And a very happy 2004 it is already shaping up to be with the bulls charging into the new year as though a red flag is waving.
With the US national debt now standing at just under 7 Trillion dollars, an ever increasing debt load on average Americans, a real estate market being mentioned in most circles as a bubble waiting to pop, a growing quagmire in the Middle East along with many other factors, it's no wonder why smart people are looking to gold and especially rare gold and silver coins as not only an alternative to the standard wares from investment houses but actually as a safe harbor for our hard earned money.
2003 was a very good year in Numismatics as well as the precious metals business. Yours truly helped a number of clients liquidate part of their coin collections so as to reposition them, and the average returned on investment to my clients weighed in at 50-100% above what these clients paid me for the coins with a physician in the Mid-West seeing over a 300% gain in just under 5 years of holding them! All but one of these clients have since reinvested in rare gold and silver coins after careful considerations of what appears to be some of the more undervalued areas as well as placing a percentage of their assets in generic US AND foreign gold coins as well as bullion material. There has literally been an explosion of new incoming funds into this business particularly noted in the last half of 2003 and it looks like it's just starting in early 2004.
As we head into the first major rare coin convention of the year, the F.U.N. show as it's known in Orlando, we at US Rare Coin Investments will be meeting with several of the major movers and shakers of the industry and we will be discussing our strategies for 2004 and beyond. These men represent several hundred million dollars per year in rare gold and silver business and what we strategize will be extremely valuable information to you that I will post here in this newsletter. For the time being, the overall information is still free, however you will have to be a client or call us for specific recommendations and service.
Due to those considerations as well as space and time limitations, the following reports are for your perusal and to reiterate, for specific recommendations and help you will need to call us at 1-941-291-2156 Bear in mind that Tom Pilitowski, US Rare Coin Investments and associates may or may not have positions in the series mentioned.
DATED ST GAUDENS: Quite a number of slightly better date "Saints" came out of the woodwork in the last quarter of 2003 at much higher prices than what we at US Rare Coin Investments could justify paying and so we passed on almost every single offer. Although the amount of people interested in these coins is growing by leaps and bounds, this doesn't mean that we can rationally pay what we think are herd mentality prices. We are perhaps more cautious than most people, but more importantly we think we are also better in tune with reality and therefore are content to be patient and pick the better deals that are offered from time to time. We are however willing to pay almost any price for the genuinely rare dated St Gaudens and we are particularly interested in Carson City minted double eagles in ANY grade. Call us for more information at 1-941-291-2156
EARLY GOLD: Wow, the gains we've seen for even the most common of these wonderful pre-1807 coins have averaged 50%! It is our estimation however that the increase in the amount of people interested in buying them is in the several hundred percent. Therefore, we think this area is just starting to come into it's own maturity and we are very aggressive at this time in our purchased of this series. For decades, Tom Pilitowski has specialized in this area and we have seen the changes over time. I am a believer in varieties in this series and we think this might represent one of the truly spectacular areas of investment over the long run. However as most coin dealers couldn't tell the difference between an R-2 and an R-8 specimen, be careful who you approach on these. You would hate to pay R-7 money for an R-2 coin!
SILVER DOLLARS: We are net sellers of most early Bust Dollars. It is our belief that these coins by and large have topped out and most dates are ripe for a correction. If you have these coins in your safe deposit box, call us immediately to arrange liquidation unless you have a few of the more specific rarities in which case you should be ok for a while. Morgan dollars are a different story and we are very aggressive in our searching for and purchasing a number of selected dates and grades. We particularly like Carson City and spectacularly graded material. We are undecided on Peace dollars.
COMMENS: Our position on earlier Commems for years has been proved correct again. We feel these coins represent one of the truly best buys in the entire world of Numismatics. Judging by the lack of quality being offered in today's market, coupled with rising prices, obviously there are a lot of other people who are beginning to see the point of view we have been stressing time and time again. There are of course some coins, which are better than others and for specific recommendations, you will have to call.
PATTERNS: We are still in a wait and see mode on these coins. We are leaning toward being net sellers, however with an influx of new material hitting the auction block recently, in conjunction with a new book on the subject released in the last 6 months, this position could change. Stay tuned.
PRECIOUS METALS: Wow! Gold reached 15 year highs this past week. Think about that. We believe we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg as it's mostly large investors and institutional buying. The average guy is still licking his wounds on other investments and for the most part is just starting to look at this area. We believe that this new bull market is just beginning and could prove to be the greatest bull market in rare gold and silver coins as well as precious metals in a generation.
That's the way we see it from here. We're off to the F.U.N. convention.
Cordially,
Thomas M. Pilitowski
U.S. Rare Coin Investments
P.O. Box 496607
Port Charlotte, Florida 33949 Tel: 941-629-4765 Fax: 941-629-6532 Phone: 1-941-291-2156 Email:tompilitowski@yahoo.com
