andrei anikin, the yellow devil gold and capital

7/24/2019 Andrei Anikin, the Yellow Devil Gold and Capital

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A.nikin

THE YELOWDVI

Gold and Captal1m .

PROGRESS PUBLSHERS

MOSCOW


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Transaed from t Rssian by K. M Cook

Designed by Yu Lyuer

A. AK

(EJb )b5J

H IHTJH

a acUCOM R3bte

laTeCBO MOOaH rnapI, 98

Engsh ansaion of th evised Rssin x Pogrss Publshers 19

Prined in he Union of Soviet Sociali Republics

0701-031

A 014(01)-8 7283 61000


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CONTENTS

I Introducton od n e Le o Mannd

II ow od Becme Money

III Mnng te eow Meta

I Were te d oes

od enocde .

I Te Powe o od .II Te od Standad and Its Agony

III Te Intenatona Mnetay System

IX Te te of te eow Meta

Notes

Page

20

6

0

1 22

0

202

237


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I. INTRODUCTIO

GOLD I THE LIFE OF MANKIND

Ts book was s pubse Russa a e e o Subseque eves ave ome s eevae oa a ame e ewspapes o e apas wo ave ae eaes seamg Go a Go Rus I gaps o gopes e age e o e g sue soae up amosa g ages I soo beame mpossbe o a em o esame sae beause a e begg o e make pe go Loo o New Yok was amos mes gea a be o e eas eae

Te , e pe goe b p e awas o aveage abou oas a oe e s a o e m easo was a was a peo o poogeeoom eesso we ema o mos ommoes oppea ma apas oues ee was a euo pouo a apa vesme Tese sap uuaos e

pe o g bo ee a eae e sab o eapas eoom

Up o e oa pe o go was 35 oas peo oe oa pe gamme bu ou be obaeega om e US Teasu a s pe o b a sge pvege aego o buesoeg moea auoes aea baks A a me s pe ee sg om

e ee make pe a w was puase b eweesmauaues o eeo equpme a vesos wooug pe o ves pa o e apa go Bueso ewe go os pa moe pe ue o go o ousee wee oveg os o mauaug e we as e p o e mauaues a eaes a vaousaxes a suages Bu e eee was s o ve gea

pes be e o o a ew oze oas oue


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A e eg e go us mJaua 1980 e woesae pe we up o 8080 oas pe oue appoxmae oas a gamme o pue go Jewees o ave me

o age e pe abes e geg sp wowsDema was va exess o supGo was aoe s sok bbg Te pes o sve

paum a meas e paum goup aso so up asooma A e bakgu uee b oe oesa ube o oe aws e pe o se sea Suwas e suao w apasm eee e 1980s

Tee ae moe mpoa gs e wo a e gous o ouse To ake a exame m e eom speee ease o a o pes s moe sga a ageae oseuee

Neveeess e eom ( a pa mpoae go s a geae a oe wou k om s a moesa me spees o usa use I s aso ompaabgeae a a e psema eae meassvea pau

Commoii an Mony

G oupes a ve pea pae vas wo o moeommoes Ts pae s eem b s spe soa uos I a o a usus appaae bu aso a us

us so wu w we a uesa s pesea e

Sasm ee g as a eom peomeo apasm Isa as ue soasm ee s bug a sego mmoes an e uog o moe go as soe ee as a g spe mmo w spea eooa soopsoga opees Te e gea o e

eaues a uos o go apas soe Ts ae see o om e a a e ee go us emea m e eoo a saseu om e moa po vew o a u o ave a aaog soasues We o o possess e soa saum o pvae eaes speuaos a sokexage gambes wo oue omake moe o e go us a e expese o ose w ae

expeee ume a oe b o meas wea Bu


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gold s bught and sold n socalst countres and man peopleseek t possess t for a varet of reasons Even f we accet thattese reasons are rratonal and not n keepng wth the essence

of the socalst way f lfe, we must take them to account asn ecnoc and scal realtyLet us ake a closer look at this metal that has always at-

tracted special atention and interest Everone must have seengld. Many readers will possess bjects ade of gold: rings,

bracelets, watches; or gold crowns. Many of tem will prbablhave seen a gold coin At one time these circulated as mone,

butnow

tey are ket as precius bjects. Sometimes they are

of historicl and atistic value and form part of numismatic col-

lectons.We knw ta gold s a ver exensve commodty. More

precsely, hat t s hgly valuale n small amounts Any wegtunt of slver costs tens f tmes less, copper tousands of tmesless, and ron tens of thousands f tmes less than gold Aswe knw, gold s called a peou metal.

Everone wll agree tht gold s beautful. It has an ntenseellow wch can take on dfferent shades dependng on thequantt and tpe of admxtres (usuall slver, copper, nckeland certan other less valuable meals). The ver word god nInd-European languages s derved frm the word for elown partcular, ts concerns the Slavonc and Germanc languages, ncludng Engls (although te relatonshp s more b

ous n German Gold and gelb From tme mmemoral peopleave made all sorts of onaments and jewelry of gold Somtmesthese are f great artstc value and mportant culurl an hstorcal mouments The worlds museums treasure Ancent Egyptan, Scthan and Thracan gold artcles, and he work of skllededaeval and moern craftsmen. The modern jeelry ndustry prduces man artcles f te most vared artstc an

monetary value.Gold possesses some unque physcal and chemcal propereIt des not rust lke ron, does nt gt overed wth a blsgreen oxde lke copper, and does not even darkn lke slverGold ons and other artcles fond n the ground or under water ften look as f the have just come out of the worksopwhere e were made Ths s wy gold s alled a obe tal

The natural prpertes of gold make t sutbe for use n


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certain sheres f industry t has acquired this function mainyin rent decades it is used in electronics space technoogy andcommunicaions

But the importance f gold in ord history and in moderneconmics is determined not by its use in eely manufactureor in industry Morever shal see that its ornametal use isconnected nt ony and not s much ith its useful naturalprperties as ith its socia functionto embody value to bemoney.

The re played by money in socity depends on the structureof scity n a certain sense the reverse is also true hen esee h mey funcions in a certain society e can judge itsnature te types of prpety the charater of econmc reatinsbeteen eope

The ages human development differed from one antherinter aia n he type of money they had. Homeric reece didnot t have meta coins ad pieces f iron and cppe or catleserved as money In the last century gold and silver coins cir

cuated thrughout the orld and also bankntes hich innorma conditions could be exchanged for mtal at their face

value Today in the cpitalist countries money for the mostpart takes the form entries in bank accunts and is used forbank transers Ready money (banknotes and coins of nonpreious metals) forms the smaller part f the money spply. Inthe USSR oney takes he same forms but the shere of its

opertion is imited and subdinated to the interests of society:no one can use money to buy land a share in an enterprise ora bock f ats Sciali enterprises settle their accounts by banktransfer excusiy by means f transferring money from naccout in the tate Bank anther Payment by bank tranferbeeen members f the ubli nd state enterprises is beingntroduced The ast maority payments made by members

f he pubic is done in ready money bankntes of he StateBank treasu notes and l chane) The planning anreaing o oey spy is an important part of soialist ecnm pannng

t oud be correct to cal all tese types o money bth the capitaist and in the sociaist eonomy paper-credi oney.nke he gd or slver money hch used o be in circution

t h nsc value The purchasing dllar


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r 00-ruble bnknte bers n reltin t the cst of it mnufcture. his mney is f edt nture in the brd sensef he wrd insfr s it is bsed n trus in the bdy tht

issue it And th wrd edt in tn des tlly men trusWe hve grwn ccustmed t cl this mney er moneythugh it is becing more nd mre "deterilised kighe frm f entries in bnk ccunts nd mre recently f eectrnic signls in the memry f comuters

Is gld mney in scilist ecmy? Ecnmiss give different nswers t ths questio sme frmtive, thers negtiveBut they ll tend t qulify the nswer ith vrius reservtiosn ecictins.

In ft it i by n mens bvius frm dy-to-dy exerienceOn the ne hnd w re ccustomed t think f gold s moneyIt is usul think tht nte cn circulte ny becuse tere in sme y bcked by gold.

