18K Gold Retro Cufflinks with Rubies and Sapphires

18K Gold Retro Cufflinks with Rubies and Sapphires
Photo Credit: Bottom-Fisher Finds

18K Gold Retro Cufflinks with Rubies and Sapphires

Buy It Now Price: $684.95 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-These 1950s Retro cufflinks are beautifully crafted from textured 18 karat yellow gold and set with natural, untreated rubies and sapphires.

-Each cufflink measures 0.69 inches (17 mm) long by 0.44 inches (11 mm) wide, while the pair tip the scales at a hefty 9.5 grams (0.3054 troy ounces).

-Retro jewelry was popular from the late 1930s into the 1950s.  It was characterized by bright, bold looks, multi-colored gold and a willingness to forgo diamonds in order to experiment with less expensive gemstones (like citrines, aquamarines and topazes).

-The rubies and sapphires set in these cufflinks are undoubtedly completely natural, untreated stones.  We know this because the cufflinks were made in the late 1940s or early 1950s, before corundum treatments became widespread in the 1970s.  Furthermore, the inclusions (flaws) visible in the stones are absolutely typical of natural ruby/sapphire gems.

-Important jewelry designers and fashion houses showed a renewed interest in naturalism starting in the late 1940s.  This was notable because naturalism had long been neglected in the jewelry world up until that point – more or less since the abandonment of the Art Nouveau and Edwardian styles around 1910.

-These Retro cufflinks display extremely fine workmanship, an attribute that is harder to find in fine jewelry than you might suspect.  In addition, they are also quite heavy, indicating that the jeweler who created them did not skimp on the gold.

-Natural, untreated rubies and sapphires are extremely rare today.  Most of these gems are heat-treated, flux-filled, beryllium diffused, dyed or otherwise modified to improve their appearance.  It is estimated that less than 1% of gem quality ruby production remains completely untreated before being set in jewelry!

-This pair of retro cufflinks exhibit classic 1950s design.  They combine naturalistic flower motifs and matte-finish yellow gold with eye-catching colored gemstones to form an aesthetically cohesive whole.

-I estimate the weight of the rubies and sapphires set in the front of these Retro cufflinks at 0.20 carats each and the rubies set in the back at 0.13 carats each.  As a result, the total estimated carat weight of gems contained in the piece is a substantial 1.06 carats.

-I believe the intrinsic value of these cufflinks is around $291 for the gold (with gold trading at $1,300 an ounce) and $106 for the gems (at about $100 per carat, conservatively).  This gives a total scrap value of roughly $400, which means that the seller’s asking price of $685 is less than double the intrinsic value – quite a bargain in my opinion.

-These solid 18 karat gold Retro cufflinks would make a great addition to any gentleman’s formal wardrobe, while simultaneously being a great tangible investment.

 

Cons:

-These cufflinks are not hallmarked.  Instead, the metal fineness has been verified by the seller via an acid test.  However, there is nothing in the photos that would lead me to believe that this jewelry is anything other than solid 18 karat gold.  They really are incredibly well-made.

-The natural rubies and sapphires set in these Retro cufflinks are of good, but not the very highest, quality.  You can tell by the numerous flaws which are readily apparent in the stones.  However, these rubies and sapphires are still valuable because they are completely untreated – a rarity in today’s gem market.

 

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Sidestepping the Coming Pension Crisis

Sidestepping the Coming Pension Crisis

An enormous pension crisis is coming our way.  And it is likely to cause a seismic shift in how we view saving and investing.

I generally consider that to be a positive development.  However, the way we get there is bound to be ugly.  At this moment the looming pension crisis is like a distant storm on the horizon.  Many people know that it will arrive at some point.  Some even believe that it will be bad.

But few truly understand the magnitude of the pension disaster to come.

A pension is just a fancy way of saying that a company, financial institution or government will cut you a monthly check for the rest of your life once you reach retirement age.  Almost all pension plans manage large pools of assets that are used to pay out these benefits.  Under normal circumstances, these assets (usually stocks and bonds) grow in value over time, allowing the pension plan to keep up with its obligations.  This is referred to as being “fully funded”.

So far, so good, right?  Unfortunately, we aren’t living in financially normal times.  You see, many of the assets contained in pension plans these days are rather questionable.

