I equate the formation of the EU with the formation of the United States in the late 18th century. Frankly speaking these little colonies were effectively independent little states, each with their own currencies, laws etc that saw the greater good of a federation that protected the rights of each state, but saw to the common good and defense of all. People in Europe during the 1950s envisioned something similar. Two world wars in 40 years, millions of deaths, the destruction, the cost to the economy etc. Two countries in particular that seemingly had the most animosity towards each other, France and Germany were the strongest proponents of the Common Market as a means to create a prosperous and peaceful existence. Whilst England and Wales voted for Brexit the rest of Britain did NOT. Northern Ireland and Scotland voted stay, and well - they may elect to stay in the EU and leave Great Britain. Europe and the EU should survive and thrive, for the common good, for the peace and prosperity of all Europe's citizens.
How in the world did you happen across this? I wish I could hack the top half-dozen or so Web news sites so that, for the next day or so, every link led to this article.
Harper's, huh? Don't you think that's pretty intellectual stuff for stackers? I mean, hey, they seem to be anti-intellectuals.
This may be the most entertaining thread I've seen yet on CT. I mostly come here to use this as a resource to learn more about my coin collection and what is out there etc. I found the Harper's article by doing a bit of googling. My favorite part of being a history buff is coin collecting but sometimes I like to make fun of politics and the press by seeing how they have been rehashing the same things for not just a decade or two but a few hundred years. I love reading old issues of Popular Science, Harper's and the local Universities' Collegiate and such online. Stacking or hoarding is nothing new. Vikings did it, Romans did it, everyone had done it. I have a friend who does it. I told him bullets and canned food make more sense but he doesn't listen and I'm sure his kids and grand-kids will appreciate the coins and scrap gold and silver more than canned ham. In the long run and played right it is a sound investment. I think it is a matter of choosing wisely. I try to get him to consider the value of what he buys if the world economy doesn't collapse as well as if it does. Considering the economy as always will likely fall somewhere in between.
You may want to read again what I wrote. You claimed, referring to Germany, that "they consider exiting the EU." Now if the German government, or any party here that this fall may win a majority, actually considered that, you would certainly have a point. Except that this is not the case. And yes, my comment that the EU would be pointless without member states such as France is pretty obvious but, if you want to, "political" in some way. (That was a reaction to "No Germany, no EU".) As I wrote before, it is sometimes difficult to be a moderator here - we are members just like you, and entitled to have an opinion just like you. But at the same time we are supposed to find or observe that fine line between what is OK within Coin Talk's rules and what is not ... Christian
@chrisild I personally believe the EU is overall a good thing for Europe, security, economy etc. Of course there are some laws etc that are a bit far fetched, but in democracies we realize that and can change them. It was a democratic Europe that afforded Britain the right to leave the EU and go it alone. It is a democratic Europe that saw Netherlands vote down the rightist anti EU parties, it will probably happen again in France later this month. Populist nationalism usually doesn't end well.
So which is more appropriate: "All's well that ends well." "All's for the best in the best of all possible worlds."
Or perhaps the story we all were told about the US not having any of the gold was a pile of ( editedlease read the rules ). I believe gold would go up more than $40-$50 if the govt had to buy that much gold. This increase is just normal fluctuation and I wouldnt be surprised if we are back down in the mid 1200s by next week
While I completely agree with you from a bird's eye view, I wouldn't necessarily equate the economies of those 13 states to the economy of Europe today. There's far more industry and diversity in a nation of old than a young fledgling. We grew quickly as one nation with sound money, and getting away from that was a far greater mistake than consolidating IMO. Had the Euro been on a gold standard, things might have turned out for the better.
The euro was "born" in 1999, at a time when there was no thing as a "gold standard" anywhere. No currency in this world uses a monetary standard that is solely based on the price and content of some commodity. Christian
Good thing you already found a source. Another list, maintained by the European Commission and updated fairly regularly, is here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/about-eur...ins/commemorative-and-collector-euro-coins_en Christian
Thanks, Christian. That website is now a permanent icon on my iPhone's home screen. The iPhone even made a sweet icon for it. World Coins dealers' euro bins, here I come.