Showing posts with label Bullion coins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bullion coins. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Can Germany Be Made Great Again?

Authored by Antonius Aquinas, annotated by Acting-Man.com,


When Germany Was Great!


Ever since the start of the deliberately conceived “migrant crisis,” orchestrated by NWO elites, the news out of Germany has been, to say the least, horrific. Right before the eyes of the world, a country is being demographically destroyed through a coercive plan of mass migration.  The intended consequences of this – financial strain, widespread crime and property destruction, the breakdown of German culture – will continue to worsen if things are not turned around.



 


The Holy Roman Empire in 1789 AD. At the time, Germany was a patchwork of countless independent principalities, duchies, city states, bishoprics and other statelets. This was a glorious time, as citizens could very easily vote with their feet if they were unhappy with their rulers. Keep in mind, there were no such things as “passports” or “border controls” at the time. No-one even thought about such things – it would have been considered an inane notion. And although almost every statelet minted its own coins (displaying its own coat of arms and a portrait of its ruler), money was actually standardized across the entire region since the Middle Ages. Most of Germany used silver coins, which were minted according to standardized weights and sizes (gold coins were also used, but silver was more prevalent in day-to-day commerce). Thus all coins were accepted across the region, regardless of which principality or duchy had issued them. There were no tariffs either and no restrictions on cross-border investment. There was even a mechanism for reining in fiscally highly incompetent or plain crazy rulers through a supra-national arbitration body that only sprang into action upon special request (when such requests were deemed reasonable). Taxes as a rule didn’t exceed a level of 10%, as any attempt to impose higher taxes would lead to an exodus of people from the territory concerned. Not everything was perfect of course, but let us just note that despite a lack of democracy, there was no lack of freedom. Check out some of our previous articles on this topic for additional color: “Secession – An Alternative View” and “Are Nation States Beginning to Splinter?” [PT] – click to enlarge.



Those in opposition to the societal destruction within Germany have been harassed and persecuted by the authorities and labeled with the usual epithets by the mass media: “far right,” “neo-Nazis”, “haters,” and heaven forbid, “separatists”. Because of this and other factors, no mass movement has coalesced as of yet to truly challenge the German political establishment.


Indications of a possible reversal of German fortunes, however, have come from a recent poll of Bavarians. A survey conducted by YouGov, a market research company, found that 32% of Bavarians agreed with the statement that Bavaria “should be independent from Germany.”  The percentage of secession-minded Bavarians has increased from 25% in a poll conducted in 2011. Of the around 2000 people surveyed between June 24 and July 5, most supporters of  independence come from the southern portions of the country.


Whether Bavarians or their fellow German separatists realize it or not, the only “political” solution to the migrant crisis is secession This is not only true for Germany, but for all Western nation states swamped with unwanted migrants.  Once free from the domination of the national government (and just as important the EU), each jurisdiction could make its own immigration policy and would be better able to control population influx at the local level.



Civilization and Prosperity Flourish in Small Political Territories 


Historically, Germany’s past has much more in common with a decentralized political landscape than with a unitary state.  From the disintegration of the Roman Empire until Napoleon wantonly abolished the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Germany was an amalgam of different political units – kingdoms, duchies, confederacies, free cities, etc.  With no grand central state, there was considerable freedom and economic growth as each sovereign entity was largely able to conduct its affairs on its own terms.


Decentralized political power is also conducive for the advancement of culture.  Music, the highest art form, found some of its greatest expression from the German peoples.  Monumental figures of Western music were financed in large measure by German princes, kings and emperors.  Johann Sebastian Bach’s sublime Brandenburg concertos were underwritten, so to speak, by Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg, while Beethoven received support from Archduke Rudolph.  Mozart was funded by no lesser figure than the Austrian emperor himself, Joseph II.




Famous composers and their patrons – from left to right: Johann Sebastian Bach and his financier Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg; Ludwig van Beethoven and his patron Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the Archbishop of Olomouc (who died in 1831 at age 43 just one year after Beethoven passed away – not to be confused with the later Archduke Rudolf, the crown prince who killed himself and his lover Baroness Vetsera at the Mayerling hunting lodge in 1889); Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his biggest fan and supporter Emperor Joseph II of Austria. Great artists, outstanding intellectuals and scientists were as a rule supported by members of the elites at the time, who either paid them stipends or commissioned specific works. It is worth noting that the achievements of these artists and intellectuals have generally stood the test of time, which seems highly unlikely to happen with most of the dreck funded by the State in modern times. [PT]



Political decentralization provides an important mechanism as a check on state power.  A multitude of governments prevents individual state aggrandizement as oppressed populations can “vote with their feet” and move to safer and less repressive regimes.  A unitary state, or just a few, throughout the world would negate such an advantage.