For example, I recently read an article by financial commentator Wolf Richter titled “This Deal Shows How the Junk-Credit Market is Still Irrationally Exuberant“.  It details the sad story of a company called Asurion, which is borrowing $3.75 billion in the capital markets.

The problem is that Asurion is already highly levered.  It is rated B1 by Moody’s, which is deep in junk territory.  Furthermore, Moody’s considers the company’s borrowing binge to be “credit negative” – code for the strong possibility that it will downgrade Asurion in the near future.

The bad news doesn’t end there, though.  Asurion will not use the proceeds from the new debt to expand its business or buy another company.  Instead, it will use the entire $3.75 billion to issue a special dividend to its partial owner, a private equity firm.

If this sounds bad, it is because it is.  Asurion is already neck deep in debt.  Taking on more debt will not improve its chances for long-term survival.

But this is where things get interesting.  Asurion isn’t 100% owned by the private equity company mentioned above.  Instead, the private equity firm has cut some other “investors” (read: bag-holders) in on owning Asurion.  One of those investors just happens to be the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, which manages the Canadian equivalent of Social Security in the United States.

Oh, and Asurion’s business is selling extended warranties on cell phones, consumer electronics and home appliances – a superfluous service if ever there was one!

So here is what is going to happen.  In the next recession, the inevitable will occur and Asurion will go bankrupt.  The unfortunate equity owners (like the Canadian Pension Plan – indirectly the Canadian people) will get a goose egg.  Any holders of Asurion debt (mutual funds, other pension plans, etc.) will take a massive haircut, getting pennies on the dollar.

Oh, and if there is a God in heaven, Asurion will hopefully be liquidated in its bankruptcy, if for no other reason than so we can’t go through this demented financial rollercoaster again at some future date.

Now Asurion’s grim situation isn’t a one-off.  The corporate world has been borrowing hand-over-fist for the better part of a decade now.  When the financial storm finally hits, it will be unbelievably intense.

And regular people expecting their pension payouts will be at the center of this default hurricane.  And this doesn’t just apply to the minority of the population that still gets a defined-benefit pension from their private employer.  It is also going to hit millions of pension holders who work (or used to work) for state and local governments.

Even social security beneficiaries (which include nearly every American citizen over the age of 65) will feel the pinch of the pension crisis.  According to the Social Security Administration’s 2018 report, the Social Security Trust Fund will be fully depleted in 2034.

But once the looming pension crisis smashes into the economy, you can expect this drop dead date to arrive far sooner than anyone expects.  This is because the cratering economy will bleed a lot of jobs, driving down payroll tax collections that would have been used to fill the Trust Fund.  At that point, absent a substantial increase in payroll tax rates, Social Security will only be able to pay out 75% of its scheduled benefits.

And that brings us to the real crux of this article – how you can avoid the coming pension crisis.

I would direct your attention to the photo at the top of this post.  It shows a 5 troy ounce vintage silver bullion bar that I recently purchased from Etsy.  This classic, loaf-shaped bar is undoubtedly an older ingot from the 1960s.  In fact, it is possible that the “64” stamped on the lower left-hand corner of the bar is actually the last two digits of its date of manufacture – 1964.

If this is the case, this vintage silver bar would have been equivalent to almost $6.50 in U.S. silver certificates (before they ceased being convertible in 1968).

But the greatest thing about this beautiful vintage silver bar was its price – a mere $110, including shipping!

I find it amazing that you can still pick up gorgeous and desirable hard assets like this for so little money, while the financial “professionals” chase treacherous junk bonds.  $110 is less than the price of one share of Facebook ($148), Alibaba ($152) or Boeing ($356) stock.  And it is less than the price of a single token of the Maker ($450), Ethereum ($119) or Bitcoin Cash ($130) crypto-currencies.  And unlike these dubious assets (or your monthly benefit check), hard assets won’t collapse in value in the coming pension crisis.

 

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2018 Mexican Silver Libertad Reverse Proof Set

2018 Mexican Silver Libertad Reverse Proof Set
Photo Credit: APMEX

2018 Mexican Silver Libertad Reverse Proof Set

Buy It Now Price: $208.32 (price as of 2019; item no longer available)

Pros:

-This superb 2018 Mexican Silver Libertad reverse proof set contains two one troy ounce coins: a standard proof version and its highly coveted, reverse proof twin.