On th ther hnd you cnnt go into sh with gld inyur urse nr cn you use it t y the ret It never ccurs

t nyne t sy tht cr r televisio cost s mny grmmesf gold All gs in the R hve rices in vit rulesnd in this resect gold des nt differ frm ny ther commdity If erson hs sme gld nd he needs moneyrdirer ney he must rst f ll sell his god ke it t secnd-hnd h r w it if the wner chershes his grndfthers wtch r gndthers brct s memet But

fur ct r trnsistr rdi r ilver sns c ls be sdr wnd here ny difference Oviousy there is lddiffers i th it is highly ortble hmeneu nd lng-sting. Mrever it ssesses nher qulity hrd dene butre nvertheless th f ge-d trditin the custm ditiguishing it frm ll ther cmmoties. Whe ele wnt oscribe eci vlue mthig verbly n Russin they

sy "white gld fr cttn r "blck gld fr oiMny viet ecnmists udying ey in scilist scitycnsidr tht gld hs rcticly lost l monetry functins inthe U The urchsing er n stbility er-credmney is bsed nt n gold t n th suly f cmmdiiestt re duced d ut int circltin for the mot rt tstte-xd stle rices

T tte's gld reserves ly certin re in mintining


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he stabili o papercredit on because god is in itse aer aluabe cmmdit which is easil realised abroad In theGreat Soiet Encclaedia we read In sociaist cuntries the

centra god reseres sere mai as a resere or internationastements conneed wth exernal ecnmic rations. heSoiet rouble has a god content that is xed b w On 1 Januar 1961 it was set at 09812 grammes o pure gd reious it had been equal to 0222168 grammes since 1 March950 he increase was made n connecton wth a change nthe scale prices when al monetar units in the nationa econm were rcacuated at a ratio o 101 (lwered ten times)and new bankntes were ssued he od cntent o the rbelike the gd resere plas a real part primaril in the sphereo externl ecnmic reltons It sere as a base or xing the ratio the rube to oreign currencies (exchange rates). helast xed rati (parit) o the roube and the dollar bsed nthe gold content bth currencies was (rm Februar 193) roubes 61 kopec to 100 dolars that is 1 dollar was a

proximate equal to 5 kpecks Hweer since then the gdcontent the dolar has ost real econmi signicance andts rate in relaton t other currences has constant uctuateon the markt eee e eee teruble and the doar is used nw on as a pint rerencead the rte the rouble in reation t the doar is xed bthe State Ban o the USSR taking int accunt the marke

rate the dollar in reltin a set reign currencies.Other Siet specialists cnsider that in the USSR papercredit mne is connected with gd nt on because heunction o gold as wrd mone but as because o its rolein purel internal economic prcesses he beieve that papercreit mne btains its purchasing pwer i retin t commdities on in its capacit as a represetatie god

he reader wil prbab alread have guessed that the author this vume is coser to the orer viewpintBut whateer the diergencies pinion on the question o

the reationship btween gd and papercredit mne eerneis agreed that god pas an important roe in the oreign econic sphere particuar in the reations o the USSR withcapitalist countries his roe deries r the act that theUSSR is a maor god-prducing untr s ear as 191 Lenin


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expessed most vvdl he atttude Cmmunsts to gold n satcle he mpotance o Gold Now and Afte the CompleteVcto o Socalsm he atcle was wtten dung the nto

ducton o the New Economc olc whe t was mpotan toeesablsh nomal commodt and moneta elatons n thecount avaged b man eas o wa and esablsh tadngelatons th the captalst West Une these condtons thequeston o gold acqued consdeable mptance enn wote

=1When we ae vctoous on a wold scale thnk we shall usegold the pupose o buldng publc lavatoes n the steetso some the laget ctes o the wold hs would be themost jus' and most educatonal wa o utlsng gold o thbenet o those geneatons whch have not gtten how fohe sake o gold ten mllon men wee klled and tht mllonmmed n he geat wa o eedom' the wa of 94-8 Meanwhle we must save the gold n the RSFSR sell t atthe hghest pce bu gods wth t at the lowest pce

Gold s a smbol o bougeos babat and n a cetansense a snonm o captal whch engendes wold-wde dsastes But because t s geatl pzed n captalst counteswe can and soul use t n the nteests o ulng a socasteconom Lenns pactca advce souns pata evantda when the pce o god on the wod maet s sng nleaps and bounds somtmes b as much as 40 o 50 dllas anounce n a da n 980 the gap btween the lowest an the

hghe maket pce wa as uch as 400 dollas an ouceIn ths stte f afas the selle of gold has ample opotntto show hs comecal know-how foesght and estant

Wht awats gld n the moe dstant ftue when the fomo oganson of socet chages on a wold-wde scae?

Most pobal utue geneatons wll theselves dece hbes to use he gold accumuated b manknd and what amounts

of t to poduce One can hadl doubt that the moneta funcons o gld wll be completel abolshed he use o the metalwll become tona and functona B then the mak of theDevl wll be eased om gold and t wll cease to be a sboo geed ll-goten wealth and the explotaton o man b manFst and foemost t wll obvousl be used n technology tts beaut wll also sve t satsf man's heath aesthetc e

quements


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Hoy

Bu le us u m he uue he as. he le hs

bk was sied b Mxm k's mhle e C he Yellw Devl i whih he aed New Yk a ebiin he 0h eu as msus du a vlsi bsed me. his imae whih ais ale was eei he eal a ha a ha ime ldwas he dia m me essee a sm e. Ad me bh i e da sese ad se aalsis s he ial m aal.

he his ld es bak ve he milleia d ame as eaed emi we as a bje dsead eed aeas i ae mes. he Rma e Vls ied he hase auri sacra fames used his ld. Bu k aalsm b his ula mlei.W? Beause i alis sie ld s l me buals al ha s me u iula make i

w Balzas lsis usue Gbsek sas Wha sle a mhie hih me ses m . . ld s hesual essee all ese siees.

ld as meal ad a useul ul w meial as beeknw ma b six husad eas. I aqued eaimea eaues he ms develed as e aewld bu 40004500 eas is w 500-00 eas

sie he ld is aee. his maked he beii s e s meebe imes hve been mmied lve ld. Pele

esh meal. . is a hase ha desibes is his veauael. he we ld makes ele uel ad mallu Nuall he blame hs mus be u hmel whh is siml hemial eeme wih ein e

es bu n he sil ssem whih has mde he embdime wealh a be alms elius wsh. ma euies lds vl he le mne wa

silve N ul he 19h eu dd ld ei sueme ashe me eal A mea ssem lled he ld sadadwa idued n he man ali uies he se minedd issued ld isElis svens eh Nales adRussia mels. All he ms me wee exhaeable


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f hese cs d became he basis, he hb he measysem ae-mey a i sch a ecmy as mssble Whe cmmdy ces e , mea ha f smeas hese cdies had me exesve ela d

he ld sadad as esablshed s ad fems eaBa, ad hh he ceuy adualy sead mahe cuies. hs s hy Kal Max based hs aalysis caiam i he middle ad he lae half f he 9h ceuyi ac he fac ha ld cld e eaded as hey fm f mey e says Capta "huh hs k,

assme, f he sake f smlicy, ld as he meycmdy

ld layed a ia le i he devee f caalsm, he fmai f is ecmc mechaism, ad i scelas is a ima eleme f he hle f bueiscvlsai

he i of d ad slve) Wese Ee fe

he ea eacal discveies f he 5h ad 6h cees as a ma sce f he ia accmlai caial desyed he clsed feda ecmy ad simlaecmmece ad hadicas

he md-h cey he dscvey of d i Cafad salia seved as a su ad ecmic develme Wese Ee ad Nh meica d med he ec

c dai ehe f cies ad eiies ad he fmai f a ld make he i f ld fmed he basif he id of he ld sadad a he develmef he ced sysm

he ed f he 9h ceuy l as dscveed i she fia ad hs aked he bei, e mh say, fhe mde ase i is hisy day he Rebic

Sh fica dces ab heeqaes f he caaiswlds od ece yeas al he caiais cies akeehe have dced fm 950 ,000 s f ld aally,icludi abu 700 s i Suh fca hese es d chae ch d, i sie f he faac ise i he ice fld, is dco is ceas his usa ecmcbehaviu lks ld ih il, he dci f hch has sha edecy d ece yeas

1


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concntraton o old rodcton n oth Arcaortant or ts tr n th comn yars and dcads

tn n th trblnt soth Arca s nstablh vory o th ol o Zmbabw and th rowth o thatonal lbraton movmnt n Soth Arca and Namba s nrasnly waknn th oston o th racst stat and ntrnaonal monooly catal n ths contry On th othr hand thtr o Soth Arca tsl s to a lar xtnt connctd wth tholdmnn ndstry wth th labr and strl o hdrds thosands o Arcan mnrs.

