By Robert K. Landis, The Golden Sextant

On October 16, 1929, Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics at Yale University, made a famous prediction: “Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” [1] The prediction, coming as it did less than two weeks before Black Tuesday, ultimately ruined the popular reputation of this celebrity economist. On November 13, 2008, some two months after the Federal takeover of Fannie Mae (September 7) and the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (September 13), Niall Ferguson, Professor of History at Harvard University, published The Ascent of Money (Penguin Press, 2008). Only time will tell whether this book, a spirited defense of the monetary status quo directed at the general public, will do for this celebrity historian what his stock price prediction did for Professor Fisher.

The Ascent of Money bills itself as A Financial History of the World. A pleasant, undemanding read, it brilliantly, albeit unwittingly, demonstrates why the English speaking world is so stupid about money: our elites wish it so.

A Champion from Central Casting

The author, as the flyleaf of his book reminds us, is not just some academic hack. He is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard. He’s also a best-selling author whose titles include Paper and Iron, The House of Rothschild, The Pity of War, The Cash Nexus, Empire, Colossus and The War of the World. He “…writes regularly for newspapers and magazines all over the world. He has written and presented four highly successful television documentary series for Channel 4: Empire, American Colossus, The War of the World and, most recently, The Ascent of Money.”

In short, he is precisely the man to whom you would turn if you needed a credible voice to calm the mass mind and defend the basis of your power, if an unfolding crisis had conclusively revealed the fraud beneath it all, and was showing signs of getting out of hand. And The Ascent of Money is precisely what you’d get, if your man delivered the goods.

Read more….

9:51p ET Saturday, November 21, 2009

Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:

One of GATA’s earliest supporters, Robert K. Landis, partner of Reginald H. Howe in Golden Sextant Advisors, gave the keynote speech at last week’s FINews.ch gold conference in Zurich. Landis addressed the most basic but seldom acknowledged financial question, the question of what money is or should be, and how the choice inevitably leads humanity toward liberty or totalitarianism. Landis’ address was titled “Viva la Restoration” and you can find it at the top of the “Recent Commentaries” section of the Golden Sextant home page here:

http://www.goldensextant.com/

CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.

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By Gary North, GoldSeek

I have surveyed the Austrian School’s theory of money. This theory began with Ludwig von Mises’ “Theory of Money and Credit” (1912). I presented Mises’ theory of fractional reserve banking and the creation of the business cycle in my mini-book, Mises on Money (2002).

The previous parts of this series are on-line here.

I have done my best to get across a line of reasoning regarding money. This line of reasoning is not shared by other schools of economic thought. To the extent that it is understood by the decision-makers in the governments of the world and central banks, it is resisted. It is regarded as old-fashioned and out of touch with newer, more scientific theories of money and banking.

The crisis of 2008 has led to a revival of interest in the Austrian School’s theory of the business cycle. Why? Because several Austrian School economists and newsletter writers warned of the looming crisis. They did so two years before it hit. These predictions were dismissed as radical and out of touch. The most widely viewed debate over this matter – after the fact – took place on CNBC in 2006. Peter Schiff warned of the recession. Arthur Laffer dismissed it.

Finally, the Wall Street Journal ran an article on Mises’ prediction of the Great Depression. The article ran on November 6, 2009. Better late than never.

MY FUNDAMENTAL POINT

In Part 1, I made the point that the Austrian School’s theory of money is an extension of its overall theory of economic exchange. This distinguishes the Austrian School’s view from all rival views of money.

The rival views insist that the free market is insufficient to provide a reliable monetary system. Either the national government or the nation’s central bank must intervene in the free market in order to provide stability and reliability to the money system and therefore to the economy.

The logical extension of this outlook is that there is a great need for a world government and a world central bank, which together provide such stability internationally. Most economists and politicians refuse to say this in public, but this is a matter of prudence, not logic.

In contrast, the Austrians say that the free market can provide such a system of world money. We have already seen this system in operation. It was called the gold standard. It operated for most of the nineteenth century. It needed no world government and no world central bank to make it work. It did not need trained economists to make it work. You can imagine how popular Austrian School economics is with economists – about as popular as the gold standard.

