A book on gold market history could be interesting and relevant either two thousand years before or after the birth of Christ. The element has qualities that make it irresistible to human beings and has played a major role in the motivation of human beings for thousands of years.
In ancient human settlements golden artifacts have been discovered telling of trade and ornamentation thousands of years ago. Cities have been founded on the search for gold and huge migrations have taken place as fortune seekers have explored remote reaches of the planet driven by hope and ambition.
Long before pure gold was used as minted coins it was used probably in bars or ingots in barter. In the Roman civilization but also in other early human societies its intrinsic value resulted in it being made into coins and used as money.
The practice of issuing notes that promised to pay any bearer a certain amount of a metal that was actually kept in well secured vaults was the foundation upon which paper based currencies were built. Notes were backed by physical holdings but during the twentieth century it appeared to many that the non renewable resources would never be sufficient to back all the money that was needed. The link between the metal and official money was finally broken in 1971.
After the abandonment of the currency link the price of the precious meta rose for a decade and then flattened out. Shorn of its status as a reserve asset there seemed little use for the tons that lay in government banks around the world. Losing faith in its value even bankers who prided themselves on financial expertise began to recommend auctions where government assets were sold by the ton to canny investors.
It was then less than a third of what the price is in 2012. With the current crisis in the banking industry some people look back in wonder and anger at the crass action of central bankers in selling off their national assets at a third of the prices that they were worth in a few years time. Perhaps there is more to the tale than meets the eye and a book on the gold market history could reveal some interesting insights.
In ancient human settlements golden artifacts have been discovered telling of trade and ornamentation thousands of years ago. Cities have been founded on the search for gold and huge migrations have taken place as fortune seekers have explored remote reaches of the planet driven by hope and ambition.
Long before pure gold was used as minted coins it was used probably in bars or ingots in barter. In the Roman civilization but also in other early human societies its intrinsic value resulted in it being made into coins and used as money.
The practice of issuing notes that promised to pay any bearer a certain amount of a metal that was actually kept in well secured vaults was the foundation upon which paper based currencies were built. Notes were backed by physical holdings but during the twentieth century it appeared to many that the non renewable resources would never be sufficient to back all the money that was needed. The link between the metal and official money was finally broken in 1971.
After the abandonment of the currency link the price of the precious meta rose for a decade and then flattened out. Shorn of its status as a reserve asset there seemed little use for the tons that lay in government banks around the world. Losing faith in its value even bankers who prided themselves on financial expertise began to recommend auctions where government assets were sold by the ton to canny investors.
It was then less than a third of what the price is in 2012. With the current crisis in the banking industry some people look back in wonder and anger at the crass action of central bankers in selling off their national assets at a third of the prices that they were worth in a few years time. Perhaps there is more to the tale than meets the eye and a book on the gold market history could reveal some interesting insights.
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