There are two camps of how to return the UK economy to growth and reduces our heavy debt, spend and cut or simply cut. What ever your personal view the new coalition government has decided that we will swallow the austerity pill with drastic cuts. This has gone down well and the pound is at its strongest against the euro since November 2008 and the euro itself strengthened after the European central Bank has tightened monetary conditions.

We have seen a pull back in the gold price, but is this down to austerity which is the new buzz word in the UK and Europe. So as we start to live within our means does that mean that the need for gold as an insurance is weakened ? LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

In June our sister site (L’Or et l’Argent) has run a series of articles that follows the theme of a “house of cards” starting with Greece whose only resources, tourism and olive oil are not enough to lift them out of bankruptcy and a similar situation in Portugal. The next contagion is Spain, an economic giant in comparison, where unemployment is rife and debt would reach €225 billion in 2010. Although Spanish debt continues to grow, it remains lower than France which is the largest in the euro zone. Outside of the euro England is cited as a contender for a “house of cards” following austerity measures announced at the budget and the marginalisation of the GBP as we through national pride refused to join the Euro zone. LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

The worlds largest gold coin, the $1,000,000 Canadian Gold Maple Leaf was sold in Austria’s prestigious Dorotheum auction house on Friday 25th June for over 4 times its face value at the Friday gold spot price fetching €3.27million (£2.68 or $4.02). The coin had been on display in a Vienna museum as part of its coin display, lent by an Austrian Investment group AvW who went into insolvency after the owner and CEO was arrested on suspicion of fraud and breaches of trust. The auction was ordered by the administrators and was acquired immediately through a written bid by a Spanish gold trading company Oro Direct based in Madrid. They now join an exclusive club of owners…. LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

The Gold Train is a mystery emanating from WWII but the almost mythical status developed because of the secrecy particularly in the USA. In reality it is story of horror, mass murder, theft and greed not revealed until Bill Clinton created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and had become a symbol of all that was lost by Holocaust victims

We begin in Hungary LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS,GOLDCOIN.ORG to learn how billions of dollars of looted treasure and thousands of lives were lost

I was listening to a programme on BBC Radio which is always an informative station and my ears pricked up on a discussion on the 2009 Bordeaux vintage which is reputed to be the best in 60 years. I like wine very much but the grand Grands Crus of Bordeaux which have long catered for the discerning tastes of the elite in the western world are beyond my means. However, I thought it would be an interesting to understand why the wines are so great and if I had a rush of blood to the head and splashed out, what would be the best value for money. To my surprise there was little in the way of comparison of the various producers but a great deal on the destination of the very best of French wine….LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

Every culture or civilisation has a period termed its “golden age” and for India that was between the fourth and sixth century, the Gupta dynasty which covered most of modern India. The Guptas were prolific minters of gold coins and some of great beauty. The coins were named the dinara after the Roman denarius aureus- a reflection of Indian trading contacts with the West and the export of Roman coinage as bullion to India. However they were not a copy of Roman coins but completely Idianised and closely followed the concept of a universal monarch or ideal ruler. LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

Grading is probably the most controversial and by far the most important area of coin collecting and there are almost no grading guides for world coins. Grading issues have caused disputes between buyers and sellers since collecting begun and will continue to do so for ever more. Grading coins accurately is a skill acquired in time and after looking at many similar/identical coins in all ranges of condition. Many coins fall in between grades, LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

In the credit crisis of 2008, gold went down with everything else. Gold stocks were hammered as the world deleveraged. But gold and gold stocks were also among the first to rise from the ashes. They made their low in November 2008, while the major Western stock indices carried on declining until March 2009.

Gold was not the safe haven it was touted to be. However, this only reflects what was happening in the paper markets of stocks, futures and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

In the ‘real world’, bullion dealers reported unprecedented activity. LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

We are well aware of France as the leading gold hoarder in Europe both in the central bank with second highest reserve and by private citizens who are reputed to have over 3000 tonnes in private hands. French gold is mainly in the form of gold Napoleons widely distributed as safe haven for family wealth. Whereas Italy is a consumer of gold, whose jewellery industry is the world’s leader, a tradition that goes back to Roman times; but they are not lacking in gold reserves either. It is certainly worth exploring the Italian gold situation. LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

Friday, 7th May 2010

Gold coins continue to be a highly-coveted asset among investors and collectors alike as new figures from the US Mint show that they were popular purchases in April.

Coin News reports that gold numismatic pieces have been some of the « hottest products » in the coin-collecting world in recent weeks. LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

The American Gold Buffalo was introduced by the United States Mint in 2006 as a new 24 carat gold bullion coin program and was first offered for sale on 22nd June. Production was authorized under Public Law 109-145 (also known as the Presidential $1 Coin Act) , dated December 22, 2005. The new program was created in addition to the existing American Eagle Bullion Coin Program, which included 22 karat American Gold Eagle bullion coins. The new coins were created in part to compete with 24 karat gold bullion offerings from other world mints, such as the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf and the Chinese Gold Panda and was the first time that the United States Government has minted pure (.9999) 24-carat gold coins for the public ….LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

People are questioning whether the bull  run on gold over the last decade reached its climax with the December 2009 high of $1227 and we are on a downward slope. Let’s compare the conditions in 1980 with today and we will find that they are quite different.

1980

In 1971, the United States suspended the free exchange of U.S. gold for foreign-held dollars, then in 1974 lifted its four-decade ban on the private purchase of gold. At that time, gold bullion was being traded in European markets at highs approaching $200 an ounce. In 1975, the U.S. government began to sell some of its holdings on the open market and in 1978, along with most other nations, officially abandoned the gold standard. After being released from government control, the price of gold soared and touched $850 in January 1980.  In the three years before 1980 gold price grew eightfold  as the result of mainly fear but also greed…LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG

The half sovereign is a British gold coin with a face value half that of a sovereign: equivalent to half a pound sterling, ten shillings, or 120 old pence. Since the end of the gold standard until 2000, with the exception of 1982, it has been issued only in limited quantities as a commemorative coin with a sale price and resale value far in excess of its face value….LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS,GOLDCOIN.ORG

For the Soviet system, inspired by Marx, currency was the manifestation of social evil, the relationship with commodity production.  There were certainly some countries where this practice was even more radical than the Soviet system.  This was particularly true of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge, where trade itself, including bartering, was the objectification of evil itself.  To some degree, it surpassed even Marx’s theories.  In his book the “Critique of Political Economy,” Marx spoke about exchange values and not exchange itself.  It is for this reason that André Malraux called “PolPotism” the Marxism of imbeciles…LIRE LA SUITE SUR NOTRE BLOG ANGLAIS, GOLDCOIN.ORG