GOLD AND THE IRS
          
               A new Internal Revenue Service ruling may stir
          thousands of coin dealers -- who stopped selling bullion
          products in the 1980's because of burdensome reporting
          requirements -- to once again sell bullion without fear
          of running afoul of government regulations.
          
               The new regulation "Revenue Procedure 92-103" states
          that information returns filed on Form 1099-B are only
          necessary when sales are equal to or exceed Commodity
          Futures Trading Commission contract sizes.  For gold
          bars, the contract or sales size is 1 kilo (32.15 oz.)
          with fineness of at least .995.  For 1-ounce gold Maple
          Leafs and 1-ounce gold Krugerrands the sales size is 25
          coins.  No other gold investment products are subject to
          IRS reporting.  Amounts for silver, platinum, and
          palladium products are also detailed in the ruling.
          
               Since a 1982 IRS ruling, it was widely assumed that
          all retail bullion sales required a report to the IRS. 
          The cost and burden of that reporting, coupled with
          increased government audits and rigid but arbitrary
          enforcement, has caused perhaps as many as 5,000 small
          coin dealers and metals brokers to leave the precious
          metals bullion business in recent years, according to the
          Industry Council for Tangible Assets which fought for ten
          years to change the regulations.
          
               Many of the thousands of coin dealers who stopped
          selling bullion products out of fear, confusion and
          uncertainty over the previous ruling should now feel
          sufficiently confident to reestablish sales and service
          to their customers.
          
               The prospect of thousands of coin dealers and
          bullion brokers reemerging as active sales entities for
          bullion, bar and coin products can be viewed as a highly
          positive development not only for the coin dealer
          community but the precious metals industry as a whole.