Are any world currency's backed by gold

Originally posted by Stratrf_Rus
Silver is not rarer than Gold, where'd you hear that crap?

Actually yes silver is rarer than gold.

news.silverseek.com...
www.moneyweek.com...

Don't knock it until you know it dude

The reason silver is not more rare than gold is simple. It's still easier to find, extract, refine, and smelt silver. Gold is much harder to do so and usually the impurities of gold is...oh my gosh...silver.

If it's more rare as boullion because we use it industrially...no one really cares I suppose...except the most whacko of investors I suppose who think they can push Silver above the price of Gold or something.

gold is one of the ONLY reliable currency...so you better start saving it in your cellar.

because when the crisis is going to happen...your fiduciary money is going to worth...Jack S###.

hmmm...i wonder who could have interest in introducing such fiduciary money and fractionnal reserve banking? clues anyone?

Originally posted by Stratrf_Rus
The reason silver is not more rare than gold is simple. It's still easier to find, extract, refine, and smelt silver. Gold is much harder to do so and usually the impurities of gold is...oh my gosh...silver.

I can go buy gold tomorrow, there are many dealers. Yet I have yet to see dealers who sell silver. So...in my case it is not easier to find.

Please post some proof that silver is not more rare than gold...because I just posted links that said that they have been selling more silver than they could mine...

It turns out that the islamic countries have been planning a gold based currency for some time. Presumably to stabilize their currency, possibly to destabilise the USD and other fiat currencies. It's called the dinar and it's been around since the start of islam.

link

Originally posted by ArbitraryGuy

Originally posted by ajh91
If so how could the USD crash if all the other major currencies are worth just the same. Nothing!!!

Seriously, what's the inherent value of gold?

Thought to be rare, it became one of the few standards.

There is plenty of uses for gold.
Some help

Apart from the obvious use of gold alloys in dental restorations, there are also a number of direct applications of gold in medical devices. As with dental applications, these are related to the excellent biocompatibility of gold as a material. Applications include wires for pacemakers and gold plated stents used in the treatment of heart disease.
...
Two of the most commonly referred to gold compounds in such treatments are Myocrisin and Auranofin.
...In the last few decades the properties of gold compounds have been of interest as potential HIV agents and cancer treatments. Researchers at the National University of Singapore have just patented novel gold complexes for use in pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer. Currently, the most widely used treatments for many types of cancers are platinum based drugs, with the major drawback of serious side effects. Associate Professor Leung Pak Hing and his team have discovered that phosphine supported gold complexes have excellent anti-tumour activity and clinical trials are likely to begin in the near future.

Basically, most people aren't allergic to pure gold, so it's good to put inside the body. Here

One of the most exciting things about catalysis by gold are the 'light off' temperatures that are achieved (that is the temperature at which the catalyst becomes functional). Potentially, gold catalysts operate best in the temperature range 200-350K compared to a platinum catalyst's optimum performance in the range 400-800K.

Here

It is hard for a metal to be useless. Anything that conducts electricity is useful. You cut open a phone chord, the the tube is usually copper, but when you look at the jack end, in some cases, the metal the goes through the plastic end nub is gold.

Originally posted by ArbitraryGuy

Sheesh, no need to be condescending or assume that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Sorry, didn't mean to sound condesending there. Was a lil frustrated at the time of posting and completely missed the past-tense phrasing in your previous posts. In that particular case then, I completely agree with you. I also happen to muddle things up with tenses as well.

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Mod Edit - big quote

[edit on 31-8-2006 by masqua]

Older uses of gold:

Nearly all of the gold mined by the ancients was wrought into idols, shrines, bowls, vases, flasks, cups and jewellery. Later, about 1000 BC., gold and silver came into general usage for coins as a medium of exchange, certainly in all countries between the Indus and the Nile and probably on a much more widespread geographical basis. By Philip of Macedon's time (356 BC.) gold and silver were generally valued in the ratio of 10:1. This value ratio did not change much through the centuries that followed for we find that in England the ratio in 1464 was 11:1 according to the recorded mint price. Since then there has been considerable fluctuation in the value ratio as shown in Table I. There is an interesting comment in the Engineering and Mining Journal (vol. 95, p. 1163, 1913) with regard to the origin of the ratio of value between gold and silver that merits quotation:
...
It was supposed that the Lydians were unable to separate the gold from the silver, but when we find by assay that the proportions in these old coins of gold to silver were approximately as 73 and 27, calculating gold as 13 1/3 times as valuable as silver, and we find that an electrum coin would be worth exactly 10 silver coins of the same weight, we cannot help but admit that the Lydian assayers must have been well versed in the science and practice of their art, and that such figure cannot be mere coincidences.

Remember Gold is really malleable, and simple (while not necesserily easy) to find. It is perfect to make into graven images.

In many places, it looks like Iron was mroe vaueable:
Here

In many cases, I don't think that Gold was as precious as we make it today. Yes, it bought a lot because metalwork was rare, but it's value in accordance to other things was lower.

Originally posted by sardion2000
Sorry, didn't mean to sound condesending there. Was a lil frustrated at the time of posting and completely missed the past-tense phrasing in your previous posts. In that particular case then, I completely agree with you.

I also happen to muddle things up with tenses as well.

Fair enough, I'll try to be more clear in my ramblings too. No worries .

Originally posted by jlc163
There is plenty of uses for gold.

I'm sorry I wasn't more clear in the context of my statements. I'm talking about gold as used historically as a commodity money. Historically, gold has had no use value (above decoration, etc), thus it was used as commodity money.

