Day: May 21, 2006

Letter Re: Content of Gold Bullion Coins and Numismatic Gold Coins

  Dear Jim, Regarding the metal content of gold bullion tokens: Gold Eagles are 22 karat, as are Krugerrands–the respondent in the old mail you quoted had that point wrong, too. (Where he claimed Eagles were less accepted than “pure gold” kruggerands (sic).) British Sovereigns are also 22 karat, with four coins equaling not quite one ounce of gold. Canadian Gold Maple Leafs, PAMP and Credit Suisse bars, and hallmarked bars and coins with .999 or .9999 are as close to pure as one can find. However, since it’s the gold content that is being traded, and that content is …


Letter Re: Feeding Your Dog in Hard Times

Jim, I was feeding my dogs last night when it hit me; what am I going to do for them if I were in a situation where I could no longer acquire more dog food? I know they love scraps from our food, but I try to keep that at a minimum for various, obvious reasons to us dog owners. As for a substitute to commercially obtained kibble, what sort of foods are best used to feed man’s best friend? I thought about this a bit, and figured jerked meats mixed with dried grains to cover the basics. As for …


Odds ‘n Sods:

There has been much talk about Iran’s new Euro-denominated oil bourse. Presidente Hugo Chavez now says that he might start pricing oil in Euros, too. And President Putin of Russia wants to trade oil and natural gas in rubles. Are they all trying to tell us something about the once-almighty U.S. Dollar?    o o o BBC News Economics Editor Steve Schifferes comments on why the dollar is sinking so rapidly.    o o o The high price of platinum is boosting palladium, as an alternative for jewelry making