| 09/29/2023 5:30 AM Current Market Spot Prices: | Gold: $1,873.02/ozt | Silver: $23.07/ozt | Platinum: $933.98/ozt | Palladium: $1,316.00/ozt |
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
The 1954 Devil's Face Banknote Series
As many of you may already know, KMG Gold does more than just recycle your precious metals; we also purchase old coins and banknotes. One of KMG Gold's most recent acquisitions is a 1954 Canada Ten Dollar Devil's Face banknote, a very popular item among collectors. The banknote features Queen Elizabeth II and what some people say appears to be the devil's face in her hair (on the right side of her head). As soon as these banknotes began circulating in 1954 (in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $1000), someone immediately noticed the apparent demonic face in the Queen's hair and the banknotes became an instant controversy.
As you might suspect, accusations flew and many people were accused of pulling a prank. The first suspect was the designer of the bills, George Gunderson.
In 1952, the Bank of Canada commissioned Gunderson, of the British American Bank Note Company, to design the issue of banknotes for 1954. However, Gunderson claimed he was merely working from a photograph taken by the Her Majesty's official photographer, Peter-Dirk Uys.Fingers were also pointed at pranksters who worked at the Bank of Canada as well as at French-Canadian nationalists and IRA supporters. But the lack of proof caused the scandal to fade and Gunderson fixed the banknotes by simply darkening the Queen's hair and removing the sh
ading that looked like a face.New bills were printed and put into circulation while the so-called devil's face banknotes were pulled from banks and stamped with CANCELLED on the front and back, along with the stamp of the institution that cancelled it on the back.
The bill that KMG Gold acquired was the $10 banknote. Only 7,200 of these bills were printed and one in perfect condition can actually fetch you up to $4,000! The bill that we have, and that we're selling, has been circulated and certainly isn't in perfect condition. Regardless, this bill is quite the addition for a numismatic collection and we're selling ours for the (relatively!) low price of only $19.95.
If you want to come in to our Academy Road location to take a look at this neat piece of history, we'd be happy to show you! And if you're interested in purchasing it, you can give us a call at 1-800-468-2220 to have it set aside for you or simply order it online here.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...
...around the KMG Gold office in Winnipeg! Thankfully the weather hasn't quite turned Winnipeg into a winter wonderland just yet but that hasn't stopped us from getting into the Christmas spirit around here. 
Our newest gold buyer Lindy loves to decorate the office for all the major holidays and Christmas isn't any different. You may have seen her flare for decorating if you stopped by the office in October and saw what she did for Halloween. She got out the KMG Christmas tree (prelit, thank goodness!) and trimmed it with shimmering ornaments, bows and candy canes. And if you stop by, we promise we'll let you choose a candy cane from the tree!
With winter coming we also wanted to share our newest promotions with you. If you've visited the store lately, you might have noticed the green sheet of paper attached to your receipt inviting you to like us on Facebook and write us a review about how your experience was. Everyone who shares their experience with us on the KMG Facebook page will be entered in a draw to win a $100 VISA giftcard!
The other promotion that we have going on is our monthly draw. For November we've partnered up with Just Breathe Aesthetics and we're inviting you to enter our in-store draw to win a $25 giftcard from the spa/salon. Take our word for it, it's a very relaxing place to get pampered and we strongly recommend their manicures and polish selection!
Stay tuned for more exciting holiday news as we get into December and don't forget to check our Facebook page for the latest updates and promotions around KMG Gold!
Our newest gold buyer Lindy loves to decorate the office for all the major holidays and Christmas isn't any different. You may have seen her flare for decorating if you stopped by the office in October and saw what she did for Halloween. She got out the KMG Christmas tree (prelit, thank goodness!) and trimmed it with shimmering ornaments, bows and candy canes. And if you stop by, we promise we'll let you choose a candy cane from the tree!
