By David Morgan Founder of the Silver-Investor.com website

In 2001 I was asked to write the “Ten Rules of Silver Investing” for the investing rules book published in Great Britain in 2001. The complete title of this book is The Global-Investor Book of Investing RulesInvaluable Advice from 150 Master Investors. My portion is available for free to anyone on the Internet willing to sign up here

. In this week’s article, let us examine Silver Investing Rule Number Six.

What’s yours is yours - so keep it that way.

While it is wise to keep some of your silver where you can get to it easily, it is also important to keep the bulk of your metal in a safe placeespecially as your holdings increase. However, if you establish an account with a brokerage warehouse or other public storage facility, you should make sure your holdings are kept segregated and that you can inspect them when you wish.

Anyone who has studied the Silver-Investor.com Web site knows there is far more paper silver than real silver in the world. In last week’s article, we discussed the fact that there is 100 times as much paper silver as there is actual metal. Certainly, I am not the only silver commentator pounding the table on this point, and we will look at a few more in this article.

In fact, my primary premise is that the real sustained move up in silver will not occur until the market recognizes this fact. You certainly can participate in alternative precious metals investments such as pool accounts or options, but remember, you are dealing in the paper world and should expect settlement in paper not in metal. I wish to be crystal clear: fully paid COMEX warehouse certificates held by you in your name do comprise real silver.

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Guam Gov. Felix P. Camacho yesterday released two designs for the Guam quarter prepared by artists of the U.S. Mint as part of the District of Columbia and United States Territories Circulating Quarter Dollar Program.

Each design can be voted on and the design with the highest amount of votes will be recommended to the U.S. Mint. Votes will be collected until June 14, 2008.

“I encourage all residents to take part in the selection process,” Camacho said. “The Guam quarter will be a lasting symbol of our heritage and our people.”

Camacho submitted the two design narratives selected from 59 submissions from the people of Guam.

The U.S. Mint has spent the past two months working closely with the Guam Quarter Dollar Program Design Evaluation and Selection Process Task Force in developing the designs that are emblematic of Guam. Final designs for the Guam quarter are expected to be completed by July.

A provision of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 (Section 622 Section 5112 of Title 31 United States Code), signed by President Bush on Dec. 26, 2007, authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a series of circulating commemorative quarter-dollar coins in 2009 with reverse designs emblematic of the U.S. Territories.

The image of George Washington as seen on the obverse of the 50 State Quarters coins will remain unchanged. The reverse of each quarter will be distinctly different with images emblematic of the District of Columbia and each of the U.S. territories. (PR)

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ON THE NET: http://guamgovernor.net/content/view/118/1/

Egypt’s massive storage of artifacts still buried underneath of a pellicle of sand and soil is daily investigated by archaeologists. Indefatigable researches are conducted to extract history from beneath, to find clues on a nation’s past and to restore World history.

And thanks to its immense archaeological materials, scientists regularly unearth new items who change more or less our understanding of this great ancient civilization.

The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities announced an interesting discovery. Gold coins forged by Roman Emperor Valens were unearthed at the astonishment of archaeologists; these findings represent the first of this kind in the Land of the Pyramids.

The two coins were found during excavations in the west part of St. Catherine’s monastery in Sinai. The image represented on the front side of the coins is very similar to that of Valens’ and specialists agreed that he is indeed.

Valens ruled the Eastern Roman Empire between 364  and 378 AD; his reign was nothing close to peaceful. He had to black-out the revolt by Procopius, and then fight the Sassanids, but the war with the Goths meant his end.

In 378 AD a battle was to be fought which will decisively change roman history. Near the town of Adrianople, now Edirne, Valens organized his forces in battle formations. He wanted a quick victory against the unprepared Goths. He had received word of a huge gothic army walking the fields of his Empire, but when scouts returned they reported a far smaller number, thus giving the Romans numerical superiority. Valens couldn’t wait, he wanted a victory, a quick success would give him eternal glory. Following his probably egoistic reason he ignored messages from the Western Emperor Gratian, who urged him not to attack but wait for his reinforcements. All in vain, he saw an opportunity and was keen to use it. (more…)

Wizard Coin Supply, a global provider of coin supplies and coin collecting accessories, is proud to announce the launch of its New Book Advisory. The Advisory is a free service where subscribers are made aware through periodic email notices of newly released coin books as they are added to Wizard’s inventory. The Advisory is available as an option as a seamless part of the user registration process on Wizard’s website.

“At Wizard, we are determined to be the number one retailer of current release numismatic books,” says Lady Karin Herndon (Wizard eschews traditional titles in favor of thematic ones). “Our new Advisory service, along with our broad selection and deeply discounted price structure, make Wizard the best choice for buyers of coin, currency and related hobby books.”

“The Advisory is the perfect response to feedback we’ve received from our customers looking for an effortless way to keep track of the many new books that are released each year,” adds Wizard’s Fair Maiden Traci Poole. “There are no membership cards to return and no minimum number of books to purchase.”

Wizard currently offers nearly 300 coin book titles and is actively seeking to grow this list, giving Wizard the broadest selection of any in-print numismatic book and supply dealer in the industry. “Wizard’s inventory goes beyond the popular, name brand publisher titles carried by our competitors to also include less well known books from smaller publishers and self-publishing authors. While our focus is primarily on bringing our customers in-print books at the best possible price, we also stock out-of-print books when we can obtain mint copies in quantity,” says Sir Wayne Herndon who handles product selection for Wizard. (more…)

Record gas prices and climbing food costs combined with the eroding the value of the dollar, have pushed the American Silver Eagle $1 bullion coin to more than $20.

Demand for the Silver Eagle, which is one ounce of 99 percent-pure silver, has become such a popular option for investors that the U.S. Mint can’t keep up with demand and has limited sales.

The mint has already sold about 7.6 million of the ASE coins in the first quarter of 2008 alone. Typically the annual mintage is between 8 million and 9 million coins per year.

“I think the 2008 Silver Eagles aren’t going to be scarce, they’re just going to be expensive because everyone wants one,” said one bullion dealer.

Despite the large number of silver coins in the market, the mint, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury, sent a memo to dealers last month stating that it would limit allocations to distributors.

The letter said: “The unprecedented demand for American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins necessitates our allocating these coins on a weekly basis until we are able to meet demand.”

Silver closed Wednesday down 45 cents to $17.38 per ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But prices have doubled in three years and a case of 500 coins now sells for close to $10,000.

The mint has authorized only 13 buyers worldwide who can directly purchase the coins. The mint charges the going price of silver, plus a small premium, to this select number of brokerage companies, wholesalers, precious-metals firms, coin dealers and banks. One of those buyers, Coins ‘N Things Inc. in Bridgewater, Mass., said it has seen demand double compared to last year. (more…)