Naturally, if nation states are a constant threat to the liberties and economic well being of their citizens, global organizations and states are that much more of a danger and should always and everywhere be opposed.  The European Union, largely based on the principles of the US Constitution, has pressured nations under its sway, such as Germany, to accept the migrants and has threatened members such as Hungary and Poland with penalties if they refuse to contribute their fair share.


The empirical evidence with regard to political decentralization and economic growth is overwhelming.  Since the level of taxation and government regulation are crucial factors in an economy’s ability to produce, the limits on taxation and government oversight tend to be significantly lower if there are numerous states, since there would be ample opportunities for producers to set up shop in areas more conducive to their efforts.




A truly depressing record: today only five countries in the world are considered economically free according to the Heritage Economic Freedom Index (another 28 are in the “mostly free” category). Not even one country has a perfect score of 100. You will notice that the top five include only one large territory, namely Australia – which just about makes the cut with a score of 81 points; moreover, it is a sparsely populated place with a population of only ~24 million people. The two territories considered most free are city states, and the next two are tiny countries. For some reason Heritage didn’t rank a number of smaller countries and city states such as Andorra, Liechtenstein or Monaco. If it had, they would be in the top five, replacing the countries currently ranked 3 to 5. The countries with high economic freedom scores are the most prosperous places on the planet, which is of course no coincidence. Citizens of other countries who are not part of the political elites and their politically well-connected cronies must of course wonder why these success stories are not emulated everywhere in the world. They should also ask themselves what is worth more to them: that their rulers are able to “throw their weight around on the international stage” (one of the reasons for which people in Europe are supposed to support the socialist superstate wet dreams of the EU’s political and bureaucratic elites), or their personal freedom. It is worth noting that several of the countries with high economic freedom scores are not considered sufficiently democratic; in other words, the ability of citizens to choose which gang of criminals waving a flag should boss them around and rob them for the next several years is limited. We happen to think it’s more important that those in power do as little bossing around as possible. In fact, people should not even worry about who is going to sit on the throne, they should focus on simply abolishing the throne instead. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to deprogram the serfs, but one can always hope. We are actually convinced that Statism will wither away at some point in the future and be replaced by societies based on voluntarism. [PT]



This can be seen in the US as thousands of oppressed businesses and firms have left California to lower tax and less restrictive climes such as Texas and Nevada.


If Germany is ever to get a handle on the migrant crisis before the country is completely dismembered demographically, its only hope is to return to its decentralized political roots.  Let Bavaria lead the way!

Monday, July 24, 2017

Against Irredeemable Paper, Report 23 July 2017

Something needs to be said. We are against the existence of irredeemable paper currency, central banking and central planning, cronyism, socialized losses and privatized gains, counterfeit credit, wealth transfers and bailouts, and welfare both corporate and personal.


When we write to debunk the conspiracy theories that say manipulation is keeping gold from hitting $5,000 (one speaker here at FreedomFest claimed gold will go to $65,000), we are not trying to defend the Fed. When we discuss the flaws in predicting that kind of price, and the error in expecting to profit from it, we are not expressing a pro irredeemable dollar view.


We are saying there are good arguments against the regime of irredeemable paper currency—but this is not one of them. Irredeemable currency has two fatal flaws. One is the interest rate is unhinged. It can skyrocket as it did from the end of WWII through 1980, or collapse as it has been doing since then. Two is there is no extinguisher of debt. Debt grows—must necessarily grow—exponentially. As it has been doing for many decades.


The antidote to this poisonous system is the gold standard. However, it must be said that no gold price will cause the metal to circulate in the economy. It did not circulate when it was “cheap” 20 years ago. It did not circulate when it was “expensive” 6 years ago. It does not circulate now. It will not circulate even if it hits any of the gold bug price targets (if anything, a rapid price rise will be a powerful force keeping it out of circulation, as most people would have large taxable capital gains).


The one thing that can make gold circulate is interest.