With winter coming we also wanted to share our newest promotions with you. If you've visited the store lately, you might have noticed the green sheet of paper attached to your receipt inviting you to like us on Facebook and write us a review about how your experience was. Everyone who shares their experience with us on the KMG Facebook page will be entered in a draw to win a $100 VISA giftcard!
The other promotion that we have going on is our monthly draw. For November we've partnered up with Just Breathe Aesthetics and we're inviting you to enter our in-store draw to win a $25 giftcard from the spa/salon. Take our word for it, it's a very relaxing place to get pampered and we strongly recommend their manicures and polish selection!
Stay tuned for more exciting holiday news as we get into December and don't forget to check our Facebook page for the latest updates and promotions around KMG Gold!
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
World Kindness Day
With November 13 marking World Kindness Day, we thought we'd share a little about what KMG Gold does to make the world a little more kind.KMG strives to donate to a lot of great charities because we truly believe in the importance of giving back to our community and making it a stronger, better place to live in. If you follow our blog, you'll remember that in the summer we supported a local soccer team who made it to the finals! But with the ending of the summer and soccer season, we started looking for new ways to give back.
One of our more recent community service ventures was donating a real gold bar to the Special Olympics' Gold Gala on October 25, an event that celebrated the athletes and the people who support them. While we weren't able to make it out to the event itself, the pictures looked fantastic and we're sure that whoever won the silent auction for the KMG gold bar was as excited about it as we were!
Our most recent charity venture is Movember. You've probably noticed the spike in men with moustaches in November and maybe wondered what it was all about. Well, it's called Movember (moustache + November = movember!) and men grow the biggest and best moustaches they can while raising money that goes to supporting men's health. Men usually take pictures of themselves throughout the process (we've been posting ours on the KMG Facebook page) and friends, coworkers and family members donate money to support them. You can donate with cash or a cheque but a lot of people find it easier and more convenient to simply visit the participant's individual Movember page and donate online.
With all that said, our boss Mike decided (read: was persuaded by the office) to join Movember and see how much he could raise and how great of a moustache he could grow. You can visit his Movember page here, or visit the KMG Gold home page and click on the moustache pic to be directed to his personal page. We post weekly updates on the KMG Facebook page and you can expect a blog post at the end of the month with before and after pictures, along with the grand total of money he raised for this great cause.
To all of the men out there doing Movember, good luck! Send us your best moustache pictures and we'll post some of the best ones we receive!
Friday, November 08, 2013
Policy-Dependent Gold Prices
www.kmggold.com The U.S. Comex gold futures rallied 0.74 percent on Thursday but erased their gains on Wednesday, ending at $1,308.50. The Dollar Index jumped 0.45 percent to 80.845 on Thursday, rising 0.16 percent week-to-date.
The S&P 500 index was down 0.82 percent while the Euro Stoxx 50 Index was up 0.33 percent in the past two days. The S&P 500 plunged 1.32 percent while the Euro Stoxx 50 Index dropped 0.44 percent on Thursday.
Back to Stimulus Bets
The Q3 U.S. GDP climbed 2.8 percent annualized versus an expected 2.0 percent while the latest weekly jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 336,000. The stronger U.S. data caused both the stocks and gold prices to fall as the market became worried that the Fed will taper sooner than expected (March 2014).
Indeed, a recent study by SLJ Macro Partners found that the Fed policy explains 40 percent of the equity price changes. The stronger U.S. growth data overshadowed the cut in interest rate of 0.25 percent by the ECB in order to combat a low inflation rate of 0.70 percent in October. The ECB is likely to continue its accommodative monetary policy as the Euro-economies remain fragile.
In China, exports rose 5.6 percent year-on-year in October compared to a median forecast of 1.7 percent, leading to the biggest monthly trade surplus of $31.1 billion for this year and likely reflecting the U.S. recovery.
Central Bank Gold Actions
A study by Precious Metals Insights revealed that China has likely added 300 metric tons of gold in the first six months of 2013 against a global gold production of about 2,700 tonnes. The Chinese demand has helped to support gold prices this year when the price reached a 34-month low in June. While China added gold, Russia has reduced gold in September, and Mexico has continued to cut holdings.
