'Gold coins are at an all time high demand
asked in the TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) Q&A Forum
cleveland.com
"Jim Irwin can't help laughing when talking to some of his customers at
Shaker Coin Stamp & Jewelry. As the stock market has become
increasingly volatile and the Year 2000 draws nearer, Irwin has seen
sales of gold coins soar. "They think Armageddon is coming," Irwin
said. "My wife and I always think they're crazy. Now we're not so
sure." Well, maybe not Armageddon, but something sure is feeding gold
fever: The gold market two months ago saw its lowest prices in nearly
20 years. Investors have stomached double-digit losses in their stock
portfolios. And then there's the Year 2000 issue, which some
doomsayers think could turn financial accounts into vapor. Coin dealers
locally and nationwide report a near craze in gold buying. First-time
customers. Long-time customers. Rich. Middle-class.
Mattress-stuffers. Gen X computer whizzes. "Some people are in
disaster mode," agreed Val Holmes, partner at Carat Coin Collectibles
in North Olmsted. "It's partly because of the recent stock market
drop," Holmes said. "Some people lost 10 to 20 percent of their money
in a couple of weeks. They got a little scared, and now people want to
put money into a sure thing." . . . Bryan Kissling, senior vice president
at Everen Securities Inc. in Westlake, agreed it's good to have 5
percent to 10 percent of holdings in a commodity such as gold "to
hedge yourself against rampant inflation or some extreme financial
crisis." But he said he'd personally recommend energy stocks, which
have performed better than gold. People who bought gold coins 15
years ago have lost at least 20 percent, he said. Besides, buyers of gold
coins don't earn dividends, and buyers have to pay varying
commissions. And financial turmoil at all corners of the world increase
the possibility that countries such as Russia could sell their reserves,
flooding the market to either lower values or hold them in check,
Kissling said. Liquidity and dividends actually make gold stocks more
attractive investments, he added. Still, demand for America's gold
coins, the Eagle, is so high that employees at the U.S. Treasury minting
facility at West Point, N.Y., are working overtime and weekends. Bill
Miloher of Executive Coin Co. in Stow, northeast of Akron, said his
sales of gold coins have increased tenfold in the last six months. "Some
people buy one at a time, some ten a time, one guy just bought
$300,000 worth," he said. He doesn't look for sales to slow until prices
reach at least $400 an ounce, compared with the current price hovering
around $300."
Asked by Goldi (goldilucks@yahoo.com) on October 23, 1998.
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