i 2015. (320 milliarder over 10 år.)

Your Weight in Gold

av Robert Wood - Sosiolog -
Ounces, Troy Ounces, oz., karat and carat, gram and kilo, tonn and tonnes.

All fields of knowledge have their special words and expressions to simplify communication. An investor in gold and silver or precious metal coin collector will know that a troy ounce is 31,103 grams and that it is internationally accepted as a weight unit for precious metals alongside the more modern weight units of gram and kilo.

   What they probably don’t know is that the old fashion weight unit troy ounce is a 14. century French word from the city of Troyes. The people of this city used this weight unit at the market place. One kilo of silver or gold is equivalent to 32.15 troy ounces or1000 grams.

Karat or Carat

Another unit of interest is Karat. Carat is the unit of choice in the diamond trade, but the unit is also used to describe the purity (fitness) of gold. Karat measure the parts by 24. Usually we talk about 14, 18, 22 and 24 Karat.

   A 24 Karat bangle are pure gold 999, but almost is not precise enough for gold investors. They prefer parts of 1000. Pure gold is 1000/1000, but in real life you can’t get gold without some kind of impurities in it.

   Modern gold and silver coins are 999/1000 or 999.9/1000 pure. It is possible to buy coins with five nines stamped on them (999,99), (The Royal Canadian Mint – Call of the Wild series), but ultra-pure gold is way very expensive to refine.

Norwegian Scrap Gold

In Norway, 14 Karat or 585/1000 is the name of the game. You have to pay through you nose, both to the profitgreedy goldsmith and 25 percent Value Added Tax to the taxhungry government. Advice: Don’t buy gold jewelry in Norway unless you are willing to pay for the design.

Miniature Gold and Silver coins

In times of old, when money was scarce and difficult to get hold on, my first meeting with a very small coin was the Norwegian 1 øre. I 1957 I had to have 70 of these to buy a small glass- bottle of Coca Cola. I still remember the pained look on the cashiers face when my grubby hands dropped 70 of these painstakingly collected coins on the his immaculate clean desk. (100 øre = 1 NOK= $ 0,12).

Small is still important
Small coins are nothing new. Neither in denomination or size. The most famous miniature coins are the 2000 – 2500 old ancient Greek miniature coins. These coins, with the highly detailed motifs were made with different metals, such as gold, silver and bronze can be placed on the nail of your little finger. Ancient Greek Coin

Minature goes Gold
Modern miniature coins are mostly made of gold. That is because the production costs are basically the same, no matter what kind of metals they are made of. One of the smallest coins on the market are the 1 gram, 50 cents Canadian Leaf. Another smallish coin is the 1/20 ounce (1, 55 grams), 5 dollars, Year of the Goat Australian Gold Lunar from Perth Mint. Thickness 1,4 mm. Diameter 14, 8 mm, Purity 999,9.
   The price for the goat coin is at the time of writing 13th October in the Year of Our Lord 2015, NOK 666,- or $ US$ 79

The European Gold Cartel

by Robert Wood - Sociologist -
- Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? - Who will watch the watchers?

The European Central Bank and 24 other European central banks have taken total control over the gold trade. Quote: Press Release from The World Gold Council: “The European Central Bank (ECB) reasserts the crucial commitment of CBGA signatories (24 European central banks) to continue the coordination of gold transactions in order to avoid market disturbances.”

The EU-Commission is fighting all kind of cartels with heavy fines, but fail to do something with the cartels within the EU-central bank system. This in spite of the following fancywords.
“The EU Single Market for Goods consists of 500 million consumers and 21 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Trade within the internal market is essential for the growth of enterprises and inward investment. The European Commission’s main goal is to ensure the free movement of goods within the market, and to set high safety standards for consumers and the protection of the environment.” - European Commission

Merverdiavgift på American Eagle gullmynter

Ved spørsmål til tollvesenet om merverdiavgift på American Eagle 50 dollar gullmynter får jeg følgende svar:

