Legal Question in Securities Law in California

Re: chinese gold certificate

I would have to know more about the purpose of the Federal Reserve in valuing a particular certificate to give you an answer with certainty and clarity. However, I don't believe the U.S. Federal Reserve engages in providing "valuations" of foreign or even domestic paper for private purposes.

I suspect someone is trying to sell you an investment, and as part of the pitch they are telling you that the Federal Reserve has "valuated" this so-called gold certificate at $XXXXX, but you can buy it from them at only $XXXX. Such a slaes pitch is almost certainly a deception, if not an out-and-out lie, for the reason stated above - the Fed is not in the business of providing valuations of investments. This piece of paper may be worth $XXXXX as claimed, but more likely is worth $XXX, or maybe $0.00.

Valuations of investments are provided on a daily basis by the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ, etc. where zillions of open-market trades show what buyers are willing to pay and what sellers are willing to take. Valuations are also made by firms like Moody's and Standard & Poor's, and these can be looked up at a library, broker's office or maybe on line.

Buy your investments through a licensed broker, and until you achieve a degree of sophistication, stick to investments that have an established market where you can look up the valuation in the newspaper or on your broker's Web page.