The central banks are expected to add 350 tons of gold in 2013 versus 534.6 tons in 2012.
What to Watch
Starting 9 November, the Chinese Communist Party will meet for four days discussing further economic reforms. We will also watch the October U.S. non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate on 8 November, the October CPI and industrial production on 9 November, the Eurogroup meeting on 11 November, the Q3 preliminary Japanese real GDP and the E17 September industrial production on 13 November, the Fed speech on 14 November as well as the E17 Q3 preliminary real GDP and the U.S. October industrial production on 15 November. www.kmggold.com
The S&P 500 index was down 0.82 percent while the Euro Stoxx 50 Index was up 0.33 percent in the past two days. The S&P 500 plunged 1.32 percent while the Euro Stoxx 50 Index dropped 0.44 percent on Thursday.
Back to Stimulus Bets
The Q3 U.S. GDP climbed 2.8 percent annualized versus an expected 2.0 percent while the latest weekly jobless claims declined by 9,000 to 336,000. The stronger U.S. data caused both the stocks and gold prices to fall as the market became worried that the Fed will taper sooner than expected (March 2014).
Indeed, a recent study by SLJ Macro Partners found that the Fed policy explains 40 percent of the equity price changes. The stronger U.S. growth data overshadowed the cut in interest rate of 0.25 percent by the ECB in order to combat a low inflation rate of 0.70 percent in October. The ECB is likely to continue its accommodative monetary policy as the Euro-economies remain fragile.
In China, exports rose 5.6 percent year-on-year in October compared to a median forecast of 1.7 percent, leading to the biggest monthly trade surplus of $31.1 billion for this year and likely reflecting the U.S. recovery.
Central Bank Gold Actions
A study by Precious Metals Insights revealed that China has likely added 300 metric tons of gold in the first six months of 2013 against a global gold production of about 2,700 tonnes. The Chinese demand has helped to support gold prices this year when the price reached a 34-month low in June. While China added gold, Russia has reduced gold in September, and Mexico has continued to cut holdings.
The central banks are expected to add 350 tons of gold in 2013 versus 534.6 tons in 2012.
What to Watch
Starting 9 November, the Chinese Communist Party will meet for four days discussing further economic reforms. We will also watch the October U.S. non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate on 8 November, the October CPI and industrial production on 9 November, the Eurogroup meeting on 11 November, the Q3 preliminary Japanese real GDP and the E17 September industrial production on 13 November, the Fed speech on 14 November as well as the E17 Q3 preliminary real GDP and the U.S. October industrial production on 15 November. www.kmggold.com
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Inside the KMG Coin Shop: The Swiss Franc
At the KMG Gold head office in Winnipeg, Manitoba, we try to curate a collection of coins that is both interesting and desirable to collectors. If you've visited our new ecommerce website recently and taken a peek around, you've probably noticed that we're expanding our coin and numismatic collection daily.While we have an impressive amount of Royal Canadian Mint coins for sale, we're also proud to offer a wide assortment of coins from around the globe. We find it very interesting to be able to look at different currencies from different countries and see how they're similar to, and different from, Canadian money!
We like a little excitement in the KMG Gold offices so we thought we'd share one of our coolest coin finds of the week, the Swiss franc. Called Rappen in German or centimes in French, these coins are among the world's oldest currency that is still valid today. The oldest coins, the 10 Rappen, date back to 1879 and are still
made of their original alloy of copper and nickel. In 1967, francs that circulated with face values of 1/2 franc to 5 francs changed in composition since their silver alloy was worth more than the face value of the coin!It's interesting that a Swiss Franc from 1879 looks identical to a modern day Swiss Franc (except for some wear and tear!). And each coin is still inscribed with the words Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name of the Swiss Confederation.
Each coin that exists is an interesting connection to history and KMG Gold is happy to offer a small selection of this interesting currency online and in-store.