The Secret Currency
The Secret Currency
The Secret Currency
assets.stansberryresearch.com/static/the-secret-currency-6-355179.html
There's a "secret" investment behind some of the world's richest families... one that few
Americans know anything about.
It's beyond the reach of any government or corporation. And it's capable of producing
amazing results... In the past, this investment has delivered returns of 500% to
1,000%.
We call it the "secret currency." And today, I'm going to show you how to take advantage
of it personally.
The secret currency is a form of gold and silver. But it's not your typical precious metals
investment.
It has nothing to do with mining stocks, mutual funds, options, futures, or bullion.
Instead, it's a kind of currency used for centuries by many of the world's richest families.
But it's not old-fashioned or obsolete. Dozens of wealthy families are still using this
investment to both grow and safeguard their wealth. For example...
The Rothschilds (at one time, the wealthiest family in the world)
The Onassis family (Greek shipping magnate Aristotle married Jackie Kennedy after
JFK died)
The Hunt family of Texas (H.L. Hunt made his billions as an oil wildcatter)
The DuPonts (whose descendants today run the second-biggest chemical company
in the United States)
The Morgans (J.P. was one of the richest railroad men of the last 100 years)
The Adams family (famous for producing two U.S. presidents)
The Hopkins family (Johns gave money to build the university and the world-
famous hospital, which both bear his name in Baltimore)
The Green family (Hetty Green was once the wealthiest person in the world –
wealthier than Bill Gates today)
The royal Farouk family (which produced the last two kings of Egypt)
This investment is like regular gold and silver, only better – with the potential for much
higher returns.
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From 1972 to 1974, this investment rose 348%, according to an index that keeps
track of its market as a whole. At the same time, stocks dropped 34%, according to
the S&P 500 Index.
From 1976 to 1980, while the S&P 500 plummeted 35%, this investment realized
1,195% profits.
More recently, between 1987 and 1989, investors who took advantage of the secret
currency saw profits of 665%. Stocks, meanwhile, went on a roller coaster ride – up
and down dozens of times (sound familiar?) during this period.
The last time the Salomon Brothers brokerage firm included this vehicle in its annual
investment survey, the secret currency ranked No. 1 over the prior 20-year
span, with an annual return of 17.3%. In other words, it was the single most
profitable thing you could do with your money over those 20 years.
It beat stocks, bonds, ordinary gold and silver, artwork, diamonds, U.S. Treasury bills,
real estate, and oil, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.
You may think I'm exaggerating. If you're like most people, you've probably never heard
of this secret currency before. And no one else – including your broker – is likely to tell
you about it. Why should they? They don't stand to earn a dime from telling you to invest
in it.
But if this investment is good enough for the world's wealthiest families – the
Rothschilds, DuPonts, Morgans, Adamses, Hunts, etc. – it's good enough for you and me.
I want to show you how to make as much money as these folks have made – at least on a
percentage basis.
I believe you could more than double your money with this investment. The last time the
conditions were even close to this good (in 1987), investors made 665% profits on one
type of this secret currency.
These kinds of gains are possible all because of a glitch in the system, created by the U.S.
government. I'll get into all the details in a bit, but first let me explain why gold and silver
are the safest places for your money now...
For me, the starting point is always the same... What is certain? What is known? What can
we bank on? And is there an outstanding way to profit that nobody has already gobbled
up?
One thing we're certain of right now is that the Fed is going to do its best to prevent
deflation (falling prices). The Fed has repeatedly stated it will print money – as much as
necessary – to head that off. In an effort to calm any fears, the government has been as
explicit as possible that it would rather overshoot in this process.
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The obvious result is more paper dollars out there. And the next result is that a paper
dollar will be worthless. Consider this scenario... Say the supply of gold stays roughly the
same. But say the supply of dollars in the market increases dramatically. What should
happen? It should cost more paper dollars to buy an ounce of gold.
And that is exactly what's been happening. The gold price bottomed below $1,200 an
ounce in mid-2018. It has soared since then, hitting a new all-time high of more than
$2,000 an ounce in mid-2020. And while it has pulled back slightly in recent months, it's
still up dramatically from those 2018 lows.
The same is true for silver. The metal more than doubled from its 2020 low through its
2021 high.
Chances are, the Fed will be "fighting" this battle for a while. And therefore, chances are,
gold and silver will be an excellent place to profit from this fight in the years to come.
