Gold Investor

Silver has many industrial uses and recent research from several departments within the Engineering faculty at Stanford University may have added one more - insulation. The researchers showed that combining silver with nanotechnology could help us conserve energy by retaining more of the body's own heat. Clothing with embedded metallic silver nanowire was shown to reflect back nearly nearly 90% wearer’s body heat thus creating a very efficient form of insulated clothing. Optionally, the silver nanowire can also help generate heat by converting energy (electricity) from a battery. The nanowire is able to bring these benefits by only using one gram of silver per clothing, an amount that adds minimal cost and isn't likely to have a material impact on the overall price of silver. From the study's abstract;

"The metallic nanowires form a conductive network that not only is highly thermal insulating because it reflects human body infrared radiation but also allows Joule heating to complement the passive insulation. The breathability and durability of the original cloth is not sacrificed because of the nanowires’ porous structure. This nanowire cloth can efficiently warm human bodies and save hundreds of watts per person as compared to traditional indoor heaters."

Anyone who has been trying to buy (2014) Silver Eagle coins over the last month or two knows that they have been hard to come by as many coin dealers have sold out their inventory. It's not that there is a real run on these silver coins, but just that at some point the US Mint stops production before moving to minting coins for the following year. So it is with bated breath that silver coin buyers have been waiting for the Mint to finish up their dealer allocations for remaining 2014 stock and also start putting out the 2015 coins so that they can be purchased.



The US Mint has announced that it will begin sales of its 2015 dated American Silver Eagle bullion coins to authorized purchasers on January 12, 2015. Some of these dealers are already taking pre-orders with delivery dates usually in the third or fourth week of January 2015.

Not all gold and silver bullion/coins are created equal. Literally. We have long known that there was a robust fake coin manufacturing industry in China and even high value gold bars have found to be filled with tungsten. So gold and silver investors and collectors need to aware that there are many fake coins and bars floating around. Many of these fake coins are being sold as "souvenirs" but the price increase over the last 10-15 years has made this a very profitable criminal enterprise. Silver.com has put together an informative video and infographic to teach us how to detect and avoid these counterfeit gold and silver bullion products.

An interview with David Morgan of Silver-Investor.com and Rory Hall of TheDailyCoin.org delving into the realities of silver supply, (industrial/investment) demand and price of paper vs physical silver, especially Canadian silver Maple Leafs and American silver Eagle coins.

Rates of male fertility have been declining over the last few decades with lifestyle, diet/nutrition and chemical exposure being the most common reasons cited by the experts. More recently, with the huge growth in both cellular and wireless device use, studies have also shown that the electromagnetic (EM) radiation from mobile phones and Wi-Fi devices can also negatively affect male reproductive health. Several studies seem have been done, with many showing a relationship. A British entrepreneur is pitching an Indiegogo campaign to sell special underwear, which uses silver threads woven into the cotton fabric to create a faraday cage, thus preventing male reproductive damage in our EM rich environment. Enter:

Wireless Armour: Men's Underwear Protecting Your Health
Premium men's underwear that protects your health from Electromagnetic radiation. Designed for men who live in the modern world.

The Royal Mint will be releasing special commemorative silver coins made from 2,800 bars of silver that were recovered by the American marine exploration company Odyssey Inc, off the coast of Ireland. The silver bars were on board the British merchant ship SS Gairsoppa and which was sunk by a German U-Boat in 1941. As part of the war effort, the silver was being transported from Calcutta, India to Liverpool when the ship was lost with its precious cargo. The wreck was first discovered in September 2011 at a depth of 3 miles on the ocean floor. The salvage effort was quite monumental in being able to recover 3.2 million troy ounces of silver from the this great depth.

David Morgan
When attempting to quantify the amount and quality of a possible mineralized deposit on their property, exploration companies and producers generally follow a process which seeks to state, in reasonably accurate and concise terms, just what they have…or might have. Following the Bre-X fiasco, wherein ‘highly inaccurate’ reserves of a supposed deposit in Borneo were publicized and acted upon by a tidal wave of investors, sophisticated and neophyte alike, a new set of reporting rules was enacted. Canadian National Instrument 43-101, is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators governing the process of disclosing to the public, scientific and technical information about mining projects. The NI 43-101 report is presented (usually within the context of a company News Release) by a “Qualified Person” – by a (presumably) competent licensed geoscientist, who often works for the company in question and is assumed to be skilled in analyzing the mineralization under review.

They're not meant for killing vampires in some future apocalypse nor are we referring to (light) beer. These silver bullets are made by the Northwest Territorial Mint and range from 1/4 oz (.22 LR) to 25 oz (22 mm). These are definitely not for every stacker - as you do pay a bit more of a premium - nor are they for real numismatic collectors because they are a private mint, this is bullion and we don't know about the size of their runs, etc. But you gotta give it to these guys - after its all said and done, these are the types of precious metal collectibles that would make collecting bullion fun. Here is a video for those wondering how they manage to make these various caliber/weight silver bullets.

The premium paid by buyers of silver coins (price of coin in excess of the price of the silver bullion in the coin) is expected to rise even further as demand for coins continues to rise. This is in the face of many dire predictions that the price of silver futures contracts will continue to decline. is not n the United States and the U.S. Mint eases supply. Bloomberg reports that;

"The premium charged by wholesale dealers for American Eagle coins from the U.S. Mint may rise to 17 percent from 14 percent yesterday, said Frank McGhee, the head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago. The mint has said that weekly allocations will ease."

The pesky geese, which during this frigid North American winter are often associated with high priced (Canada Goose) jackets, also adorn the Royal Canadian Mint's first 2014 release of its "$20 for $20" silver coins. As implied by the name of the series, this coin has a face value of $20 and retails from the mint for that same price.


The coin features Canadian wildlife and nature artist Trevor Tennant's rendering of the Canadian goose on the reverse and the standard Susanna Blunt portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse. Like the previous ten coins in this series, this one is made from 99.99% silver and weighs 7.96 grams. RCM will mint 225,000 of these silver coins.