At the recent Cambridge Mining Show in Vancouver they had one of these displayed,and as you can imagine,with plenty of security.
Jewellers, collecters snap up million-dollar gold coins
TIM NAUMETZ
CanWest News Service
The Royal Canadian Mint has sold five of its $1-million gold collector coins, and at least four of them are headed where the money is - to the West Coast.
Mysteriously, no precious-metal traders interviewed yesterday knew who bought the fifth coin, despite the industry's busy grapevine.
But as the mint and the dealers disclosed, a million bucks is just the face value of the 100-kilogram, 99.999-per-cent-pure gold coins.
The mint sold them for at least $2.3 million apiece based on market values - and their value will increase with buyer speculation, according to one of the traders.
A spokeswoman for the mint declined to disclose the names of the dealers who bought the precious pieces of bullion - which have yet to be made at the collector-coin-minting facilities on Sussex Drive in Ottawa.
But J & M Jewellery Ltd. of Vancouver confirmed it did purchase one - after paying the mint $175,000 down - but has already sold it to a wealthy buyer who remains anonymous.
J & M founder and owner Joseph Iorio said it's unlikely his secret customer is about to put it on display in the living room. "I don't think anyone would mount it anywhere," said Iorio.
Three of the remaining five coins - also still to be minted in Ottawa - are destined for California.
An official with A-Mark Precious Metals Inc. of Santa Monica, Calif., confirmed his firm bought three of the coins, but he would not discuss their fate.
Pam Aung Thin, head of communications at the mint, confirmed a total of five of the rare coins have been sold since the mint launched the line last May.
Risk of interception - no surprise here - will be top of mind when the coins are shipped.
"It's very tight security," Aung Thin said.
"I can't give you any more details than that. It involves a lot of planning and logistics."
The mint intends to print more coins only to meet new orders, she added. "We're not mass-producing these," she said.
So what kind of person buys a gold coin worth more than $2 million?
The first qualification is disposable wealth, says Iorio. The second may be ego.
"I guess they feel important," she said.
Canadian Paper Money
