-- Posted Sunday, 12 April 2009 | | Source: GoldSeek.com
By R. D. Bradshaw
Several of the previous Goldsmiths have examined the hyperinflationary blow out in the Weimar German Republic in the early 1920s. While most of the German people were hurt financially in this cycle, there were a few people who had enough perception to actually make money. The Goldsmiths, Part L, mentions some of these—like persons who bought gold, hard foreign currencies, rare coins, antiques and collectibles.
This Goldsmiths will examine a couple of recent news events which came up in the past few years and how they impact on the purchase of antiques, rare coins and collectives.
The Iraq Tragedy
Goldsmiths, Part XXIX, briefly touched on the archeological tragedy that occurred in the Bush war on Iraq in March 2003.
What happened is that in the Bush 2003 war on Iraq, war architect Wolf Wolfowitz never made any provision to safeguard and protect the priceless artifacts of history held in Iraqi museums. While Bush and his lackey Wolfowitz concentrated on securing the Iraqi oil fields, they neglected other things of perhaps even more value—like the museums housing artifacts and valuables, some of which were over 5,000 years old. As soon as US invasion forces hit Iraq in March 2003, looters moved in on the museums and carted off most everything of value.
In a New York Times article of Apr 13, 2003 on “A Nation at War: Looting; Pillagers Strip Iraq Museum of its Treasures,” John F. Burns wrote:
“The National Museum of Iraq recorded a history of civilizations that began to flourish in the fertile plains of Mesopotamia more than 7,000 years ago. But once American troops entered Baghdad in sufficient force to topple Saddam Hussein's government this week, it took only 48 hours for the museum to be destroyed, with at least 170,000 artifacts carried away by looters.
“The full extent of the disaster that befell the museum came to light only today, as the frenzied looting that swept much of the capital over the previous three days began to ebb.
“As fires in a dozen government ministries and agencies began to burn out, and as looters tired of pillaging in the 90-degree heat, museum officials reached the hotels where foreign journalists were staying along the eastern bank of the Tigris River. They brought word of what is likely to be reckoned as one of the greatest cultural disasters in recent Middle Eastern history…
“Nothing remained, museum officials said, at least nothing of real value, from a museum that had been regarded by archaeologists and other specialists as perhaps the richest of all such institutions in the Middle East. As examples of what was gone, the officials cited a solid gold harp from the Sumerian era, which began about 3360 B.C. and started to crumble about 2000 B.C.
“Another item on their list of looted antiquities was a sculptured head of a woman from Uruk, one of the great Sumerian cities, dating from about the same era, and a collection of gold necklaces, bracelets and earrings, also from the Sumerian dynasties and also at least 4,000 years old…
“Turning to 50 pages of items lent by the Iraqi museum for the exhibition, he said none of the antiquities pictured remained after the looting. They included ancient stone carvings of bulls and kings and princesses; copper shoes and cuneiform tablets; tapestry fragments and ivory figurines of goddesses and women and Nubian porters; friezes of soldiers and ancient seals and tablets on geometry; and ceramic jars and urns and bowls, all dating back at least 2,000 years, some more than 5,000 years.”
On surveying the museum’s holdings, one official remarked: ''All gone, all gone,'' he said. ''All gone in two days.''
Besides the obvious incompetence of Bush and his lackey Wolfowitz (or don’t care since their focus was actually on the oil wealth there and not on priceless artifacts), this tragedy brings out several things which most of us may not have understood or at least have not appreciated. Gold and silver were recognized as being things of value (precious metals) from the earliest days of the Adamic civilization in the Euphrates valley of perhaps six thousand years ago.
The second thing about this carry off is that many of these priceless artifacts stolen in Iraq will eventually hit the markets for sale. In fact, the odds are that they are being sold right now as I write this article. In thinking about the safe haven of artifacts and collectibles, the question that now comes to my mind is how many people will get sucked into buying stolen items that they really can’t enjoy or sell if the need later arises.
Over the years, thieves have hit any number of museums and collections of particularly great works of art. Most of these thieves are interested in one objective and that is to sell their loot and make as much money as possible in the deal. Of course some buyers are innocent and actually believe that they are buying legitimate works from reputable and honest sources. Others are more attuned to reality and know perfectly well that they are buying stolen goods.
It follows with stolen items that the owners must be careful about letting others know of their possession of such items. If the word got out that a certain collector has a stolen item, the police could come knocking on the door one day. So, in terms of the priceless items stole in Iraq from the Bush incompetence, any potential buyer needs to be alert that the item may not be legally transferred in a sale because of its prior theft from the Iraqi Museums.
The Counterfeit Problem
The Goldsmiths, Part XXXXI, carried a report of the recent counterfeiting of rare gold and silver coins and even gold bars by Chinese craftsmen. The basis for this report was a story by Brian Harring which apparently had appeared in the Coin World magazine.
While some of these fake coins/bars/etc were attractively priced (but often with very high delivery charges), some of them were of questionable quality. Now, while I am certainly extremely uninformed on antique coins and collectibles (and hence could be easily deceived), there are people working with this stuff who could easily pick upon the counterfeit items in the market place. I mention this not to discuss the expertise of the counterfeiters but merely to relate the matter of counterfeiting to the situation we are now in, in terms of buying antiques, rare coins and collectibles to beat the coming hyperinflation.
The Bottom Line
As we now know, smart people probably are beginning to look at the question of buying antiques, rare coins and collectibles to beat the coming period of hyperinflation which will eventually be on top of us. For those persons now addressing that option, my remarks are made above to offer the need for some caution.
In the last several years, we have just had so many reports and stories of stolen goods and/or counterfeit goods that one must be very, very careful in becoming involved in this market. There are some risk factors which could work to financial hurt a person placing money in these items without making a suitable inquiry and investigation into any proposed sellers/items.
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Besides the revelations contained in the Goldsmiths’ articles, the work of the plutocratic financial market manipulators to conspiratorially manipulate and control the financial markets (to make more profits and install a world government under their management) is also addressed at length in the periodic analysis of the news and in other articles produced at www.analysis-news.com. This website has an article of interest to any person interested in understanding the market Manipulators. It is the Hidden Secret of the Manipulators, why they succeed and how to follow their manipulations.
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-- Posted Sunday, 12 April 2009 | Digg This Article
| Source: GoldSeek.com
