biz.yahoo.com Perth Mint says premium to stick at any gold price
Monday May 3, 3:27 am Eastern Time
PERTH, May 3 (Reuters) - Australia's Gold Corp said on
Monday it will maintain its current distributor price premiums
on bullion coins minted by its Perth Mint division, no matter
how low gold prices fall.
It intends to leave its premiums unchanged despite plans announced by the Royal Canadian Mint to raise its premiums on a series of gold Maple Leaf coins and its silver Maple Leaf starting May 10 in the face of a depressed gold price.
''We have no intention of increasing our premiums, no matter how low the gold price falls,'' Gold Corp's chief executive, Don Mackay-Coghill said.
At the current gold price of around US$285 an ounce, the industry standard three percent premium for one ounce coins is running at around $8.55 an ounce, Mackay-Coghill noted.
The Royal Canadian Mint said in a statement on April 30 that a new flat-price marketing structure of US$10 plus the gold price would be charged on one ounce Maple Leaf coins.
This increases the cost of the one ounce coin by about US$1.50 on the previous pricing structure of a three percent premium plus the gold price.
It said it the change was necessary because over the past two years revenue from premiums on the Gold Maple Leaf had decreased by 25 percent.
''Given the current gold price, the old system no longer generates sufficient revenue to ensure the long term viability of the (gold coin) program,'' the Canadian royal Mint said.
However Mackay-Coghill, who is credited with launching the original modern gold coin, South Africa's Krugerrand, critisized the Canadian mint for breaking ranks with the rest of the industry.
''If you wish to be a serious player in the world bullion coin markets, you have to learn to take the rough with the smooth,'' he said.
Mackay-Coghill said he it was too early to determine if other mints would follow the Royal Canadian Mint's lead and change their pricing structure. |