For two weeks, we have been talking about a potential capitulation. The gold price has risen about $40 since then, and that of silver 85 cents.


Will the bounce continue? Have the fundamentals firmed up?


We will show graphs of the true measure of the fundamentals. But first charts of their prices and the gold-silver ratio.



Next, this is a graph of the gold price measured in silver, otherwise known as the gold to silver ratio. The ratio moved down this week.



In this graph, we show both bid and offer prices for the gold-silver ratio. If you were to sell gold on the bid and buy silver at the ask, that is the lower bid price. Conversely, if you sold silver on the bid and bought gold at the offer, that is the higher offer price.


For each metal, we will look at a graph of the basis and cobasis overlaid with the price of the dollar in terms of the respective metal. It will make it easier to provide brief commentary. The dollar will be represented in green, the basis in blue and cobasis in red.


Here is the gold graph.



We have switched to the October contract, as the August is nearing expiry and under selling pressure.


The dollar fell this week (the mirror image of the rising price of gold). As the dollar fell, the cobasis fell—gold became less scarce.


Our calculated gold fundamental price fell a few bucks (chart here).


Now let’s look at silver.



As the dollar has dropped, the cobasis has come down (though still backwardated). Our calculated silver fundamental fell 25 cents to $17.59.


© 2017 Monetary Metals

Thursday, July 13, 2017

German Police Arrest Suspects In Theft Of Massive 100 Kilogram Gold Coin

German special commandos have arrested several people in connection with the theft of a large gold coin that was stolen from the Bade museum in Berlin back in March in a brazen theft that shocked the public.


While Reuters didn’t say whether police recovered the coin – there was some speculation that the thieves would’ve melted it down for the gold – photographs did show police leading away a suspect, whose face was covered to hide his identity. The arrests were made in the Neukoelln area of Berlin



"We are at the moment conducting searches and executing arrest warrants in several places in Berlin concerning the break in at the Bode museum in March," said Berlin police.


The brazen theft involved entering through a museum window, possibly with the use of a ladder then making off with the 100 kilogram (equal to about 220 pounds) gold coin, according to Reuters.


The museum says the coin, known as “Big Maple Leaf,” is in the Guinness Book of Records for its purity of 999.99/1000 gold. It has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on one side and maple leaves on the other, and was minted by the Royal Canadian Mint.


The Canadian coin has a face value of about $1 million, but if it were melted down, the materials would be worth $4.5 million.



The coin, 53 centimeters in diameter and 3 centimeters thick, even made it into the Guinness Book of Records for its unrivalled degree of purity. It was loaned to the Bode Museum in December 2010.


During the theft, Spokesman Stefen Petersen said thieves apparently entered through a window about 3:30 a.m. Monday, broke into a cabinet where the "Big Maple Leaf" coin was kept, and escaped with it before police arrived.’


The Bode has one of the world"s largest coin collections with more than 540,000 items.
 

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

SOMETHING CHANGED IN THE SILVER MARKET IN MAY: Here Are 3 Reasons Why

SRSocco


By the SRSrocco Report,


Something changed in the silver market in May as U.S. Silver Eagle sales have surged compared to the previous month.  This is quite interesting as precious metals sales and sentiment have declined in the West, especially in the United States, ever since Donald Trump was elected President.


Many precious metals investors thought that if Trump was elected, it would have been very positive for the gold and silver market.  Unfortunately, it seems as if the opposite was (is) the case.  Not only has demand for precious metals declined considerably in 2017 versus last year, so has sales of guns, ammo and survival food-supplies.  I gather many of those who follow the alternative media believe Trump is actually going to make America Great Again.  So, why protect oneself from a collapse?


This is a very bad assumption... as nothing has changed with Trump in the White House.  Furthermore, many analysts are saying that what Trump is doing could actually speed up the collapse of the U.S. economy and financial system.


Regardless, the fundamentals in the U.S. economy continue to disintegrate.  We are seeing economic bubble indicators reach or surpass the what took place in 2007, before the bloodbath took place in the U.S. Housing and Financial Markets.  However, there is one additional negative factor that wasn"t a problem in 2007 that is now a BLINKING RED LIGHT.


What is this new lousy fundamental?  It"s the U.S. and Global Oil Industry.  Back in 2007, most of the oil and gas companies were making decent cash flow and profits.  Unfortunately, the situation in the Oil Sector is orders of magnitude much worse than what is was in 2007.  Not only are the majority of oil and gas companies losing money, they have been also cutting their oil reserves.


