Even if you don’t immediately know what it means to debase a currency, you probably think it doesn’t sound very good. You’d be right – it’s not a good thing. Currency debasement is the intentional reduction in the value or purchasing power of a currency. Historically, it actually meant a reduction in the precious metal…

Gold coins and bars come in a variety of designs and sizes. In terms of a standard size, though, the default weight for a gold coin or bar is 1 troy ounce. This size corresponds to the unit used for the global spot price of gold, quoted per troy ounce, and is usually (though not…

All of us regular folks know that gold is a great asset for hedging against economic downturns and diversifying one’s portfolio. Turns out, governments and central banks know the same thing and they are scrambling to buy more of it as time goes on. In fact, Reuters and World Gold Council data show that central…

If you’re searching for the next bullion coin to purchase, you may see a strange label on some of the listings— “BU.” You might simply think that it’s just “bullion” for short, but you’d be wrong. Instead, BU stands for “Brilliant Uncirculated.” It is an extremely common term in the bullion world because most modern…

If you hang around the coin-collecting world for any length of time, you’ll hear discussions about the various marks that coins may have on their surfaces. Some of them are straightforward, but you may hear references to two different types of marks that seem quite similar. Those two types of marks are mint marks and…

Hello and welcome to our market week preview, where we take a look at the economic data, market news, and headlines likely to have the biggest impact on pricing and market momentum for gold, silver, and platinum, as well as key correlated assets. Gold Market Update Gold prices continue to hold strong support and, all…

Precious metals investors usually keep their investments in coins, bars, or rounds. However, what should you do if you’ve got a piece of silver that doesn’t fit into these categories? Let’s say that you’ve inherited some silverware or jewelry from a passed relative. Well, what you have on your hands is a piece of “scrap”…

The 2026 Winter Olympics are just around the corner. Athletes from more than 90 countries are expected to compete on behalf of their homelands in a variety of winter-themed sports and activities. Hundreds of them will travel to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in the northern portion of Italy. The winners of those events, of course,…

  Palladium is likely the least-known of the four major precious metals. Although the top online precious metals dealers offer it and, in some cases, keep its pricing continuously updated at the top of each page, it often gets overlooked in favor of gold, silver, and platinum. In fact, palladium is part of the platinum…