Posted on 4th April 2010 by Owen Jones in Politics
coins, collecting, culture, gold, happiness, history, indian head, investment, other, Politics, religion, traditions, UK, USA
Gold coins are extremely beautiful items and collecting them goes back to when coins were first issued in pre-Roman Europe. However, it was only in the Middle Ages that the amassing of gold coins became a leisure pursuit amongst the aristocracy and merchants who could afford to save such valuable items for their beauty and historical importance alone.
Coin collecting in general is still a very popular hobby enjoyed by millions of people of all ages. School children all over the world have small collections of overseas coins. Later, that hobby might expand into collecting coins from one’s own country. For example, it is easier and less expensive to collect a cent or penny from every year in the 20th Century in your own country than a foreign country.
This higher level of collecting coins can later become an expensive hobby once one has started working and has more money to spend. One might choose to specialize in collecting gold coins from a particular period or of a certain denomination. Dollar and sovereign coins are very popular in this regard.
In the USA, gold coins were in distribution from 1838 to 1933. The first design was the Liberty Head Bust but this was changed in 1907 to the Indian Head and Saint Gaudens motifs, which were used until 1933. The problems presented by the Great Depression caused gold coins to be recalled to be melted down. This made them rarer and therefore more valuable.
In the United Kingdom and other areas of Europe, gold was used for coins from before the birth of Christ and many exemplars of these Roman and Celtic gold coins still survive today. Gold is no longer used as currency in Europe either, although in the UK, a gold sovereign is still worth one pound. The design on the reverse is George and the Dragon, while the reigning monarch’s head is on the obverse
South Africa minted its first gold coin called the Krugerrand in 1967. The Krugerrand has no face value because it was not meant to be used as currency. It is made of one ounce of pure gold and is usually purchased just for investment purposes. Since then other countries have also issued bullion or investment coins. For instance, Canada made the Gold Maple Leaf in 1979 and Australia minted the Nugget in 1981.
In the days of the Gold Standard, countries had to equate the value of their currency with the amount of gold they held in reserve. That meant that if a country printed paper money without buying more gold to back it, the value of the paper currency would fall in relation to foreign currencies.
Different countries came off the Gold Standard at slightly different time, but most of them dropped the standard in or around 1971.
Collecting gold coins is a first-rate pastime, but it should not really be seen as an investment, because old gold coins carry a premium to the value of gold within them. This value is sentiment and that can change rapidly. If you want to collect gold coins all well and good, but if you want to buy gold for an investment, then buy bullion coins or bars.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Clogau Welsh gold. If you have an interest in wedding rings too, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring
Posted on 19th October 2009 by Jane Franklin in Politics
Britain, England, labour party, PM, Politics, Prime Minister, Tony Blair, UK, United Kingdom. politics, war
Tony Blair (full name, Anthony Charles Lynton Blair) was born on the 6th May 1953 in the Scottish capital city, Edinburgh. His father was a junior tax inspector trying to better himself by studying law at the University of Edinburgh. Upon his father successfully gaining a degree the family moved to Adelaide, Australia where he taught law.
Before the end of the decade the Blair family returned to the United Kingdom and Tony’s father took a post in Durham University. Tony Blair spent the remaining years of his childhood in Durham where he studied at Chorister School and then continued his education at Fettes College, Edinburgh.
While in Edinburgh Tony developed an interest in music and became involved in playing the guitar. After finishing at Edinburgh he moved to London and a year later started studying at Oxford University.
It was while he was at St John’s College that his interest in left wing politics developed. Passing with a Second Class Honours BA in Jurisprudence he became a pupil barrister, met Cherie Booth, his future wife, and joined the Labour Party.
From 1975 to the 1980s Blair gradually pushed his way up the Labour Party’s political ladder. In 1983 he was selected to fight for the seat for Sedgefield which was not too far from where he had spent much of his childhood (Durham). Winning the seat comfortably Tony Blair first spoke in the House of Commons on 6 July of that year.
In 1984 Tony Blair had already become the Opposition Spokesperson on Treasury and Economic Affairs, which was an extremely rapid progression compared to his previous years progress. In 1994 he became Leader of the Labour Party.
Within a very short space of time it became apparent that Blair intended to radically change the aims and values of the Labour Party with the replacement of “Clause IV”. By April 1995 the clause was replaced and “New Labour” was born.
On the 2nd of May 1997 Tony Blair’s New Labour won the general election and he became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The win was a landslide victory and such was the support of the nation that he managed to win the next two general elections and he became the only ever person to lead the party to 3 consecutive wins.
During Tony Blair’s premiership the United Kingdom saw some dramatic changes, Scotland was allowed it’s own devolved parliament and Wales a Welsh assembly. Though Blair would like his time to be remembered most for the successes in the troubles of Northern Ireland many agree that it will be the Iraq war and the surrounding controversy that will be most prominent in the history books.
On 24 June 2007 Tony Blair stood down as leader of the Labour Party and on 27 June 2007 he tendered his resignation as Prime Minister to the Queen. He then became the official Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East for the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia.
Jane Franklin lives in Scotland and passes her time promoting Glasgow Hotels
