June 2022 - Week 2 Edition
Gold Holding Steady Between $1,840 and $1,850
Gold had remained firm over $1,850 over the weekend as oil was approaching $120 per barrel leading the way in a new surge of inflation, but gold fell to $1,840 Monday morning, June 6, partly on a rise in 10-year Treasury rates back above 3%. Then, gold recovered to $1,850 early Tuesday as bargain hunters seem to move back in quickly whenever gold dips. The market is also anticipating release of key inflation data later this week, starting with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May, released on Friday, June 10.
Honored to Receive Prestigious Award for an Anti-Fraud, Anti-Counterfeit Column
Last Friday, June 3, I was awarded 1st place honors from the Press Club of Southeast Texas for a column I wrote in 2021, entitled “China Continues to Profit from Counterfeit Culture that Jeopardizes Safety and Economy.” I share this honor with my “Team Mike” staff, which helped provide much of the research.
Anti-counterfeiting has been a long-time specialty of mine. For almost 20 years, I taught at national grading and counterfeit detection seminars for the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and in 2021 named the ANA Dealer of the Year. I have also received the Al Kreuzer Award from the National Coin and Bullion Association and the Sol Kaplan Award from the Professional Numismatists Guild for my efforts to stop counterfeit coin sales. I say this only for the purpose of establishing my credentials for the quality of our service. You should only buy precious metals from dealers who have been recognized as experts by their peers, so that you know they have the expertise to spot and reject counterfeit coin offers.
I am also on the Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force. Here’s an example of what we do. Recently we were warned about a website selling counterfeit coins. The site was offering a 38-piece American Silver Eagle NGC MS69 set of all dates (1986-2022). The website included the name of a prominent dealer, who did not give the advertiser permission to use their company name. The coins in question and the NGC holders were counterfeit as the set was being offered at below silver spot price and at a fraction of what a genuine set of MS69 gem coins would cost. The site has now been removed, probably due to our actions.
In another example, I recently examined a set of American Silver Eagle coins for the family of a deceased pastor in our area. All of the coins were counterfeits, containing no silver. This was a pastor without much money to invest. There has to be a special place in hell for those who rip off a pastor’s family.
When investing, stick with someone who knows how to spot and reject any counterfeit products.
- Part 1 of my award-winning article is below.
China Continues to Profit from Counterfeit Culture that Jeopardizes Safety and Economy
Despite assurances that it would crack down on counterfeit goods and intellectual property flowing from its country, the Chinese Communist regime continues to reap billions from the sale of fake merchandise and it’s now affecting an area of the U.S. economy that many wouldn’t suspect.
Multiple studies have shown that little appears to significantly stem the tidal wave of bogus goods leaving on cargo ships each and every day from any number of Chinese ports of call or by mail. While most of the public focus has been on tennis shoes, luxury watches, handbags, clothes, cosmetics, cell phones, and computer software, there has also been what some consider a direct attack on the financial markets through the numismatic industry.
In the past few years, I have reviewed several customers’ coin collections and sadly detected one or more counterfeit coins. In one instance, the majority of one person’s collection consisted of counterfeit-proof Buffalo one-ounce gold coins, with all coins appearing in what looked like genuine NGC holders. The holders themselves were fraudulent.
Millions of normal circulating U.S. coins, such as quarters and half dollars, as well as bullion and rare collectible coins, have now been counterfeited by Chinese interests. More recently, U.S. law enforcement seized over a million dollars’ worth of counterfeit circulated George Washington quarters believed to have been made in China.
These Chinese counterfeit problems have been sporadically covered in the national press. Three examples:
- According to Forbes in 2018, counterfeiting is the largest criminal enterprise in the world, greater than illicit drugs or human trafficking. It’s expected to grow to $2.8 trillion by 2022, costing 5.4 million American jobs.
- In a 2016 interview for CBS Money Watch, titled “China’s Largest Export Boom: Fake Gold Coins,” Kathy Kristof interviewed experts, including me, on the proliferation of Chinese-made counterfeit coins being sold on the internet.
- Craig Crosby, founder of The Counterfeit Report, has detected millions of knockoffs sold online on eBay, Alibaba, Amazon, and Walmart. He notes that over 80 percent of all counterfeits are made in China.
Earlier this month, Major League Baseball (MLB) expanded its deal with Tencent, one of communist China’s largest tech companies, to live stream MLB games in China. This is the same company that helps to limit free speech of the Chinese people and, in a show of support for dictator Xi Jinping, created a mobile game—Clap for Xi Jinping: An Awesome Speech.
In highlighting MLB’s hypocrisy on human rights, the move came at the same time it pulled the All-Star Game from Atlanta and unbelievably moved it to more voting-restrictive and less-diverse Denver, because of a recent change in Georgia’s voting requirements that seems to help ensure more fair and secure elections.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on April 2 stated in a tweet, “Dear GOP: @MLB caves to pressure & moves draft & #AllStarGame out of Georgia on the same week they announce a deal with a company backed by the genocidal Communist Party of #China.”
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) also brought into question support of the 2022 Beijing Olympics by President Joe Biden, stating in a tweet, “Hey Joe Biden, you gonna boycott the Beijing Olympics because of mass genocide? Or are you just into hurting Atlanta small businesses that were planning on the all-star game?”
It’s well known that the online sales platform “Wish,” which sources most products from China, was rife with counterfeits, yet the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers accepted $36 million (less than LeBron James’s annual salary) to adorn the Lakers uniform with a large “Wish” logo for a three-year period. This comes from a league that seemingly discourages players or executives from criticizing Chinese humanitarian and labor practices or taking a stand against China’s authoritarian acts to usurp a democratic Hong Kong. Then there’s China’s alleged mistreatment of the Uyghur community.
Of course, the actions of the communist Chinese regime don’t reflect on the many fine Chinese Americans and their families, some of whom are my friends.
- Read Next Week’s Metals Market Report for Part 2
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