State Sen. John Schickel, R-Union has necessitated the need to exempt precious metal bullion or legal tender coins from the state’s sales tax levy. Gold, silver and other precious metal investors pay a sales tax beforehand plus capital gains tax when they sell it.

Schickel argued that investment in precious metals should be treated similar to stocks and bonds where sales tax doesn’t apply.

However, the recessive economy of Kentucky has lawmakers finding ways to cut tax exemptions rather than create additional tax breaks.

According to Schickel, gold and silver is a stable investment and acts as a hedge against inflation. It should not be treated and taxed any differently from other investment options. The bill proposed by Schickel is considering exemption of bullion and money from precious metals minted by the U.S. and foreign government. Jewelry or commemorative coins minted by private firms are not counted in this exemption.

“It seemed to me to be discouraging investment in precious metals,” Schickel said. “For people that are making investments of these kind, we want Kentucky to be a friendly place to live.”

Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown who brought the issue to Schickel’s attention said, “For the individual investor, I believe it is unfair. If I buy $1,000 worth of P&G stock, I don’t get taxed on sales. It is an unfair tax on investment. If you are looking to preserve value, gold and silver are good investments. People are looking for things not as volatile.”

Coin dealers debate that Kentucky would have an advantage with the sales tax exemption. There would be increased revenue from investors who are presently buying on the internet or in states where there is no sales tax.

Image Credit: USFG

CGSE, a metals market participant since 1910, plans to expand its offerings next year. According to the reports by China Daily, the CGSE aspires to strengthen city’s status as ‘precious metals trading hub’.  As a part of its plans, the CGSE conducted its first Annual CGSE International (Silver) Conference last week. It also plans to form a subsidiary to act as a clearing house,  revealed China Daily.

Haywood Cheung, CGSE International President, revealed the details of Loco Hong Kong Silver Contract, a new trading platform that the society plans to launch in the first quarter of 2013 during the conference. He said that the silver contracts will be denominated in Hong Kong dollars.  He also added that the contracts will have to be of at least 10 kilograms.

The CGSE’s plans for the Loco Hong Kong platform and Chinese storage indicate an increasing trend while leading Asian players seem to diligently targeting a change in gravity center of the precious metals markets away from the west.

Image Credit: CreativeCommons/Ahleong

Weighing 31.135 grams, the 99.9% pure silver coins are in full colour with a diameter of 40.60 mm. Each coin, on show at the exposition comes with a colored, slide out display card and outer shipper. The Perth Mint will ship only 5,000 of the limited edition coins.

Features:

The Australian Outback Kookaburra 2012 1oz Silver Coin is represented by a colored version of the Australian bird resting on the branch of a tree with gum leaves. The outer rim of the coin has “Australian Kookaburra” and “2012 1 oz 999 Silver” inscribed on it.

The Australian Outback Kangaroo 2012 1oz Silver Coin is represented by a colored version of an adult kangaroo set against the backdrop of an Australian outback featuring a windmill.

The obverse of both coins portrays the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II with inscriptions “Elizabeth II”, “Australia”, and the legal tender denomination “1 Dollar”.

Perth Mint has made these coins available at their online shop. Visit the official website for more details.

Image Credit: Perth Mint

Fractional Set Silver Maple Leaf/Royal Canadian Mint

The  five coin fractional set with Mint’s Silver Maple Leaf bullion was first minted in 1988 and celebrates it’s 25th anniversary this year. Since its debut, the silver coin has been issued every year by the Royal Canadian Mint from one troy ounce (31.1 grams) of 99.99% fine silver.

The coins beautiful maple engraving, $5 face value and purity has made it the most popular bullion in the world. It holds the highest face value as compared to any other silver bullion. The tradition of minting the finest bullion will continue with each of the silver coins from the fractional set struck from 99.99% of pure silver. However, these coins will feature a a reverse proof finish instead of the standard bullion finish.

This fractional set has not been issued since 2004. The latest set will be issued in 2013. The reverses of the silver coin were designed by Canadian artist Arnold Nogy. The reverses feature two small sugar maple leaves that overlap at the bottom lobes of one leaf. The observe features a portrait effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The portrait is designed by artist Susanna Blunt, to the likeness of the portrait as appeared on the bullion in 1988. Observe inscriptions will include ELIZABETH II,’1988′ and ’2013′. It will also include the legal tender face value of the coin.

For precious metals, October is a bit weak month, although silver market weakness has been fixed up to a certain extent. The prices on silver dropped about 7.4% displaying heavy losses for just a handful of trading sessions.

Silver is more volatile than gold, but it has fascinated many investors, who think it has outdone gold on several occasions. In 2012, the metal climbed more than 17% relative to gold’s 11%. In 2009 and 2010, the white metal was up by 47% and 82% relatively. On every occasion, silver profits have surpassed gold and it also turns in steep losses because of its hefty volatility.

