Gold Krugerrand History

By Ben Harmon

On July 3rd, 1967 the first One oz Krugerrand rolled through the presses in the South African Mint. This was not the beginning of the Gold Krugerrand, however- nor were the careful planning meetings of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa (who interestingly enough can trace its roots back to 1889) which lead to its creation.

Witwatersrand, South Africa or the "ridge of white waters" in Afrikaans, is truly where Gold Krugerrand history starts. These mineral rich hills run east to west near Johannesburg for over sixty miles. They produce many minerals including uranium- and in 1884 the first gold discovery was made. The president of the Transvaal at that time was Paul Kruger, who knew that the gold discovery would forever change the face of South Africa. As he predicted, the rich gold find brought in many foreign miners looking to make their fortune. As more and more foreigners entered, they eventually began to outnumber the Boers, and their protests for their rights lead to increasing levels of conflict. Underlying this concern for their rights, was the British desire to control gold rights.

In 1899, the British government demanded Uitlander (foreigner) rights to match those of the Boers. Realizing that the British wanted more than equal rights (Transvaal independence was at stake), Paul Kruger responded that all of the British should leave within 48 hours. This was an impasse which could not be broken via diplomatic means, and the second Boer War ranged across the country. The Boers fought hard and were able to demand some concessions at the war's end in 1902, but the Transvaal independence was lost.

Now that the drums of war were silent, the next milestone in the timeline of Krugerrand history was the creation of the of a centralized refinery. The Transvaal Chamber of Mines created the Rand Refinery in 1920 with the express goal to refine all the gold mined in Witwatersrand. To this day, the blank every South African Gold Krugerrand is stamped on comes from the Rand refinery.

The 1 oz Krugerrand takes its name from a combination of Paul Kruger's surname, and the Rand, which is the currency of South Africa (the Rand was taken from Witwatersrand). The obverse of the 1 oz Krugerrand has a portrait of Paul Kruger, designed by Otto Schultz. Coert Steynberg designed the reverse, which is a Springbok antelope, a national symbol of South Africa.

The Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 coupled with the Executive Order 6102 signed by FDR effectively made it illegal for US citizens to own gold bullion at the time the Krugerrand came into being (1967). The South African government wanted to be able to sell gold to US and world investors- so they did two very clever things. One, they made it legal tender, which allowed US investors to purchase it as a foreign coin. Second, rather than list a denomination on the coin- they listed the actual gold content in the coin. So a One Ounce Gold Krugerrand contains exactly that, one full ounce of gold bullion. Krugerrands are not pure gold, for every 11 parts gold there is one part copper to provide strength. This copper content makes them heavier than their one ounce label. South Africa still had another political hurdle to overcome before widespread trade in the Krugerrand could occur for US citizens- apartheid. Until political reform ended the practice in the mid nineties, the Krugerrand was illegal to import. In spite of this prohibition, and with free trade now, the Gold Krugerrand has become the most popular bullion coin in history, with 46 million ounces in circulation. The 1 Ounce Gold Krugerrand history is a tale of adventure, war, and progress. - 23208

About the Author:

A 1/4 oz Krugerrand is an affordable way to start investing in gold. Ready to learn more? Visit Gold Krugerrand.

Global Macro Investing Strategies Using the Treasury Yield Curve

By Peter Howard

The Treasury yield curve is one of the best and most applicable tools that a global macro investor can have in his or her toolbox. Most of the time used for bond trading there are several applications for it in the stocks and currency market as well. The truth is by using the yield curve correctly you can better trade just about everything.

The Treasury yield curve is the curve you get when you plot out the yields for different maturities. For instance if the 90-day T-Bill is at .2 percent and the 10-year T-Note is yielding 3.5 percent you have an up sloping yield curve as the long dated Treasuries are paying a higher yield then the short dated Treasuries. Usually you would also plot out the two year, five year, and thirty year along with the ninety day and ten year. This will give you a better picture for what the yield curve is really saying.

So how do you apply the yield curve to your trading? Well there are a few main rules of thumb. An upwards sloping yield curve is typically bullish for the economy and stocks, whereas a downwards sloping or inverted yield curve is typically bullish for bonds.

So how does this help your trading? Well if the curve is steep then there is little chance that bonds will be able to stage a very robust rally. At the same time it might be a great time to go long stocks. If the curve is sloping down then it is a harbinger of things to come and the economy is ready to contract and therefore it is kind of a sell signal for stocks. At the same time if the curve is inverted then it is a great time to look at going long bonds as the Fed will likely begin a interest rate easing cycle and therefore driving up bond prices.