So I went looking for the best way to get into gold and silver right now... the way that will
give us significant upside potential, but will keep our downside risk limited. It's actually
hard to find...
We could own these precious metals outright. But if we're right in this Fed scenario, we'd
like a little more bang for our buck. We could buy gold and silver futures, but they're risky
– why risk losing more than our initial investment if we don't have to? The next logical
choice might be buying shares of mining companies like Newmont, but mining stocks are
risky, too. I had to dig deeper.
The secret currency is the super-safe way to get into gold and silver and still have big
upside potential...
To understand this investment and how it works, we have to back up a little bit...
Before 1933, gold literally was money... You could walk down the street with gold coins
jingling in your pocket. After 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt actually made it
illegal for U.S. citizens to own gold or gold coins, upsetting two centuries of stable
money...
For most of the 200 years before that point (going back to England), an ounce of gold was
worth $20.67. Major governments had actually committed to giving you gold for paper
money if you demanded it.
FDR changed all that. A month into his new presidency, he ordered all U.S. citizens to
immediately exchange all their gold for paper money. His next move was to issue an
executive order raising the price of gold from $20.67 to $35, which devalued the U.S.
dollar by 41%. In essence, any savings U.S. citizens had were now worth nearly 41% less,
by government decree.
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Americans were forced to liquidate their investment holdings. Those who failed to do so
faced a 10-year jail term, a $10,000 fine, plus a penalty of twice their investment's value.
This glitch in the gold system lasted 41 years. Americans were not allowed to invest in
gold coins again until December 31, 1974, when President Ford finally re-legalized it.
Now, 88 short years after FDR trashed the gold standard, we've seen the value of the U.S.
dollar decline by more than 95%.
Today, our government wants to pull off what FDR did. It wants to squeeze out of a rough
economic period by creating massive inflation. The massive devaluation of the dollar
worked for FDR – industrial production rose by 60%, and unemployment fell from 25% to
14% from 1933 to 1937. Our current government plans to do the same, devaluing our
money to stimulate the economy. We can sit back and watch, or we can take advantage of
the glitch and pocket gains of 100% or more...
Before you dismiss this idea, remember that this is an investment the most powerful and
wealthy families in the world have used for generations.
But it's not just any coins I want to show you how to invest in... It's a very specific group of
gold coins.
Let me explain...
Before Franklin Delano Roosevelt, there was Teddy. Teddy had a thing for coins. He
passionately hated America's coins, calling them "artistically of atrocious hideousness."
America had become the most powerful nation on Earth. And the President felt that our
most valuable coins should be a reflection of our status. So he sought out the foremost
sculptor of the day, Augustus Saint-Gaudens...
Though in poor health, Saint-Gaudens delivered. He designed the gallant $20 "Double
Eagle" gold piece, a design that today is nearly unanimously considered the most beautiful
coin of all time. It was Saint-Gaudens' last work. He died and never saw the fruits of his
labor.
The coins were minted from 1907 until 1933, when Teddy Roosevelt's cousin Franklin
Delano Roosevelt made it illegal for individuals to own gold and melted down many of
these gorgeous coins.
While the entire 1933 series of Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles was supposedly destroyed by
FDR, 10 of the coins somehow sneaked out of the mint. Over the years, nine have been
recovered and destroyed by the Secret Service. The government seized the 10th coin in
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New York and made arrests, but the government's case fell apart and a compromise was
met. The coin would be auctioned, with the proceeds split half and half between the
government and the other party. This 1933 Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle sold for
$7,590,000, the highest price ever paid for a coin.
A pre-1933 Saint-Gaudens $20 gold piece would have an intrinsic value of just a little less
than the price of an ounce of gold, simply because it contains nearly an ounce of gold.
Of course, coin enthusiasts will always pay more than meltdown value for Saint-Gaudens
$20 gold pieces – as they are considered to be the most beautiful coins in the world. But
right now, we can own a piece of history, and we can own real money with real gold, for a
small premium over the meltdown value.
When it comes to the coin industry, I turn to Van Simmons and David Hall. They are two
of the smartest gold and silver coin investors I've ever met. Van and David have been
buying and selling gold and silver coins (including "secret currency" coins) for more than
40 years. They know how the markets work and the best coins to buy. Longtime
Stansberry Research readers have probably heard Van's reasons for adding rare coins to
an investment portfolio...