Hei

Vi beklager at svaret tok litt lenger lang tid enn vanlig. Vi fant ut at akkurat dette måtte forelegges for vår regelavdeling før vi kunne avgi svar.
   I merverdiavgiftshåndboken står det følgende til § 3-18: «Med gyldig betalingsmiddel menes at det kan benyttes til å betale for en vare eller tjeneste». Derfor sier vi at under denne definisjonen gjelder mynter som kan brukes som betalingsmiddel uten at de først må veksles inn i en bank.
   Konklusjon er derfor at American Eagle 50 dollar gullmynter ikke er gyldig betalingsmiddel på lik linje med vanlig valuta.
   Disse myntene må sees på som en vanlig vare. Ved innførsel går man etter den alminnelige omsetningsverdien i utlandet, ikke myntens pålydende, og beregner 25 prosent MVA av dette.
   De vil imidlertid kunne komme innenfor verdigrensen i reisendebestemmelsene, det vil si at man som privatperson kan innføre varer for inntil NOK 3000/NOK 6000 per person uten at avgifter må betales. Mer informasjon finnes her: Handel i utlandet
   Utførsel: Vi finner ikke noen unntaksbestemmelser i forskrift som omhandler melde  og fremleggelsesplikten (tollforskriften § 3-1-15) ved utførsel av en vare. Vanlig valuta og andre gyldige betalingsmidler (under tilsvarende NOK 25000) som vi som reisende tar med oss ut til personlig bruk er omfattet av unntaksbestemmelsen som nevnes i tollforskriften § 3-1-15 bokstav d, som omhandler reisegods til personlig bruk: Lovdata
   Men siden disse myntene defineres som ordinære varer blir svaret at man må deklarere disse på vei ut; dersom verdien overstiger NOK 5000. Noen avgiftsmessige konsekvenser ved utførsel i form av MVA eller andre avgifter er det likevel ikke.

Med vennlig hilsen
Tollregion Oslo og Akershus
Telefon +47 22 86 03 12
Kontakt Tolletaten

Chasing the Seductive Gleam of Gold

National Ocean Service points out that the oceans hold 20 million tons of the precious metal of Gold. That is 4,5 kilos for every human on Earth.
 

But there is a tiny snag. Ocean-gold is so diluted that one liter of seawater contains about 13 billionths of a gram. In other words, you will get only one gram of gold for every 13 billionth liter of water you sift through. 

Harvesting gold
However, what if you were able to extract an undefined amount of this gold? Let us say that you were a genius and invent small nano-machines capable of harvesting gold atoms out of seawater. This might be compared to a certain type of bacteria in our bodies which is able to get iron from blood. Imagine billions of tiny bots programmed to head back to your collector station and deposit the gold, then off again to collect another few atoms of the precious stuff. You need quite a few nano-bots to work on this. But then again, imagine that you have invented self-replicating bots engineered to build gold copies of themselves. Copies, which like army ants on the march, will return to your collecting points.

You are a genius
Having said that, bear with me and follow my stream of consciousness . You - the undiscovered genius - are starting to harvest gold just like any other traditional gold prospector. Gram after gram of ultrapure gold is piling up, and you need to sell some of it for bread, butter and other stuff for your small-scale, private, gold-bot enterprise.
   Sooner or later you are bound to attract some kind of unwanted attention even if you sell small amounts on the black market. Eventually somebody is going to find out that you are the person supplying the market with extra gold – and that you do it by extracting gold from ocean water and then… Then you are going to have an unfortunate, deadly accident. It is even questionable if you would be allowed to patent your invention! It is simply too dangerous to the world’s status quo.
   Worldwide, 100 million people are getting their livelihood from the precious metal, and your invention would mean the end of gold as a valuable metal. Mighty men with enormous economic interests would not sit idle and watch their golden empires turn into base metal. Madness? Not so… because this has happened before. In the mid-19th century, when aluminum was rare and twice as expensive as gold, the most honored guests of Napoleon III were served meals on aluminum plates. Guests of lesser importance had to eat from gold or silver plates

.

A drop in the ocean
Anyway, with an untapped potential of 20 million tons of gold diluted in ocean water just imagine what large scale extraction would do to the World markets. 21st July Mitsubishi Corporation - Bullion Daily Report reported: The Tokyo markets were closed last night to celebrate Ocean Day, which must have given someone the somewhat poetic ide to push the precious metals into their own version of the Marianas Trench… … Someone or a group of someone sold about 150 000 ounces of gold last night at about the time of the Shanghai opening. In the holiday-thinned illiquid conditions, the result was nothing short of the expected catastrophic – a $ 50 drop in less than two minutes.