In ts tm old had a drct and stron nnc on t!conomc dvlomnt th rons n whch t was mndh cts an Francsco dny and Johannsbr rw on old

Th at o th old vad or World War I a consdr art was td nto cons whch wr thn t nto crctn Abt th sam amot wnt nto h valts th cnal anks and rasrs and srvd to back crdt and ar

ny In both cass th old took th orm o mony and wasonstatly bn transrrd rom th rsrvs nto crclatond

back aan Ths was th rod o th old standard.Atr th 9498 wa mst catalt ontr stod

nn cons and rstrctd th xcha o ar mony orold. All orms ths xchan wr nally abolshd n theriod o th world conomc crss o 9291933 old casd

b mony n th natonal conoms th catalst cons It wa ncrasnly concntratd n stat rrvs and cntralnks and mrd only to sttl ntrnatoal dbts Thr wasly on ath or rshly mnd oldrom t to t thatrom th mns to th armord valts o banks an stat

srvs.In th 193s stat rsrvs dvord ot only all th old

eig mnd bt also a consdrbl art o rvat holdns B45 th nd o Word ar II) wothrds th catalstTOrld's old rsrvs alst 3 tons) wr concntratd nntral rsrvs and ths amont a lttl lss than twothrdsabt 18 tns) was n th hands o th ovrnnt o thnited Stats Th cocntrato o ol n th Untd tats

ntnd n th arly ostwar yars by th nd o 949 thntd tats ossssd r cnt abot 22 tons)


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In the post-war mnetar ssem the Amra dar beameas t were a duat fr god, n so ar as th US gvernmengaranteed that ther states oud exhange her doar assets

(foreig urre aumuatns) fr god at a xed rate hedar is as god as god remaind a ppuar sang in theUnited States right up t the 97s

da t sunds riduous In 968 the Unted States asfred to stp uprting the dar pri of gd on the freemarket and in 97 to stp xhangng doars aumuated abroad for gd hus the na nk f apitaisms intrnatonamntar sstem with gd was brkn

h futg f a mnetar stm inked wth gd hasroved t be betiv impssibe for modern aptaism the sam tm the onr frms and perods fr usting godare determined arge b the p pursued b th eadnpitaist utries I th 97s the Unted States pursued thep f th demoneisaion of god ie of removng t froth mnetar sstem as th bass fr measurng the vaue of

urrenies and as th utimate medum for internatona setemnts

I 976 the member ountries f the Internatina MonetarFund conlded an ag1reement, one of the m impoan so whih as the abitn f urren par vaues expressed ingd the easng f peratons n th basis of these par vauesand th iqudati of a nsderabe part f the Funds g

eserves Hver, this is sti a ong wa from the atua remova f god frm the monetar sstem he apitaist ountreskep ther meta reserves as the most reabe reserve of internationa pamnt meda and smetimes put them into ruaton seing or pawing gd at market pries Certan ountrespartiuar iprduig nes are nreasing thir reserves bbuig god o the marke hus ther s a ertan mvement

of gd bten the entra banks and the gvements of varus untres It s partiuar smptmat that when the Cmm Maret untries set up the Eurean monetar sem n979 a pa as fund in it for god

he repeated ises i the pre of god have ed t a rsein th rea vaue of god reserves and ther abit to sette baane of paments dets In fat ths means that gd i per

forming an imprant mone funtion


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nmous man o gol as a mum o nvstngon ptal s xplan b gowng nton n t ptals wol onom n potal nstablt an ntnatoal

ss T n o ts pnomn s no sg an onsquntl mos salsts a ptng long u pss on l makts

No matt w t unons o gl an vaous sps ts onom ol ng s ol mans a majo o nt aptas ol

oug Ey of Scoa an W vast amount as bn wtt bou gol T um

ous wks on t mst pss golog xtaton nolog an s gol Bu paps v mo as bn wtabout ts soo-onom an moa aspts. s Max ll ngls polan las

on pakng n a Plamn

ta bt n t 184s obsv ta vn lov a vn

lss mn m tn mton o mon n mon a att was gol

ubsqunl aa woks on mon gan to pa a lssatnton t gl an unl t s b gno ompltTs os no man a onoms v los ns t butml ta t v b ta ags n t stuu ono to On t ot n t numb o wtngs

vo o gol n sooonom lu s gowng so apl a t s bomng a o kp up wt tm omplxt an vat o subj ompl autos o xamn n asps o poblm o goonom soal psoloal a os. Man s woks bo ovt an ognav bn u n wtng t book T a wll nt tls o ts books an atls n ots

T olklo o all popls n t ton o ll gs vpsv a lot o obsvatons an ougs on t olo gol n ppls lvs W n gol lau an us n vn o an oo o s po an ams o wolwtot s pw Hom an opols Cau an aksa Puskn an ok T Calonn gol us gaveus gat wt Bt Ht lkan] ak Lonon T

wol Russn gol magnas an poptos s pota


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dl b Mamnbrak ad hhko Mkhal Zhcho nhe Black Prnce wrt abot th arch for an Eglh hladn wth old tha ank th Black a h Englh wrAlan llto h no A Start in Life dcrb h gold b h wold of mggl and hr b And on

Hr n xaml akn frm Englh otr Th aln

arcal o hma Hood (1798-1845) "laud gol n th

namc ln

Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!Bright and yellow, hard and cold,

olten, graven, hammered, and rolled;Heavy to get, and light to hold;Hoarded, bartred boght, and sold,Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled;Spurned by the young, but hugged by the oldTo te very verge of the churchyard mould;Price of many a crime untold;Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!Good or ad a thousand- old!How widely its agencies varyT o saveto ruinto curseto blesss even its minted coins expessNow stamped with the image o Good Queen essAnd now of a Bloody ary!

omtm r tchg n "gld rbl thrwrk f co ccl nccl a morantconmc h wt Alx ol w fana nl ld Egineer arn's Hyperboloid h 1920 h nl ma charact an adnr b thnam of o arn nd a wa of xractng a atf gold rm th arth' cr wh th h f aaat whch

atcad h modrn lar h c rc of h gold 2 dolla a klogram whra th fcal rc f gld whchondd o th gld contn f mrcan moarn a ha tm wa b 665 llar a logam B lnh gl a c rc on h U mark h ndmn hot' nmc m o ch an xnt ha m ahor fall nt h hand lk a al drng o abt

-5


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H is h aa ich h U gvrm maks ho i cnci h Garis acons: Th m n GdIsa mus b bckd u as son as ssb ad h vr ssb f havng nxhausb sus f gd mus b mnad a ha h uvan of abur hassif isf if sar dggg u gd k ca? Makd vab rur o rimiv s bar rad svagrad haos. Th h cmic ssm i coas ad dusr and cmrc di. nd s o n h sam v.

Th nrsg usi f comis s his: i Tssfaas r rasfrrd o h mdrn rd ha csucs

for h caas cud xc frm a sudd dr h rc of gd h ric f cr r aumum h d f h b sha am d a asr hisus

I rc ars rfud chags hav ak ac i hsaus and r f gd n h caas cnm ssm Gds ssb a a urig i s g hisr This bk

dscribs ho has arrivd a h rs sag f s hisrha is cnmic r s da ad ha aais hfuur

his book s dsgd fr h gra radr h a rs cmics hsr ad cs scia kodg s rrd i rdr rad . Th mdrn radr s ng addmadig. hrfor ok obsrvs h accd sdards of

scic ubcaos cia rfrcs h surcs facs ad idas f r rrs This is aruar imra rars h sh xd rag f hr radg dkodg Bu a rma h ssc f h ub isnaind h ai x. bok ma b rd h ag a a h surc rfrcs

h rsn dii s _basd h ubisd Russia xI as hr b csdrab visd ad smdI s dg auhr as gud b hr csdras: s ud mara raig 9792 hch has crbudmuh ha s h i gd i h caas ss; scd imrv h xsi and in gas; adhird a crai x ak accu h irss fh frig radr.