First, these coins represent an "island of safety" from currency fluctuations. Their
intrinsic value and desirability are not dependent on what's going on with the dollar, the
euro, or any other individual currencies. They're also salable in almost any place on Earth
in a wide range of currencies, as opposed to many traditional assets that are denominated
in dollars.
A second benefit is anonymity. Rare coins are a way to hold some of your wealth without
showing up on Forbes' list of the wealthiest Americans. Things like real estate, stocks, and
bonds can be easily tracked. On the other hand, owning rare coins is a way of taking your
wealth out of view of almost anyone who wants to know what you own.
Third, unlike most other investments, rare coins are things that you can actually enjoy.
You can buy a rare coin, hold it in your hand, and enjoy the history of it.
Finally, rare coins are an anti-confiscation hedge. The last time gold ownership was illegal
in the United States (1933-1975), holding rare gold and silver coins was not illegal. Even
FDR, with all his power at the height of the Depression, did not make rare coin ownership
illegal.
In 1986, David and Van co-founded a business called "PCGS"... or the Professional Coin
Grading Service. This service revolutionized the coin industry. It made coin prices
transparent.
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They hired rare-coin experts and asked them to grade billions of dollars' worth of coins.
After grading the coins, the experts sealed them in airtight plastic wallets. The plastic
wallet acted like a guarantee of authenticity. Novice investors could trade coins with other
novice investors without knowing anything about coin grading. PCGS became a very
successful business... and today it's the top grading service in the world.
"With modest investment in the right coins in the early 1970s you could cash out and buy
a house by 1980, and many did." – David Hall, founder, Collectors Universe
Rare coins have experienced a few roaring bull markets since gold ownership became
legal again. Coin prices (as measured by the CU 3000 Index) were up 1,195% in the 1976-
1980 bull market in coins. In other words, a $10,000 investment would have risen to
$129,500 in value.
In the 1987-1989 bull market, coin prices (as measured by the CU 3000 Index) rose by
665%. Coins like the Saint-Gaudens in pristine "Mint State" condition – coins graded
"MS65" by the Professional Coin Grading Service ("PCGS") – were big winners.
Then in 1989, the bottom fell out. Coins were in a horrendous bear market for the next 14
years, which brought the Saint-Gaudens to ridiculous bargain levels. As you can imagine,
after 14 years of misery, there were a lot of bitter people in the coin business. After 14
years of people getting burned, it reached the point where "investor" was a dirty word...
That's why a few years ago, I flew out to visit the headquarters of the largest coin dealer in
America and stated my intentions... to learn about its business as a potential coin investor
and to possibly tell thousands of potential investors about it. The dealer wouldn't see me.
The next week, I went to one of the country's major coin shows, and again I approached
the same coin dealer, again genuinely stating my intentions to invest in coins. Yet again,
he wouldn't see me as an "investor." How ridiculous is that?
The Market That Got So Bad, the FTC Won't Let You Call It an Investment
After the market skyrocketed to its peak in 1989, a bunch of unscrupulous operators
entered the coin business, talking about coins as a "can't-lose investment," promising high
returns, even guaranteeing profits, and fleecing lots of people in the process. The Federal
Trade Commission ("FTC") stepped in, put a halt to the scammers, and the bottom fell out
of the market. The FTC was extremely active in shutting down dirty operators in 1992 and
1993.
By 1994, just five years after their peak, coin prices were down about 80%. The bad taste
in people's mouths lingers. The FTC has put out a guide to investing in coins to help
protect you. You can find it here.
Today, the politically correct lingo is "collector/investor." But I'm not interested in
collecting, at least not yet...
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Our Investment Prospects
When it comes to gold coins, there are basically two types... rare ones and common ones.
The common gold coins are called "bullion coins" because a one-ounce gold bullion coin
generally sells at about the same price (or at a small premium to) an ounce of gold.
Famous bullion coins include South African Krugerrands and Canadian Maple Leafs.
The rare gold coins are called "numismatic coins." These coins trade based on their
rarity, scarcity, and collector demand. This means a rare and highly prized one-ounce gold
coin can easily fetch at least tens of thousands of dollars more than the price of ordinary
bullion.
Then there is a third type of gold coin... The "hybrid coin," I call it. And this is what I
like. These coins have characteristics of both bullion and numismatic coins, but they're
not really either. The typical Saint-Gaudens is a prime example of the hybrid...
Saint-Gaudens dating from 1924-1928, for example, have a high collectible value, yet they
are easy to buy and sell. Like bullion coins, there are enough of them to go around, plus
they contain just under an ounce of gold.