-Each of the one troy ounce Mexican Silver Libertads in this set measure an impressive 40.0 mm (1.57 inches) in diameter.

-The coins’ obverse bear the 10 historical Mexican coat of arms.  The reverse shows the winged Greek personification of victory, Nike, against the backdrop of the famous Mexican volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl.

-A proof coin is struck from specially prepared dies under ideal conditions.  This creates a nearly perfect coin that has a desirable cameo effect, consisting of frosted devices set against high-contrast, mirrored fields.

-The rendition of the goddess Nike on this Mexican Silver Libertad reverse proof set is based on the landmark Angel of Independence statue located in central Mexico City.  It is widely considered to be among the most beautiful coin designs currently in production anywhere in the world.

-Reverse proofs are relative newcomers to the numismatic world, having first come to prominence in the mid-2000s.  The dies of a reverse proof are treated in such a way that the traditional proof effect is reversed, with mirrored devices set against frosted fields.

-This Mexican Silver Libertad reverse proof set is limited to just 500 sets.  The overall mintage of 2018 proof Mexican Silver Libertads is correspondingly low, with a total mintage of 10,000 specimens for the standard proof coin and a mere 1,500 for the reverse proof version (inclusive of the 500 sited above).

-This Mexican Silver Libertad reverse proof set comes in its original brushed metal and hardwood Banco de Mexico case.  I have long felt that good packaging positively impacts the future investment performance of modern coins, and this stylish contemporary case is among the best.

-The mintage numbers of these attractive silver coins are ridiculously low for a modern proof coin.  As a point of reference, the popular U.S.-issued American silver Eagle coin has a 2018 proof mintage of around 500,000 specimens.

-This Mexican Silver Libertad reverse proof set is exclusively distributed through the well-known bullion dealer APMEX.  You cannot get this unique set from any other precious metal dealer.

-Given their incredibly low mintages, stunningly good looks and modest pricing, I believe that Mexican Silver Libertad proof sets – much like their Gold Libertad proof counterparts – offer a credible investment opportunity to today’s intelligent tangible asset investor.

 

Cons:

-This 2018 Mexican Silver Libertad reverse proof set only contains 2 troy ounces of silver, resulting in an intrinsic value of around $30 (with the spot price of silver hovering near $15 an ounce).  At a buy-it-now price of $208, this means the set has a very high premium over its melt value – almost 600%.  These are definitely collector-oriented coins, as opposed to pure bullion pieces.

 

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AMSEC Star Floor Safes – High Security on a Budget

AMSEC Star Floor Safes - High Security on a Budget

Most of us looking to secure high value items – like cash, jewelry or bullion – are also operating on a strict budget.

Floor safes are the natural solution to this conundrum.  These safes are installed directly in the concrete slab in your basement (or ground floor, if your house doesn’t have a basement).  Because they are encased in solid concrete, floor safes offer superlative security at a very reasonable cost.

But today I want to talk about a very specific floor safe – the AMSEC Star floor safe.  These floor safes are one of the world’s most secure residential safes.  They are a perfect choice for the homeowner looking for a high security safe at an affordable price.

Once installed, the door of a floor safe is the only part that is exposed.  So assuming proper installation, the security of a floor safe is commensurate with the security of its door.  Luckily, the AMSEC Star floor safe’s round, lift-out door is reminiscent of a miniature bank vault.

This is where AMSEC Star floor safes crush the competition.  Their round door is more or less a giant steel hockey puck that weighs in at an impressive 20 pounds (just over 9 kilos for our Canadian friends).  But in order to truly appreciate just how secure these masterpieces of the safe industry are, we must first understand how they are constructed.

AMSEC starts off with an ingot of tough, A36 steel that is machined into a solid cylinder approximately 7.5 inches wide by 1.75 inches thick.   A tiny hole is then drilled completely through the center of the door in order to accommodate the spindle, a narrow metal rod that connects the dial on the front of the door with the locking mechanism at the back.