Catastrophic!
150 000 ounces are close to 4700 kilo. Not much, when you consider it, but nervous traders will hit the Stop Loss button if they perceived something really bad was coming their way. A measly half a ton is considered catastrophic. My hat! And there are 20 million tons of gold threading water just waiting to be extracted. The future is bright!

Why is gold valuable?
Ask yourself. Why is gold valuable? The answers you usually get are: There is so little of it, and it is valuable because everybody says it is valuable. A nice piece of indoctrination, but that is the way it is, no matter what we say or do. 

   Above mentioned concepts belong to day in Science Fiction, but so did virtual reality, heart transplants and cellphones not that many years ago. Who knows, maybe nano-bots will extract all kinds of metal from the ocean in the future. Currently, there isn’t a cost-effective way to mine or extract gold from the ocean to make a profit. Your gold is still a safe investment.

Norges Bank nedlegger høyteknologi

av Robert Wood - Sosiolog - 
Hvorfor ble seddel- og myntproduksjon nedlagt i Norge? Svaret finnes i Penger og Kreditt nr. 2 2010. Endringer i Norges Banks rolle og virksomhet på kontantområdet.

Argumentasjonen for nedleggelsene er basert på økonomiske vurderinger av lønnsomhet og effektivitet. Ikke på samfunnsmessige positive sider som for eksempel utvikling og arbeidsplasser. Hva kunne skjedd hvis Norges Banks ledelse, i sin tid, hadde snudd problemstillingen på hodet? Kunne Norges Bank i dag vært pådriver i utviklingen av høyteknologi, nye arbeidsplasser og nasjonalt ry som foregangsbedrift?

The Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is a progressive commercial Crown Corporation with more than 1,200 employees based in Ottawa and Winnipeg. If you want to be part of a dynamic organization with a global reputation for quality and innovation, we invite you to consult our varied career opportunities. Ovennevnte sitater fra en pengeproduserende institusjon/bedrift viser at det går an å tjene store penger og skape arbeidsplasser gjennom å produsere og selge penger for og til andre land.

Norges Bank nedlegger arbeidsplasser
Norges Banks ledelse er stolte over at de har gått motsatt vei av hva andre setralbanker har… Men skitt la gå… Finans er viktigere enn arbeidsplasser! La oss bli kvitt arbeidsplassene Norge har!
Norges Bank vedtok i 2003 å avvikle virksomheten i Seddeltrykkeriet fra sommeren 2007. I 2006 ble det gjennomført en prosess med sikte på å finne fram til hvem som skulle produsere norske pengesedler etter at eget trykkeri ble nedlagt.
   I desember 2006 ble det signert avtaler med De La Rue International Limited fra England og Francois-Charles Oberthur Fiduciaire fra Frankrike. Dette er store og velrenommerte trykkerier, som trykker pengesedler for svært mange andre land …

Den Kongelige Mynt slenges påhistoriens slagghaug
Dermed blir det naturlig å stille spørsmålet: Hvorfor har ikke Den Kongelige Mynt og Seddeltrykkeriet, gjennom Norges Bank, gjort det samme? Istedenfor å flagge ut og nedlegge, kunne banken innflagge og utvide. Et mål, på sikt, kunne ha vært å utvikle Norges sentralbank til å bli en viktig aktør i verdens produksjon av fysiske penger; enten sedler, gull eller sølv! Men den gang ei: Norges Banks ledelse konsenterer seg om å flytte siffer elektronisk fra server til server gjennom Oljefondet.

Framtiden blir kunnskapsfattig
Norske politikere og andre spør seg selv: Hva skal innbyggerne i Norge leve av når landet slipper opp for olje/gass og industri, og teknologi er eksportert til andre land? Nededleggelsen av Den Kongelige Mynt og Seddeltrykkeriet var to av de mange ørsmå skritt som tas for å skjære over landets teknologisk-økonomiske strupe. Ja, det "lønte seg" for Norges Bank å slakte og selge biter av seg selv og nedlegge en av Norges flere-hundre årige institusjoner. Tankegangen var innsnevret og negativt og ikke ekspanderende og samfunnsbyggende. En gammeldags tankegang som gikk på tvers av det på det politikere av alle farger framholder er viktig for Norge. Framtiden vil vise om Den amerikanske dollaren og verdensøkonomien kollapser eller ikke. Skulle dette skje, blir ikke Oljefondets 7500 milliarder verdt serverene sifrene er lagret på.