Please don't misunderstand my point as gold has no uses today. I know it has plenty of uses today. My point is that it had none of those uses when it was money and that's one reason why it was used as money. Thus, it is similar to fiat money because fiat money has no use value (other than for exchange).

[edit on 31-8-2006 by ArbitraryGuy]

Originally posted by BattleofBatoche
I think the Euro is backed by 15% gold. The swiss franc used to be backed by 70% gold.

What did you mean by backed by 15% gold, is the euro actually redeemable with gold? Can you take your euros to a bank and get gold or not?

Originally posted by djohnsto77
......Even though you can't turn in a Federal Reserve Note for gold or silver like you could older paper currency, the Federal Reserve System still has vast gold, silver, and foreign currency reserves they can sell for dollars to defend the currency if it is dropping precipitously......
[edit on 8/25/2006 by djohnsto77]

I'm not so sure this is entirely true, there was a documentary a few years back that purported Ft Knox has been emptied of gold, and said that the gold had been used by the powers that run the Fed, and exists, if at all in gold bullion, only in their out of the country bank accounts.

I'm not saying it is true, but have been wondering ever since where the gold might have ended up if in fact it is not in Ft Knox.

I have no information about the silver and foreign currency reserves you mention, but would think it very likely that the Fed does indeed have huge reserves of some kind.

Originally posted by curiousity
I'm not saying it is true, but have been wondering ever since where the gold might have ended up if in fact it is not in Ft Knox.

Well the rumor persists that all the gold in fort knox was shipped to england in the 1960's to try and keep the price of gold at $35 an ounce.

link

Originally posted by RetinoidReceptor

Originally posted by Stratrf_Rus
Silver is not rarer than Gold, where'd you hear that crap?

Actually yes silver is rarer than gold.

news.silverseek.com...
www.moneyweek.com...

Don't knock it until you know it dude

The closest I am to it is stock in a canadian zinc mine that says it will have
silver too. Not that keen on public stocks but metals are important.

The closest I am to it is stock in a canadian zinc mine that says it will have
silver too. Not that keen on public stocks but metals are important.

Really? What do you invest by? It sounds interesting. Please send me some info.

But here are some from a list at yahoo stock pages.
After a long time on stock pages people went into metals and one
put out a list, I just follow some of his listings. goldismoney.info and
other boards exist.

On SLW I just put 'silver is rarer than gold" with your links

SLW SILVER
WHEATON
CORP 11.00 7.09%
CZICF.PK CANADIAN
ZINC CORP 0.6356 3.14%
LORL LORAL
SPACE
NEW WI 26.23 0.08%
GSS GOLDEN
STAR
RES LTD 3.17 3.94%
WRN.TO WESTERN
COPPER CORP 1.18 0.85%
NEM NEWMONT
MIN
CP (HLDG 49.18 3.40%
SRLM.OB STERLING
MNG CO 4.87 4.32%
SRLM.PK

Originally posted by TeslaandLyne
But here are some from a list at yahoo stock pages.
After a long time on stock pages people went into metals and one
put out a list, I just follow some of his listings. goldismoney.info and
other boards exist.

On SLW I just put 'silver is rarer than gold" with your links

SLW SILVER
WHEATON
CORP 11.00 7.09%
CZICF.PK CANADIAN
ZINC CORP 0.6356 3.14%
LORL LORAL
SPACE
NEW WI 26.23 0.08%
GSS GOLDEN
STAR
RES LTD 3.17 3.94%
WRN.TO WESTERN
COPPER CORP 1.18 0.85%
NEM NEWMONT
MIN
CP (HLDG 49.18 3.40%
SRLM.OB STERLING
MNG CO 4.87 4.32%
SRLM.PK

Interesting. I think silver and zinc are very good investments these days due to their good conductivity of electricity which may be used when there are more problems with petroleum. Metals thats conduct electricity may be focused more on.

I've read somewhere that 90% of the silver mined in history has been consumed. There's only a fraction of pure, unworked silver yet. That's why it's rarer than gold at the moment.

Alternatively,

Illicit Drugs, Preserved Alcohol, and Preserved Cigarettes will not devalue, they'll increase in value, during a major depression of the U.S. economy or if the 'crap hits the fan' and we have total social upheavel and anarchy.

So if you cant get your hands on gold, silver, or precious gems lol, stock up on beer, cigarettes, and whatever else you can get your hands on.

Edit: I'd suspect in an anarchic, ruined future, even the seeds that grow illicit substances would be way more valuable than they are currently.

[edit on 11/8/2006 by runetang]

the topic of the thread is gold back currency.

who cares how rare gold is.
----
i read somewhere that the dinar is backed by gold. this is why the islamic contries have been buying gold.

the world bank has been keeping a tight fist on thier gold (i think this is where all the gold in ft. knox went) keeping prices high.

i also read, that china will be reinstating the gold backed currency, as soon as opec switches to the euro for trading oil. (notice they refuse to unpegg there currency, which was a rule when they entered the wto. they are now, i think, 4 years past the dead-line for unpegging it.)

when this happens, you will see all the countries who hold dollars, quickly dump them. and you had better been holding some gold.

then, china will make its move, and soon there after will be the foriegn reserve currency. then china, assuming USD is done with, will be the worlds super power.

so learn your mandrin everybody!

Money, that is the currency, is backed by the law, and so by the Government. It is ILLEGAL to refuse currency as a form of payment of debt, that is if I owe someone $10, they cannot by law refuse my $10 note. (true for Australia, not certain for US but prob so)