If the curve is inverted however business is usually about to slow down, rates will be lowered, and bonds will climb. This is because with the incentive of the banks to lend now gone they will throttle back and the spigots of available money run dry. In turn this forces the Fed to lower short term rates, the Fed Fund rate, in order to spur business growth once again. When they lower rates bonds inevitably go up.

Bonds and rates are like a piece of wood straddled on a log. If you sit at one end the other end goes up. If bonds are at one end yields are at the other. When yields go down bonds go up and vice versa. This is almost always the case, especially in an inflation environment.

So if you are a global macro investor that is using the yield curve you can forecast when to get in and when to get out of stocks and bonds based on the macro economy. At the same time you can use the information and trade currency differentials as well.

Of course as with all things in the market nothing works every time. In fact the quote history never repeats itself, but it often rhymes is a very appropriate statement. Used along with proper risk controls the yield curve can become one of the global macro investors best timing tools and economic gauges. - 23208

About the Author:

If you need actionable trading ideas then check out The Macro Trader It is a weekly global macro investing advisory publication with frequent intra-week updates for time-critical analysis and actionable trading ideas.

Find out How to Compare Free Insurance Rate for your Auto!

By Guiscard Mathurin

If you are comparing free auto insurance quotes, then there must be many questions that come through to you. Here are solutions to few of them.

There are many reasons why people compare auto insurance. However, before you do that, you need to know what goes behind the scenes when companies give free auto insurance quotes. While comparing the free auto insurance quotes, please note the area that you live is a major factor that affects the free auto insurance quotes. If the area that you are living in has high number of crime & thefts, then the rate will shoot above the roof for sure. If you prove to the insurance company that you have parked the car in your garage & has installed an alarm system that might help you lower the quotes.

Getting the best rate is one of the main reasons for you to compare auto insurance. The Internet provides the best answer to compare auto insurance quotes. All you have to do is simply enter some important information and the quotes for you to compare auto insurance are ready. It has been noticed that if you compare auto insurance & study it well, it will surely be beneficial for you in many ways. And for those who compare auto insurance, and do it well, they save a lot of dollars.

Now, when you compare auto insurance policies, you do that with the free auto insurance quotes that you would have got, either online or over the phone. The key is " The source from where you get these free auto insurance quotes. If it is credible enough, trust you would get good quotes for your perusal.

There are many things you could do to get quotes for the insurance coverage. While some of them may seem time-consuming to you, it is important you spend this amount of time. At stake is " The best and the most affordable auto insurance coverage for your vehicle.

Saving money is one part of the deal, but you also need to ensure you choose a respectable company when you compare auto insurance. At the end of the day, the free auto insurance quotes will only tell you certain things, and credibility of the company is definitely not something it will tell. This is for you to find out!

Getting free auto insurance quotes is not a tough ask at all. All you have to do is log on to the Internet, and get some quotes from different websites. One thing you should avoid is getting quotes from the same company, else you would spend a lot of time to compare auto insurance and yet not get anywhere.

If you do the compare auto insurance activity well, you would realize how profitable the free auto insurance quotes are for you. For starters, you will easily be able to save at least hundred dollars on your insurance coverage. Not a bad incentive that! - 23208

About the Author:

When it comes to shopping for auto insurance, we all need the cheapest possible policy that we can find. Simply calling an auto insurance agent is not enough. We need to Compare Auto Insurance Quotes from multiple insurance agents online. By contacting different companies, you can be on your way to reduce your Auto Insurance Rate in no time.

Make Money From Passions

By Kamil Dixon

I learned the hard way about the consequences of not approaching my ventures with enough preparation. I was always so arrogant that I thought that I knew everything I needed to know, at least the base concepts. But If your making the type of money I think your looking for, if your like me, its over 6 figures, than you have to treat your venture as an investment, and put the sweat equity into the plan, so your results stand stable

It Doesn't Matter what your interest are, the beauty of the internet is that it can connect you with like minded people, there is a market for almost anything of interest, the key is the marketing and the passion you emit for whatever you sell

And I'll have to admit, it is a walk in the park compared to what you have to put up with in the working world punching a clock being a subordinate to someone who does not have your interests in mind, but there are still rules you have to follow and pitfalls you must avoid to actually make Internet marketing work for you.

