----- Original Message -----
From: Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 9:03 PM
Subject: [GATA] Fed economist proposes revaluing coins before they're melted
down
Fed economist proposes revaluing coins before they're melted down
Submitted by cpowell on 07:03PM ET Wednesday, January 24, 2007. Section: Daily
Dispatches
Yes, we have no inflation,
We have no inflation today....
* * *
Coin Shortage Could Turn
Pennies Into Nickels
By Kevin Plumberg
Reuters
Monday, January 22, 2007
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=...
NEW YORK -- Talk about pennies from heaven.
A potential shortage of coins in the United States could mean all those pennies
in your piggy bank could be worth five times their current value soon, says an
economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
Sharply rising prices of metals such as copper and nickel have meant that the
face values of pennies and nickels are worth less than the material that they
are made of, increasing the risk that speculators could melt the coins and sell
them for a profit.
Such a risk spurred the U.S. Mint last month to issue regulations limiting
melting and exporting of the coins.
But Francois Velde, senior economist at the Chicago Fed, argued in a recent
research note that prohibitions by the Mint would be unlikely to deter serious
speculators who already have piled up the coinage.
The best solution, Velde said, would be to "rebase" the penny by making it
worth five cents rather than one cent. Doing so would increase the amount of
five-cent coins in circulation and do away with the almost worthless one-cent
coin.
"History shows that when coins are worth melting, they disappear," Velde wrote.
"Rebasing the penny would ... debase the five-cent piece and put it safely away
from its melting point," he added.
Raw material prices in general have skyrocketed in the last five years, sending
copper prices to record highs of $4.16 a pound in May. Copper pennies number
154 to a pound. Prices have since come down from that peak but could still trek
higher, Velde said.
Since 1982, the Mint began making copper-coated zinc pennies to prevent metals
speculators from taking advantage of lofty base metal prices. Though the penny
is losing its importance -- it is worth only four seconds of the average
American's work time, assuming a 40-hour workweek -- the Mint is making more
and more pennies.
Velde said that since 1982 the Mint has produced 910 pennies for every
American. Last year there were 8.23 billion pennies in circulation, according
to the Mint.
"These factors suggest that, sooner or later, the penny will join the farthing
(one-quarter of a penny) and the hapenny (one-half of a penny) in coin
museums," he said.
* * *
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Recommended Internet sites for daily monitoring of gold and precious metals
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Free sites:
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http://www.kitco.com/
http://www.usagold.com/
http://www.usagold.com/amk/usagoldmarketupdate.html
http://www.GoldSeek.com/
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http://www.capitalupdates.com/
http://www.DailyReckoning.com
http://www.goldenbar.com/
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http://www.mininglife.com/
http://www.financialsense.com
http://www.goldensextant.com
http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html
http://www.howestreet.com
http://www.depression2.tv
http://www.moneyfiles.org/
http://www.howestreet.com
http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html
http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html
http://www.goldcolony.com
http://www.miningstocks.com
http://www.mineralstox.com
http://www.freemarketnews.com
http://www.321gold.com
http://www.SilverSeek.com
http://www.investmentrarities.com
http://www.kereport.com
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm
(In English)
http://www.resourceinvestor.com
http://www.miningmx.com
http://www.prudentbear.com
http://www.dollarcollapse.com
http://www.kitcocasey.com
http://000999.forumactif.com/
http://www.golddrivers.com/
http://www.goldpennystocks.com/
http://www.oroyfinanzas.com/
Subscription sites:
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http://www.goldinsider.com/
http://www.hsletter.com
http://www.interventionalanalysis.com
http://www.investmentindicators.com/
http://www.caseyresearch.com/
Eagle Ranch discussion site:
http://os2eagle.net/SSL/phpentry.php
Ted Butler silver commentary archive:
http://www.investmentrarities.com/
Recommended Gold & Bullion Dealers
Coin and precious metals dealers who have supported GATA
and been recommended by our members:
Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
http://www.blanchardonline.com
Centennial Precious Metals
Box 460009
Denver, Colorado 80246-0009
1-800-869-5115
http://www.USAGOLD.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
http://www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
http://www.eldoradogold.net
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Gold & Silver Investments Ltd.
Mespil House
37 Adelaide Rd
Dublin 2
Ireland
+353 1 2315260/6
Fax: +353 1 2315202
http://www.goldinvestments.org
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
http://www.kitco.com
Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
http://www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lone Star Silver Exchange
Suite 635, 3521 Oak Lawn Ave.
Dallas, Texas 75219
214-632-8869
http://www.discountsilverclub.com
MRCS Canada
12303-118 Ave. NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5L 2K2
Canada
http://www.mrcscanada.com
Michael Riedel, Proprietor
1-877-TRY-MRCS
1-877-879-6727
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Miles Franklin Ltd.
1001 Twelve Oaks Center Drive
Suite 1028
Wayzata, MN 55391
1-800-822-8080
http://www.milesfranklin.com
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel
Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com
Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.buysilvernow.com
Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
The Moneychanger
Box 178
Westpoint, Tennessee 38486
http://www.the-moneychanger.com
Franklin Sanders
1-888-218-9226, 931-766-6066
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