There are many ways to buy these coins. If they have been graded and sealed by the
grading service PCGS, it is OK to buy them sight unseen. So you can buy them through
your local dealer, or try your luck on eBay. (I typed "Gaudens" into eBay recently and
more than 1,000 items came up.)
The question is: What is the right price? There are many coin price guides out there. And
for each price guide, you'll find a wildly different price. Price guides fall into two
categories... "retail" price guides and "dealer" price guides.
"Retail" is the asking price, like what a car dealer would ask for a used car. "Retail" is
generally a pipe dream for a dealer... particularly when it comes to coins that are easy to
find, like the 1924-1928 Saint-Gaudens.
I'm willing to pay a 50% premium above the price of gold for the MS63s, 80% above the
price of gold for MS64s, and a 100% premium above the price of gold for the MS65s. You
can find the current price of gold on www.kitco.com. Look for "live spot gold" on the left.
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At the end of this report, I've provided a list of dealers you can buy these coins from.
Remember: Don't pay more than the "buy up to" price.
That's how much silver dollars soared in the coin bull market from 1976 to 1980,
according to David Hall in his 1987 book A Mercenary's Guide to the Rare Coin Market.
The thing is, these weren't any old silver dollars. These were silver dollars in MS65
grade... These were "secret currency" coins.
The market for silver dollars in MS65 corrected from 1980 to 1982. These coins soared
again from 1982 to 1985 – rising 188.6%.
I spoke with David and his right-hand man, Van Simmons, about Morgan silver dollars in
MS65 grade. They said the Morgan dollar is "without question the world's most popular
coin."
Van told me that by 1986-1987, his cost – dealer cost – on these particular coins was
near $1,000 per coin. That was more than three decades!
Today, astoundingly, these coins retail for less than $200! Meanwhile, the price of silver
is up dramatically from where it was in the late 1980s.
In short, I believe the upside potential on these coins is astounding. You've seen how
volatile they can be. But what you haven't seen yet is how cheap these coins are now...
The story is simple: The price of silver has soared. But the price of Morgan silver
dollars in MS65 grade has barely budged.
Since 2004, the price of silver has more than doubled. But MS65 Morgan silver dollars are
roughly flat since then. That makes today's premium one of the lowest in history...
Today, premiums to the price of silver are around 500% on MS65 coins. That's less than
half of what they demanded during most of the 1990s and early 2000s when no one was
interested in precious metals.
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And the story is similar for lower-graded MS64 Morgan dollars. Their premiums sit
around 200%. Once again, that's roughly half of the premiums we saw in the 1990s and
early 2000s.
The MS64-graded Morgan dollars trade near our buy-up-to price today. Be patient and
look to pick them up below these levels when you buy.
I believe these coins will make a great addition to your portfolio when they trade for less
than our buy-up-to prices.
I first recommended buying gold coins in my True Wealth newsletter back in June 2003. I
recommended three different coins... All of them more than doubled in the time they were
on our recommended list.
In the January 2010 issue, I recommended selling all of our coins. The price of gold had
hit its all-time high between the previous issue and that one. We caught the peak and sold
as a downtrend started.
I summed my thoughts up in that issue: "I bought when [gold] was cheap and ignored.
And I'm selling when gold is up hundreds of percent and it is popular. Sell your gold
coins now, while the gold market is hot enough to sell into."
Our timing was right. Gold coins like the ones I recommended fell 20%-25% soon after.
In the October 2010 issue, we added the MS65 Saint-Gaudens to our model portfolio.
Our upside potential is substantial – and historically, rare coins have soared in gold bull
markets.
What does that mean for new readers? Well, as I write, the prices of these coins have
fallen back below the "buy-up-to" prices you'll find in this report. That means they're good
values, given today's gold price.
The same is true for the MS65 Morgan silver dollars, which we added to the True
Wealth portfolio in September 2013.
9/12
The premium on these coins has fallen to record lows in recent years, and it's only now
starting to recover. Relative to the current price of silver, the Morgan silver dollars I've
listed in the table above are an excellent value, and they will make for great buys when
they trade within our price range.
My most recent recommendation was for the MS64 Saint-Gaudens in the November
2017 issue of True Wealth. The story I told then continues to be true today. And I think
these coins are an incredible long-term opportunity.
If the dollar continues to lose value in the long run, the gold price should rise
dramatically. That means the value of the Saint-Gaudens "hybrid" coins I describe in this
report could skyrocket.
