On 4/18/2011 3:58 AM, RHF wrote:

...
=FYI= The Pre-1979 Years were great years for Buying
Gold and Silver 3~4 1-Oz Gold Coins and some Silver
Coins to bring the Total Purchase Price above $1000 :
Made it Tax Free ) and back then Paying In-Cash
meant the Name on the Purchase Order as "Cash" )
-no-'cal-id'-required-for-cash-purchases-back-then-
...

My grandparents left me gold coins and nice nuggets from the gold rush
era. Now, unless I find gold coins at a real steal, from people who
don't know what they have, I always purchase bullion -- my favorites are
little ~1 oz ingots which once were very common and are now very
collectible -- but I won't pay higher than what the gold is actually
quoted at, at the time of purchase, plus a small fee for the transaction
(I have paid higher than value for VERY old bullion coming from the gold
rush era.) The firm I deal with is in San Fransisco and has been in
business for over 100 years and is family owned.

Between jobs, one of my sons went around to flea markets, public
functions and rented a small corner store and bought/sold gold. During
this time it was unbelievable who would show up with gold (you would
wonder where the winos and drug addicts were getting all of it?) and
sell it for pennies on the dollar! He turned me onto a lot of great
deals during that time -- however, pressure from law enforcement and
government were constantly a hassle and in latter years had gotten much
worse -- today the paperwork and such must be a real pain!

The Numismatic value of the coins would not have the value they have
today in a very dramatic crisis, indeed, in a "total meltdown" of the
economy the numismatic value would likely fall to ZERO! Never pay,
invest in or count on any "perceived/imagined value!" -- RULE NO. 1.

You can watch the "gold wars" he
http://www.goldalert.com/2011/04/gol...flation-fight/

Market manipulations of gold/metals is always fun to watch!

My two favorite "hobbies" are keeping aquariums and raising exotic
fish/aquatic-species and collecting gold -- I actually like the
aquariums better ...

Regards,
JS