No Future
Lese den triste fortellingen om nedleggelsen av Det Kongelige Myntverk og Seddeltrykkeriet med Trond Eklund, direktør, Svein Nygård, seniorrådgiver, og Leif Veggum, assisterende direktør i hovedrollene. Artikkelen kan lastes ned som pdf fil: Penger og Kreditt nr. 2 - 2010 Wood's Blogspot

Gold and silver coins for the colector

Norwegian politicians do not believe in gold and silver coins as means to spread Norwegian culture and heritage. 

By law, they decided that only one measly silver coin is to be minted each year. The Royal Mint  was established in 1686. However,  instead turning The Royal Mint an ambassador for Norway, the  Mint was put to the sword in 2004 by conservative right wing politician and Finance Minister Per-Kristian Foss (H). So much for traditions in a conservative party.

 

Foss was at a loss
It is fairly safe to claim that few other countries terminate 318 years old institutions with an enormous potential for work places, technology and art. The Royal Mint in UK, The Royal Canadian Mint and United States the Federal Reserve, to mention a few, are known for their production of both investment coins and facinating collector coins.

Look to Austria
Münze Österreich (Austrian Mint) and is renowned for its Wiener Philharmoniker investment gold and silver coins, but Münze Österreich produces also some exiting collector coins with… you guessed it…. Musical themes. Check out the Austrian mint. If you are a coin collector, you are certain to find something of interest. https://www.muenzeoesterreich.at/eng Wood's Blogspot

Stock Trader Bots Dream of Virtual Gold

You can enjoy half a bottle of amber Single Malt Whisky, but you can’t eat gold in the sewers of a broken ecconomy.

The Finance crisis 2008 was caused by a combination of many social forces. One of the causes was stock trading robots, which buy and sell stocks within split seconds. Even destitute day traders use them and anybody can buy such robots online from businesses pushing these kinds of programs:

“Robot Robotic Stock Trader is a computer trading program. Robot Robotic is a kind of artificial intelligence, which will buy and sell stocks on your behalf. Just lean back and see how Robot Robotic acts as your surrogate brain to monitor chaotic stock market indicators…”.

The Golden Goose

However, stop a moment and let your own brain do some thinking. Why should any firm sell an automatic Stock Trader Bot if it was Truly effective? Why shouldn’t the inventors of this so-called artificial intelligence program use it for themselves to make billions of dollars? Why sell a Golden Goose? These programs might work if you are clever enough to make them execute an efficient trading strategy.
   However, when the shit hits the Wall Street fan the automatic Stock Traders Bots are going to be your economic downfall. They are not made to handle a crisis because nobody knows where and when and how the next crisis is going to hit.

Bots can't scream

When the stock market started to fall in 2008 desperate investors screamed STOP LOSS! and overrode the trading bots. But too late. The price of gold started to rise as investors scrambled to buy gold, silver and other precious metals, and as stocks hit rock bottom gold reached for the sky.
   Nevetheless, investors buying and selling gold are also making use of trading bots, and believing they had found a safe haven they forgot the Killer-Bots disguise as Angles. April 2013 they were once more an important negative cause when gold was temporary driven from heaven.

Silver Fever Cocktail

Homemade by Robert Wood
Silver Fever Coctail

Let a Canadian Maple Leaf silver coin rest heavy in your hand
Slide your thumb over the head of the Queen
Oh, the aristocratic face! Oh, the noble traits!

Drop the coin into a crystal glass Amundsen Artic Vodka to see the silver glitter
The spirit must be ice-cold to bring forth the glow in the metal

Three deep-frozen ice cubes to honor polar explorers that never came
home from the realms of the white Artic bear and penguins galore

Squeeze half a lime over the silver spoon you were given as a child,
remembering time lost dreams and sweet, exotic fragrances of your first love

Raise the crystal glass towards a white candlelight
and savour the sight of dancing flames around the melting ice

Drink slowly… Oh, so slowly … till the silver coin kisses your lips

Wood's Blogspot

Gold is the color of revolutions

As the happy owner of one Troy ounce of gold in the guise of a Canadian Maple Leaf coin, I am sorry to say I hardly qualify as a gold bug. Nevertheless, I do qualify to become a member of the Gold Bug Tribe because I distrust Norway’s Central bank (Norges Bank) and their attitude towards my saving account. Norges Bank is trying its hardest (and succeeding) to engineer a 2 percent yearly inflation and reducing the interest rate to next to nothing. My money is wilting away in the Norwegian banking system.

