Six years after the first release of our renowned Alliance Coin & Banknote Silver Round, we are thrilled to announce the impending unveiling of an historic, and strictly-limited, new commemorative issue.
October 17th, 12:01am
Author Archives: Alliance Coin & Banknote
Staggering once again for our 4-legged companions!
I am delighted to once again be serving as Grand Parade Marshall for this year’s Almonte Zombie Walk For Hunger, benefiting our local Food Bank, as well as both the Soi Dog (Rescue) Foundation and the Country Cat Sanctuary.
Saturday, October 27th, at the Almonte Arena
Registration from 1:00 to 2:00pm
Please join us for this short but fun stumble through town, and help us support these great organizations!
www.facebook.com/almontezombiewalk
Note: for non-locals who may not get the “inside joke” conveyed in my poster this year – we have just had the pleasure of having a Hallmark Christmas film shot in Almonte over the past month or so, directed by the iconic Megan Follows, A.K.A. the one and only original “Anne of Green Gables”. Notwithstanding the very spectacle of having a crew of 50 filming constantly throughout town for three weeks, I think we all were far more excited about Mrs. Follows’ presence among us!
The Silver Krugerrand – A bullion coin 50 years in the waiting!
When the South African mint first issued the one ounce Gold “Krugerrand” in 1967, it was very much a watershed moment in the evolution of the global bullion market. With a diameter of 32.77 mm, and gross weight of 33.93 grams of 22 Karat Gold (net gold content, therefore, of one troy ounce), the coin depicted the African springbok on the reverse, with obverse portrait of the Boer statesman Paul Kruger.
The timing for the Krugerrand’s introduction was ideal. Not only did it stand alone for years as the world’s only available one-ounce bullion issue, it was not until January, 1975 that United States citizens could legally own gold in bullion form. Thus, not only was there zero competition in any form from the American economic juggernaut, but these two factors combined to create a very keen appetite for the Krugers in North America.
Undoubtedly good quantities of the coin found their way into the U.S. covertly during this ownership prohibition, but when the floodgates opened in 1975, an estimated 22 million gold Krugerrands (or 822 tons of Gold!) were imported into the country in the ensuing decade. Ironically, this flow suffered a strangle-hold in 1985 as the United States (and other countries) prohibited the importation of the South African gold coins due to their relation with the apartheid regime of the time.
By this point, however, there was already new competition on the horizon with Canada’s own gold Maple Leaf in 1979, among others. Even into 1980, however, the Krugerrand commanded a remarkable 90% of the world’s gold bullion coin market. Domestically, the Krugerrand still enjoys a loyal following in Canada to this day, however it now sits at a pricing disadvantage under our federal HST legislation, which – due to its non-pure 22K status, compared to our Maple Leaf’s .999 fineness – causes it to attract sales tax when sold within Canadian borders.
The Krugerrand would undergo a modest evolution over the years, with the introduction of fractional sizes beginning in 1980, as well as the availability of frosted Proof strikings for collectors. As both a collector and dealer, however, one prolonged “missing link” in the extension of this classic issue continued to both disappoint and perplex me: namely, the availability of a Silver Krugerrand. Sure, I have a Sterling Silver “10th anniversary” Kruger I bought from some direct-marketing flyer in 1977, but it’s a smaller, paler reflection of the noble coin that should have joined the current myriad of world Silver bullion coins decades ago.
Now, however, the wait and lamenting is finally over. After my muted excitement at the introduction of a Silver Kruger in 2017 – only to discover it was an extremely expensive “collector” strike that few could afford – the noble 2018 Silver Krugerrand has finally been released to the masses of appreciative collectors and investors.
Sure, it may have taken half a century to materialize after the first introduction of its golden parent, however – as is very often the case – good things are truly worth waiting for.
Get Yours from Alliance Coin
We are delighted to have received an initial shipment of the brand new South African .999 fine Silver Krugerrands, and invite you to add one (or more!) to your collection at just:
$23. each (tax-exempt) OR
$26. each, inclusive of postage to anywhere in North America
88 Mill Street, Almonte, Ontario, Canada K0A 1A0
Tel. 613-256-6785 | Visit our website
The Return of Our “Weird & Wonderful” Sales!!
We are delighted to announce our next offering of interesting medals, tokens and related oddities on eBay, scheduled to launch at midnight this coming Sunday, October 14th.
Look us up under our eBay user name “Alliancecoin” or jump right in on our eBay auction page Alliance Coin.
Sean Isaacs
Alliance Coin sponsors a team in the 2018 Mongol Rally
We’re really delighted to be sponsoring one of the young and crazy teams taking part in this year’s Mongol Rally. This motoring event, which lasts all summer, sees 200+ teams drive ludicrous and ludicrously under powered cars from western Europe to Ulan Ude, Russia (some 25,000km), raising money for charity on the way. All teams raise funds for Cool Earth, as well as charities important to the individual teams.
Team Shenlong is made up of four great guys: Oliver Barber (from Almonte, our local rep on the team!), Markus (German), Grayson and Seth (both Canadian). They’ve identified three additional charities that their fundraising goal will support:
- Streetkids International e.V.
- Taiwan Fund for Children and Families
- British Columbia Schizophrenia Society
They’ve promised to keep an eye out for cool coinage on their route, of course!
If you’re interested to follow along, here are the coordinates for Team Shenlong:
https://www.facebook.com/teamshenlong/
http://teamshenlong.com/
Auction 2018 an enjoyable success!
On June 10th, 2018 we held our second live public coin auction, once again from the floor of Almonte’s venerable Old Town Hall.
With 52 registered bidders and an overall sell rate of approximately 90%, this offering of more than 600 diverse lots attracted a good crowd, and by all accounts, an enjoyable time was had by all.
Auction Catalogue
Highlights of our sale included a lovely “Queen Mary” Five Dollar note of 1924, which sold for $6,000 in spirited bidding, while the nod for “most active lot” went to a very scarce 1939 Royal Visit presentation medal to a member of the Queen’s R.C.M.P. escort, which also included an excessively rare embossed luncheon napkin from the visit. With a pre-sale estimate of $150, this historically significant pair of items found a new home at $450.
Our sincere thanks go out to all who participated in our sale, as well as to David Giles for once again serving as our auctioneer, and to Foil Media for their fine work in designing our online auction template and print-catalogue production interface.
We look forward to hosting our third sale in 2019, and will strive to have our printed catalogues available in much better timing.
An Unprecedented Silver Offering!
We are delighted to announce our acquisition of the largest inventory of pure Silver bars in the 18-year history of Alliance Coin & Banknote.
Goliath
Weighing in at 280 pounds, this superb inventory features an excellent variety of investment material, including One, Ten, Fifty and One Hundred ounce bars, together with “Goliath” – the most remarkable 1,000 oz bar I have seen in all my years of dealing.
Also available are several hundred pristine Silver rounds, including almost 200 fresh Silver United States Eagles.
We will be offering this material, first-come, first-serve, at prices less than our normal replacement costs.
Starting this Friday, July 13th, 2018 don’t miss this unprecedented opportunity to stock up on investment Silver from this remarkable $100,000 inventory.
Contact Alliance Coin & Banknote
