Twenty years ago in 1989 the Austrian State Mint passed from the Treasury into the ownership of the central bank. The mint was given the freedom to produce and sell products in accordance with the demands of the modern numismatic and investment markets. One of the very first innovations introduced by the new CEO, Paul Berger, was the production of a gold bullion coin for investment purposes: the Vienna Philharmonic.

On 16th October this year a limited quantity of 6,027 Vienna Philharmonic coins, each weighing 20 ounces of fine gold, will go on sale in Europe, America and Japan.

20 ounces to commemorate 20 years!

Why the odd number? The mint decided to offer 2009 coins (the date of the 20th anniversary) in its three major markets: in Europe, in America and in Japan. Investors still remember the 15 giant coins (each of 1,000 ounces) that celebrated the fifteenth anniversary in 2004, and that entered the Guinness Book of Records as the then largest gold coin in the world. All 15 giant coins were snapped up within days, and the excitement surrounding this special issue of a 20 ounce coin promises a similar market reaction.

The new 20 ounce coin has a diameter of 74 mm and a thickness of 8.3 mm and is housed in a prestigious wooden and red velvet case. Pre-orders for this unique anniversary gold coin have already started pouring into the mint in Vienna. It promises to be a major success as indeed the past 20 years of the Austrian bullion programme have been.

The Vienna Philharmonic Story

The decision in 1989 to issue a gold bullion coin in the two weights of 1 ounce and ¼ ounce was greeted with indulgent smiles. Austria, a small central European country since the destruction of her empire in 1918 and without any gold mining industry to support, was entering the bullion market, long dominated by the Krugerrand and that time divided between the USA, Canada and Western Australia.

Berger and his team decided that music was the ideal theme for their new coin. Austria was internationally renowned for its music, but they decided against the portrayal of one of the many great composers like Mozart, Haydn or Strauss. That would make the coin appear like a commemorative edition for collectors. Instead they chose a living and world-famous musical institution: the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. To their delight the members of the orchestra enthusiastically endorse this choice, freely grant the use of their name. The engraver, Thomas Pesendorfer, designed a collection of instruments to represent the orchestra itself and for the other side of the coin he took the great pipe organ of the Golden Hall in Vienna where the orchestra plays at home. It is seen on television around the world every year on 1st January during the New Year’s Day Concert.

The new Austrian coin was launched in Vienna on 10th October and was an immediate success. The demand in the home market was nothing less than ferocious. In two and a half months 419,000 ounces were sold, achieving with one blow an 18% world market share for the entire year 1989! It rapidly established itself as a serious participant in the international gold market. In 1992 and again in 1995, 1996 and 2000 the Vienna Philharmonic was ranked by the World Gold Council as the top selling gold bullion coin worldwide. In 2008 the Vienna Philharmonic continued to rank No. 1 in Europe and in Japan, and with a year’s market share of 25% it came in 3rd worldwide narrowly missing 2nd place. The “indulgent smiles” have long since disappeared.

A 1/10 ounce in 1991 and a ½ ounce coin in 1994 completed the traditional family of four sizes. In 2008 a silver 1 ounce Vienna Philharmonic was added to the investment range with resounding success.

Looking back on 20 years of continual growth and success, the Vienna Philharmonic has established itself firmly as one of the four great gold bullion coins offered on the international market of today. This one-time issue of a limited number of 20 ounce gold coins is but a fitting tribute to a 20 year long success story that shows no signs of letting up in the near future.

Related posts:

1. Last of the Austrian Mint’s “Vienna Jugendstil” Series
2. Austrian Mint Issues 5 Euro Silver Coin Honoring Great Conductor
3. Gold touches 27-year high of $746.30 an ounce; silver surges nearly 3%

10:40p ET Thursday, October 29, 2009

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

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Vancouver-based Teck Cominco may find itself sitting a lot more comfortably than was the case six months or so, but CEO Don Lindsay made it clear on Thursday that he won’t be happy until the company’s term loan is paid down and it once again merits investment-grade ratings.

One year ago, Teck borrowed $9,8-billion to buy Fording Canadian Coal Trust, and spent the next 12 months scrambling to free up cash after debt markets turned sour late in 2008.

Read more….

The gold digger remains precariously balanced between completing four big projects, and waiting for build up of new operating cash flows.

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Rescue teams have freed two workers who had remained trapped underground at Harmony Gold’s Target mine, near Welkom, in the Free State, following a fall-of-ground incident on Monday afternoon.

Spokesperson Marian van der Walt confirmed that both employees had been rescued late on Monday and that they were both being treated in hospital. She noted that both were stable.

Read more….

The London and southeast England sub-section of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IoM3) is holding another free Masterclass in London in mid-November and organizing a Gold Day a week later

Read more….

Two workers have died in a fall-of-ground incident at Harmony Gold’s Target mine, near Welkom, in the Free State, the company reported late on Monday afternoon.

Spokesperson Marian van der Walt had confirmed earlier in the day that four workers had been trapped underground following the incident and that rescue teams were trying to free the trapped workers.

Read more….

The Daily Reckoning

If you’ve invested in gold, you’re about to gain a powerful ally: pension funds.

“I think the largest institutions like our own are realizing that we barely own any [gold]” Shayne McGuire, head of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas said in an interview in Hong Kong very early this morning. “The same thing applies to most of the pension funds which manage trillions of dollars in world wealth.”

McGuire, who oversees $95 billion, just opened an internally managed gold fund for his 1.3 million public education employees, and suggests other pension funds follow suit. Owning gold is “financial insurance,” he said, sounding a lot like David Einhorn at the Value Investing Congress earlier this week. “Consider the tremendous fiscal excess that major governments have made to prevent the world economy from collapsing… I don’t think the question really is what is gold worth but what are currencies not worth.”

