Activity at factories and mines in the United States cranked up in January. U.S. industrial production rose 0.7% last month, the biggest jump in nearly a year, the Federal Reserve reported. Gold traded around $5,000, and silver traded around $78 as precious metals continue to tread water in a quiet, sideways, orderly market trading. Digging...

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In 1916, the U.S. Treasury held a competition to redesign America’s silver coins, inviting artists outside the Mint for the first time in decades. Sculptor Adolph A. Weinman seized the opportunity and created a half dollar unlike anything before it. His Liberty didn’t stand still: she walked, flag flowing behind her, striding toward the sunrise....

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