Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2019 i COINage

Purchasing coins became a heck of lot more complicated for many dealers and auction houses, and potentially more expensive for collectors, because of a U.S. Supreme Court case last year known as South Dakota vs. Wayfair. As the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA) points out, the court’s decision has allowed states to collect sales taxes from out-of-state merchants who sell products – such as rare coins and bank notes – to buyers in their states. More than two dozen states already are enforcing remote sales tax collection, and the worrisome issue is of crucial importance to the hobby. It could get even worse. Some states have been working together to urge Congress to create federal legislation for a sales tax law that would grant states the power to force…

◼ Open and fund – through new contributions or a rollover – a self-directed IRA at an approved custodian. Most account documents can be completed online. ◼ Customer directs the custodian, or can directly order IRS-approved precious metals, from a supplier of his or her choice in the name of the IRA. ◼ Customer provides the invoice and advises the custodian to pay the precious metals supplier. ◼ Precious metals supplier delivers the product directly to the agreed-upon depository for the account of the custodian and further credit to the customer. ◼ Depository confirms deposit to custodian. ◼ Custodian advises customer of metals deposit and payment. ◼ Custodian provides account updates periodically to the customer.…

An increasing number of merchants are accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment. A good resource to check for local crypto-friendly merchants is the website CoinMap.org. Despite the 2018 crash in Bitcoin, a number of indicators in 2019 support the view that the Bitcoin network remains healthy, and the overall global take-up of Bitcoin as a payment system continues to expand. Review various statistics at BitcoinVisuals.com/statsThe volatility of Bitcoin has fallen below the volatility of the S&P 500 and other major traditional financial market indices for various recent periods of time (EthereumWorldNews.com/ bitcoin-price-sp-500-volatility-2018). While the Bitcoin price has fallen over 90% from its all-time peak, the Bitcoin market remains highly liquid, with average daily trading volumes of $4.9 billion of cumulative reported by cryptocurrency exchanges. Walking the bourse floor of…

Buying, selling, and trading coins and precious metals is more than a hobby in 2019; it’s a trillion-dollar business. With proper investment, it’s also a way to amass wealth and build a nest egg to help make your retirement more comfortable, perhaps by providing gold, quite literally, to see you through your golden years. Buying coins wisely, though, is only half the battle. It also may be advisable to take steps to safeguard your investment against the hazards that threaten that store of wealth and put that nest egg in jeopardy. Needlessly high tax payments and costly divorce settlements, for example, could seriously erode the net gain you realize from your coins. Unless you act preemptively to shield your numismatic holdings through prudent legal and tax planning, you – or…

TEACHING SPACE Cosmic Lesson Plans from the U.S. Mint [PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA] With recent rocket launches, solar and lunar eclipses, and planetary sightings, the subject of space is a hot topic. The U.S. Mint has followed the trend with new resources to teach students about outer space and the U.S. Space Program. Space exploration, astronomy, and other STEM-related fields are all part of the free education materials. Following is a partial list of lesson plans for grades K-12: • Pioneers in Space (Grades K-1) Students will learn the meaning of the word “pioneer.” They will also preview and listen to an age-appropriate text relating to the design of the Ohio quarter reverse. • Discovery, Ship to Shuttle (Grades 2-3) Students will explain the meaning of “discovery.” • Discovering Native American Contributions…

On Thursday, January 10, 2019, the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs raised its gold forecasts to $1,425 over the next 12 months. It sees $1,325 within three months, $1,375 within six months, and $1,425 within 12 months. Those forecasts are up $75 per ounce from its previous forecasts of $1,250, $1,300, and $1,350 per troy ounce for the same time spans, respectively. Based on a beginning price of $1,279 in 2019, an increase to $1,425 represents an increase of more than 11% for the coming year. In explaining its move, Goldman analyst Jeffrey Currie said, “Going forward, gold will be supported primarily by growing demand for defensive assets. The same is also true of central bank buying, with rising geopolitical tensions incentivizing more central banks to re-enter the gold market.”…

Prior to the Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, no thought was given about sales taxes imposed upon any of the investments allowed to be placed into an IRA. The Wayfair Court ruled in a five to four decision that “physical presence was not necessary” in order to expose out of state, remote sellers to state laws requiring them to collect and remit sales taxes to the buyer’s state. Unfortunately, states interpreted the Court’s ruling to mean “you can tax anyone anywhere who sells anything.” Consequently, a flood of state sales tax laws has begun in an effort to reach every conceivable transaction without regard to unintended consequences of which there are endless examples. One of the unintended consequences is the uncertainty placed upon those who purchase coins…

It sounds like such a simple and fun concept: Buy some American Eagle gold and silver bullion coins, and place them in your IRA (Individual Retirement Arrangement). The advertisements urging you to do this are enticing. But despite the flashy ads and the shine of the metals themselves, the legal requirements and accounting rules are complicated. Please seek the professional advice of a lawyer and accountant before attempting to include coins in an IRA. As I am not a lawyer or accountant, and while the information and advice in this article neither constitutes nor substitutes legal or accounting advice, it is nevertheless an educational primer into the complex world of precious metals and IRAs. Plus, it’s a world no less confusing now than it has been over the past several…

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals in these plans. Pension fund and other money managers dubbed such standards as “the prudent man” rule. In 1979, the U.S. Labor Department liberalized the ERISA regulations on determining which investment vehicles were prudent for retirement fund investment portfolios. In a major boon to the collectibles industry, the department ruled that non-income producing items could be considered as prudent investments in retirement plans. As a result, the use of precious metals and rare coins and currency by portfolio managers, bank trust officers, brokerage firms, and insurance companies were greatly enhanced. The following year, Kagin’s Numismatic Services was…

For more than 15 years, Robert Fligel, a widely recognized and distinguished name in accounting circles, has pursued a serious involvement with rare coins and precious metals. His interests have their roots from his childhood in North Carolina when he collected coins from pocket change. His casual accumulating gradually grew into a more serious pursuit. Fligel’s new business, RF Precious Metals, LLC (online at RFPreciousMetals.com), will assist collectors and investors in sourcing and obtaining rare coins and other numismatic material. “I bring to this new venture the same low-key, fact-based approach that has defined my professional career, which I think sets me apart from others in the coin field,” Fligel told COINage. He says that his numismatic business is a “new sideline,” and that his core business remains helping Certified…