In his bok h auhr ds n caim hav mad a n


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dndn sd f h rb Hs a was a dffr s n ar and, ssb, nranng fr, whh s f hsrca and aca ara h vws and das

dvd b Sv cnss S hs wrks ar rrrd n h ns, hrs ar n nd b h havad hr r h rar f h bk Ovr h as fn ars a nr f srus wrks nrnaanr rbs hav c h USS, whch havad a r ss sca sd h qsn f gd asS f h hav b ransad n frgn angags Unrna h as rk f fnaa rac dvdsca hs qsn was bshd a carav ng agn 96. s Brsv's k Gold in he Economyof Moden Capi alism Fnans Mscw Thr hr bksb Sv hrs dsrv sca Bgdav heoneay Sysem of Moden apialsm (Man ens andonadiions) s Mscw 976; D V. Ssv he Cssof he Moen Capals Moneay Sysem and Bougeos Poli

al Eonomy Nauka, Mscw 979 and G G MakhnPoblems of Ced Cuency Unde Capalsm Naka Mscw977 Th gv a rf aass h dv hcas nar ss afr Wrd War II T ahshars an h nrsng das n h nar f nundr dr caas whch V. Usskn dvs n nubr hs rc wrks

h sa h ahr s n aas n agrn whh schars nd ad cran cass dvs hs n

n f vw f hs vws ha b sad arr n scnc arcs N n b h ahr s rsnsb r an ssb rrrs r hr srcngs f h bk


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II HOW GOD BECME MONEY

we are neresed n gold as money. I s hs ha hasmade "he mos conradcory meal, a meal wh nsaland comle socal ncons. In order o elan how and whygld became mney, we ms go back o anqy In many casesa model o anqy s rovded by he le o eoles who havesrvved o mdern mes whe reang a rmve srcre

o socey

Emgnc of Mony

In mve commnes, where eole lved by gahernghe rs o he earh or hnng wd anmals wha hey baned rom hese acves was smly dvded o beween he

members o he commny here was no bate o he resso hs rmve "rodcon here was no need o barerbeween commnes and, conseqenly, here was no need ormoney eher

B hen man began o ame anmals and ll he sol aherng and hnng gave way o calebreedng and armng Gradally some res egan o engage redomnanly n he ormer

and ohers n he laer In hs saon barer became an essenal elmen o hman le and he develomen o rodconad soey. I grew even more mran when handcras evloed as a sarae shere o hman labor he same mechanges were akng lace n he rmvecommnal syse sel; eleen o he re slaveownng socey were gradallydevelng whn More and more commodes were aear

ng and barer was becomng more reglar Whereas revosl


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i had bee a rad business ad he relaioship bwe heoes barerd no very die ow eah oodiy sougho express is value in a uliude of oher oodiies ad was a exhanged for h

Le s iagi a poer wo has a his pos o h arehopig o exhange he or grai oruaely for hi allh gra-ower's os are sae ad sound ad he has o eedo exhange his grai or he poer's wares I here were onlyhese wo poders a he are hey would proably have ogo hoe aig heir wares wih he Bu frunaly herea also sllr f wool oliv oil ronze knives ad los o oher

higs o he are plae d i is already aeed ha ao for exap is valued a a poud of wool a bole o oliveoil of a erain size or wo brnz nves The poe ay haveo ae sevra as exhage efor he oains a oodiywhih saises h grai seller and hu he aquires eveuallyhe rai he was

Tha all his e-onsug busness s no pure iagnaon

a b seen for exaple fro he following dsripio by aEuropean who raveled aroud Tropal fria i he idleof he 19h enury "The arrangee a he hrng o a boawas raher ausing yde's agen wished o be paid i ivory owhih I had oe; bu I foud ha Mohaed in alib adivory and waed loh ill as I had no loh hs dd noassis e grealy unil I heard ha Mohaed ib harib had

loh and waned wie This forunaly posessed o I gaveMohaed ib harib he requisie aoun i wire upnwhih h handed over loh o Mohaed ib alib who ihis ur gave yde ibn Hab's age he wshed-for ivory Thenhe allowed e o have h oa

The absene of a universal equivalen a oodiy whih expssed he value of al oher oodies ad was pale obeig exhanged for h onsanly was he rs big difulyof barer By aig barr diful i hapered he progressof soia rduion Wha we have her s onradio ofoial evelopen ha ws seeking for is resoluon and waso nd i sooer or lae Where? In he seleion ro hewhol varied oody world o a sigle oodiy haaqurd h proeries of a universal quialen The seleion ofh a ooy s o usually h resl are bw


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eoe r o some sort o comand is a sontneous economic rocess that takes lace irresective o eoles will

When such a commodity is ound, all the other commoditiesturn to ace it and devour it with their eyes hey now exresstheir value in it, which makes it ossible to comare them withone another hey n sek to be exchanged or this commodity,in order to choose any necessary bect rom the commoditold without diculty

Now our otter could echange his os or this secial commodity and then receive or it grain, olive oi and any other roduct In act this is not bartering ut uying and selling te

otter slls ots in order to buy grain I, in the art o Arcawhich the aboementioned author is describing a commodity,ivory, or examle, had already acquired the status o a uniersal equivalent, his diculties would have bee solved armore easily: he would simly have exchanged his wire or ivoryand aid or the boat with it

We have not yet uttered the word mone but it is esy to see

that a universal equivalent which measures all values and isconstanly circulating on the cmmodity market is, essentiallymoney

Reading books on social history and the history o money convinces us that it is hard to think o a commodity that has noterorme the unction o money at some time or other ursad sea-shels, sh and cocoa beans, cttle and salt, amer an

even ele themselves (slaves) have all been moneyIn each case the commodity did not acquire the unctions omoney accidentally his role can go to imortant commoditiesthat the eole o the community have acquired rom outsiderom other tribes and eoles Catives or slaves are an examleo such a commodity

Eurean travllers ell us that even at the end o the 9th

century in certain remote arts o Arica, in the Western udan,the unt o alue was a slae, and denite traditional exchangerelations existed between this commoity and oters o both localan Euroen origin he aradox was that West Euroean siler coins were not money there, but one o the many commodties hey were acqired nt in orde to ut them quickly intocirculation again n turn or another necessary commodity but ee oaens or nes ero a

2


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natv of on of ths arts of fr was asd th r of hors, h mght w hav answrd "thr atvs (svs) bu oud ost "hafatv Ths unusu montary untws an od o s sav, whras a young, hathy sv wasa fu montary unt t s sy to a ths barbar, of ours,but th os of Euro and Ara hav assd throughquay brbar stgs of dvomnt n thr tm

Howvr, hs ot barbars s an ton n th hstoryof mony s ru mntry untons wr aqur by aommodty whh was an mortant obt of routon andsrvd n a arg quantty as an obt of mat hang nth oaty n quston n and, whr th o wr saorsad shrmn, sh ws mony, naturay h rs of ommots wr rond n s of od nd a ommodtswr "bought and sod for od n many ountrs, bgnnngn annt tms, att or sh wr mony n Homrs oms frnty nd varous ommodts vud n trms of busatt n th funton of mony has ayd suh an mrtat

ro n hstry that ths s rtd n th aguag of many ops Th atn word pecunia (mony) oms from th rdpecus (att). n Engsh ts of ths hav rmand thword pecuniay. t s rtd dffrnty n ssn n dRussa th rns trasury was d th skotnitsa (th wofor at bng skt) nd th trasur sktnik athoughh trasury no ongr ontand bus and ows, but furs and

svr ngos urs aso rormd th funtons of moy, atuary n d Russa and andnav nt ratos wrd btwn th urs of dffrnt amas (ab, martn,avr, t.)

One can imgine te dfculties peole ad when these comodts r usd as mony us rturn o th am ofour poter. Let us ssume hat he has exchanged his pots for a

ocko

twelve sep.-

But the gai sell prmiss to deiverhim the grain in a fe das time. here s e topt his blat-ing "money, which also needs to be fed, watced an tended?What if they should get the plague? And what f he should needto buy a knife, for example, which costs a tird of sh?Afe ll houl' cut a sheep into three pecs.


