Silber wird zur Mangelware. Hatten wir diese Meldung schon?

Congress has sent to President George W. Bush legislation that would allow the U.S. Treasury Department to buy up to 9 million ounces of silver annually on the open market to make a special silver eagle coin.

The bipartisan bill was sponsored by lawmakers from Idaho and Nevada, where silver mines would benefit from Treasury purchases of the metal to make the Silver Eagle Bullion coin.

At present, the Defense Logistics Agency has exhausted its stockpile of surplus silver. The bill also requires the Treasury Department to study the impact on the U.S. silver market and prepare a report for the Senate and House banking committees.

Bush is expected to sign the bill into law, according to industry experts.

Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican, said in a statement that the legislation would create jobs for silver miners and would benefit coin collectors around the world.

The U.S. Mint, a unit of the Treasury Department, has generated revenue of more than $264 million from the sale of the collectable coins from 1995 through 2001. The profits are used to pay down the national debt.

Nevada is the nation?s largest silver-producing state, accounting for 17.5 million ounces of silver last year. Idaho?s silver industry employs more than 3,000 and generates some $900 million annually for the state economy.

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Grüße,
Tom

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