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By Kim Kyoungwha

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — Gold may rise to a record $2,000 an
ounce in the next three years as investors hedge against
“massive” inflation sparked by governments printing money,
according to Superfund Financial Singapore Pte’s Aaron Smith.

“In the next few years, after the deflation cycle, we’ll
see massive inflation,” Managing Director Smith, 30, said in an
interview. “Soon, when you go to buy a cup of coffee, you’ll
pay $20 or $30 because the dollar won’t be worth anything.”

The company’s Superfund Green Gold A Fund, which has more
than doubled since its inception in 2005, has lost 15.6 percent
this year because of higher volatility, said Smith, who joined
in 2002. Gold rose to an all-time high this month as governments
including the U.S. boosted debt to combat the global recession.

“When the U.S. dollar crashes, all the paper currencies
have to crash, otherwise if their currencies are too strong,
their economies will be weak,” said Smith, who issued similar
gold forecasts in May and earlier this month. “Another
excellent buying opportunity for investors is silver.”

Gold for immediate delivery, which touched a high of
$1,070.80 an ounce on Oct. 14, traded at $1,039.32 at midday in
Singapore. The metal has strengthened 18 percent this year,
while the Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the dollar’s
strength, fell 6.4 percent.

Gold Forecasts

Smith joins investors including Shayne McGuire, director of
global research at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and
Jim Rogers in forecasting higher gold prices. Pension funds will
increase gold holdings as currencies decline, McGuire said on
Oct. 22. Gold will probably top $2,000 in the next decade as the
dollar weakens, Rogers said Oct. 7.

Superfund, founded in 1995 and backed by $1.6 billion in
assets, specializes in so-called managed futures, using its own
trading system to generate buy and sell calls on stock, bond,
currency and commodity futures. Still, the company’s flagship Superfund A, which gained 35.4 percent last year, has lost 24
percent this year, Smith said.

The ratio of silver to gold, currently at 62.35, will be
“cut in half” in the next three to five years as millions of
people in South Asia and China buy the metal as an alternative
because they can no longer afford gold, Smith said. Silver has
soared 46 percent this year to $16.65 an ounce.

Read more….

Bullion Vault

The total volume of all the cash money now in circulation worldwide…

AS of SEPT. 2009, the total amount of physical paper and coin money issued throughout the world was approaching US$4.5 trillion at current exchange rates,writes Mike Hewitt of Dollar Daze.

This map indicates the countries and monetary unions included in this analysis of all the money in the world.

Three of the five monetary unions are clearly seen above. The remaining two are the Institut d’émission d’Outre-Mer (IEOM) – which uses the French Pacific Franc in three member countries in Polynesia – and the East Caribbean Currency Union, which uses the East Caribbean Dollar in eight member countries.

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The foresight to fit their Terex TS40 motor scraper with a tyre pressure monitoring system (TMS), as part of a tyre-management programme with Wakefield-based Earth Mover Tyres, has saved Ferrybridge power station both expense and downtime when a wheel bearing on one machine overheated. The alarm built into the TMS in the driver’s cab sounded and Darran Stone from Earth Mover Tyres was called out to determine the cause. He takes up the story.

“When we downloaded the tyre pressure data from the TMS unit we could see that the air temperature in the tyre was reaching the predetermined threshol…

Read more….

One of the great benefits of investing in gold is that it typically functions as a safe haven for investors in times of economic turmoil. During the current economic instability, gold has risen to record high prices as one would expect. Some people will keep hold of their gold stocks until the peak of the instability then try to sell it off when gold prices reach their highest. But other people who struggle during tough times have another option: selling gold jewelry or other gold items to get cash to get through the hardships. You can easily sell gold bullion coins and bars to a bullion dealer, but how do you go about selling gold jewelry?

Selling your gold jewelry is not a difficult task. You can find various companies either online or around your area that will offer you cash for your gold items and make the process quite simple for you. The gold buyers are looking to get their hands on as much gold as possible, so they can profit from prices that will likely rise even higher over the longterm, and profit from some price spreads or transaction fees. But their businesses are usually legitimite and you will get a fair amount of cash for your gold.

