From the start, I’d like to direct readers to my
About This Blog. As I say there, my blog is not a Perth Mint mouthpiece and all my comments are my personal opinion and not endorsed by the Mint in any way. If you have a question about their operations or a complaint, ask them directly yourself, I am not their complaints department.
It is also probably important to be clear that I am bullish on gold and silver, although I take a
long term view. If you sense I’m taking a bearish view that may be because I am a contrarian personality type and thus have a tendency always to look at the other side of any dominant view (and challenge my own views), as I believe the truth usually lies between the extremes.
Jason writes: I also think its normal for there to be shortages of silver and gold when inflation is raging out of control, and when the markets are manipulated, but I suppose we don't agree on reasons like that.The comments I’ve made don’t exclude inflation or manipulation as factors. It is unfortunate that many have no confidence in COMEX; thankfully Australia does not have any precious metal futures markets. All I’m looking to do is to contribute some additional things to consider that no one else in the “gold internet community” talks about. Some of these factors may be important to the shortage of (retail) silver, some not so. It is just extra information that I hope fills out the picture, as no one knows everything.
Jason writes: That's insane. Right downstairs, they often run out of 100 oz. bars, and reportedly have no 1000 oz. bars for sale.I asked our Shop if they have 100 oz bars and they said they have them available, so instead of relying on Jason’s “reportedly”, all I can say is that if you want to buy silver, ring our Shop up and buy it. Once your money clears, they'll ship. At the end of the day, my words and Jason’s words don’t matter – actions speak louder than words. And the only action that matters is delivery. Period.
Jason writes: Besides, that's a lie. Wholesale quantities in silver are 1 silver futures contract of 5000 ounces, which is about 1/6th of a tonne, not 20 tonnes! Further, I note that Nigel did NOT say he would SELL 20 tonnes of silver. He only wants to "deal" in that, minimum. He probably needs to buy that much to pull his fat out of the fire, as I will explain below.The definition of “deal” by Encarta Dictionary within Microsoft Word is “an agreement, arrangement, or transaction, usually one that benefits all the parties involved”. This includes BOTH buying and selling. But to be clear, Nigel will SELL physical 1000 oz silver bars. Also, what I said was "he will do deals for a minimum". I did not say that "the wholesale market only deals in this minimum", you read that into my statement. That is just his minimum. He is the Treasurer for the whole Mint, not a retail bullion dealer; this is the deal size he operates at. Of course trading occurs in the wholesale market for quantities lesser than that. My point was that bulk quantities of silver are available in the over the counter (OTC) spot market. They are, and Nigel will supply them. Period.
Jason writes: AGR Matthey closed their silver operations!Incorrect. AGR Matthey have not closed their “silver operations”. I quote from a letter dated 18 August 2008 to AGR Matthey’s customers:
“The Board of AGR Matthey has taken the decision to exit the jewellery business. AGR Matthey will no longer manufacture jewellery products in Australia or New Zealand. … The industrial business (medical and brazing alloys) will continue. … Arrangements are being made for fine gold grain (minimum order quantity 1 kilogram) to be made available through Perth to wholesale customers with delivery via Brinks premises on the eastern seaboard, provided there is sufficient demand. Larger secondary refining customers may be serviced through the refinery in WA.”
AGR Matthey refines around 10% of worldwide mine production and silver is a by product of that refining. It is not reliant on sourcing gold or silver from the general public. Australia is a net exporter of precious metals – in 2006/07 Australian mine production was 1674 tonnes with 431 tonnes of refined silver exported according to
ABARE. Logically this means that there is enough silver to meet domestic demand.
Since the rest of your article with its “might have been” type speculations hinge on this error of fact about AGR Matthey, they are also incorrect and thus don’t warrant a response.
The Perth Mint’s unallocated facility is not the be all and end all of the organisation; the Mint sells bars, coins, numismatic products, unallocated storage, allocated storage, and an Australian Stock Exchange listed gold product – however customers want to buy their precious metal, the Mint strives to service it. Is the Mint perfect? No. But everyone who works there is passionate about precious metals and supporting the industry and is proud to work there. And so am I.