According to the FT, there are 2,600 public pension plans in the U.S., worth over $2 trillion.

“If we believe we’re in a secular bear market or entering a world of hyper-inflation and debased fiat currencies,” Eric Sprott, fund chief at Sprott Hedge Fund LP, added. “There’s no better place to be than gold and precious metals. I find it quite instructive that the price of gold has gone up every year for the past nine years, since the bear market started. That’s not a coincidence, and we think the full cycle could easily reach 15-20 years.

“There is a survivalist aspect to having such a big stake in tangible assets. As long as governments show such low regard for policies that support the real value of paper financial assets, investing in precious metals is about the only way to guarantee the preservation of your wealth.”

“Sprott is our kind of guy,” notes Addison Wiggin, fresh back from the Congress himself. “His $4.2 billion hedge fund is long 30% in silver bullion, 15% in gold bullion, 30% in gold stocks, 10% in energy, 5% in miscellaneous stocks and 10% in cash. Suspicious of equities going back to the tech bust, Sprott played what we had termed ‘The Trade of the Decade’ like an impresario…”

Now, after nearly 10 years, “bargains are harder to find today,” Sprott continued, “but we’re still finding small gold miners that appear to have slipped through the market’s cracks and trade — based on what we believe are reasonable production estimates and no increase in the price of gold — at only around five times estimated 2011 earnings. When we find those, we’ll buy them all day long.”

Gold’s New Ally originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning, a FREE daily e-letter, offers a “uniquely refreshing” perspective on the global economy, investing, and today’s markets.

More articles from The Daily Reckoning….

The Daily Reckoning

The central banks of the world are changing tune. Since 1989, the banks have been net sellers of gold reserves, meaning that as a group they have sold more than they have taken in. This is an important point because the large gold sales of central banks tend toward lowering the spot price of gold. The news emerging from a September 2009 GMFS report is that central banks as a whole are once again becoming net buyers, and their purchases have the potential to put upward pressure on the price of gold in the public markets.

According to GFMS, “this represents a remarkable change of direction for a market that has been used to absorbing substantial volumes of gold sold by central banks over the last decade.”

Central bank gold sales may have been initially enlisted in an effort to support the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, especially since 1971 when the US de-linked the dollar from gold. The changing trend may be related to recent renewed interest in the SDR, which has been getting a lot of attention in media as a potential replacement reserve currency. Or, it could reflect an anticipation of a continued increase in the value of gold over time.

Either way, this is an important trend to watch. Central banks are significant players in the gold market and can affect the value of your personal gold holdings.

The full story is available from Jesse’s Cafe Americain which has more details on the official central bank purchases and several insightful charts.

Gold May Have More Price Support now Than at any Time Since 1989 originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning, a FREE daily e-letter, offers a “uniquely refreshing” perspective on the global economy, investing, and today’s markets.

More articles from The Daily Reckoning….

What’s New on CoinLink ……..

2,200 high grade samples of mostly scarce, rare or unique specimens from Spain, her colonies and empire ranging from the Visigothic era to the present were sold Oct 21-22 by Aureo & Calico in Barcelona Spain. The Caballero de las Yndias collection is stunning representation of all of the mints that struck coinage for all of the Spanish dynasties throughout all of the rulers and respective types.

The United States Mint announced today that it will begin accepting orders for the one-ounce 2009 American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin at noon Eastern Time (ET) on October 29, 2009.

The Brackley Hoard Of Silver Groats Coins to be Sold – In the summer of 1465, as the Wars of the Roses raged, an unknown person hid his worldly wealth in a secret location in a Northamptonshire field and went into hiding. He never returned to claim his money.

Bowers and Merena Auctions, America’s leading rare coin and currency auction house, will bring more than 6,000 lots of fine coins and currency to Baltimore, Md., for the Official Auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo scheduled for November 10-14, 2009.

Stack’s eagerly invites you to take part in our 74th Anniversary Sale, held this year in Baltimore, MD November 9-11, 2009. Stack’s is proud to celebrate our 74th year in the auction business by holding a star-studded auction event, replete with dazzling rarities at every turn.

By Doug Winter – The Great Branch Mint Gold Popularity Contest of 2009 – I realize that the title of this blog sounds like an outtake from the Dukes of Hazzard but I thought it might be an interesting topic to take each branch mint and analyze it in terms of its popularity.

Drivel Control - Commentary by Wayne Sayles – The twitter around the cultural property nationalist blogs at the moment is that a rare tribal octadrachm of the Bisalti has been seized from an auction firm in Switzerland.

Goldline International, Inc., a leading gold and precious metals trading company, was recently ranked the 32nd largest privately-held company in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Former television news anchor and Congressman Jay Johnson has died from an apparent heart attack at his home in suburban Washington, DC

Stunning Smithsonian Coins Exhibit in PCGS Video – The acclaimed, new traveling exhibition of the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection, “Good as Gold – America’s Double Eagles,” now can be seen on a free, new video available online courtesy of Professional Coin Grading Service.Stunning Smithsonian Coins Exhibit in PCGS Video

Legend Numismatics Mid October Rare Coin Market Report – The coin market seems to be doing just fine-and maybe even gaining a little strength. Last week we were knocked down pretty much by illness in the office. It was a bigger deal for us to lift our heads than any coins.

Heritage’s upcoming 2009 October Signature US Coin Auction, taking place at the Dallas headquarters of Heritage on October 22-24, presents an interesting opportunity to look at the contrasts of Collecting styles between two of the Featured Collections.

Continuing with News across the web, we have a new posting of – Coin News Daily – providing short excerpts and links to other news across the web that we have found, and which you may find of interest. We also provide Daily Updates on Precious Metals in The Bullion Report, with Charts, Video Headlines and News.

You can access ALL the News Here