Los Pepes

Dichotomy in W. European Gold and Silver Prices

I've been buying bullion for perhaps 4 or 5 years. About a month or so ago I put in an order with a company that I've been buying from week after week since I began (online).

These guys have always had good prices, great shipping, and super-fast delivery. I would say on average it takes 4-5 days for my stuff to get to me. But I digress...

This last order that I placed was very, VERY small. How small? It was a total of TWO coins: a 10th ounce (1/10 oz.) Gold Eagle, and a single 2008 Silver Eagle. Compared to almost every order I've placed in the last several years, this was a non-issue, small order just for the sake of ordering.

It took me almost 4 weeks to get my order.

Look - I don't know what's going on. I don't know if it's a simply a matter of fabrication delays, or if there really is a shortage. I do know that the amount of physical silver in the COMEX warehouses is peanuts compared to the amount of buy/sell contracts in the silver futures market, likewise with gold. Very few people that trade in those markets have any intention of actually touching any metal, ever.

The only thing that I do know is that something isn't right. If fabrication isn't keeping up with demand, the price of the metal should bid up enough to convince more people to bring their already fabricated products back to the marketplace, and that clearly isn't happening. Everyone is buying new silver and gold becuase there is no old product around, which is unusual.
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