Is a 35 karat engagement ring a bit "too much"?

[DFW]

82. But $1 gold coins are almost never found in banks

The central banks, if they have these things, usually have them as relics from a century ago, before wire transfers, and when payments between countries were often made in gold coin. The smaller denominations weren't made in quantities necessary for foreign trade. The larger ones were, and that's what the US Government shipped off to other governments. So these days, they just calculate the weight, log the coins in as part of their reserves, and can't be bothered to cash in on the collector premium. It usually requires the signatures and authorization of a host of committees and officials, and most central bank directors just can't bothered. I viewed and signed off on one stash of over 50,000 old US gold coins (they have others, too) about 15 years ago. Took me the better part of a week. It was in a country so poor, hardly anything worked there. They had tens of millions of dollars worth just in the collector value premium alone, quite in addition to the gold value, but they couldn't make a decision and get approval to sell the coins, and so to this day there they sit.