A well-known example of such a company is Cash4Gold. They are a mail-in gold refinery, meaning that they will buy your gold items and melt them down. Cash4Gold is a good option for people who own old or broken gold jewelry or other items that are no longer attractive or desirable to wear. If you wish to sell newer and more attractive-looking gold jewerly, you will likely receive more money by selling your items to a local jeweler in your area, or to a pawn shop. That is because gold jewelry is sold at a premium price that can be much higher than the value of the item’s metal alone. The premium price covers things like quality of design and craftsmanship. But a refinery like Cash4Gold will simply melt down your items, so they don’t care if your items are resaleable or not. They will simply pay you a price based on the official spot price of your jewelry’s constituent metal (plus they will charge a transaction fee of some sort).

The things you should know about your gold before selling it are its karatage (which should be printed somewhere on the item, its weight in gold, and if possible also its resale value, so you can know whether to sell to a refinery or to a pawn shop or jeweler instead. Getting your item appraised by a reputable dealer might be a good idea. You should also be aware of the terms of your agreement with the buyer of your gold. If you have intentions to buy your item back, you should be sure to check how much time you have to do so, and the specific terms surrounding the buyback. When you are dealing with valuable items that might have special meaning to you, the last thing you want is any kind of disappointing surprise that deprives you of your cherished item.

Read more….

The October 22nd episode of Coin Chat Radio starts off with a short edition of "What’s In the News" with Bob Van Ryzin.

The topic discussed this week was the release ceremony for the US Virgin Islands Quarter that occurred on October 9th in St. Thomas. The event was hosted by Deputy US Mint Director Andrew D. Brunhart. The quarter was actually released into circulation on September 28.

American Numismatic Association Executive Director Larry Shepherd takes a few moments to talk with Numismatic News Editor Dave Harper about the future direction ANA will take towards its shows. Shepherd previously addressed the ANA board in regards to the reforms the organization should undertake.

(…)
Read the rest of Coin Chat Radio: ANA Show Improvements, New Coin Books, Philharmonic Gold (499 words)

What’s New on CoinLink ……..

2,200 high grade samples of mostly scarce, rare or unique specimens from Spain, her colonies and empire ranging from the Visigothic era to the present were sold Oct 21-22 by Aureo & Calico in Barcelona Spain. The Caballero de las Yndias collection is stunning representation of all of the mints that struck coinage for all of the Spanish dynasties throughout all of the rulers and respective types.

The United States Mint announced today that it will begin accepting orders for the one-ounce 2009 American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin at noon Eastern Time (ET) on October 29, 2009.

The Brackley Hoard Of Silver Groats Coins to be Sold – In the summer of 1465, as the Wars of the Roses raged, an unknown person hid his worldly wealth in a secret location in a Northamptonshire field and went into hiding. He never returned to claim his money.

Bowers and Merena Auctions, America’s leading rare coin and currency auction house, will bring more than 6,000 lots of fine coins and currency to Baltimore, Md., for the Official Auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo scheduled for November 10-14, 2009.

Stack’s eagerly invites you to take part in our 74th Anniversary Sale, held this year in Baltimore, MD November 9-11, 2009. Stack’s is proud to celebrate our 74th year in the auction business by holding a star-studded auction event, replete with dazzling rarities at every turn.

By Doug Winter – The Great Branch Mint Gold Popularity Contest of 2009 – I realize that the title of this blog sounds like an outtake from the Dukes of Hazzard but I thought it might be an interesting topic to take each branch mint and analyze it in terms of its popularity.

Drivel Control - Commentary by Wayne Sayles – The twitter around the cultural property nationalist blogs at the moment is that a rare tribal octadrachm of the Bisalti has been seized from an auction firm in Switzerland.

Goldline International, Inc., a leading gold and precious metals trading company, was recently ranked the 32nd largest privately-held company in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Former television news anchor and Congressman Jay Johnson has died from an apparent heart attack at his home in suburban Washington, DC

Stunning Smithsonian Coins Exhibit in PCGS Video – The acclaimed, new traveling exhibition of the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection, “Good as Gold – America’s Double Eagles,” now can be seen on a free, new video available online courtesy of Professional Coin Grading Service.Stunning Smithsonian Coins Exhibit in PCGS Video

Legend Numismatics Mid October Rare Coin Market Report – The coin market seems to be doing just fine-and maybe even gaining a little strength. Last week we were knocked down pretty much by illness in the office. It was a bigger deal for us to lift our heads than any coins.