There are not many Gold Bugs in Norway, and some of them have apocalyptic arguments for investing a little of their money in gold. They believe that the American dollar will collapse in a not so distant future because the Americans print too much money and own the rest of the world billion upon billions of dollars. They also believe that the consequence of an American monetary collapse will lead to the collapse of the Norwegian Oil Fund. Norway’s investments are locked in funds and stocks and junk bonds, and not in infrastructure, schools, hospitals and other sensible projects. These facts are not willingly mentioned by the Chairman of Norges Bank in his speeches. After all… he is not a harbinger of possible bad scenarios. He is paid to give the people a positive view of the state’s investments.

Conspiracy theorists are suggesting that something is amiss at the core of global finance.. However, if you argue against The Powers That Are, you are thought an unrealistic madman. And fanatical Gold Bugs are Mad Hatters straight out of Alice in Wonderland. They have probably been sniffing gold dust for breakfast. But then again X-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said gold is so universally treated like money itself, it’s as if it’s “inbred into human beings”. Russia has noticed this phenomena, and the Russian central bank has been a heavy buyer of gold. It has been tripling its holdings since 2005. World Gold Council statistics (March 2015) state that Russia have got 1034.7 tons of gold in stock. The country bought another 30 tons in March alone. Vladimir Putin’s growing stockpile reflects a kind of skepticism for the American dollar. Probably he might reason that it is better to be safe than sorry and therefore stock some gold in the vaults. Norges Bank should look to Russia and Germany and buy a few hundred tons of the precious metal. If the shit hits the fan and we get another financial crisis and the price of oil falls another 50 %, the Chinese will gladly trade with gold as a substitute for devalued western currencies.

What now, little man? Well, my subconscious has made a decision as I was writing this. Based upon my now conscious mind I will at once buy a 1/20 ounce Australian Year of the Goat gold coin and present it in Coin Weekly. Then I will have yet another gold coin in my pocket.

Goldfinger would have been proud

Why should the conspiracists have all the fun?

 Read the story about the lost German gold on Bloomberg’s website.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-05/germany-s-gold-repatriation-activist-peter-boehringer-gets-results

Enjoy the thriller.

We want our Gold back!

European Central Banks do not trust the Federal Reserve Bank in New York and they want their gold sent home. The Germans tried and failed when they wanted to ship home 300 tonnes.

The German delegation was denied to see their gold first hand, which triggered the belief that the Federal Reserve Bank did have any gold at all.

21. November 2014

This press release from De Nederlandsche Bank shows just how nervous they are for their precious metal: De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has adjusted its gold stock location policy and has shipped gold from the United States to the Netherlands to spread its gold stock in a more balanced way.

   Under the previous policy, 11% of the gold stock was located in the Netherlands, 51% in the United States, with the remainder held in Canada (20%) and the United Kingdom (18%).

   Under the new policy, the breakdown by location is as follows: 31% in Amsterdam, 31% in New York, with the relative holdings in Ottawa and London remaining unchanged at 20% and 18%, respectively.

   Following this adjustment, DNB is in line with other central banks holding a greater part of their gold stock in their own countries.

   Beyond realising a more balanced distribution of the gold stock across the different locations, this may also have a positive effect on public confidence…. De Nederlandsche Bank Press Release

Bank of No-Way

But why all this worry when the Norwegian Central Bank (Norges Bank) claims that gold in itself is uninteresting as a National asset? And The Norwegian oil fund got 8000 billion NOK (1200 billion US dollars) to diversify into gold…  … and also have a positive effect on the Norwegian “public confidence”. A press release extract explains why: Norges Bank has sold 16 tonnes of gold bars in January and is planning to sell the remainder of the Central Bank's holdings of gold bars at a later time. (Another 20 tonnes were later sold)… … The background to the sale is that gold only accounted for just over one per cent of the Bank's international reserves, and thus contributed little towards diversifying the risk associated with the reserves. The return on gold has historically been low.  Norges Bank Press Release

Greece has 112,5 tons of Gold

by Robert Wood - Sociologist -
IMF wants its money back. 1.5 billion Euro to be exact. Have the bankers forgotten that IMF used to get the membership fee payed in gold? Greece got tons of the precious metal!

