POLL: American Eagles; Worth the Premium?

[HPMBTT]

No. (for other reasons)

Government minted coins and bullion are property of the government, therefore subject to confiscation should it be deemed necessary.
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Please show the reference that proves this...

As far as the general topic of confiscation goes, if it wants to, the government can confiscate anything they want. If it chooses to do so, and knows you have it.

From various sites.

Under the currency or coinage Acts of almost all nations, the government (and/or central bank) at all times directly owns the coins and notes issued in that country. This means that if you purchase a bullion (gold or silver) coin issued by government, you are only the BEARER of the coin, and never the outright owner. The issuing government owns the coin. Should the government decide to recall that coin, which they can do at any time they wish, they will pay you for the face value of the coin, and not its true metal value. Governments have a long history of recalling bullion coinage when their economies head into rough times, a recent example in the western world being 1933 in the US.

When you purchase non-legal-tender, privately issued coinage, you are the outright owner, not just the bearer. You now have outright ownership of bullion coins of a fixed and defined weight and purity, which are freely exchangeable for other goods or services in the free-market, and cannot be recalled by an issuing government. (in theory)

Many people are unaware of this fact: Government issued coins are not yours, you are only the BEARER of the coin, NOT the owner, as it is actual currency owned by the government. Just like on a dollar note, it says you are “the bearer”. This applies to all government issued currency.


The government issued gold and silver coins like the American Silver or Gold Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf or any others always remain the property of the issuing government of the country in question. The purchasers are only the “bearers” of the coins and never attain complete ownership of the gold and silver for their asset value. This fact is not known to many people simply because they never ask and obviously, are never told.

But this is really a moot point, for as you have already said...

As far as the general topic of confiscation goes, if it wants to, the government can confiscate anything they want. If it chooses to do so, and knows you have it.

This is a fascinating statement. So if what you say is even partially true, then in theory, the government can recall all silver coin, outlaw it, change the value/price, confiscate it, basically screw anyone that holds it. I wish I was able to get more definitive proof/answers on this. Non-government issued silver coinage is starting to sound a bit more safe (although I already have a decent stash of third-party silver coins/rounds). From a practical point of view, there would be almost no way to enforce it country-wide, especially in a SHTF scenario..ie people will still trade/barter with silver privately, if that's all they have. Anyone else care to comment? I would love to hear more thoughts on this.

Anyway, my vote is simply this...buy as much silver for the least amount of FRN's as possible...period. To put it another way, I don't have that many ASE's (despite their beauty).

[AGgressive Metal]

I am going to decline commenting much further because I want people's honest reasoning for my blog post. Although I cannot resist pointing out again that FDR did not make any exception or distinction regarding privately minted gold bullion. The executive order clearly said coins, bullion, and gold certificates. To do otherwise would have just meant that everyone could have melted their coins into bars before the gov't had time to stop them.

[Luoganta]

I am going to decline commenting much further because I want people's honest reasoning for my blog post. Although I cannot resist pointing out again that FDR did not make any exception or distinction regarding privately minted gold bullion. The executive order clearly said coins, bullion, and gold certificates. To do otherwise would have just meant that everyone could have melted their coins into bars before the gov't had time to stop them.

I would think if something like that happened I would hear about in via CNN(/rolleyes) long before the collectorman arrived at my house, and assuming it indeed was legit I would melt my coins in a pan and take the puddle to a refiner. I highly doubt anyone has much of anything to worry about in terms of Mr.Gov't taking their coins.

Furthermore I highly doubt it would be as viable now as it was back in 1933...I mean just think of the countless number of coins that have already been melted into bars.

[68Camaro]

Clearly the statement above about the government being the owner of the currency and coin is not literally true in the same sense as other property, because I can legally choose to destroy it, melt it, sell it (except for nickels and cents) and that bond between the coin and government (if it exists at all) is broken. (Which was why I asked for the reference, which still wasn't provided).

The bottom line on the decision comes down to just how abusive you think the government could be.

If you think the government might not be too abusive, and might agree to abide by most of the existing covenants, there there is some advantage to their issued coin.

If you think the government might be substantially abusive, then there might be more advantage to non-governmental metal.

But if you think there are no limits to potential government abuse, then the question is a moot point.

[AGgressive Metal]

Thank you everyone for participating I think I have a decent sample now and the poll will end in 24 hours. After that I'll write my analysis for my blog over the weekend and post it next week.