That's quite the premium for a Silver Eagle however the price for the Gold Eagles are reasonably competitive. Over at Kitco GE's can be had for Cdn $1458 this morning. I can't locate any SE's on their website but Silver Maples can be picked up for a very reasonable Cdn $26.42. As an aside I agree with Sinclair/Norcini etc that the legitimacy of $2.8 Trillion in mortgage backed securities being called into question does pose a new & serious threat to the TBTF Banks' balance sheets. On the other hand I guestimate that since the 2008 housing bubble peak, the market has already discounted a drop in value of these securities that matches the average drop in value of US homes (30-40%) and those who are worried about troubles these valuation drops could trigger, have been accumulating their golden insurance for a while. So the potential hit to markets from the RICO lawsuits (and potential resulting spike ups for Gold & Silver) may not be as severe as some economists have warned. But if risk does manifest & tip over the banks' balance sheet boat (BBSB) into another full-blown financial crises then you'll be happy having decided today to buy an equal weighting of metal and shares. Regardless of these fundamentals, I believe it's been the weekly technicals for Gold & Silver that's been the primary accelerant for PMs lately, fueled by competitive currency devaluations. Even if RICO doesn't blow up the banks the technicals alone can sustain a salivating multi-month run into Spring 2011 with $1650 Gold & $32 Silver lined up in the sights with the occasional bump or two along the way courtesy our friends at the helm.