However, The World Gold Council reported in April 2015 that Greece had 112,5 tons of gold stashed away in vaults.. At the moment of writing (29.0615) the spot price is 1175 American dollars an ounce, or NOK 300/gram. This is more than enough to cover the first loan and much of the next loan – 3,5 billion Euros.

   Gold is not worth anything in vaults or in bag-ladies plastic bags. Greece got a lot of money bound up in precious metal, but the media and powers that are, do not take the enormous sum of money into consideration. They rather play their power and money games.

Pure gold is getting purer

Pure gold is getting purer. Modern technology makes it possible to refine gold
with more 9s than ever before.

If you buy a ring in Norway it will consist of 585 parts gold out of one thousand possible parts. The other 415 parts are silver and copper. It should be obvious, but it is not, because there is not possible to produce pure gold in the exact meaning of the word “pure”. If you ever get an offer for 1000/1000 gold beware. It is fake no matter what the seller claims.
   Probably, the closest you can get to pure gold is the one-ounce 9999.9  “Call of the Wild” series from the Royal Canadian Mint. Even purer gold can be refined, but some residues of other metals will always exist on an atomic level. The call of the Wild

A fistful of investment coins

The price of investment coins varies from day to day, from hour to hour. Usually we have four basic factors to take into consideration: The price of silver, the premium of the coin, the collector value and the value of US dollar.

The following coins are, with the exception of the Australian Lunar, investment coins. You buy them in the hope that gold and silver shall get more expensive so that you can sell the coins back to the dealer with a profit. Many people also buy silver and gold coins as a backup in case paper money will become valueless.

The Australian Kookaburra: A silver coin in the hand is better than ten in the bank? Kookaburras are tree kingfishers native to Australia , which grow to between 28–42 cm (11–17 in) in length. Kookaburras like meat and they are known to eat baby-birds, mice, snakes, insects and small reptiles. The kookaburra's loud call sounds like echoing human laughter. Once, $crooge McDuck was prospecting in Australia, he thought Kookaburras laughed at him. The miser threw a rock at the birds: Donald Duck: “Look! There, where your rock knocked the shale off the ledge!” $crooge McDuck: “I exposed a vein of silver! Let the kookaburras laugh that off!”
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the kookaburra coin, the 2015 coin features the same image of the kookaburra as the original 1990 coin. To differentiate the 1990 and 2015 coins the date on the reverse reads 1990-2015 and 2015 on the obverse. The face value of the coin is one Australian dollar; the weight is one troy ounce, 31.135 grams, 40.60 mm and 4 mm thick. Maximum mintage: 500 000
In Oslo, 26. June 2015, you have to pay for a 1 oz. Silver Kookaburra: NOK 173 or US$ 23

The American Eagle: A Fistful of Dollars? You got to try it! If you haven’t already invested in the American Eagle Silver coins… Do it! Buy at least a five coins and hold them in your hand. Close your eyes and make a fist… Feel the silver on your skin. Savor Lady Liberty and know in your heart why silver dollars are so popular. They feel like real money.
Anyway, there are three versions of the American Eagle. The U.S. Mint produces the proof version ($ 49), the uncirculated collector’s version ($ 40) and the bullion version. Strangely enough, the Mint sells only the proof and collector coin directly to the public. (Probably because the profit is better).You have to buy the bullion coin at a dealer.
The American Eagle Coin is not exactly a beautiful coin. The front design is Lady Liberty walking towards the setting sun, and the rear design has an eagle behind a shield, holding an olive branch and arrows in its talons, 13 stars to represent the original colonies. The one troy ounce (31,103 g) coin reeks of solidity, is desirable and purchased by investors all over the world. It is also legal tender. The spot price of silver is at the time of writing close to $ 17 and you have to pay approximately $ 20 – 21 for the coin.
In Oslo, 26. June 2015, you have to pay for a 1 oz. Silver Eagle: NOK 158 or US$ 21

