Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-03-08
LOW MARKET FOR
metal. IS MADE
The Engineering & Mining Journal
Goes Into Comprehensive De-
tail in Discussing Subject.
NEW YORK A COPPER CENTER.
T. Leading Market OF World for Red
Metal'-.lmerican Smelling cou-
trols Lead situation.

Since the late Legislative investigation
| In which Il was attempted to get to
the bottom Of ihe matter Of metal quo.
tltlons and to ascertain the manner
and methods OF buying and selling the
metals the News has been In receipt
OF humorous Inquiries from persons who
claim that they are yet without definite
Information bearing on the subjec,.
Under the heading How Metals Are
| Sold" the Engineering e. Mining Jour
| nal goes into comprehensive detail In
| tAls matter and contains the following:
/ Gold is, as well known, the standard
| Of value. lis price being fixed at the
! British mint at us 1916 per ounce troy
| of N92j tincne5s. and at the United
| states mint Al S20,6I1S per ounce troy.
| These minis receive u3.imited uuanti-
Ties AT those prices. However, there is
| nothing TO prevent private banker
| from bidding higher. If he chooses OF
| course. no one will pay much above the
| coinage rate. because gold can always
| be obtain 90 from the minis on the basis
| Of ms 10.5d and s2)611S per ounce re-
spectlvely. but gold coin loses some
| thing by abrasion and Is subject TO fur
| Their loss in shipment, wherefore there
~
| In December 1903. the price for gold
bullion was 7ss 0.5d, the highest Of re-
cent years. Shipments OF bullion 10
London by the gold mining companies
are received by their banks. On the
day Of arrival. bids are asked from the
Bank OF England and from foreign
banks which may want the gold for ex-
port, The highest bidder gets ii. The
market for gold is intimately associated
with the banking transactions where
by international balances are settled.
IN the purchase Of ores, and for all Or
binary purposes, gold has only the fixed
coinage value.
SILVER MARKET
THE silver market is also Intimate
connected with banking Transitions.
large exports being made from London
to the far east in settlement OF balanc-
es. The silver market of the world,
more than any other metal market, Is
determined by London. The silver brok-
ers Of London meet daily at 2 p, m. and
fix y price Tor that day.
They are bound to sell at the price
thus fixed any quantity required, but
are not bound to take any quantity that
may be offered. If the quantity offered
is more than can be disposed Of 1t
| necessarily goes over to the day follow
ing and hen has an effect in fixing the
price for that day, The London quota
ton is for standard silver, |. e., O.s25
fine.
THE New York price for silver huc-
tUates generally In correspondence
with the London price. being lower than
the London price by an amount repre-
senting commissions eGpressage, In
terest and other charges between the
two markets, and also is affected by
fluctuations in the rate of exchange.
Occasionally the New York price fore
shadows the London price for the lol-
lowing day, wherefore the difference be-
tween the two markets Is not absolute
~ constant. The New York price is es-
tablished by The firm of Handy & Har-
man. which handles the great bulk OF
the silver bullion business of the Unit
ed states. most of the large reflners IL
ing their product through it, Silver is
commonly sold In lngots a little upward
| of 1000 ounces. in weight, 0.99e fine, for
cash, immediate delivery. The QUOTA
lion above referred to Is frequently
called the official price" and is com
monty adopted in business and by the
press and Is the quotation which is
published in the Journal. Occasionally
there are quotations for comm erciaI
bars, which are a little higher than
the official price" These represent
the retail business that is done with
jewelers., manufacturers of siIverware.
etc, business into which the large
refners do not enter. The large trans.
actions in silver are rather complicated
and as stated above, are closely in
yolved with banking. This is illustrat-
ed by the transactions OF the U, 5, mint
In 1906, when Il purchased 6,151,72j
ounces OF silver Before inviting ten
ders publicly, last August. tine treasury
department anticipating that such in
Yltaton might have an effect upon he
market, bought 100000 ounces ON the
London market for future delivery.
IA o.
changed for metal In this country.
which was delivered at the several
lnints as required, The remainder was
purchased directly In this country.
The American purchases cost, in lots
or about 100000 ounces, from 81 20 4
cent more than the quotations for the
same day However. the prices paid
by the government Included delivery.
and also interest which sellers have 10
reckon on account ut delay in SECURE
inG government settlements.
NEW YORK COPPER CENTER.
Because Of the fact that about 70 per
cent OF the worlds output OF copper is
produced in North America the New
York market IS the leading and govern
Ing one IA this metal although It Ia al
ways strongly Influenced hy the London
market, lnasmuch ng a large part Of
the American production Is sold for eN-
| lofA. IIhNAlEuUN tlk ~ tpt copper fAu-
duced In North America is sold by SOW
en- concerns, hut OF these two are ok
tremely small factors, On the other
hand. the great bulk Of the domestic
consumption is by u few manufacture
Jag concerns, Gnder hese circum-
stances, the transactions are generally
In large lots on a contract basis. There
| N no business 10 speak OF done on any
metal exchange, ANA little or no specu-
| lutlye business done In any Way, Small
requirements for copper are supplied Ivy
brokers who purchase from the large
selling agencies, and do retail bust
ness. 80 10 speak, which Us quite distinct
from the great Wholesale business,
JOURNAL QUOTATIONS,
"Tho quotations which are reported III
the journal represent the bulk ~ tbs
transactions az made with consumers
basis, Sew York cash. The quotations
are based ON transactions which rep
resent a very large proportion OF the
fatal copper sold Nc distinction Il
made among copper sold az ''spot,
prompt Or future hut al
the sales are taken as iuad,
for consumption and averaged a;
learly as possible. The small lots sold
AZ premiums figure almost disappear,
nEly small when averaged IN the great
MIX Of The transactions. II IN aimed ia
| 7eprescnt the average actually received
~ the producers for their Whole out
lul- as IL shown AZ the end OF the year
o5 their official reports u IL a common
gactlfc, nowadays, Tor copper 10 he
iQla ON the basis Of 10 days, delivered