President Obama on Thursday signed the Girl Scout Commemorative Coin Act into law, authorizing the Untied States Mint to strike up to 350,000 silver dollar coins to honor the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA).

The coins will be minted and sold in 2013, marking the end of Girl Scouts’ yearlong centennial celebration and kicking off a new century of leadership and service to girls.

The bill, H.R. 621, was introduced by Rep. Jack Kingston and easily passed by a voice vote on Oct. 13. Sen. Susan Collins sponsored a companion bill, S. 451. Instead of moving that forward, the Senate simply passed the House version on Oct. 19 by Unanimous Consent.

President Obama signed the bill at 3:15 p.m. ET during a ceremony at the White House that included Connie L. Lindsey, GSUSA National Board Chair, Laurie Westley, Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Advocacy & the Research Institute, and girls from the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital.

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Gold and other precious metals spiked Thursday, as did crude oil and US stocks following a report by the Commerce Department saying the economy expanded at a 3.5 percent annualized pace in the third quarter. Gold’s rise broke a losing streak that had extended to five days. The Dow and S&P enjoyed their best one-day jumps in three months.

New York bullion figures follow:

• Silver for December delivery jumped 41.5 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $16.655 an ounce. It ranged from $16.12 to $16.71.

• Gold for December delivery advanced $16.60, or 1.6 percent, to $1,047.10 an ounce. The yellow metal ranged from $1,048.40 to $1,026.90.

• January platinum surged $31.30, or 2.4 percent, to $1,338.20 an ounce.

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Today at noon ET the United States Mint began selling the 2009 American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin for $1,360.00, as it announced on Oct. 22.

The one-ounce .9999 fine (24 karat) gold coin is expected to draw significant attention. The US Mint handled early demand in improved fashion compared to the collector blitz and resulting problems that brought its web site down just a few weeks ago with the release of another product, the Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set.

While there were initial reports of several minute online order delays, that appeared to be the extent of any issue. Phone lines were busy. Some collectors indicated that it took dozens of minutes to get through to a Mint customer service representative, but again, it was unlike their experience of weeks back where there were reports of over an hour of delay and repeated "call back" messages. The Mint added an extra menu option that routed customers to a different queue and standby waiting list, which may have helped.

The Mint’s handling of the Buffalo Gold proof orders on opening day indicates they made improvements, but demand may also have been less intense. The $1,360.00 price point certainly held some customers at bay — especially when considering that gold prices have been dropping for several days and the coins missed out on a $50 price cut by a mere 28.8 cents. (See 28.8 Cents Prevents US Mint Gold Coin Price Reductions.) Many may try and wait for such a cut next week, despite the possibility that the coins could sell out — the Mint has not indicated how many are available, and there are no order limits in place.

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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%

Canadian gold-miners Barrick Gold and Kinross Gold have completed a draft feasibility study on their Cerro Casale project, in Chile, but there is still some work to be done to improve the economics of the project, Barrick CEO Aaron Regent said on Thursday.

“We intend to spend the next few months reviewing various options to further optimise the project,” Regent said on a conference call.

Read more….

The Duluth complex in Minnesota, U.S. hosts one of the world’s great polymetallic metals deposits and one of the key players is Canadian junior, Duluth Metals, which has just announced updated precious metals resource figures.

Read more….

US Mint sales numbers are often mixed when it comes to silver related collector products — demand for coins in one hand rise while those in the other decline, metaphorically speaking. October has been different. Silver coins have trended up or down as a group without the mixing.

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Read the rest of US Mint Silver Coins Cool, Bullion Eagles Near 23M (366 words)

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US Mint collector coins moved like molasses when compared to sales figures of two weeks ago. But bullion coins — especially gold — still had a little swagger in their step. October will be a robust month for American Eagles and American Buffalos.

These and other highlights follow:

• UHR Double Eagles took a significant hit, rising sadly by only 562. Since they went on sale Jan. 22, there has been one single instance when weekly sales were lower. The reason? Gold has been on a five day losing streak, which started last Thursday. It makes sense for collectors to be cautious in buying with expectations of a $50 price decline. We missed that reduction by just 28.8 cents.

• In the Lincoln category, the Chronicles sets were taken off standby status last week with the max 50,000 officially allocated. Lincoln Cent Proof Sets climbed by 4,900, which was less than half of the prior 10,921 increase.

• 2009 US Mint and US Mint Proof Sets were the biggest unit gainers, rising 21,826 and 22,613 respectively. The proof sets were actually up a tad bit. Not so for the mint sets which previously climbed by 74,474. The 500,000 milestone is still nearly 11K away.

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The price of gold has been on a five-day price slide, but ironically the timing of the decline was slightly off in helping collectors pay less for US Mint gold collector coins.

The US Mint uses a London Fix weekly gold average to determine whether to keep gold coin prices the same, or adjust them up or down. The average came in 28.8 cents higher than the threshold needed to cause a reduction of UHR Gold Double Eagles by $50, First Spouse Gold Coins by $25, and 2009 Gold Buffalo Proof Coins by $50.

The Buffalos go on sale Thursday at noon ET. Since the London Fix five day average is $1,050.278, the coins will launch with a price tag of $1,360.00. Had the average been at or below $1,049.99, the coin would have been released at $1,310.00.

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Read the rest of 28.8 Cents Prevents US Mint Gold Coin Price Reductions (139 words)

IRVINE, Calif. – Spectrum Numismatics International, Inc., one of the world’s largest rare coin and currency dealers, announced today that it has hired Richard Melamed as their Senior Numismatist.

"Richard Melamed is one of the most respected numismatists in the industry.  During his 36-year career, Melamed has done everything from running his own coin business to grading for Professional Coin Grading Service, to working for the largest names in numismatics.  His commitment to excellence will contribute to Spectrum’s continued growth as an internationally recognized pre-eminent rare coin and currency dealer," said Andrew Glassman, President of Spectrum.

"I am excited to take on this new challenge and add to Spectrum’s expansion," commented Melamed.  "

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