Top o’ the morning to you, lads and lasses!
I cannot believe it’s already March! This year has flown by so far. As you surely know, March brings a very special holiday for many, whether they be Irish or just fans of festivities.
This year, Provident would like to help get our customers in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day by sharing a little history of the holiday and…dun dun dun…giving away some gold!
Patrick (no known last name has been recorded) was born to a British family, rich in theology. At age 16, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken to work in Northern Ireland for six years as a shepherd. During his enslavement, he developed his spiritual life and converted to Christianity. After six years of arduous labor, Patrick heard a voice telling him he was to be delivered from captivity by a ship.
Patrick fled from his captors to find the ship, and he was indeed rescued and returned home. Not long after he returned home, Patrick had a vision in which he believed God told him he needed to return to the land of his captors and share the gospel with those he should abhor.
Obediently, Patrick did return to Northern Ireland and led thousands to Christ. According to historical documents, Patrick used a shamrock to illustrate the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish people.
Surprisingly, Patrick was never formally canonized by the Catholic church, though, he has been widely regarded as a saint since his death on March 17, 460.
In the late 9th century, St. Patrick’s Day was developed as a way to pay homage to the man who conquered bitterness to spread the gospel. While traditions vary from country to country, St. Patrick’s Day is a well-loved holiday, universally.
In the United States, we employ many cultural stereotypes on St. Patrick’s Day; we use copious amounts of green decorations, shamrocks, leprechauns, and pots o’ gold to show off Irish pride.
While there might not be a connection between St. Patrick and leprechauns and pots of gold, learning their Irish history is interesting. According to Irish lore, the leprechauns found gold left by Viking plunderers when the (to them) giants abandoned their land. To protect their treasure, they would bury their pots of gold. If you could find the end of a rainbow, you would stumble upon the gold. While this is a fun story, science tells us rainbows are actually circles, so good luck searching!
You might not find a pot of gold, but Provident would like to give you the chance to win a gold bar! Simply comment below, and let me know 
how you plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. One winner will randomly be chosen on March 17, 2017 to receive a 1 Gram Gold Bar from PAMP Suisse! Comments must be placed by March 16 at 11:59 PM.
Here’s hoping you have the luck of the Irish and enjoy a little bit o’ gold!
Happy Stacking!
-J
Probably drinking a beer or two.
Spending a well deserved vacation at the Texas coast.
Probably at home doing car repairs and working.
Having an Irish old time
Having a Beer looking over the Provident website wishing I Could buy it All.
Maybe a little Sking, Kayaking, Hiking, Biking Too. Thats COLORADO Living for ya
Celebrating in St. Louis with a lot of green beer.
Enjoying some Irish Cream
Ware green so I don’t get pinched!
I will be spending my Saint Patrick’s day tending my greenhouse seedlings and tending my chickens.
Beer at home. Nothing else.
Drinking green beer !
I will be with friends and fellow homebrewers as we sample our beers and celebrate the holiday together.
Our house is English, Scott & Portuguese so we shall have a great day trying to be Irish !!!
Celebrating with family and friends in Chicago
I will spend the day with my family,and enjoy a dinner of corned beef, steamed cabbage and potatoes.
My St Patty’s Day will be spent working So I can continue to purchase precious metals from Provident Metals
-J
I didn’t respond last week because I didn’t want to pull a Donald on you and accuse you of “fake news.” But, if you’re going state that you believe there’s price fixing in the metals market and that banks are going to prosecuted, I’d expect to see some facts presented to justify your belief. The entire weekend news cycle was dominated by the White House wiretapping scandal, without a single fact presented to back it up. Nuff said!
I did notice you got an early start last Friday. I read your post at lunch, not the usual happy hour time.
This Saint Patrick’s Day will be spent at an appointment at Johns Hopkins, which will be an all-day affair, so I have nothing planned for this year.
I still can’t believe what happened last year. I wanted to take the family to New York City for a long weekend. I wanted to attend the NCAA Wrestling Championship at Madison Square Gardens. Thursday was Saint Patrick’s Day, so I told my family that I’d skip the first sessions and we’d do some sightseeing around the city. They not only said no, but they said they didn’t even want to go to NYC. We were there a couple of years earlier and they loved it. You got to love a home with two teenagers!
I didn’t know any of the history of Saint Patrick’s Day. Thanks for educating me. I’d also like to be on Jeopardy some day and that information may come in handy.
All the best,
Eric
I appreciate your comment. I would never post stories without substantial documentation. The price rigging has been well documented and prosecuted in just the past few months, with several large banks facing large monetary repercussions for their part in the crime.
I did post a link to a story, but I can provide more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-deutsche-bank-settlement-silver-idUSKBN12H2HB
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/18/deutsche-bank-to-pay-38-million-in-us-silver-price-fixing-case.html
http://fortune.com/2016/10/18/deutsche-bank-38-million-silver-price-fixing-case/
http://www.businessinsider.com/ubs-hsbc-silver-market-rigging-lawsuit-2016-12
-J
-J
The links you provided are four different reports of the same incident. Yes, price fixing was the normal procedure for silver for some 117 years and just ended in 2014.
Last week’s post implied that price fixing of silver was happening now and you expect more banks to be prosecuted in the future. Why you believe that is what I’d like to see.
I don’t see the logic of keeping anything artificially low. The miners and refiners make X amount mining and refining. Any increase in the price of silver goes directly to their bottom line, so they have no motivation to keep the price of silver low.
I’ve never even heard of a bank trying to keep prices low. In fact, the links you provided were for the time period of 1999 to 2013 and was the exact time period that silver climbed to its highs in 2011. Only to decline steadily since the price fixing was removed and it became openly traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
You may have a point that silver has a marketing issue, but I don’t think that involves price fixing.
Hopefully this will cheer you up. Several of the investment services I pay for are predicting gold will go to $5,000 per ounce and silver $300 per once by 2020. That will also return the ratio to a more natural 16.66:1. I find those numbers encouraging and I’m going to stay in the metals market.
I hope you have a great week,
Eric
Eric,
I am cheery. 🙂
There is still much speculation that other large banks still participate in price rigging. A case for JP Morgan was just tried last month. Personally, I do not believe price rigging has ceased to exist with the one settled lawsuit. But that’s a subjective view on either side of the table.
I hope you have a wonderful week as well.
-J
Going to go steelhead fishing then after go have a Irish beer or two. Cheers
I feel like I’m at the end of a rainbow, every time I get a package from Provident Metals. Happy St. Patrick’s Day to one & all.
I was buying from a competitor and I fount out that Provident Metals get a fair price and fast shipping. Thanks Provident
We have the best St. Patrick’s parade in the SOUTH ! I suggest you visit Baton Rouge, La. for the parade. Details on Google.
Early St. Pat’s Day here in our county, parade was last Sat. and corn beef and cabbage dinner too.
Looking for a four leaf clover and half a rainbow!!! 🙂
Making up some ol’ corn beef and cabbage… And more then likely some green beer 🙂
Hopefully playing with this gold piece your giving away! Maybe seeing some gold will get me back to into this.
Got the day off for the first SP day in years; kicking off the golf season
corned beef and cabbage after a regular day of work.
Havent been able to celebrate like I used too with little ones around now but this year its a friday so the Jameson will probably be dusted off after bed time
Ah the luck of the Irish send me the pot of gold, I found the Rainbow and someone took my gold
Kissing Irish lasses and drinking green beer.