Why Our 20/20 Program Works So Well
Nearly three decades ago, it was said that I revolutionized the United States rare coin market with the advent of my innovative Select 4 program. It took the antiquated industry standard of recommending every coin under the sun and turned it on its head by focusing only on four small areas of the market. These areas were chosen based on their mintage, rarity and surviving populations, combined with consistent demand from collectors and investors. This idea gave Universal Coin and Bullion the ability to closely monitor and support these areas with our exclusive “secret sauce” strategy.
Robert Leuver, the former Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and past Executive Director of the American Numismatic Association (ANA), said, “Count me among Mike Fuljenz's numerous admirers. He is a leader in the coin industry and his picks have consistently outperformed the market.” I have great respect for Bob and appreciate his confidence. Recently, COINage Magazine compiled a panel of experts and named me as one of the Greatest Coin Graders and Authenticators of All Time.
Kevin O'Leary, the famous investor, businessman, media personality and gold buyer, once said what he went through in writing a book, stating, “It was much harder than I thought it was going to be and it took a lot longer. I thought it would be a six-month process. It took 18 months and now it’s so much a part of my life – the process of doing it – that I miss working on it. I used to spend a couple of hours every day and now I don’t do that anymore.”
I understand that process, as I have written multiple national award-winning books on coins. One of my books, Type III Double Eagles 1877-1907, received the prestigious Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) Investment Book of the Year Award in 2023.
Today, the Type 2 and Type 3 Liberty gold coins, $3 Indian Princess gold coins, Indian gold coins of the 20th century and select $10 and $25 American Gold Eagles remain some of the most popular gold coins in the world.
In mid-2019, I wanted to further refine our strategy to the greater benefit of our clients, so I painstakingly studied every coin in the Select 4 program, looking at each coin in every grade certified by the Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) and the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS). Then, I calculated the overall market capitalization of each coin to decide which pieces would make the cut. From that point, I narrowed our top recommendations using this laser-like focus. This refined focus of recommendations is what I refer to as the “20/20 Program.”
In addition to our rare pre-1933 recommendations, the other major pillar of the 20/20 Program is our “Key Date” $10 and $25 American Gold Eagles, which are IRA eligible. Despite being a modern coin type, I was able to apply the same strict market capitalization filters to our American Gold Eagle recommendations to help determine what best fits an investment portfolio. One major advantage these coins provide over other investment products is their IRA/401k eligibility.
Furthering my commitment, I decided to only bid on the best coins that I find from our suppliers and I bid higher than others do, which often leaves them with inferior coins to our selections.
My team, which we have dubbed “Team Mike” helps inspect every rare coin that I hand-select before it is sold by our company to ensure its quality, authenticity and appearance. Since creating this program, I have found that the 20/20 Program, which pinpoints popular coin series with low mintages and survival rates, often helps boost the demand and value of our selected coins.
The dual demand from both IRA investors and numismatic coin collectors gives our 20/20 American Gold Eagles not only more growth potential over the mid to long-term life of your IRA or 401k but simultaneously provides more stability than traditional gold and silver bullion. Typically, in traditional investments, to get the type of return our 20/20 American Gold Eagles have historically provided, there is usually a larger degree of risk involved. Conversely, to get the type of safety and security they provide, one would almost certainly have to sacrifice some profit potential.
Our 20/20 American Gold Eagles seem to stand alone as the ultimate low-risk/high-reward investment. Since the implementation of the 20/20 Program in May 2019, many of our recommendations have outpaced even the gold bull market, increasing in value by 200 percent or more. Because of our strategy, you don’t need an increase in gold for your coins to do well. In fact, many of them rose significantly in value even when the gold bullion price fell nearly 20 percent from 2020 to 2022. That’s why we believe the performance we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg, regardless of what happens in the precious metals market or the stock market.
Obviously, past performance does not indicate future performance or mitigate risk entirely, as all investments carry inherent risks that could result in loss. While the past doesn't guarantee the future, we cannot ignore the lessons that it can teach us. Like Mark Twain reportedly said, “History doesn’t repeat itself but it sure rhymes a lot.” Whether you are adding to a collection, bolstering your investment portfolio or interested in protecting and growing your IRA, our 20/20 Program American Gold Eagles are a perfect fit.
Gold and Silver Reach New All-Time Highs … Again
With barely two weeks left in 2025, gold and silver are setting new all-time highs … again.
After setting their previous all-time highs on October 20th, both metals took a short “breather,” lasting less than two weeks, before rising again. For a week or so, gold fell below $4,000 and silver retreated below $50, but now both metals have risen above those suspected “resistance levels” and climbed toward new all-time highs. Silver is now over $60 an ounce, more than doubling in this calendar year – and hitting $65 overnight between last Thursday night and Friday morning.
Why the sudden rise to new highs? On the surface, pundits claimed that precious metals are being helped by a “surprisingly dovish” report from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which lowered interest rates another 0.25% this past Wednesday. As a result of declining U.S. dollar interest rates and continued deficit spending, the U.S. dollar continues to weaken, with the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) down 10% this year and 2% since Thanksgiving week, including a full 1% drop since the Fed lowered its Fed funds rate last week. The stock market also retreated sharply late last week, with the S&P 500 falling from 6,900 to 6,800 (-1.5%)
One of the things making the gains in gold, silver and platinum so outstanding is that other key commodities keep declining. At week’s end, crude oil prices continued to fall, down to $57.50 a barrel, which is a drop of 23% in the past six months, since reaching $75 per barrel on June 18, 2025. In those same six months, Bitcoin prices are also down 14%, while gold has risen 28% and silver is up by 68%.
The difference between precious metals and crude oil comes from simple supply and demand. With the Trump Administration operating under a “drill, baby, drill” mantra, the supply of crude oil is rising, while demand remains fairly stable, pushing oil prices down. By contrast, the supply of newly mined silver and gold is shrinking, while the demand for both metals is clearly rising.
Gold rose by another $100+ per ounce this past week, reaching a new record high of $4,385 on the futures market on Friday, December 12, and platinum also rose by $100 per ounce (+6%). However, silver was the biggest story, rising nearly 10% to $62 per ounce and at one point exceeding $65 on the futures market (for December 2025 delivery). The Dow Jones index also reached an all-time high but the broader S&P 500 and NASDAQ fell last week after the Federal Reserve’s rate cut. By Monday morning, silver has eclipsed $63 an ounce.