An E-Mail from a Worker at the Northwest Territorial Mint

This week, I wrote a MoneyandMarkets.com article, "Yes, We Have No Silver", about my experiences trying to buy physical silver. I mentioned the Northwest Territorial Mint. I just received a letter from one of the fine folks who works there. It reads ...

Hello Sean,

I read your article today speaking of the lack of silver in what is still the free market. I happen to work at the Northwest Territorial Mint. You are not kidding about people having trouble getting silver. I can tell you from first hand experience that we are working 10-12 hour days, and looking into starting another shift to keep up with the production of silver. It is selling faster than we can make it, that is when we get it in. Our crucible is running from about 3 AM to around 10 PM. As soon as we get any silver in it goes right out the door again. I have worked there a number of years and have never seen it so busy, nor seen us as strapped for silver.

But if you get the opportunity to mention that we do get the silver to our customers, as quickly as we can, plus that we are one of the few places that does have silver, we would appreciate it very much. Our bullion sales department is treated very harshly by many people who are calling to get silver and gold, who are understandably frustrated by the delay. The NWTM has a long history of making good on our sales, and will remain to be a great source for investment commodities.

Thank You,

Jonny

XX Sean's note -- I did indeed have the opportunity to buy silver bullion (a private deal, not from the Northwest Territorial Mint). And I'll probably buy some from NWTM when they are able to work through their backlog to reach shorter delivery times.

And have you seen the price action in gold, or the larger-cap gold and silver stocks today? It sure looks good, but if you received my recent gold report, wait for my weekly buy signal. The bears still rule until we get that.

Check out my new gold and energy blog at MoneyAndMarkets.com