Economics
What is Money?
Introduction Everybody knows how to use money, but very few people understand what it really is, or how it works. You might think people who work in finance and banking understand money, but I’ve not [more…]
Trade
Collecting
Going for Gold – Part 7
I had vaguely heard of the Latin Monetary Union and decided to do some research for this article after viewing some gold coins from this period on an auction website. The Latin Monetary Union (LMU) [more…]
Economics
Get real, be real, and buy real
The past year has been a remarkably interesting time for precious metals and especially for silver. The metal had spent many years in the shadow of its “big brother”, but it made an impressive, roaring [more…]
Collecting
Going For Gold – Part 6
Previous articles in this series have focused heavily on coins. This time I take a look at the history of bullion, ingots and bars for a change. What is Bullion? Claude de Bullion, became the [more…]
Economics
Going For Gold – Part 5
Previous articles in this series have focused heavily on British coins produced by the Royal Mint. I thought it would be interesting to do some articles on precious metal coins from other countries around the [more…]
Economics
Going for Gold – Part 4
In this article I discuss the different quality standards a coin can be made to. History of Coin Making I thought it would be useful to start with a comparison of how coins in Britain [more…]
Economics
Going for Gold – Part 3
Britannia has a long and established presence on our nation’s coins; first appearing on coins from the Roman era. In AD119 Emperor Hadrian introduced a number of coins that depicted a female figure who personified [more…]
Business
When Government Stops Intervening
My recent essays have focused on the boost to economic growth that occurs quite naturally when obstacles are removed. I cited the positive economic consequences of Margaret Thatcher’s decision to allow markets, including the labour [more…]
Economics
Going for Gold – Part 2
Sovereigns have a long and interesting history; first produced during the reign of King Henry VII on 28th October 1489 by the Royal Mint on his instruction to create “A new money of Gold”. Prior [more…]