Those Mysterious Eagle Shortages at the Mint

"There's a famine of blanks."

That's the cryptic way the U.S. Mint puts it. "Once this inventory is tired, no additional inventory will be produced," the Mint added in a rather rude, no-jabber tone. Boiled down, what the government agency is referring to is the baffling fact that it has given up trying to meet today's record-background consumer demand for its very own Eagle gold coins.

Huh?

This is, or at least should be, worrying news. Especially at a time when we're supposed to trust the government enough to place it really in charge of the crucial health care and energy aspects of our private lives, Washington is now appearing to absolutely botch a simple case of supply and demand. With wild consumer demand for its-wait for it-mega-successful products (Gold Eagles), the Mint is now blaming its three suppliers for not as long as it with enough gold blanks...even while dragging its feet in not as long as those suppliers with enough raw gold and silver metal to make the blanks in the first place.

In Orwellian terms, this is a further unfortunate case of government "Doublethink."

Lack of Competition in Our Money?

Why the government is appearing to sabotage one of its few successful money-making enterprises is suspicious, to say the least.

Maybe the Mint has become overly politicized, and now refuses to further make self-conscious the plummeting U.S. Dollar with its record-contravention gold sales. Certainly, gold is rare-that's what makes it so vital-but this is the U.S. government we're discussion about: It should have no conundrum whatsoever in being paid the gold it needs for its coin blanks, even on some kind of pay-as-you-go basis.

Maybe Washington isn't attracted in stirring the controversy of "competing currencies."

According to The New American, "...our nation once had competing currencies and this competition led to honesty in the field of money."

"...the government did not have a monopoly in the field of coining money. As a result, the nation thrived, as one always will when there is sound money. But, today, the only legal money is fiat money issued by the Federal Reserve that is deemed money by law. Its value continues to fall because there is effectively no limit on how much of it can be issued. If our people were on a gold or silver ordinary, inflating the supply of those precious metals would be impracticable."

Could this be why the now government feels it is a victim of its own accomplishment with its well loved Eagles? Are Mint officials now wracking their brains, on taxpayer time, wondering how they can inject a firm measure of failure into its successful gold coin curriculum?

The Ron Paul Remedy and Washington's Bizarro World

Congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul has some huge problems with the Federal Reserve and the way our monetary system is being conducted.

Particularly, his two bills, the Free Competition in Currency Act and the Audit the Fed: HR 1207 are aimed at heading off a showdown with a dollar that, due to the trillions being thrown around by Washington over the last few years, is quickly sinking in value. Congressman Paul's sound thought of money is this...

"This medium of exchange should satisfy certain properties: it should be durable, that is to say, it does not wear out easily; it should be portable, that is, easily carried; it should be divisible into units usable for every-day transactions; it should be recognizable and uniform, so that one unit of money has the same properties as every other unit; it should be scarce, in the fiscal sense, so that the extant supply does not satisfy the wants of all demanding it; it should be stable, so that the value of its purchasing power does not fluctuate wildly; and it should be reproducible, so that enough units of money can be made to satisfy the needs of exchange.

"Over millennia of human history, gold and silver have been the two metals that have most often satisfied these conditions, survived the market process, and gained the trust of billions of people."

Persistent to that New American article again, "The Texas lawmaker also makes the realistic assertion that a return to competition in money would see an end to inflation, even an end to unauthorized wars financed by the Fed's paper bills. Famine costs for copious other unauthorized programs would also be phased out."

In a free market nation, the principle of supply and demand rules. Entrepreneurs first find out what's in demand, then figure out how to supply it. With Washington and the Mint, but, the contrary appears to be right. Once demand starts raging in this case, government bureaucrats back off and take fantastic pains to interrupt the supply.

As Seinfeld might have place it, that's how business is conducted in the Bizarro World (of Superman comics).

Fortunately, the Mint's Gold Eagles aren't the only game in town. There are other well loved and unfilled gold coins such as Canadian Maple Leafs and Australian and UK royals. There are also semi-numismatic and numismatic U.S. gold coins such as the St. Gaudens and Liberty $20. See a respected coin dealer, such as my Lear Capital, to know the difference.

Author: Kevin A. Demeritt
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Times