Coin collectors can rest easy. President Bush on Friday signed into law a bill that will continue the minting of $1 Sacagawea coins in 2008, but only for numismatic purposes. No more will be produced for general circulation until next year.

The legislation whizzed through Congress this week, as lawmakers scrambled to correct an error in a law enacted last year that calls for circulating new Sacagawea coins starting in January 2009 that will feature a regularly changing reverse celebrating different Native American themes.

In drafting that law, the sponsors forgot to allow continued production of the existing coin in 2008, however. That meant that “many of the standard U.S. Mint products the coin-collecting public is expecting to order and receive this year, such as annual proof and uncirculated sets, will not include a 2008 Sacagawea dollar,” warned Rep. Gwen Moore , D-Wis., in explaining the need for the new bill. Read Full Article

The Federal Mint Swiss mint, continues its four-part “Swiss National Park” series of commemorative coins. Last year, the series started with the motif of the ibex. The red deer and the marmot with follow in 2009 and 2010.

The designer of the”Golden Eagle” commemorative coin is scientific illustrator Nik-laus Heeb. He shows the bird of prey just coming in to land – a dynamic and vigorous pose that is rarely seen in pictures. The bimetallic coin made of aluminium-bronze and copper-nickel has a face value of 10 Swiss francs and is available in minting qualities “uncirculated” and “proof” in a presentation case. The new commemorative coin also supplements the Swiss coin sets for 2008 (legal tender).

After the bearded vulture, the golden eagle is the largest domestic bird of prey and one of the most powerful predatory birds in the world. Females are always larger than males: the wingspan of the female is around 220 cm, that of the male around 200 cm. Its talons, the size of a man’s hand with rear claws often exceeding 5 cm in length, are an especially impressive feature. (more…)

Gold has surged to yet another all-time high at 976.00 as the dollar continues its slide. Silver set a new 27-year high near $20 and platinum appears poised for a push above $2,200. The metals have gained additional support from strong investor interest and rising oil prices. While gold has retreated on profit taking in more recent trading, focus remains squarely on buying strategies.

The dollar has extended recent losses and the long term downtrend seems to be clearly back underway. The dollar index pushed convincingly below 74.00, on track for a short term test of 72.00. If not for a sharp correction in the high-yielders, we might have attained the latter today.

A new wave of risk aversion and carry trade unwinding knocked high yielding currencies such as the AUD, NZD, NOK, SEK off of their recent highs. This served to underpin the dollar somewhat, but given the generally dismal dollar outlook, the other safe haven currencies (yen and Swiss franc) were the primary beneficiaries. Read Full Story

The following interview was posted on the Blanchard & Company Website:

BLANCHARD: Is there an affordable area of the coin market that you think may be undervalued?

ALBANESE: We have experienced a rare coin bull market over the past three years and as it increases, it becomes harder and harder to find high quality coins. However, there has been a slight lag in the silver commemorative market, which has just begun to rise, but is still well below historical highs. I think we will see an increase in this sector of the market based on the low mintage, large variety and exquisite designs.

BLANCHARD: What is the long-term outlook and potential for the silver commemorative market?

ALBANESE: This sector has a very strong outlook. In addition to new investors and collectors, many of the silver dollar collectors have begun to collect and invest in silver commemoratives. In order to complete a high quality silver dollar set it would cost in the range of $3 to $4 million dollars, where a 50 piece silver commemorative set can be purchased for as little as $25,000. These coins are also becoming popular overseas in Europe, which will only increase demand. (more…)