The Australian Lunar: The Year of the Tiger, 寅,is one of the 12 animal years in the Chinese calendar. In many ways this calendar is important for superstitious Chinese who believe in luck. It might even be determinative for “the lucky day” of a wedding, dying or opening a new shop.
Anyway, the Perth Mint’s Lunar Series II are beautifully minted collector coins. The 2010 coin picture a tiger lying under a tree. As well as the inscription ‘Year of the Tiger’ and the Chinese character for ‘tiger’ the coins are Issued as legal tender. Each coin features the well known face of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The Lunar calendar coins are not investment coins in the sense that you buy the coins for the value of the metal. You buy them for the pleasure of owning them or giving them away as gifts. It is doubtful that The Year of the Tiger coin will ever get valuable since the Perth Mint minted 300 000. The metal content is 1 troy ounce (31,103 gram) and the purity is 999/1000. Thickness – 2.6 millimeter.
In Oslo, 26, June 2015, you have to pay for a 1 oz. Australian Lunar: NOK 434 or US$ 56

TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
- William Blake (1752 – 1827)

The Chinese Silver Panda: We do love the Panda Bear - 大熊猫 - even if I am not sure why we do. It’s a stinking bear. It must be the illusion of soft, friendliness all wrapped up in black and white. But looks can deceive. I used to love the beauty of the Silver Panda Coin, but now I am no longer sure if my love is true. Because the Chinese Central Bank released the 2015 edition without metal fineness and weight.
Since its introduction in 1983, the Silver Panda has been a highly sought-after investment coin. The Panda for 2015 is minted with (??.?? grams) of ??? silver?, and has a face value of CNY10 yuan, This year’s Panda is sitting with bamboo leaves in its mouth. The Temple of heaven depict the opposite side with Chinese characters on top saying People's Republic of China. At the bottom the year of issue. Circulation: 8 000 000.
Is The Panda Coin value for your money? Probably, even if you can’t be certain of what you are buying. But if true to last year coin my guess is 1 troy oz (31,103 grams) – 999 silver.
In Oslo, 26. June 2015, you have to pay for a 1 oz. Silver Panda: NOK 186 or US$ 24

The Chinese Gold Panda: Do we love the Panda Bear? - 大熊猫. Children do. They think the black-and-white bear is the distant cousin of the Teddy bear. Last year I bought a 2014 Panda Coin. Not that it is a good investment, but it is a beautiful little piece of art. I do love the motive on the 2015 edition, a single panda nibbling on a stalk of bamboo, in a stand of bamboo. However, I have not yet acquired it, if I ever do. The Chinese Central Bank released the 2015 edition without metal fineness and weight. The lack of information make it easier for collectors to be fooled by counterfeit coins. That means you and me!
China issued its first gold coins picturing a Panda in 1982 and the coin has been a sought-after investment coin. The Panda for 2015 is minted with (??.?? grams) of ??? gold? The Temple of Heaven depict the opposite side with Chinese characters on top saying People's Republic of China. At the bottom the year of issue. Circulation: 1 000 000.
In Oslo, 26. June 2015, you have to pay for a 1 oz. Gold Panda: NOK 9721 or US$ 1195

The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf: This Leaf is not electric and my favorite investment coin. Beautifully minted with Canada’s national symbol and a portrait of the Queen of the Brits. The lines on both sides make the coin glitter in sunlight when you flip it.
Since its introduction in 1988, the Silver Maple Leaf has been a highly sought-after. The SML is minted with one troy ounce (31.11 grams) of 9999 pure silver, and has a face value of CAD $ 5, The radial lines on the 2015 coin have been precisely machined to within microns. The line width and pitch creates a light diffracting pattern. A visual security feature —a textured maple leaf micro of, with the numeral “15” denoting the coin’s year of issue.
The Maple Leaf Silver Coin is value for your money.
In Oslo, 26. June 2015, you have to pay for a 1 oz. Silver Maple Leaf : NOK 154 or US$ 20

It is important to differ between an investment coin – bullion. (You buy the metal.). And a collector coin (You buy the coin.) Sometimes it is difficult to see what is what. The Australian Lunar Coin is a typical collector’s item.