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Ma Mony

It is esy to imagine the oeties o a commodity caabe eoming the nctions o oney e Fist i mst bhomogeneos and o eq aity One nit o mney mst notdie om anothe ike a weed she om scaggy oneecondy it mst be dabe and asting Fo eame s goesbad aiy qicky no mate how we t is sated o sokehidy it mst be economicay divisibe I say sbe wasmoney onetenth o a et wod not be wth onetenth thepice o a comete et Fothy it mst be comact nd o

igh vae e nit o eight o onting As thnogahesecont on cetain isands in the Pacic stne money was incication and it was vey dict to dag om ace t acethis was vey bad money o cose Fthy an nay the money cmmodit shod eeaby have a etivey constant vaenot too deeet on he caices o the weather ad oth ando henomena

he tota o atia absnce tes qaities in a the aoemenioned oms o "money is the econd geat icty echange. It as sove by the megence o etals in the oeo money In Ancient ata ion money was in ccation ope etained the nctions o mey nti the comativey ecent ast We have inomation abot ead and tin moey Btas mney these metas wee a ineio to the ecios metas

god and ive hich osess yet anothe aity o consideabeiotane they ae aesthetay attactiveNo commodity can become money i it does not ossess a s

vae In the ays beoe eo eaned how to wok ion godwas ed ogethe with coe o ashion ceain sime smaand ight ateacts As imitivecommna systm isintegatedgod and sive wee sed incesingy o the odction o

naments and y atices Atices ade o these metas became the distingishing signs o tiba hies who ee tninginto atiacha saveones

At the same time one cannot ai to see the contast beweenthe onstos owe that god is acqiing and he imited nate o its se vae od satises not man's basic needsoo cothing shee and toos bt his seconday needs theveomn n sciety s enge b


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an ualtes as vanty, mserlness and lve pwer. Ths ntrast an e elt n the Gree legend abut Kg Mdas whthe gds punshed by gvng hm terrble gt: everytng hetuhed turned nt gld e beame mensely rh, but hdt g thut d and the use ther smle bets nsuptn

Gld beame mney n a mparatvely rh sety whhhad e a lng ay rm the prmtve huntng and armngmuntes In the evelped slavenng vlsatns Eypt, Mesptama, Asa nr and Gree 3000000 B C)gld as already a symbl eah and pwer In sme ases

as paraed, n thers hdden away n ahes and hards.Bt reet the nrease n the enm and sal untns gld

Meanhle tese untns grew mre mplex and hanged.Tgeher wth te rgnal ntns a meaure of value andes of circulaion, te untn hoarding aured greatrtane, te aumulatn nd retetn value as n

gealed huan labur n te st mpat and sally sgnantrm The untn mean of payment als develped d mn beame means grantng ans an setlng debts Fnallywt te develoment ntat between eples te untn world mey beame mprtant, that s, a means nternanal settlements, the traser value r ne untry tanther, a unversal materlsatn wealth

re the preus metals beame te rednant rm mney, he mn ay aulatng mny was counting heads attle, the pelts sme ur-earng anmals, a beans,e, were unted ne by ne Obvusly t was rater nn

venent te unts ths ey nevtably dered r neanther n sze and qualty Preus metals made t pssble t ger t the ight ty mney Ths was altated b thenaturl phyal prpertes gldts stness, malleabty addutlty Gl dust s ls easy t wegh a Lnns heres,the gld rspetrs te late 9t entury, ad n salnsth unes gld dust and t d s every sel-respeng spetr had arry a par saes th .

Weght mny gld and slver wa grat rgress, but tdd nt lve al he prblems Imagne tat ur ptter rees et ld n ees, bars we t t e

5


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he buyer must have scales of great accuracy in order to weighou he necessary quaniy of gold. If hey o ot trust eachoher hey will have to seek the assisance of an inermediary, aeier Moreover, the poter woud have to be a epert inpecious eals to check the puriy (neness of the god he isgiven I i atura sae gold is usualy foud wih admiuresof siver, copper and other ess vauable metals. To te the ees of the meta wih your eye or your tooth is very difcut,ad e pter risked being deceived Here is a story from atraveler about h silver fucioned as mony n Buma in the160s "When yu go o the marke in Burma . you must

equip yourself with a pece of sivr, a hammer, a cisel ad thenecessary eighs What do your cooking pos cost? Show meyour moey,' replies he vendor and cides from the apearace of it on te price in a certain weight Then the vendorgives you a sma anvil ad you hammer f silver uni youhink you've found he right weight You mst weigh it withyur ow scales, because those of the vedor are not to e

trused, and you add r ake away uni he wigt is rgt Naturally a ot is los hrough the spinters tat fal off, and it ialways prferable not o buy the eact quantity that you weigh,but he quivaent of the iece of siver hat you have ust cuof. large purchases which are paid for in the est silver,the prcss is eve more complicaed, in that you must rst caan assayer o tes eacly how pure the silver is and to be paid

for so doing Tere ae even more such difcuties with gold,because_ each ui of coss far more han ht f silver

The C

Te hi big difuly of echange was that origina in theeconoy there were o precios metas in the fom f readye, weih units authoised ad guaranteed by an authoritaive body

I was solvd by minting coins For a coin is, i fact, a guaraed amout of eal If a peson held in his had a veouble coin f tsaris times, he could e sure that i was 72dia (371 grammes) of pue gold f it was an Englis ein t i 2 rmmes of pure go.


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The emergence and develoment of the coin took man centres At rst the ractice gre of saig ingots hch asa certain garatee of eight and standard We kno tha scsiver ngots ere sed n Ancent Babylon n the 30001000 B C.

Who can certfy the eght and neness of a metal ingot?Obviosly onl a garantee athortative ersons or nstttins ill be trsted Merchant cororaton mncal athorities and chrches acted as these garantors Bt alread at theearl stages the state took the matter nto ts on hands hemintng of cons became the rivlege of the state c gaiedcosderble rot rom t

tamed gots of metal can be regarded as the embryoncform of the coin t as ch later hoever, before te coinaeard n frs smilar t thos of today The miing ocoismetlli discs or lates of different shaes ith variosresentations and nscriionsreqired a relatively high technlog ad art. The qestio of here and hen the rst consaeared has not yet been flly ansered. Bt have o re

on to disbelieve Herodots o tells s the folloing nteresting details abot te Lydans a eole h ihabited the estern art the Asia Minor enisla : he Lydians have verearly he same cstoms as the Greek, th the exction thatthese last do not brng their girls in the same ay. o ar ase have any koledge they ere the rst natio to ntrodcethe se f gold an slver coin and the rst ho sld goods b

retail They claim lso he invetion of al the gaes hich arecommon t them ith the Greeks.As e can see Herodots s carfl to qalif hs statement

o th minting of coins n Lydia (so far as e have an knoledge) He earl does ot believe hat te Lydans nvetedhe Olymc ames bt he accts the information abt hhey brng her girs.

The bginning of minting coins n Lda sall date ote 7th centry B C n the fooig centry t evidentl sreato the hle of Greek civilisaion te Mediterranea andalso to Persia hich had mrged as a oer by tat time

Gld as so rmly estabished n the minds of the ancientsas the embodiment of ealth tat the Ldan Kig Cross6th centry BC) as consder the rchest er reisely e osese t of gold Pean t h


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as Croesus sare he emple of Apollo Delph unreeee rhes whh nlue 1 bars f reous malof whh fur were gol weghg 25 ales* eah an he reswere a fsn of gol a sler wehng 2 ales eah anals he saue of a lo mae of pure gl weghng 10 lenss bously amoune seeral s f gol alne Bu hsr sare o sae Croesus an hs ngom Perhaps ee aelerae he aasrophe he Persans uoubely newbu Kng Cresus' sare f gl an hs mus hae wheeer pees e more Afer all Croesus ha no sareall s gl o he g! erus ells us ha er g he

aal of Lya he Persas seze a lage amoun of gl.y he me of he formao of he aure slaewg l

sa Ae Greee a Rome gl a sler were hereom frm of moey pper plae a seary rolea mg was o a farly hgh ehal leel. Ths a bese from he large umber of aue os fou museumsa umsma lleos

e fall of Rme a he ues of ese Europe byeles a a lower sage f eeopme brgh abou a reu rae a moey rulao Early Wes Euroea feualsm shwe a eresg reur a aural o Themg a mg of gl almos ease fr seeral euresu he eo growh n may pars f Weser Europe he 14h o 6h eures emae a rease he

amou f gl a sler The eelpe apls nhe fllwg eures saw he peerao of moey relaons all he res f soey Mey beame he man meas fsoal relans he ma am f pruo a eoom ay Wheres he feual lr an he serf are bou by relaos f muul epeee here s ly oe lk ewee hepals an he wage wrerhe mney whh he formerpays f h abor pwer f e laer Capal as pralyas a ean sum of moey apble of proug new moey

Gol n sler os were he preoman frm f money early apals e grw ry rae ea

Te Attic tae was equ to 26 2 ogam Ts ws at teme time a measure of wegh and te largst monry uni n Greec cous


