The American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins are the first .9999 fine 24-karat gold coins ever struck by the United States Mint. The coins will be denominated as $50 face value, will weigh 1 ounce and will go on sale on Friday 23 June 2006 at a coin dealer near you.
If you are a gold coin collector, you know that US gold coins normally have been 90% pure and were alloyed with copper to give them enough hardness to be placed in general circulation. Since these coins are expected to be held by investors and collectors, they can be issued in 24-karat gold.
The coins are modeled after the 1913 Indian Head, or Buffalo nickel. They will have a depiction of a Native American chief on one side and of a bison on a mound on the other. My personal opinion is that the coin is beautiful.
From the wording on the press release, I expect this may be the first of a series of gold coins. The mint will offer a proof version as well. The coins will be sold at the current price of gold plus a 12% coinage premium. I'm sure though that based on demand the coinage may eventually fluctuate.
Back to my speculation on investing in the World Cup, I wondered if the economy of Germany, the host country would benefit. They will have 4 to 6 million tourists attending the matches and double that viewing the matches at official "Fan Fest" parties hosted in each of the 12 host cities. I looked at the DAX (the German stock exchange) index to see how it has done since the tournament opened.
The tournament started on June 9th and the DAX was at 2,818.60. It has had 4 down days and 2 up days since then, reaching a low of 2,719.87 and recovering to 2,797.22 today. It doesn't appear that the DAX is responding to the consumer spending boost the tournament represents.
Who do you think will win the tournament?
Are you going to invest in the American Buffalo $50 .9999 fine 24-karat Gold Coin?
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