A small, 3-inch diameter circle is then counter-bored partway into the rear of the safe head, centered on the spindle hole.  This excavated space is where the guts of the safe’s mechanical combination lock is installed.  Because it is on the back of the safe door, this area is not visible or accessible when the safe door is locked.

This unique construction explains why AMSEC advertises its Star floor safes as only being C-rate (which is defined as having a 1-inch thick steel door), even though most of the door is fully 1.75 inches thick.  In fact, out of the safe head’s total surface area of 44.2 square inches, only 7.1 square inches, or 16% of the safe door, is protected by the thinner, 1-inch thick layer of steel.  The other 84% of the safe door is a monolithic, 1.75-inch thick steel plug.

AMSEC Star Floor Safe Cutaway View

Photo Credit: AMSEC

But this technically-correct application of the C-rate burglary standard overlooks a multitude of mitigating factors that make AMSEC Star floor safes significantly more secure than their C-rate designation would imply.  In reality, AMSEC Star floor safes are comparable to free-standing TL-15 safes in terms of security, but at a fraction of the cost.

In order to illustrate this, let’s talk for a moment about how you would theoretically try to crack an AMSEC Star floor safe.

Attempting to intuit the lock combination via traditional, manipulation-style safe-cracking is futile.  Every AMSEC Star floor safe comes with a manipulation-resistant, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Group 2 mechanical lock.  Even better, this same lock used to carry the higher security, UL Group 1 certification.  It is a proven design that has been seasoned over many decades.  And although the lock no longer possesses the UL Group 1 listing, it is still made to the same technically demanding standards.

In other words, unless you are an internationally-renowned master safe-cracker, there is no way you are getting into an AMSEC Star floor safe in a reasonable amount of time by manipulating the lock.

Any attempt at prying the safe open is futile.  AMSEC Star floor safes have a solid, 1/2-inch thick steel collar that is engineered to accept the door with almost no play whatsoever.  This results in a gap between the precision-machined door and the tight-fitting collar of only a few hundredths of an inch – about 1 mm.  A burglar has no opportunity to even attempt a pry attack because it is impossible to fit a tool into this almost non-existent door gap.

Sledgehammer attacks are also doomed to failure.  This is because a sledgehammer attack relies on breaking the seams of the safe body or collapsing the door frame.  AMSEC Star floor safes have 1/4-inch thick, continuously welded steel bodies and robust, 1/2-thick solid steel frames and collars.  In addition, the body, frame and collar are all encased in hundreds of pounds of concrete during installation, providing even more protection.  As a result, all a sledgehammer attack will do is activate one or more of the safe’s relockers, making it even harder to open.

An enterprising burglar may attempt a drill attack.  This approach seems enticing when one considers that the lock mechanism is “only” protected by 1 inch of steel.  However, it is important to note that this is twice the steel thickness of a typical floor safe door.  Furthermore, there is a nasty surprise in store for anyone foolish enough to try to go through the “weak spot” of an AMSEC Star floor safe.

The entirety of the 3-inch diameter locking mechanism is protected by a circular, carburized hardplate.  A hardplate is a specially treated alloy plate that is specifically designed to defeat drilling or cutting attacks.  Hardplates from respected safe manufacturers like AMSEC typically sport a Rockwell hardness of 60 or greater.  This will shatter most conventional drill bits.

But the hardplate used in the AMSEC Star floor safe is special.  It employs a case-hardened disc that freely rotates on its central axis, which is the lock spindle.

This means that any cutting tool that penetrates through the 1 inch of overlaying steel to reach the hardplate will tend to skip endlessly across its spinning surface, rather than bite into it.  This turns the revolving energy inherent in almost all power tools malevolently against itself.  The central spindle is also highly drill and drive resistant, making it extremely difficult to disable the revolving hardplate.

Even if a criminal manages to somehow drill completely through the 1 inch of steel and the hardplate underneath it, there is a good chance that he will trip one or more of the independent steel relockers associated with each of the 3 locking bolts.  And once a relocker is tripped, brute force is the only realistic way into the safe.