This is extremely bad news which very few Americans are aware.  Thus, we are now facing an extremely negative DOUBLE-EDGE SWORD of bubble economic indicators on top of a disintegrating oil industry.  Which means... the situation today is much worse than what took place back during the 2008 Global meltdown.


U.S. Silver Eagle Sales Surge In May Due To 3 Reasons


U.S. Silver Eagle sales surged 140% in May versus April... and we still have another week remaining in the month.  According to the recent update by the U.S. Mint, Silver Eagle sales reached 2,005,000 so far in May compared to 835,000 in April:


Silver Eagle Sales APR vs MAY


After seeing this spike in Silver Eagle demand, I called up a few of my contacts in the industry and asked if they could shed some light as to why sales jumped in May.  According to several sources, they stated that the huge increase in Silver Eagle sales was due to three reasons:


   1) There was an extremely large purchase by a single wholesaler in the Northeast.
   2) The small retail buyer came in a big way as premiums were lowered the most in seven years
   3) A group of respected technical analysts in the silver market gave a buy signal when silver was trading between $16-$16.25


These three reasons stated by my contacts, are what has likely driven demand for Silver Eagles to the highest level seen so far this year... if we exclude sales in January, which are always elevated as wholesalers are stocking up on the debut of the new coin release.


It seems as if a large buyer in the Northeast believes silver is a good deal at this price.  Furthermore, when the wholesalers lowered the premiums (lowest in seven years), there was an immediate surge in Silver Eagle buying via small retail investors which caused the premium to increase once again.  Also, the silver market underestimates the reaction when certain Technical Analysts put out a BUY SIGNAL.  Many of the folks who follow or subscribe to these analysts, are big investors.  So, when they see a buy signal... they do so in a BIG WAY.


That being said, I would like to remind those reading this article (that might be new to the precious metals industry) please make sure you understand the difference between "PREMIUM" and "COMMISSION" when you decide to purchase precious metals.  There are a group of very widely advertised precious metals dealers that may have lowered their premium along with the other dealers, but still charge very high commissions for their products or services.


IMPORTANT NOTE:  The PREMIUM is what the dealer pays the wholesaler for the coin or bar.  The COMMISSION is what the dealer charges his client above the premium.  You need to ask what the commission you are being charged as many new investors are being taken advantage of... but don"t realize it until later, when it is too late.


While two million Silver Eagle so far in May are less than they were last year (4,498,500), this surge in demand suggests that the hype surrounding a Trump Presidency may be fading... and quickly.  If we take a look at Silver Eagle sales from FEB to MAY, we can clearly see that something has changed recently:


Silver Eagle Sales FEB-MAY


If the strong demand trend continues for the remainder of May, we could see Silver Eagle Sales reach 2.5-2.8 million.  Again, this is lower than what it was last year, but it is a sign that market is starting to SMELL A RAT.  And that RAT is a totally inflated STOCK, BOND & REAL ESTATE MARKET.


In addition, Silver Eagle sales are now out-performing Gold Eagle sales.  For example, in March when U.S. Silver Eagle sales were 1,615,000, Gold Eagle sales were 56,000 oz.  However, Gold Eagle sales in May are only 42,000 oz, while Silver Eagle sales are over 2 million.  Thus, the market is purchasing 48 times more Silver Eagles than Gold currently.


Lastly, for those precious metals investors who are frustrated by the disappointing paper Gold and Silver price performance since 2012, the STOCK, BOND and REAL ESTATE markets have never been in such BUBBLE TERRITORY.   For some odd reason, some precious metals investors tend to overlook the $7 trillion in Central Bank assets purchases from 2011-2016, and the whopping $1 trillion in the first four months of 2017.


It seems as if many Americans are suffering from BRAIN DAMAGE as the MainStream Media continues to put out the most misinformation and propaganda in history.  This causes individuals to lose the ability to think CRITICALLY.  And with that will come a great deal of pain and misfortune when we finally see the collapse value of most STOCK, BOND and REAL ESTATE prices.


Lastly, if you haven"t checked out our new PRECIOUS METALS INVESTING section or our new LOWEST COST PRECIOUS METALS STORAGE page, I highly recommend you do.


Check back for new articles and updates at the SRSrocco Report.