As gold mining stocks dropped in 2012, then Rep. Ron Paul stuck with gold, according to his personal financial disclosure report filed after he left Congress in January 2013. Because the Ethics in Government Act only requires reporting a broad range of value for each asset it is hard to identify fluctuations within those ranges. For example, gold stocks in general were down in 2012, but Paul reported no change in most of his gold assets. For examples, he owned $500,001 to $1 million of Gold Corp Inc. Class A in 2011 and 2012, with $5,001 to $15,000 in income for both 2011 and 2012. He reported no change from 2011 to 2012 for his holdings in Newmont Mining Corp. C stock (valued $250,001 to $500,000 with income of $5,001 to $15,000); Barrick Gold Corp. common (valued at $100,001 to $250,000 with income of $2,501 to $5,000); IAM Gold Corp. (valued at $100,001 to $250,000 with income of $1,001 to $2,500); AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (valued at $100,001 to $250,000 with income of $1,001 to $2,500); among others. However, his $1,001 to $15,000 in Great Basin Gold Ltd. dropped to a value between $1 and $1,000.

Paul reported improvements with his investments in silver. His investment in Silver Wheaton Corp. common ISIN jumped from a value between $50,001 and $100,000 at the end of 2011 to a value between $100,001 and $250,000 at the end of 2012. His investment in Mag Silver Corp.went from a value between $15,001 and $50,000 to a value of between $50,001 and $100,000. However, his investment in Pan American Silver went from a value between $50,001 and $100,000 to a value between $15,001 and $50,000.

His investment in Carona Ltd, Lakeland, TX, (farmland an rental property) valued between $500,001 and $1 million at the end of 2011, jumped to a value between $1 million and $5 million at the end of 2012. He sold his stock in Viterra Inc. common, valued between $1,001 and $15,000 at the end of 2011, for between $15,001 and $50,000 on 12/24/12.