The Silver Pennies, by David Bond Review by Bill Hoyt Since I began investing in Silver Valley mining stocks ten years ago, the only information available has been incomplete, outdated, and widely-scattered. Now David Bond, award-winning former Editor of the Wallace (Idaho) Miner, has gathered and compiled quotes, charts, contacts, and stories on many of the companies formerly listed on the Spokane Stock Exchange - along with a few newcomers and a few NYSE-listed stocks - so those interested in the resource stocks of the Pacific Northwest have the information they need in one place. It's called "Silver Pennies", and it contains all the data that I spent 10 years collecting and more. The "Silver Pennies" are a strange group of companies: miners and mining claim holders in the Pacific Northwest. Most of them gather around the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of northern Idaho - from which more than a billion ounces of silver has been mined - though a few of them, like the NYSE-listed Hecla Mining and Coeur d'Alene Mines, have grown from those humble beginnings into world-wide mineral development corporations. The fortunes of the Silver Pennies rise and fall with the price of silver, and in the silver booms of the 1960s and 1970s, the value of their claims, projects, and companies rose to astronomical heights. Fortunes fall as well, and during the lows of the 1980s, as many as two-thirds of the pennies disappeared, either morphing into internet technology companies or closing their doors altogether. But many survived the hard years in various stages of exploration and production. For each of these, David Bond gives a thorough overview of their projects, capitalization, and land positions. The forward is written by David Morgan, well-known conference speaker and investment advisor. Morgan explains why silver is a "sleeping opportunity" that resource investors should investigate. The book also contains chapters on "Geology for Dummies" and "How to Investigate a Silver Stock", as well as a list of inactive Pacific Northwest companies that will serve as a valuable resource for those trying to find information on defunct and inactive mining companies. This is doubtless a book for a very specific group of investors, those who seek the rewards (and are willing to undertake the risks) of American natural resource mining companies. But for that market, this book is the only one of its kind and should prove an invaluable guide. Publisher: Silver Valley Mining Journal, 2005