Heritage’s upcoming 2009 October Signature US Coin Auction, taking place at the Dallas headquarters of Heritage on October 22-24, presents an interesting opportunity to look at the contrasts of Collecting styles between two of the Featured Collections.

Continuing with News across the web, we have a new posting of – Coin News Daily – providing short excerpts and links to other news across the web that we have found, and which you may find of interest. We also provide Daily Updates on Precious Metals in The Bullion Report, with Charts, Video Headlines and News.

You can access ALL the News Here

What’s New on CoinLink ……..

Olympic Medals – As unique as the world’s top athletes and their awe-inspiring performances, every medal won at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be a one-of-a-kind work of art.

NGC recently certified the unique Ecuador 1862 50 Francos struck in gold. This classic rarity of 19th-century South American coinage is an experimental denomination that conforms to the European coinage standards of the era. It is graded NGC AU 55.

Unusual Items: Lowest Graded Half Eagle Gold Coin to be Sold by Heritage – The mantra in almost all areas of collecting is Quality, Quality, Quality! High end coins are always in demand, regardless of the series.

The American Numismatic Association Board of Governors has approved a balanced operating budget for the 2010 fiscal year (November 1, 2009 to October 31, 2010), signaling the continued financial turnaround in fiscal performance for the Association.

1810 Half Eagles By Doug Winter - In a recent blog about undervalued early gold issues, I mentioned that the half eagles of 1810 were confusing enough (even to a specialist such as me) that this tends to suppress values for some of the rare issues that are known from this year. Let’s take a more in-depth look at the various 1810 half eagles.

CoinLink is always on the lookout for new sites related to numismatics, and especially ones that have the potencial to offer valuable new information to the collecting community. A recent article in the NGC Newsletter caught our eye. They profiled Coin Society, a new site which just released an open beta at www.coinsociety.com.

A new series of informative and entertaining educational videos, “Spare Change: Coin Collecting Guide,” is available free at the recently-launched website, www.CoinsTV.com.

Coin Dealer Julian Leidman Victim of Vehicle Burglary. Reward Grows to $156,000. The Township of Montville, New Jersey police department is investigating the October 11, 2009 auto burglary of coin dealer Julian Leidman. Mr. Leidman was en route home after participating in Coinfest Coin Show held in Stamford Connecticut.

Ponterio & Associates, a division of Bowers and Merena Auctions, will bring 1,250 lots of world paper money to Baltimore, Md., as part Bowers and Merena’s Official Auction of the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Baltimore Expo scheduled for November 10-14, 2009.

Stella Coin News (SCN) is very pleased to announce their latest online reference book, The Complete Guide to Certified Barber Coinage, written in 1999 by John and David Feigenbaum.

PNG – Millions Lost From Coin Fakes, Hobby Leaders Warn – Chinese-made counterfeit coins pose a significant financial threat to unsuspecting consumers, according to leaders of five of the country’s most influential rare coin organizations. They warn the public is spending millions of dollars on fake U.S. coins offered in online auctions and elsewhere, such as flea markets and swap meets.

On September 29th, Spink held a sale in London of A Superb Set Of The 1913 – 1914 Commonwealth of Australia Banknotes. The notes were found in a chest of drawers in the North Yorkshire home of an elderly man when his home was being cleard out for an estate sale.

PCGS - An informative video news report about the rare coin market has been posted by CNBC on its web site. PCGS Co-Founder David Hall is prominently featured in the story.

Laura Sperber Market Report – First, we’d like to congratulate and thank Jon Lerner (Scarsdale Coins) putting on one of the BEST shows there is! Jon fought a nasty cold and made sure everything was “just right” for everyone. We also would like to offer a huge thank you to John Albanese and his team over at CAC for donating their time and effort to offer free submissions for the collectors who attended.

Continuing with News across the web, we have a new posting of – Coin News Daily – providing short excerpts and links to other news across the web that we have found, and which you may find of interest. We also provide Daily Updates on Precious Metals in The Bullion Report, with Charts, Video Headlines and News.

You can access ALL the News Here