There are people that make over 50K a month, but most don't, they fall flat on their face like I did when I started. Why is that?

Because we try to build skyscrapers on sand, most never take the time to understand their business, the foundation that success is leveraged from. There could be no success without failure. (I like to think of Failure as experience)

But even in the face of success and failure, passion for what you sell amplifies the odds in your favor. You must believe in what your selling before it can be sold, or your basically running a marathon bare foot, you'll be exhausted before you can reap the fruits of your labor.

What's Passion? It's the effort you put into understanding what you promote, resonating with its benefits and emitting the excitement of insight into something good. When you have Passion, work is like a kid at the candy store.

There's a lot of people that can sell anything on the Internet.. Why? Because it's possible if you understand the basic concepts of marketing and what people want. But a safe way to approach any business online, is to have a passion for what you promote

Now, I'm not trying to make anyone believe that Passion is the only thing necessary. Because to be successful you must also have a good website, good marketing, widespread advertising, company support, effective keywords, and etc. Those things are often learned from the company you join - but sidestep Passion and you reduce your chances for success dramatically.

Plain and simple, if you have no passion in what your company promotes, you wont invest the time needed beyond your comfort zones.

Maintaining control over yourself, and the freedom of working from home is the hard part; Internet Marketing isn't hard work. When you have passion you have purpose behind your voice that's beneficial to your customers. Nobody wants to be sold on anything, they want to find value for themselves, you can reflect this through your effort to understand and present a quality product; it should sell itself.

Search Engines are quite possibly one of the greatest gifts a generation could ask for, USE IT!!! There are tons of business opportunities that possibly fit your taste.

Your research should uncover a company that you like and have confidence in. It should be solid, founded on great principles, and easy to understand with great products and services that are sell-able for which you can have Passion. If you don't find it move on, You can find the right opportunity containing the attributes identified above.

Don't choose a company for anything besides confidence and security that you can stand by that company; remember when you hear that others are having crazy success, making boat loads of money etc, don't be fooled by sales scripts, find substance you believe in and go from there.

Note: With experience, eventually you will learn to understand what people want and how to present anything you believe in, when that time comes, you'll know you are no amateur anymore, now you're an Internet marketer.

There is more that you want to know to be able to call yourself an Internet Marketer and dictate your income, but if you don't first find the right company products and services to be passionate about, all of those other steps may just cause you a lot of frustration instead of bringing you great success.

Lacking passion for what you promote is a foundational mistake you have to avoid. There's a lot of opportunities to choose from, hit the search engines and choose wisely, and flow from there - 23208

About the Author:

Meet the author: Kamil Dixon makes a killing Marketing Online and can show you the game. Go to his site to learn "The Right Way" to Make Money Online.

The Magnficient Chinese Silver Yuan Coins

By Christina Goldman

China, with all its dignity and resplendency, has traditionally been known to be one of the finest places to find rare silver coins like the Chinese Silver Yuan Coins.

The initial few silver coins were minted and circulated around the different parts of the country back in 1889 when the first coining press was imported and the techniques introduced. Since there is actual pure silver content involved, one of the oldest techniques of actually measuring the worth is by weight, so if you're a heavy coin collector and are interested in Chinese silver then this is how it is generally done.

The first or earliest silver coins that were issued were produced in the Canton, otherwise called the Guangdong mint in the 1890s. These were done in denominations of 5 cents, one, two, and five jiao, and one yuan. Soon other mints were build in different regions of the country and started manufacturing similar silver coins as well as coins made out of copper in denominations of 1-2, 5, 10-20 cash.

With over twenty provincial regions producing and minting silver coins, the governing body saw the necessity to neutralise the country's currency and finally commenced issuing its own Chinese Silver Yuan Coins in 1903 as well as other brass and copper coins. The designs of the coins modified once in a while, particularly after the revolution, but the size and the metal content remained the same until the 1930s.

The Patriot Regime introduced on July 1949 the first silver yuan, which was at first worth 5 hundred million gold yuan. It began circulating for a few months round the mainland before the civil war and remained to be the official currency of the Republic of Taiwan until the year two thousand. As of today, Chinese Silver Yuan Coins have become a welcome boost to the collections of many coin fans all around the world. - 23208

About the Author:

You can find fabulous prices and selection on the historic Chinese Silver Yuan Coins at: http://ChineseSilverCoins.com