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s o ccuao sae cuc T ee m cs was aso pome e au sapeaaceo sma eua us a e omao s cese

saes E Face Spa a sme e cues

wo Me

o ecoe so o a s oe omo ppea as pes a as Go as aws oees a se: s s expa c a ecas u cos s ccuec e poco c amou o o eues sea mes mo o epeue a o a ec mou o s Ts ueao o e wo meas s cosa ca Ts s caus aou expeu pouc eac o eas caes w e oco css T s m oo se s as mpoa aco

Fo a ceues up o e ac o Gece

ao ewee e aue o o s c e I Geece eoos m o I Rome o e e e Rc a s mpos u o o was ee o e es e a a s Suseue o coue ow ee mo expese a e ceu D Wes Euope eo o e vaues o meas a eac : e

ceu ppe u e s ae ee o ce se op ae uck wc e e ouo e spee o me ccuao Se cse o emoe ue o a oa commo ca s ow s pocess as ee coe

Weeas oa ce o o was sc xe com

paa ece e pce o se ceu asae cosa a amca s oewee e wo eas aso ca u s as ltl ranc for the mnetary syst. In 1975 n vr-age (n the bass ohe market dollar pric of gold nd silver) was ou

In 1 979- 180 silver experenced so dramatic us andowns. Its prce ose unde

r the inuenc of universal naion


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nd h srch r vn mr sl vlus hn h d As rsul h pric ri he w mls chngd i vur silvr bcm pprximly 0. Bu hn silvr mrk

suddnly cllpsd nd is pric drppd gin Insr s hmrk prcs w rcius mls r lucuing grly,h ri bwn m will undubdly cninu ucuwhn brd mrgns.

r w hund yrs cns wr mind rm b gldnd silvr. Acing n s wy, ss wr rcd h vluri bwn w mls rmlly. Thus, dul unvrslquvln nd ul scl prcs wr rcd p h mrk, cmdi urnvr nd cnmy. I ws ssumd crn mun slvr ws simply nnh r n-hh vlu n dnicl mn ld. Bu his cnrdics hry nur h nivrsl qivln.

vr ri xd by h s, snr lr css b rl n nd h mk xs nhr, rl r

h y nd prcic v sn gld nd slvr

mny cnn cicl gh r ny lng im Onr h r s rivn u iculin Whic n Th "mrpsiv mny, r whch h lw s xd ; prc lrn h mrk rc I is bivd in isr mny his pnmnn s s nd b h Englis ssmnhms Grsm n 6 cnur nd is hrr smis rrd mprssily s rshms Lw.

h cism by hich h "undrpricd ml s drvnu cculin is s lls. L us ssum h h r gld slvr hs n xd by lw 5 :, bu h ri 0 s ing n mrk. Gl, s w s, s undrpricd bylw, css mr n h mk. In such s irs ppl wll ry g h s xchng hr silvr r gld, nid , ml dwn, k i brd, nd m ll hir py

ms silvr. s rsul gld will b hrdd. I h clri i 5 n h mk ri 0 , rvrs will pn slvr ll b rdd

wvr, hs prclr ucuins k lc gns hbcrn lng-rm ndncy. Th mr vlubl mldrivs u h lss vlubl rs cppr csd b usd smny hn silvr. In h l l 9 cnur nd bgnning h 0 gld rignd suprm n "hrn


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as meal money. In os of he deelope capilis onshe moneay sysem of bimetallism (he wo meals of gold ansilve) had been placed by ha of gold monometallim o hegold tandard

Thoughou he cenuies gold was he mone par excellenceEven duing he peio of bmeallism peles ieas bou money an he scial phenomena chaaeic of i wee linkedmoe wih gold a wih silve Lae he eqaion o moneywih gold became even lose

o an I SuuThe ansiin o he gold sandad exended oe a fil

long peiod and was no compleed in he main capialis conies unil he end of he 9h ceny

Gold ook ove all he funcios of money ices e nowepessed only in gold insofa as he moay ui of eacoun was an amon of gold xed by la Gold acally

culaed in h fo of coins an he ciclaion of hese oinswas consanly gowing in ems of absole amoun. Th cenalbnks, in which he naional moneay wealh was amassed, became he csoians of gold esees. Bu among pivae individuals fom he wealhy saa he cus of keeping gold home i he fom of coins o sile aies becm mly esablished Gold cold pay off an deb and was he eans o

nal paymen. Finally, he sysem of he gol sandad becamea wold-wide one, embacing all he mos mpoan oiesn hei colnies Gold as no he only fom of moey inhis sysem, b i was he hub of he whole monea sye,he main fo of money o which all ohe fos we edced.

Ye e moe mly gold became esablished in he ole fmeal mony, he moe iexably he condiions fo is divg

ou develope Diing ou by wha? B anohe mel? he was no moe suable al o he ole We ae lking of he ding ou of gold by papercrei money

I all egan wih he fac ha gold was o indpensalfo hfcin of a means of ciclaion in ll is sos illiance. If he poe sells pos only in oe o buy hea andoil saighaway, he is no ieesed in gold as sh I is impoan fo him o bain some kind of "guaanee whic he


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ne o het nd o ou edy ccept th tte, nthe tun e eng the god ny n de to buy cothngote y ne the ue n eght o con nt

ny pec gncnce o the ethe potnt pot eveed te t n the c tht ongde con u eght o con tht hve ot pt o theeght ccute th eu ucce. And thee e y ometu dodge h beg t ue th econoc t the ondvntge They cut pece o con th the eut tht thegt et cotned n the educed Tghe th thpeon mntng tht o con ogn e The tte n ptcuy dvntgeou poton to pt m the ue unde-eght nd ne con he htoy o ney ccutn ne te "png con ht the ue o ncengghteght cn con th hghe content o chepeet hch etn the oe ce ue

The gu evuton o ney o ethe nd eheto gd tngey obned th the evee tendency

gd t chep "etz ut th tge y t t gnceThe uttute e not ney n the od, comodty ene othe d; the ue not detemned by the exendtue bu n te pducton o ty e tken money, ybocmney.

The vg out o coodty oney by tken money tkmny cetue t nt th tedy poce nd t

h nt been cpeed even n nd nt be cpetd ng cptm extt woud ee tht the oney ccutn e tuned

upde dn by the ntoductn tken ney Commodtymny cud ccte becue t hd te vue detened the n ny by the expendtue o b on t oducton.Tke money n the nty cue t "vue (puchng

poe) ecue t ccutet cuntng cut eo con the t ymbc neyn htoy hught t hve een de ete ndcoth But then hy nt me t out o pe, mte tht n ene te ybo o the vton the odnge Ppe mney cn be egded type cedt moneyF t ccuton d on condence n t tht , n thecedt the body ung t God doe nt eue condence, t


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sas r ts ut o crcuats caus opa coc t sttuto or autort tat ssus t uca sttuto or autorty s mor ot ta ot a stat tra

sury or ctral bak Pol wo a apr moy trpockt or sa ar trby crt to t stuto tatts ts moy cculato I otr rms o moy (curraccouts bks or sas baks) ts crdt atur s mor obous

Iror cos ma o cor, ckl, alumum ad slr s crt moy t coomc ss o t word t saccptd ot bcaus o t alu o t mta, but bcaus tstat as put s stamp o t Tru, aton ad costat rs t prc o ts mtals a ratd n may captascoutrs stra to wt small ca slr coas sapard ro rculato, bcaus t alu t mta t ba to xc t co's ac a Moror, slrcos ar ot o umsmatc alu T slr dollar as casdto b crt moy, but o mt say tat t as casd to

my at all a as turd to a scc commodt It mab wort t or twty papr dollars dpdg o t markprc o slr mtal, t rarss o t ssu ad a ubr ootr actors omtg smar s ag to mo mad oo-rcous o-rrous mtals T Drctor o t tat Mnt Muc, Wst Grma, told Aprl 7 tat t costt stat 3 pgs to mt a p con T oa pos

t, n wc t stat obtas rta rt rom mtcos, turd to t rrs I ordr o prod t coomy wt small a, t tat s orcd t cur ts lossst ar prbably cord t prot wc t stl maks rommt cos o r domatos But t osss pgsar rowg, bcaus t coomy s dourg tm astquatts Ts ca ma o o t somo s mt

tm dow ad mak a prot rom tLt us rturn, wr, to t qusto o t stor o tdot o paprcrdt mo ad ts rlatosp wtgod