Silver might be a beaten-down metal, but it well-off shows its historical highs. For those interested in buying silver, here are a few options:

• iShares Silver Trust (SLV): Without a doubt, it’s the most popular option physically-backed fund having over $10 billion in assets and trades more than 12 million times each day.

• Silver Miners ETF (SIL): This ETF is more volatile than the actual metal itself.  It invests in companies that support the silver mining industry and gets less affected to metals daily movements.

• UltraShort Silver Fund (ZSL): With a -200% leverage, this ETF invests in silver futures contracts helping you do your bearish silver sentiment.

Image Credit: Creativecommons/Jurli

WN Photo

The Royal Canadian Mint has issued a public offering of exchange-traded receipts (ETRs) under the new Canadian Silver Reserves Program. Each ETR is the proof of ownership of physical silver bullion, held with the Mint at its reserve facilities. The Canadian Silver Reserves Program, denotes further expansion of the Mint and its success in core bullion as well as refinery.

President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint, Ian E. Bennett, stated the hope that the program will boost the image of the Mint as a reputable custodian of silver bullion, and bring ownership of silver to the market in creative and innovative ways. The Canadian Gold Reserves Program, running along the same lines has already proved to be a success. The same convenience is offered for investors who wish to possess silver.

Unlike other silver products, ETRs, the investor actually owns the physical silver, rather than a unit or share in a company that owns silver. ETRs can be traded through both Canadian and US currencies.

ETR owners can redeem their ETRs in physical silver in the form of pure silver bars, Maple Leaf coins and also for cash which will dependent on the future silver price or the silver market price.

ETRs are convenient for an investor, though they do possess a certain risk, as regards to the volatile and fluctuating price of silver, in the market.

India who is responsible for 12.6% of total world-wide silver demand, views the white metal as an undervalued investment with a good upside potential.

While the weak Indian currency has seen gold prices to rise to a record high in 2012, silver prices have not exceeded their April 2011 record. Rupee-denominated silver has been quoted 20% lower than its record.

Silver futures contract volume traded on Multi Commodity Exchange showed a 30% rise in September when compared to July numbers. Most return-focused investors have decided to hold on their investments in anticipation of a rise in silver prices over the next 3-6 months.

India has paused their buying pace for the two-week ‘shraadh‘ period that ends on October 15 because it is considered inauspicious to buy either silver or gold. But investors will resume up trend on fresh buying as soon as the period ends. In fact, the succeeding nine days of Navratri are traditionally an auspicious time for shopping and starting any new ventures. The Indian silver demand will see its record high when the country starts preparations for the festival of Diwali, starting on November 13.

Image Credit: WN Photo

American Silver Eagle Reverse

According to the latest report of the United States Mint, sales of silver bullion coins rose 13.4 % in September; the highest since January.

The sale of American Eagle Silver bullion coins in September amounted to 3,255,000 ounces compared to 2,870,000 ounces in August.

Investor demand for the American Eagle Silver bullion coins was balanced throughout the year. In January, the sales surged to sell 6.1 million coins with the subsequent months reporting sales well in excess of 2 million ounces. However, February saw a drop in demand when sales collapsed to 1,490,000 ounces. If the sales of silver bullion coins continue at the September rate, then the yearly sales for 2012 will be close on the heels of 2011 when a record 40 million ounces were sold.

American Silver Eagle Obverse

The general public can purchase American Eagle Silver bullion coins from Authorized Purchasers or a dealer working with the purchasers. Numismatic versions of the American Eagle series coins can be bought directly from the U.S. Mint.

Image Credit: United States Mint

Below are the characteristics and requirements of an ETF that remain unchanged in any of the investment markets of the world.

• An Exchange Traded Fund must be listed on the stock market exchange
• It must be able to trade on an ongoing basis

The shares that make up an Exchange Traded Fund are sold freely in the open market. Cost of the fund invested by ETF is low and so is its turnover since ETFs work on a diversified structure. According to some investors, such characteristics of ETF offer particular advantages and so make ETFs more attractive than traditional open-ended investments.

If investing in silver ETFs sounds perfect for you, the very first thing you should do is consult a professional and experienced investor or financial services professional and then proceed with your plans!

Image Credits: Creative Commons/Aatze78

The main advantage of the silver metal is that besides using it as a hedge fund against inflation or currency devaluation, it has wide use in industrial applications. The huge demand from these industries is slowly diminishing the silver supply, causing silver prices to rise. Factually, silver is even rarer than gold to find on the earth’s surface. Silver prices are geared to rise phenomenally and this is the right time to invest in silver.

While there are many ways to invest in silver, some might work better than others for a particular investor. It will depend on the investing capacity, risk taking ability and knowledge of the investor regarding the industry.