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For the past many years Russia and China have shared a common trend – the accumulation of gold. Russia and China have been the leading official sector gold buyers over the last 15 years, but for the past few months especially the two countries have begun increasing their accumulation of gold. Let’s take a lookRead more

Numismatic coins, which are considered incredibly rare and worth more than their metal content, are no longer produced in modern times. Numismatic coins are held in high esteem by collectors and generally collectors are the only individuals who purchase these coins, classifying these types of coins, especially gold coins, not as investments in the typicalRead more

Negative interest rates are one of many telltale signs that a country is trying to boost its economy. The Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank are just two examples of several other smaller European banks that have ventured into the highly untrodden territory of negative interest rates. What exactly is a negative interestRead more

Quantitative easing, or QE for short, a monetary policy defined as the practice of introducing new money into the money supply by a central bank. The central bank carries out this process whenever it begins buying financial assets from commercial banks and other financial institutions, raising the prices of those financial assets and lowering theirRead more

We are all undoubtedly familiar with ATM cash machines as part of our daily life routine. But have you ever considered the history of the ATM, and where this technology might head in the future? The modern ATM was first born in the 1960s in the United States. According to Wikipedia, “in 1968 the networkedRead more

The US Dollar is often the subject of theories and fears about its future acceptance declining substantially—is the US Dollar headed for an acceptance crash? Will gold return to dominance? These kinds of discussions have always flourished on the Internet, but with a wave of influential billionaire investors piling into gold this year… and backingRead more

Saving for vacation, retirement, or simply for a rainy day can be hard enough on its own… yet some people believe the US Dollar itself makes it difficult for savers to get ahead over time. From the pair.offshore blog: Many central banks around the world hold dollars as a reserve currency. Under the Bretton WoodsRead more

Are you wondering how much is a socially acceptable amount to leave as a tip at a nice restaurant? What about how much you should leave a housekeeper/maid at your hotel? And how much should you give the valet when he or she brings your car around? Tipping has surprisingly seedy roots in the newRead more

The world over, gold is popular as a form of jewelry—used to make high-end watches, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and nearly everything else you can think of in the jewelry world. And the gold used in jewelry is not even always the yellow metal you’re used to seeing. As the World Gold Council explains: Yellow goldRead more

A number of economic pundits and gold ownership proponents online take a rather cynical view toward the US Dollar (and other central bank created currencies), as they view them as fundamentally less sound and less reliable means of storing value. From the pair.offshore blog, a good summary of what drives that sentiment: Even though the USRead more