The platinum jewellery market decline now appears to have stabilised, with year-on-year growth of 5% estimated for 2024 and 2% year-on-year growth forecast for this year, when total platinum jewellery demand is expected to reach 1.98-million ounces, the organisation points out.
PGI points out that in most markets, platinum jewellery is 950 parts per thousand, compared with 18 ct gold which is 750.
Source – Mining Weekly
PGI – Personal guarantee insurance
The most active futures on gold are currently trading at $2745.10, up $27.30 or 1% from a day earlier. That level is just about 2% shy of its all-time settlement high of $2800.80 marked on Oct. 30. If the contract closes at current levels, it would be the highest close since last month, according to the Dow Jones Market Data.
“Gold remains the consummate hedge for investors worried about inflation or growth,” wrote Jared Woodard and the team from BofA securities on Tuesday. Gold was labeled as BofA’s “highest conviction investment ideas for 2025.”
Source – BARRON’S
BofA securities – Bank of America Inc., previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) is an American multinational investment banking division under the auspices of Bank of America.
In a complaint filed in Boone Circuit Court on March 27, the same day the legislation was delivered to the secretary of state’s office, an online bullion exchange and three Northern Kentucky residents said they and others are owed refunds on taxes improperly collected for their precious metals in the past eight months, naming Gov. Andy Beshear and several state offices as defendants.
The state representative, a frequent foil to Beshear who told colleagues in the House he sponsored the bill to ensure Kentuckians do not “pay taxes that were never lawful in the first place.”
HB 2 ensures the sale, use, storage or other consumption of “bullion currency” — gold, silver, platinum and other precious metals — cannot be taxed, overriding a line-item veto by Beshear that was included in a separate bill passed in 2024.
HB 2, which was filed in January and approved on party-line votes in the House and Senate, allows anyone who paid taxes on gold and silver after that Aug. 1 deadline to seek a refund in court.
Source – Courier Journal
The most recent trading sessions have showcased gold’s resilience and volatility. Following a sharp decline of $45 per troy ounce in spot gold and a $63 drop in April futures on Friday, February 14, the market demonstrated strong recovery momentum. After the Presidents’ Day holiday closure, Tuesday’s trading saw spot gold gain $36.97, and the April futures contract gaining $60.70, nearly reaching the record levels established on February 12.
Source – KITCO News / Opinion
What are goldbacks? Well I’m happy you stumbled upon my blog to learn more about this amazing and innovative way to pay for goods and services with actual gold.
This isn’t paying with gold coins or bars but actually paying with gold bills. These bills contain gold within them and are measured on the bills itself. Gold foil if you will.
These bills are gold and have the amount of gold listed on the front of each bill from 1/2000th of a troy ounce to 1/10th of .999 fine gold (24k gold). They are beautifully decorated with art work from the Goldback artists and an added combination of anticounterfeiting features within each bill.
There are currently (as of 2025) 6 states with representation on these bills. Those states include Utah, Nevada, New Hampshire, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Florida. Florida is the newest goldback series for this year. The bills start at 1/2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 gold bills.
I do not yet have any of the Florida or South Dakota goldbacks but I’m in the process of purchasing and I really can’t wait to have them.
As of this posting, Oklahoma will be available for preorder Aug. 1st, 2025 at various online sellers. If you’re lucky to find a vendor who is actually selling the goldbacks in person, pick them up! That’s how I learned about these, from a seller at a coin show.
Well that’s a great question! Some could argue that getting these bills is not worth purchasing because you can’t spend these anywhere you want. Or, why are you buying such a small amount of gold when you can get gold bars for a much higher trade in value?
These bills are apart of the sound money movement. Sound money means it recognizes the value in gold and silver not paper fiat. Which is basically saying that paper money does not hold value like gold. For many investors, this is a real concern and is why this movement is a big deal during these economic times.
So why should you buy goldbacks? Goldbacks, like gold, retain their value and give you more purchasing power. While these have a very small amount of gold on each bill the form factor makes it easy to use your gold for everyday purchases.
On their website they say that goldbacks are “The currency for now, Currency for the future.” I for one am very into the idea of this being a great way to use my gold for purchases and my currency. Unfortunately, this cannot be used anywhere……Yet!
As you just read, you cannot use these anywhere. Which is the biggest con but only for now. But they is much more to it than just spending.
The pros:
The cons :
I feel that the pros outweigh the cons as the pros are more valuable when it comes to owning these bills. Storage and higher premiums are not that big of a deal to me. I wouldn’t not take care of my investments and I expect to pay a certain price when buying from someone anyway. Just like silver rounds. But that’s a different topic.
In my opinion, I will not tell you to go and do something unless you feel it’s the right option for you. I believe it is worth it for those that appreciate all forms of gold and ways to spend their investments in person and upfront. This might also be right up your ally to collect these bills as they are absolutely beautiful and stunning to look at and hold in your hand
These goldbacks are still very new. They just started in 2019. I think that this will go a long way but we don’t know how long these will last. There are more and more small businesses that are accepting these as payment and that’s a good sign.
I will continue to purchase these and add to my portfolio and, as I said in previous posts, would actually use these if ever I needed or had the opportunity to do so. Even with some cons to these bills they won’t stop me or many others who are currently investing.
Make sure to do more research if you’re on the fence. Talk to dealers, get some reviews, and look up the website for more info here.
*Disclaimer: I have not received any payment, products, services, or other compensation for discussing this topic. My comments reflect my personal views only.*
Silver is more volatile than gold. Monthly historical volatility in the COMEX silver futures market is at 19.88%, while gold’s monthly price variance metric is 10.45%. Silver’s penchant for high price volatility attracts more speculative market participants than gold. While gold is an investment asset, silver tends to be a trading vehicle.
Source – Seeking Alpha / Analysis
SILJ – is Amplify Junior Silver Miners
South Africa’s commodity-backed currency edged up on Monday, helped by higher gold prices, as investors digested last week’s unexpectedly weak U.S. jobs data and awaited tariff updates ahead of the United States’ August 8 deadline.
The bourse was boosted by South African miners, including Gold Fields , up 8%, AngloGold Ashanti (AU.N), at 6%, and Harmony Gold , which rose 7%.
“Our foremost priority is protecting our export industries. We will continue to engage the U.S. in an attempt to preserve market access for our products,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a newsletter on Monday
Source – Reuters