Papr-crt mo rst aars as a susttut or or rprstat o ol I ot too muc o t s ssud ad t sxcagd or mtal at a xd rat, ts mo ca crculatsuccsu ad b cosdra us to t coom

to

-5 33


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a crai sage he dg ou gold by s ssiues is he progressie deelope o he gld sadard

Accrg o he Aerica cos Rber r he sruc

ure o he oey supply i ers alue i he hree osdeeloped coureshe A Egld ad Frace 115was as ollws : gld cos33 per ce sler cois3 per ceeady paper oey ad sall chage copper)26 per ceoey i bak accous6 per ce. As we ca see his wass ill he perid bias ad uderdevelpe hecredi syse

I a ceury by 113 ora chages had ake pace e srucure he oey spply he share o gld drppedo 10 per ce which howeer did o pree i rom beia he heigh o s power durig his perod he hub hewhole oeary syse he share o siler dropped o 3 perce ad bega play a subordiae role Ready meypaper ad cpper) accoued or 1 per ce ad he readr6 per cewas ade up o oey i bak accous.

he cred syse had deeloped reedouslyVery early i he 17h ceury a leas) goeres bega

o ssue pape oey which was o exchageable or old orsiler I was pariculary easy do hs he publc culd bepersuaded ha was ecessary or acig a war I he had 20h ceuries he sae used he crdi syse or he saepurpose rcg aks accep s bds exhage or ees

bak acus he cred he reasury. he resul hese acal operaos is wel kow he depreciao paper-cred oey rlaio eal ad he eeral rse coody prces ha s inaion

I oder codos paper-cred oey has los all coeci wh gold I has becoe he oly ucog or o moy. Is deprecao ca be easured by he growh o he

geeral eel o coody prces whch s expressed wh hehel o arious idexes. A he sae ime his oey usuallyderecaes relao gold also whch ca be see he rse he price gold Bu he ecooic ad social mprace hs prcess s w relaiely secodary. he rise i he price ol s perhaps a more pora elee o ao ha hecrease he prce ld.

I gld is he yell del he paper moe s rerded b

3


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nnn, n nr rrbbg pr nd grt pp th prtray r mya h n th Part II au

Wha w n th m pti, nw bnra prt It nw vra dad i g n wn rain n pitt ntr t rnty h atvtig th nvrtby paprrdt mny nt gdnhd Intin ha b a ntan nt ptatny I p h mnd nit nd ptianth hy r nd t hw h trm r It ha

bn tbihd r r dnity tha w r d nih n 64 n Arn d Andr D Mar, thathr m trg wrk th hitry gd ad my Thi w n th prd th Cvi War th UtdS, wn h Wahngtn grnn d arg qntity nrtib ppr my, th ad "grbak Ian prrtiary tratr h wrd atn wahry d nd t r ppar in 92924, partr nti wh th a dpratn th mark n rmany

Cn ppr-rd mny t n wth gd rv th n prng pwr n, bty tiy pannd ny, wr th myand mny n ar by rdnd wth prdtan h raai gd nd rvi ny i rat

h ditn B i th pbity irid n t, b by rn drab di

T prn h nr t ndr iihd pr hrgh h dpn paprrdi mnyn nntd wh gd Th tabty t prhaing pwr grnt by h dy grwth prdn nd

mdty rnr an prd pnnin Th pnn n prvmn bak trnr r grt prtan Th prprn bnk nd h yn nrng andw ntn d h pn ppr n Thng d wi b prd nr tin bn tnt n trd ntn d dt prig


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III MININ THE YLLOW METAL

he ath wtt aphm and abe, e Kvn, wtethe wg n bet

"Ogen enta e, bt t a n ea mate ve wtht G What ea happen? When t ea beathe ad a we wth Ogen, havent eng G

Bt whe ae dege wth Gd, t becme had t bethe,and at mean hee nt egh Ogen."F accng t the aw chemtthe mt anen

aw EathGd and Ogen d t cmbnehe ma th eanng wth eectng pn e

eca te at w Phkn Cvet Kng, the pe chet gd, wh became the vctm h wn w

T a eel My leg g ude a ah A a y eys hee a hy My y

h m appe nt n t th wne c et te, emte m eveda e, bt a cma a me pac m ppet Hee, a n man tae, gd mb weath, m ppe

A the chemca phennn ed he met,t end dbt A we ead kn, the at tha gde n de a aed an mptan e n t mntn and t de

Be dng tee nct n m ta, e m wd, abe be, b the m n wh g et a, w btned, ad hw t ae cenm

n36


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hmy hyc an Googy

n e encycpaedia e read Gld (Lain auum } Au, acemica eemen f e rs grup f Mendeeyevs peric

sysem; amc number 7 amic g 665; a eavyew mea Cnsiss ne sabe ispe

Tgeer i cper ad siver i rms in e rs grup specia secnd subgrup eemens ic, by virue cmmnfeaures in eir amic srucure, pssess many simiar cemicaprperies Tis riad is as inked by gegca aniy gdexiss aray geer i sver and in many ases cper

Te cemica and gegca afniy f gd wi siver andcpper undubdy ies a e basis f eir ecnmic aniya ree eas ave perrmd e funins mney dand siver are en used geer in jeerymaking

e cemica inerness f gd as excepins Insube nms acids i is eess befre "sars vdka a mixure f ydrcc and nc acids Te subiiy gd in sdium cya

nde NaC and poassium cyanide KCN is e basis e cyanidisain prcess w e cief med exracing recusmea frm re Te inrducin f cyaniisan a e end e cenury revuinised e suern Arican gdmningindusry, by aking i pssibe exrac e mea frm resi a cmparaivey sma bu unusuay sabe mea cnen

Te pysic prperies gd re s impran r is ec

nmic fcns is a very s asic me I pssessesams unimied maeabiiy and can be ammered in an exremey i, ams ransare eie and ire nner ana uman air ( gramme is ire sreces k meres)Gd is a gd cnducr f ea and eecriciy and mes a amperaure f 064 Ceigrade Is densiy (seic graviy)is 3 grammes per cubic cenimere Ony meas f e painum grup areeavier an gd

andard bars f mneary gd ane cnsis f ams cemicay ure mea (abou 5 per cen) n ecngyjewerymaking and mining cins gd s aays used in aysmre fen an n cper and siver Tese admixresgiv i durbiiy ad er necssary prperes and as makee arices caper Te gd cnen in e ay s caedneness

3


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n he US and man her cunrs he neness is expressedb he number f pars f gld per 000 pars f he all.he neness f he abvemenned bars s frm 995 999Unl 927 he ld Russan easure f fnenes exsed n heUSSR desgnaed b he number f zlnks f pure gld n apund which was divded n 9 zlnks. Fnall n ceranWesern cunries parcularl n Bran and he Uned Saeshe ara neness s sill used which s expressed b he numberf wenfurhs (caras Fr example fr sme aricles fjewelr 95 ne gd s used whch crespnds 92 n hezlnk ssem and 23 caras. As rule gld f a lwer ne

ness s used fr aresThe Engsh sveregn was mined and sill is fr exr frm

22 cara gld which crrepnds 97 neness Wih acnen f pure gld f 7322 grammes a cin weghs 79grames Naural nw css n ne paper pund serling bua grea dea mre

The Amercan gld cn wih a face value f wen dllars

(he scalled duble eagle was mined frm gld f 900neness and weighed 33 44 grammes whereas he gld n iweighed 3003 grammes. The heavies cn in mdern imeswas he Mexican cenenari 50 pess whch weghed 4grammes and cnaied 37494 grammes f ld This gian was37 llimeres n diameer and 2 ilimeres hck.

Gld s everwhere in all es f sl all res and in sea

waer. Bu n he vas ajri f cases is cncerain is insignican Accrdng recen esimaes ne n f maer f heearh's crus cnains n average abu 4 mlligrams f he ellw meal. This s husands f imes less han he cnen fcpper zinc and lead s ineresng ha meeries are usualfar rcher n gld han he earh's crus Snce i s assumed hahe cmpsn f meeries s similar ha f he cenralpars ur plane se scenss have advanced he hphessha geher wh her heav meals here s a large amun fgld n he earh's cre.

