Thanks for the info. I agree with you on the coin vs. paper. If I got any LD’s they would be the coin version, but one is probably ahead just getting silver eagles or something I suppose.

Jeff

Great quote! Sorry about the engineer jab, I’m sure it wasn’t their fault.

Amen!

The difficulty that you describe in replacing the bearing is rarely due to an engineer. Rather, it is management that imposes cost and other constraints that force the engineer into a design corner that he neither desires nor enjoys.

Jeff
engineer by day (for now), homesteader by night

“I am advised to abandon these lovely hand tools whose efficiency has evolved through many generations of users, and do my garden work with a polychrome, shiny gadget which is without character, and to me very objectionable, being noisy, evil smelling, and undependable. To think of choosing to have such a contraption between me and the soil, blotting out the song of birds and the river, and the sweet fragrances of spring. It would mean loss of independence, because gasoline has to be brought out from town for it, and if it needs repairs, a specialist must be brought in. The cost is considerable, too, and the acquiring of money is slavery, for me.”

~Harlan Hubbard, Payne Hollow Journal 1945

… which links to his GoldMoney articles …
http://www.the-moneychanger.com/goldmoney/table_contents.phtml

The GoldMoney site is …
http://goldmoney.com/

I still haven’t jumped in. It offers the opportunity to store your savings in metal, but still be able to convert to FRNs overnight (they can deposit the spot value of your holdings into a checking account using the ACH — automated clearing house). The transaction fees are fairly low to buy from vendors who accept GoldGrams directly. The purchase premium is less than 3% over spot (about 1% if you purchase at Kitco.com, rather than directly through GoldMoney.com).

Although physical possession is best, digital transfer makes for ease of transaction non-locally, and Franklin Sanders indicates that he trusts the man who put this whole thing together.

Again, I haven’t jumped in yet, but it certainly is worth examining the concept.

(And about Liberty Dollars — I have no gripes with anyone wanting to provide a real-money alternative to fiat currency, but I still think that 1 oz. silver dollars are a better alternative than paper certificates backed by 1 oz. silver. Why hold paper, when you can hold the coin, and the coin — despite a premium — is still cheaper than the paper certificate backed by silver. Just my opinion.)

JFC

Yeah it does!

Oh, and thanks for the money links. I’m starting to get really interested in that. Do you have any problems spending the coins, or do you even try?