India Bans the Sale of Gold Without License
Just one day after India increased the taxation on gold to 10%, the Reserve Bank banned the sale of gold coins, medallions and dores without a licence from the foreign trade office. The Reserve Bank is out to end the capital outflow from India that is going into gold. We are seeing an increased trend toward this in many countries. In Switzerland, gold remains tax free while silver is taxed. In France, they have banned the purchase or sale of gold for cash.
Naxos Tetradrachm
QUESTION: What about ancient collectibles? Do you think these are a good investment?
ANSWER: Yes. Ancient coins are collectibles internationally whereas American coins bring the highest price in the USA as is the case for Japan and so on each in their native country. Ancient coins a recognizable internationally and thus tend to be a far more stable store of value than nationalistic modern coins that move cyclically with the local economic business cycle. Ancient coins are disconnected from that local cycle. While the economy was sluggish in the US and Europe, the strongest bidders became Russian and Chinese. Ancient coins have a unique global cycle and are thus a far more stable store of wealth as an asset (hedge against decline in all currencies).
The finest known Naxos would probably be worth 1.5 to 2x that of the piece sold in 2012. The highest paid for a US gold coin was the 1933 $20 gold piece. This brought $7.9 million. The highest price paid for a US silver coin was $10,016,875 for a 1794 silver dollar. An Edward III Florin holds the record for the highest paid English coin $6,800,000. Therefore, if this Naxos came to the market and brought $2 million, it would still be dirt cheap compared to US or English coins. Ancient coins are way undervalued by comparison.