By Mark Ferguson - COIN VALUES
In just one short month, the spot price of gold bullion has risen more than $75 per ounce from a low of $657.50 during mid-August to $735 in intraday trading during this writing in mid-September.

One of the reasons stated by economists and precious metals’ specialists for causing this rally is a record low exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the European Union’s euro – now at about $1.40 per euro.

Another reason is the recent U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut of .50 percent to help boost the U.S. economy. The price of oil also hit a record of more about $82 per barrel recently, and using gold as an inflation hedge is often initiated by a higher oil price.

The price of gold hit a record high of $850 per ounce during January 1980. It then quickly retreated and bounced around during the next several years between about $500 and its low of nearly $250 during spring 2001. But since then, the price of gold has been on a fairly steady climb to the levels it is now hitting, after briefly reaching a 2006 high of $725 in May and then falling to $560.75 during October 2006.

A thousand-year-old Viking treasure trove has been dug up in a garden in Sweden, archaeologists report. The hoard of silver coins from Europe, central Asia, and the Middle East was unearthed earlier this month by a gardener tending his vegetable patch on the Baltic island of Gotland.

So far 69 coins dating from the late 900s and early 1000s have been found, said archaeologist Dan Carlsson of Gotland University. The find contains rare early Viking money and foreign currency from present-day England, Germany, Ireland, Iraq, and Uzbekistan.

Along with a similar cache recently discovered in England, the new find paints a picture of Vikings trading and looting their way across Europe and beyond.

By Numismaster - Spink has announced their annual autumn world bank note auction in conjunction with the International Bank Note Society Congress. The IBNS is being held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 5-6; the 7th is reserved for final viewing at Spink, the auction on Monday, Oct. 8th.

This sale features the David Bossert collection of British Commonwealth notes. While not surprisingly the collection is strongest in George VI and Elizabeth, it features a number of earlier notes as well.

The highlight of the sale is the Malaysia 1967-68 serial No. 1 set, about which a separate article appears.

ICTA (The Industry Council for Tangible Assets) has learned from the Internal Revenue Service that it would be prudent for investors NOT to include the Proof version of the US Gold Buffalo Coins in IRAs or other self-directed retirement accounts. This recommendation comes from a recent conversation ICTA had with an IRS official from the Employee Plans Technical Group. ICTA member dealers have been requesting clarification as to whether the new US Buffalo Coins are permitted in IRAs.

Although both Proof and Uncirculated Buffalo Coins meet the technical fineness and metal content criteria in the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act, this law refers to allowable products as being “bullion” only. The U.S. Mint’s own website states that the Uncirculated Buffalo is a bullion coin, while the Proof is a collector coin. (more…)