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Gold Settles at $1,244 as Indications Emerge of a Shift Out of the Euro and Into Safer Assets -- Gold's surge to a record sparked speculation that central banks may be stepping up purchases of the precious metal.

Here's the story. A jury decided that a Philadelphia woman, Joan Langbord, who found the coins in her father's bank deposit box, never should have owned them, and that the U.S. government was right to take them back.

GREENEVILLE, TN — There’s gold in them thar hills — really.

Just ask IRS Agent Jack Bumgardner of the agency’s criminal investigations unit who last week dug up an estimated $200,000 or more in gold and silver coins in the Cherokee National Forest as part of an ongoing probe into the tax evasion scheme of Greeneville nurse anesthetist Edward K. Eastwood.

In the language of credit cards, “gold” has long been used to describe a certain level of benefits and consumer protections. Many banks issue Gold Visa or MasterCard credit cards, and American Express features a Gold card in its charge-card lineup.
Soon, “gold” will be used to describe a new type of credit card – but in more literal terms. The Gold Bullion credit card promises to be backed up by the value of your own gold bullion coins. Don’t have any? The company marketing the card can buy them for you at market rates.

In the week immediately after 9/11 rescue workers reported that all the vault were found open and left empty. On November 1st Mayor Giuliani came out and announced that it had been recovered… all $230 million of it. Just one problem According to Comex Metal Trading, at least $950 million was missing just from their company. Loose Change estimates it was more like $160 billion in gold missing.

Just when you thought your silver and gold coins were portable and outside of the realm of government intervention and scrutiny, we learn that the Transportation Security Administration may very well be starting to scrutinize possession of such coins if you travel through checkpoints, be they at airports or other public venues:

Gold Vending Machine!! Gold vending machine dispenses 24 karat coins and bars. Can dispense up to 250 grams in 1 gram increments.

Fake gold bars turn up in Manhattan. 10 tungsten filled gold bars have turned up. Another reason to buy bit coins.

It takes a lot to spook the solid old gold market. But when it emerged last week that one or more banks had lent 380 tonnes of gold to the Bank of International Settlements in return for foreign currencies, there was widespread surprise and confusion ....