Gold hit a 28-year high on Tuesday, helped by record-high oil prices and geo-political tension. Prices later slowed gains as profit-taking set in, with the dollar’s slight gains versus the euro .

Having surged past $760 an ounce, some dealers say the market was well positioned in coming sessions to close in on the $800 mark. This has range has not been seen since 1980 when bullion hit a record $850.

Support was  coming from further dollar weakness and strength in crude oil that makes gold a hedge against oil-led inflation.

“Anything is possible. We’ve certainly broken out and we’re sort of in uncharted waters as we haven’t been here in so long,” said David Holmes, director of precious metals at Dresdner Kleinwort.

“The big theme of the market is that it’s been very difficult to predict the high and everybody is being cautious as they know the market is long, but the momentum is still upwards,” he added.

London Spot gold was trading at $760.00/760.70 per troy ounce up from $758.20/759.00 late in New York on Monday, having hit a 28-year peak at $766.60 earlier.

The Us Mint has resumed sales of most American Eagle gold coins in both Proof and Unc after having previously suspended sales due to the rising price of gold. Sales have also resumed for the 2007 Buffalo Gold which has seen a price increase from $827.95 to todays posted price of 899.95

The 1oz Proof Gold AE and the 4 coin Proof AE Gold Sets remain unavailable, but a note on the US Mint website says the 4 coin sets are due to start shipping on Oct 30th.

All of the Platinum AE coins remain unavailable for sale with no new notations as to when these will go back on sale.

A statement announcing the resumption of sales of the gold coins, and the new prices, was released Oct. 15:

“The United States Mint temporarily suspended sales of American Buffalo Gold Proof Coins and American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coins due to significant increases in the price of gold. (more…)

For the second time this year the US Mint has halted the sale of Gold Coins offered on its web site as the result of increasing Gold Prices.

On Sept 13, the US Mint suspended sales of the “W” uncirculated gold American Eagles and bulk sales of four-coin gold American Eagle proof sets. These have yet to be re-offered, though new prices were supposed to be published in the Federal Register today, Oct. 11

The most recent suspension of sales came yesterday when all Platinum “W” uncirculated American Eagle coins sales stopped. A message on the US Mint website read: “Due to the increasing market value of platinum, the American Eagle Platinum Uncirculated Coins are temporarily unavailable while pricing for this option can be adjusted; therefore, no orders can be taken at this time.” The OLD Price was : $1,489.95

This came on the heels of the 2007 Proof Gold Buffalo Coins sale suspension on Oct 9th. A similar statement read: ” Due to the increasing market value of gold, the American Buffalo Gold Proof One Ounce Coin is temporarily unavailable while pricing for this option can be adjusted; therefore, no orders can be taken at this time.” The OLD price for the Proof Gold Buffalo’s was : $825.95. Gold bullion was trading in the $730s per ounce when Buffalo coin sales were suspended.

The price of gold is up 17 percent this year, heading for the seventh straight annual gain as the dollar dropped to the lowest ever against the euro.

Gold futures for December delivery rose $5.60, or 0.8 percent, to $748.70 an ounce at 11:33 a.m. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal reached $755.70 on Oct. 1, the highest for a most-active contract since Jan. 22, 1980, the day after the price reached a record $873.

ZURICH/FRANKFURT, Oct 10 - Central banks which signed the Central Bank Gold Agreement sold 475.75 tonnes of gold in the third year of the agreement ending September 26, said a statement released on Wednesday by the Bank for International Settlements on behalf of the signatories.

In March 2004, 15 European central banks renewed a 1999 pact to limit their sales over a five-year period to 2,500 tonnes — with annual sales limited to 500 tonnes — up from 2,000 tonnes in the first agreement.

Central banks and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) collectively hold 30,374 tonnes of gold in their reserves, but have been gradually reducing their holdings.

According to figures compiled by the World Gold Council, an industry-funded organisation, the signatories to the accord disposed of 497.2 tonnes during the first year and 395.8 tonnes in the second year. The Bundesbank, which is the second-largest hoarder of gold behind the U.S. Federal Reserve, said it would sell a maximum of 8 tonnes of its gold reserves to the German finance ministry for the latter’s gold coin programme.

DALLAS, Oct 08, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) — DGSE Companies, Inc. (DGSE:

DGSE today announced the formation of Superior Precious Metals, Inc. Superior Precious Metals, Inc (”SPM”) will provide a centralized marketing and trading center for DGSE and Superior Galleries, Inc. retail precious metals activity.

“With gold recently achieving a 28 year high, we have taken steps to substantially increase our existing robust precious metals segment. In recent years, we have invested heavily in the infrastructure necessary to support a substantial expansion of our precious metals activity. Our USBullionExhange, Inc. trading desk and USBullionExchange.com internet site, when fully integrated with SPM, will allow us to actively facilitate account management, enhance retail trading activities and expand rare coin distribution. We are extremely fortunate to have hired a seasoned executive with over 20 years in the precious metals business to lead this group as Managing Director. Thomas DiMaria joined our organization on October 5th, 2007 in Dallas, Texas,” noted William H. Oyster, President and Chief Operating Officer of DGSE Companies, Inc. (more…)