We also have massive upside potential thanks to the incredible opportunity in silver coins.
Triple-digit returns are possible in the MS64 Morgan dollars.
Gold rises in times of fear, the old saying goes. And it is true. But how exactly do you
measure fear? It's tough because fear is not rational. However, right now there is an
outstanding (and rational) reason for the price of gold to continue rising for a long period
of time. It has nothing to do with fear. It's simple. It could lead to extraordinary profits.
And I'll share it with you today.
Most gold writers push the fear buttons... "The world is going to hell in a handbasket –
you'd better own some gold," they say.
I try to stay out of the fear crowd. I'm agnostic when it comes to investments... I don't love
gold or stocks. I just want a good buy. And right now, there is an excellent rational reason
to buy gold. You can leave fear out of it.
Gold is attractive now because it's attractive... fear or no fear. Let me explain...
Gold pays no interest. It's just a lump of metal. So if the bank is paying you 7% interest on
your cash, then chances are, you'll prefer to have your money in the bank. It makes
sense... because due to compound interest, in 10 years you'd have doubled your money in
the bank. But if you'd held gold instead, you'd still have the same lump of metal.
But consider this... Imagine if the bank was paying zero-percent interest... Which is more
attractive then, paper dollars or gold? In this case, both pay no interest. And in this case, a
rational investor would choose gold. The gold is still the same lump of metal, but a
government could print money and make the paper money worthless. It can't print gold.
10/12
Money flows where it's treated best. If interest rates are high, then gold does poorly, as
money flows where it's treated well. If interest rates are low or zero, then money flows
toward gold. Gold can't compete with high interest rates. But it is extremely competitive
with zero-percent interest.
"But wait," you say, "How did gold run from $100 to $800 in the late 1970s?"
If you're just looking at the current interest rate, you're not getting the whole picture. You
have to consider inflation as well, to get to the "real" interest rate. For example, banks
might pay you 1% interest. But inflation may be 2%. So the "real" interest rate – the
interest rate AFTER inflation – would actually be negative 1%. And that explains it all...
Right now, investors lose money to inflation by putting it in the bank. When faced with
negative 1% interest in cash, or 0% interest in gold, the smart money is choosing to get out
of cash and into gold. Back in 1979, short-term interest rates were 8%, but inflation was
13%. That means your "real" return was negative 5% a year on your cash. Gold went from
$100 to $800 in no time. Then, at the end of the decade, Fed Chairman Paul Volker drove
short-term interest rates through the roof. By 1981, short-term interest rates were 15%,
and inflation was back into the single digits. That means investors got an outstanding
"real" return on their money... and gold tanked, back into the $300-plus range by 1982.
Back in the 1970s, the "real" return on cash (the return after inflation) was negative. So
money flowed out of cash and into gold. Today, for the first time since the late 1970s,
we're seeing the same thing. The "real" return on cash is negative.
As part of my investigation of this work, I have actually become very good friends with the
No. 1 dealer of "secret currency" in the United States, Van Simmons. I've even taken my
family to visit his family.
Keep in mind – I get nothing for recommending Van. But I wanted to point this out
because he will always ensure that you get a great deal. You can contact him here:
Van Simmons
David Hall Rare Coins
P.O. Box 27190
Santa Ana, CA 92799
Phone: 800-759-7575 or 949-567-1325
E-mail: info@davidhall.com
11/12
You can also get great deals from Dana Samuelson and his team at American Gold
Exchange and Rich Checkan at Asset Strategies International. You can simply call them
up, tell them you are one of my readers, and explain what you want to do.
Rich Checkan
Asset Strategies International
1700 Rockville Pike, Suite 400
Rockville, MD 20852
Phone: 800-831-0007 or 301-881-8600
Fax: 301-881-1936
E-mail: rcheckan@assetstrategies.com
I've been working with all of these dealers for several years now, and they have all treated
my subscribers well.
Again, I do not receive any compensation for recommending these guys. They all have
good reputations and decades of experience.
Gold and silver coins are an excellent value right now... but not just any coins. The "secret
currency" ones – the "hybrid" coins – are the coins that I believe have the lowest
downside risk and the most upside potential.
Your best bets are Saint-Gaudens gold coins and Morgan silver dollars – both in MS64 or
MS65 grade.
Make sure you take advantage of today's incredibly low premiums... Don't miss out!
Steve Sjuggerud
12/12