A burglar who wisely opts to avoid the center of an AMSEC Star floor safe door is faced with the unenviable task of drilling or cutting through 1.75 inches of forged steel.  This is thicker than the E-rate security designation, which is defined as a safe door with 1.5 inches of steel.  From its inception in the 1950s until the early 1990s, the E-rate classification was synonymous with the UL TL-15 rating, which is a high security, commercial safe rating.

In addition to cutting through 1.75 inches of unforgiving solid steel, a burglar would also have to contend with his circular saw, demolition saw or angle grinder hitting the safe’s round collar (and the concrete behind it).  This is because the relatively small door of an AMSEC star floor safe is recessed approximately 1.5 inches below grade once installed.  The curvature of the 1/2-inch thick steel collar would tend to deflect the cutting blade, making it difficult to maintain a linear cut and dramatically increasing the safe-cracking time.

Honestly, if I were a burglar facing an AMSEC Star floor safe, I would avoid the safe door altogether and try to cut the safe out of the surrounding concrete.  I’m not alone in this sobering security assessment either.  An AMSEC executive who regularly posts on a popular gun enthusiast forum as “TheSafeGuy“, has this to say about AMSEC Star floor safes:

“They were the favorite safe for gas stations and car washes. Every Mobile gas station in the USA had a Star lift-out door safe in the office floor at one time.  Burglaries with these safes were unheard of because of the in-floor and tight-fit, lift-out door design.  The only successful burglaries involved digging them out of the concrete floor with heavy equipment.”

Of course, once a thief is reduced to tearing a floor safe out of the concrete in order to open it, you know the safe manufacturer has done a superlative job.  At this point, we’re talking about using loud, dangerous and exhausting tools, like heavy-duty demolition saws and jackhammers.

 

AMSEC Star Floor Safes for Sale on eBay

(This is an affiliate link for which I may be compensated)

 

Even then, the burglar had better hope that nobody comes home for several hours, because that is how long it will take him to finish the job.  And if you’ve had the foresight to “enhance” your concrete pour with steel rebar or mesh, a successful burglary will take even longer.

Most burglars simply won’t bother; the effort and risk involved are simply too great.  Couple this with the fact that floor safes are easily concealed and usually reside in a part of the house that criminals don’t explore (the basement), and you’ve got yourself the perfect high security safe at a reasonable price.

AMSEC Star floor safes come in two different body versions: a cylindrical body and a rectangular body.  The former are cheaper, but have less storage capacity.  The latter are more expensive, but provide more storage.

Prices for cylindrical Star floor safes start at just under $600 (for the C3 model, with 0.16 cubic feet of storage space) and top out at a little less than $750 (for the C7 model, with 0.45 cubic feet of space). They are perfect for valuables that don’t take up much room, like cash, junk silver, gold coins or other high value density items.

Rectangular body Star floor safes have prices that range from around $750 (for the B6 model, with 0.36 cubic feet of usable space) to a bit over $1,100 (for the B24, with 1.26 cubic feet of space).  I like these square body safes better, as they give you a lot more room to work with for only a modestly higher price.

All pricing is current as of January 2019.

A good rule of thumb is to always buy a safe that is substantially larger than you think you will need.  And this advice goes doubly for floor safes due to the difficulty of installation.  After all, if you find out a few years after buying one that you need more space, there is no easy (or cheap) way to remedy the situation.

As a final bonus, every AMSEC Star floor safe is made in the United States.  This is an important consideration because the build quality of imported safes – particularly those originating from China – is often suspect.  Both the material and build quality of domestically manufactured, U.S. made safes are invariably higher than that offered by cheap foreign imports.

About the only drawback that Star floor safes have is their relatively small, 7.25 inch diameter circular door opening.  If you need to store bulky or awkwardly shaped valuables, this is less than ideal.  In that case, it might be wise to cross-shop Hayman floor safes, which have a larger, rectangular door that can be upgraded to 1-inch thick or 1.5-inch thick steel for an additional fee.

Despite this one minor shortcoming, AMSEC Star floor safes are far superior in terms of security to any other C-rate floor safe on the market today.  In my opinion they are the best, most secure floor safe currently available in North America.  This is validated by the fact that the safe’s unique, round-door design has remained basically unchanged since its original development in the late 1940s.  Although any safe can be opened with the right tools and enough time, Star floor safes offer exceedingly high security for a surprisingly affordable price.

 

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