If gold was only a commodity it would be worth closer to $20/oz. However, it's because it is valued by banks, govts, and all people for it's beauty and use as jewellery, that it's value is much higher.
Very entertaining, and interesting that Asia is moving to Western style toilets (perhaps to match their importing Western diseases!)
You have coins that are money... your particular coins just happen to be fabricated from the commodity gold. Other coin money is fabricated by cheaper commodity metals.
Looks to me gold and silver coinage is right in the supreme law of the land that constrains and limits the extent of government power. Section 51 (xii) is a subsection of Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia that gives the Commonwealth Parliament the right to legislate with respect to "currency, coinage, and legal tender." Generally, powers in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia can also be legislated on by the states, although Commonwealth law will prevail in cases of inconsistency. However, the currency power must be read in conjunction with other parts of the Constitution of Australia. Section 115 of the Constitution establishes "a state shall not coin money, nor make anything but gold or silver coin a legal tender in the payment of debts". This section effectively makes the concurrent power in section 51(xii) exclusive to the Commonwealth. Despite this, coins of the Australian pound were not introduced until 1910. From 1901 to 1910 the states could not issue tender and the Commonwealth had not issued tender, so private currency was used as the common medium of exchange whilst the British pound sterling was the national unit of account.
It's a pretty piss poor argument that the author puts forward anyway. It rests solely upon the justification that the definition of money can only be found by looking at how it is used in today's society. He's confused money with currency.
Yes the author has no reference point to guide him other than the present world of paper insanity. So it must be true then!
Yes, and those are pretty good money too !!! And according to Gresham's law, since they are so good, they have been driven out of circulation (unless, of course, you want to contribute to their circulation by spending them for their face value) And this is also the reason why governments stamp a ridiculous face value on legal tender gold and silver coins : to avoid that they become bad money. Some silver coins risk to become bad money, though.... for example the silver maple leaf with face value of 5 CAD. If silver as commodity goes ever under 5 CAD, the maples will become bad money and will flood the market, pushing away 5 CAD notes and lower.
Even the FED thinks that there is a difference between money and currency. For them currency (FED notes) is only one of the components of M1.
I actually have some $25 silver coins with less than an oz of silver in them. I wont be using them any time soon
Gold does not function like money today in most cases and is not treated as money by most people or by most institutions. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule. And remember, while gold has intrinsic properties and characteristics, gold has no intrinsic value. All and any value that gold may have is the value we attach to it individually or collectively. The value attached varies widely (by location and by person) and that value fluctuates significantly (based on varying conditions and by time). Since enough people will attach significant value to gold for a very long time, I believe, owning some is a good thing. .
25$ for 25$ from RCM? Those are an interesting experiment! But because they are only 1/4oz it's difficult that they will become "good money" anytime soon.... so they basically will be normal legal tender coins "bad money" for the foreseeable future. Now, if they were 25$ legal tender with almost 25$ of silver on them, I would give away all the fiat I have to get them (see? Fiat = bad money would go into circulation and good money silver coins would disappear into my SDB)
No the are Australian masterpiece in silver coins. Royal ladies. Plus I have 2 that came with the 1992 Olympic 3 coin set (2 silver 1 gold) all of which have a face value in excess of silver value
In 1996 I put a $200 gold coin on a roulette table at the Perth casino. I asked for 'cash fives' the croupier gave me a $1 chip, I said, 'cash fives' please. Yeah I knew he assumed it was a one dollar coin but I didn't bother to point that out because it's all part of my strategy of focussing attention on my chip. Anyway the gf was with me and was finding it a little uncomfortable as I just kept asking for 'no, I said cash fives'. Eventually the croupier twigged and said, 'we don't accept that here, you'll have to go to the cashier and change it'. I said what? you don't accept cash money. A casino that does not accept cash?, I want to talk to the pit boss". After a while the pit boss comes over and the gf has gone outside to have her conniptions in private. He tries to explain that it's a commemorative coin and that it's not legal tender, I insist that it is legal tender, this went on for a while, and he tried to then say that they didn't have anywhere to put it. Eventually he agreed that he could put it in the slot with the other money and told the croupier to cash it in and I asked for $25 dollar chips because I didn't want to hang around at the table. I just play single numbers and on the third number it came up and I got $875 and left. Gold can be money.
Well when you describe scenarios like that, it's amazing that the greater population aren't all using gold for everyday transactions. Still I'll continue to view gold as the commodity it is and trade it like one.
That's all it is at the moment. @ bland, nice story and a nice profit too going on 1996's price of about $550/oz.
I live in the moment I don't rely on hypothetical gold bug wet dream scenarios where the fiat system collapses and everyone holds hands in a circle singing kumbaya
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dj9v9s9buk[/youtube] At 50s Bernanke doesn't think Treasury bills are money .... at 1.00 he says (gold) is "tradition" .... they should have arrested and thrown the sob's in jail ....
I agree with this statement too. And I am working on something..... has to do with the concept that gold is not in backwardation.
