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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim S who wrote (37097)	7/13/1999 5:38:00 PM
From: Enigma	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116791

"Ron, as much as I hate to bolster your argument, I'm forced to agree with you -- gold IS currency. I looked at the back of some 1 oz eagles, and sure enough, it says, "50 Dollars."" Yes but is the piece worth $50? No. it's worth more - if it were currency it would be worth $50! Anyway - generally when people refer to gold they refer to gold bars - not coins - coins are referred to as 'coins' QED? d

To: Jim S who wrote (37097)	7/13/1999 7:55:00 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116791

You're making a convert of me, Ron. Dammit! LOL!!! But now we get into the more fundamental question of "should gold be considered "currency"?? Or should it be decoupled completely and permitted to trade on its own market dynamics without large stores of it being retained by CBs? I opine that it should, but I hold no real illusions about that ever occuring. But I do think that gold's role will continue to remain under pressure for some time to come (minus a breakdown in the global financial system, major conflict, or some nasty comet slamming us back into the stone age.. :0) I'm a firm believer that a currency should be backed by the strength of its economy or legal principles. Basing currency upon those standards insures that investors will punish any transgression and move their assets to a politically and legally more "secure" haven. Examples of this are: Taxes being raised beyond most peoples tolerance. Result: Move assets off-shore and maybe even elect to change citizenship in order to prevent confication of wealth by an abusive gov't. Freedoms infringed and legal recourses for property owners subverted? Move assets to another financial that will respect the rights of property owners. The fact that so money flows between markets and nations with the speed of light and computer keys has been shown to be an effective (if not destructive) method of enforcing economic discipline amongst various gov'ts. And given the seemingly unbridled leverage that can be brought to bear to "punish" transgressors of economic soundness, it is probably too effective and results in the baby often being thrown out with the bath water. The discipline that gold was supposed to serve as a international standard of exchange is now served by floating exchange rates and open financial markets. The "rub" is how to prevent currency corrections from taking on a life of their own, turning economic admonishment into economic murder. The CBs haven't quite got that down quite right yet. Thus, the requirement for their currency market interventions. Take care Jim... Don't become too much of a convert though. I still welcome your critical insight and review. Regards, Ron

To: Jim S who wrote (37097)	7/13/1999 9:28:00 PM
From: d:oug	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116791

Jim S, is it ok for me to ask dumb questions ? I still think that paper currency needs gold as a backing. Is this called a gold standard ? When the USA had a gold standard, what was the rate of inflation during this period ? Also, what was the ratio of amount of currency available in circulation and available by banks to loan, to the worth of gold held in reserve by the price of gold, charted say weekly or monthly for the gold standard period. If the wealth of the USA increased by 10% over a years time, and enough paper money was printed to reflect this, was the gold reserve increased by 10% weight or by an 10% increase in value, reflected by the POG ? << gold IS currency>> seems to me that the coin should say that its value is the POG rate. But this seems to only work under a complete gold standard for the currency. I have a First Class USA post office stamp I brought 10 years ago that has a value on it of what ever the rate was then, why can I not use it today without an addition stamp added to make 33 cents, say it was 22 and now 33, so would I do (33-22=11) a 11 cent stamp added to the old 22 cents stamp, or would the post office not reconize the 22 cent stamp ? Seems to me the 22 should reflect 22 + usa inflation rate for the period since brought, to now. Maby the 22 is worth more than 33, and i get a refund using it to send a first class letter ? If I returned this 22 stamp to post office today, can i get cash for it ? thanks doug