> At 4:37 PM -0400 7/10/03, Robert S.Z. wrote: > ... > >Your "eons" have less than 100 history to them! > > Currency exchange is a *LOT* older than that!
I'm talking about paper. My point is that nowadays we exchange paper for gold, whereas as recently as 30 years ago we exchanged metal backed paper for other metal backed paper, in essence metal for metal. I did NOT say what everybody seems to think I said, namely that they did not charge both ways. I did say, two tangible items where exchanged. e-gold is NOT tangible per say. My whole point is that not that it's a bad thing to make a profit as an exchanger but that it's simply insane from a marketing point of view to call it fee and express it in percentage. Of course I still believe that that outexchange should be hit much more than inexchange, but fear that the only way to do this is to set an example. And spare me the sour remarks about how it isn't possible, because merchants have the edge on this one. You see, we actually earn gold. Meaning, we get it at zero surcharge. Exchangers often have to deal with Omnipay or each other and pay fees, we don't. Imagine cyfrocash.com would offer all customers to buy e-gold on the spot at market, 2 minute delivery - and yes - we could! Stocks are not large enough yet and we still need a few more people to join the gang, but it will happen. I don't want to ruin anyone, I just want to proof a point. > > They probably exchanged various kinds of scrip for various > kinds of coins, of varying purity (and if you think they didn't > make money both ways, on bid and ask, you're nuts!!!). > Exactement, mon ami! BID and ASK! Not imposed surcharge that resembles a tax. > > Wait a second, are you assuming that the only debasement > of currency happened in the US? (Go read: "The Decline and > Fall of the Holy Roman Empire" and then come back and say > that!) > No I don't. I'm a bit of a history buff and can tell you that debasement started much earlier and was responsible for the fact that Greece never got an actual empire and for the Phonecians to keep Rome at bay for so long (Hannibal basically crossed the Alps to collect debts). The difference was however that debasement was done by slowly changing the purity of gold in coins. There had been a few attempts to introduce placeholders (tenders) to represent gold - a type of paper currency if you will - but they usually failed in the first generation or because of capital flight and subsequent wars. But it's still besides the point, because my argument was about the fact that we are now exchanging paper for numbers on a screen, while until not too long ago people exchanged for papers/metals for papers/metals. > > >but you guys really take the cake sometimes. Reminds me of certain Germans > >who had built and conquered a Thousand Years Reich that crumbled 988 years > >early. At least their paper was exchangeable for silver at no surcharge. > > Oh?! Source?? (I'm betting exchanges, even back then, did > not operate as a charity!). Germany repalced the R-Mark with Rechsmark in 1934. The Reichsmark was exchangable for Silver in 5 Mark denominated coins until 1939. Of course, it was illegal to abuse (melt) the coins or indeed to export them. This together with building infrastructure (create jobs) was the reason the frigging Nazis were so successful. They gave their country a stable currency and hope. > > I repeat: "exchange has not changed for EONS!!!!!" --- For Eons people exchange one item they could touch for another. They could wear it around their neck, pack it into small leather bags and hit each other over the head with and do lots of other useful stuff with it. Then came paper - exchangeable for metal, then came paper. Period. Now we are exchanging paper for numbers on a screen and instead of changing 18 drachmes for 2 and 3/4 dirhams or 10 talents, we exchange a lie (Fiat) for a promise (e-gold). And you say nothing changed? Last but not least, records of the Phonecian money changer guild reported an increased profit for three year before the Romans got their butts kicked in Spain because traders that docked in Carthage could exchange Roman Sesterzes 10:1 for Dirham but only 8:1 when they left and tried to exchange their surplus back. PUNITIVE outexchange. And now you know why I'm so fond of using that word. It comes from the puni or punic. The name the Romans gave the Phoencians because they couldn't pronounce 'Phoe'. Cheers, Robert. budget & privacy website hosting http://www.cyberica.net budget & privacy domain registrations + mail http://www.u2planet.com/cfdomaintrust.html --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