Meals are usuall exraced frm mnerals ha are chemcalcpunds cnaing he meal n quesn Alhugh glfrms abu dfferen inerls nl vg gold s f cmercal mprance Tis s ebedded crsal grains f iferensizes rangng rm specks nvsble he naked ee nugges

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weihin ten of iora A oe eooi put i "Reativeyare od rainviie od'are rarey found ad a eooit who ha wored for any ear in a rih od ore depoit

ay never ee peie onaii rain I Ruia a dereewa iued a ary a 85 o he ee that a nue foudhoud be handed over o he ae ueu hereby ain thefoundaion or he ow faou oetion o he iaod Fundof he R.

There are ony a ew doen ar nuet in the whoe wordand they eah have their wn nae The are one in Ruiathe Bi Triane weihi about 36 iora wa found ihe ra i 84 and an today be ee i the iaond Fudof he R any are uet foud in other ourie haveforunatey hared the ae f wor o ar ade of od heyhave been eed dow or he ea Thi i why we poite inforaion bou the are nuet Aordin to oetatii the biet i the Weoe raner weihin 70 iora with a oent o 66 iora o pure od ound

i 86 in he ru of a oury oad in Autraia The Geranientit einrih Quiri author o one o the o deniivewor o the hitory od wrie ha a nuet weihi 3iora wa oud in Brai aroud the idde o the enury ore reiabe i the ioration about a piee o aod ode aed he era ue fund i Auraiawhih weihed 85 ira toether wih the ro and on

tained 3 iora f od But he vat ajoriy o od i extraed of oure no in

the or of nuet Two ain pe of depoit are o oeria iporanepriary (ore ad eodary (paer or a uvia depoit The rt were fored in he oure o anieeooia proee when he foaion of the earth' ru toopae ad are uuay found in ounaiu reion The e

ond are he reut of he aion o wind water ad other aura ore on od ore ad are eeray ound i he oureo exiin or forer river Ore depoit are reuey ounda rea deph and need o be exrated by ii Paer areuuay oer to he urae or atuay on the urae bu oetie are overed by airy tro aer o epy ro

Reeny ienit areed t iiuih a hird ype o depo

t where the od ha bee ored a a reu o he repeatd3


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actn f gelgcal prcee n previuly detryed rckEple are he famu Suh Arican cnglmerate Wtwaterrad. But n the cndti f their eddig and etractn

they are very mlar t re dept and are ten claied he ame grupNaturally eugh peple rt egan t etrac gld m

placer: they are mre accele and d nt require cmplcatedwrk and equipment The Calrnian Autrala ad Alakagld ruhe f the 9th century ad the may rich dicverien Rua were acated mainly with placer Accrdg tpreent etmate 90 per cent f the wrld prductin gld n848 875 ame frm placr Bt i 929 thi ercetagedrpped t 8 n the catalt wrld ad in 9 t 2 per cet Almt all gld etracted fr the cnglmerate f the Repulic f Suh Afrca and frm prmary depi in variu partf he wrld In recent year the percetage f gld etracted aa y-rduct frm lver cpper uranium and ther re hancreaed cnderaly

In 923 n the UR n the Rivr Alda Yakta a newdep f recu metal wa dcvered placer whch are tlleing eplted day. In he Svet Unn the etractin gld rm placer wth the ue mder hghly prductvetechnlgy tll cnderale prtane.

The dcvery f a ew large gld depit alway an ectg metime a dramatic ad even a tragic event Decriptin

f real and imaginary dcverie are requenly fud n lterature Here ne epde written y a great mater (Jackndn n the try All Gold Can on )

t wa ly half rck he held n h had The ther halwa vn gld He dred t t h pan nd eaed ather ece tte yel wa t e ee ut wih hi rg ger he cruled h rten quat away till th had were

lled with glwg yellw. He rued the drt away frm ragment after fragment ing them nt the gld pa It wa atreaure hle. S much had the quat rtted away that therew le f t than there wa f gld w ad agai he uda piece whch n rck cluga piece hat wa all gld Achuk where the pck had lad pe the heart f the gld glttered like a handful f yellw jewel and he ccked hi head att ad lwly turned arund and ver t erve he rch play


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o he lgh pon The sorys plo develops as ollows : hepropecor s aacked by a robbr wh he help o cnghe lcky man oercomes and klls hs opponen ad loaded wh

gold worh 40000 dollars ses o home channg a psalmemarkable dscoveres o gold sll ake place n real le nor day B he ae o gold rodcon does no depend onhem o corse Geologcal prospecng or gold now carred oon a rcly scec bass and wh he help o complex and exensve eqpme. Is scess depends on he coordnaed worko many specalss In he corse o prospecng he bondareso he dpos are asceraned he aerage gold coen n heore s esmad he condons o he gold dpos are akeo acco and economc esmaes are made o he proably exraon

I I Exac

Tmohy Green who has conscenosly ravelled rond he

world n order o experence gold wh hs eyes ears and handsehaps even nose and onge n all s orms and a all sages s movemen descrbes a modern Soh Arca gold mneas ollw

"Gong down a gold me raher lke a ral rn or adeso even leave all yor ohes ncldg nderwear ehon he srace and shroded whe overalls ener a see

cage whch plmmes hrogh a mle o rock n wo mneshere belw s a nosy h we world l by he dancng rees o he lamps on mners helmes A enmne walk alonga gallery c hrogh rock whose naral emperare s over00 Fahrenhe and any vor s soaked by a combnaon oswea and hmdy Then above he consan hm o he arcondng and he rmble o rcks along seel rals coe

he sond o compressed ar drlls bg no sold rock On onesde o he nnel a narrow openng begns plngng down aan angle o nearly 25 dgrees owards he owels o he earh s barely 40 nches hgh and s delcaely held open by propso ble gm I s called ng parlace a sop Whn hesop he rock seems o press n rom all sds; ny lakes allrom he ro no he pols warm waer n whch everyone skeelng or lyng. Almos hdden n a ne sray o waer o


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subue us he long eele nose a rll ers a ole inhe rok mare wh a blb o re pan. All along e se oe spe a oninuous line o red ain ghlighs 4nh ven

o rok a even o he uneuae ee ooks markel eren rom e rok above an elow. s a ghl pake bun whe pebles an beween hem here an here a minuespek o gol gleams n e beam o he miners lamp Ths venor ree s e mea n e sanw Ths mne Free Sae Geul n e range Free ae s ne o he ver ew n whhhe gol beween e pebles an auall be seen b e nakeee or s blesse wh one o he rhes rees ever soverein Souh

Wih an average gol onen o 264 grammes per on oore he Free Sae Geuld Mne proesse abou wo mllonons o ore n 1971, rom whh 53 ons o e meal was exrae. Tis nen was oble he avage or Sou Aranines The hghes nuber ( e Wes Dreonen mne) was31.4 grammes per on. Ts mne ele 89 ons o gol. Tese

wo huge mnes ha he lowes prouon oss The were respevel 4 an 153 ollars per oune o gol a he enurren arke pre abou 40 ollars per oune Largesale produon n avourable naural onons els good resuls an hgh pros.

Mnes lke he ones n ou Aria are arl oun n anoher golrung ounr Te moern mne is a large om

plex an ver expensive enerprse Te onsruon o su amne akes a long ime (usuall ve o sx ears an enormoupial nvesmen A he bginning o he sevenes he bulingo a mne os a leas 100 millin ollars. We an assume ahe os has double or rple sine hen A grea eps nowsoemes as mu as 30003 meres e oolng isposalan suppl o waer venlon removal o obsruons energ

supl an horizonal and ral ranspor pose omplex ehologial prblems.The omanies nur only he mos essenia expenure nee

e or prouion and o n seek o ligen e mners' workThe Republ o Souh Ar is ar behn e USA an anaa n mehansaon o exraon an in labour prouvIn his onneon Gree wries : Auall he golmning nusr ha been very slw over he ear o develop meanisa-


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io udergroud ecause it has so frequety bee cheaper usto send i aother te Africans instead of ieting a machine. The miers work i the South African mies is hard

ad dangerous Each f the argest mies empoys up to 20,000,of whom usua out 90 per cet are Africans. I udergroudwork the percetage of Africas is ee higher because theethe whites perform ony manageia ad technicay comexwork I articuar Africas are not uuay grated access toeposes ad oy wites are empoyed basting operatios

Th extctio f ore udergroud ad its deiery to tesurac is most imprtat bt o the rst stage i the technoogica chai of god production The processing of the oreand the meing of the meta are doe at competecyce factories I the structure of capita expendiure on the constructioof a typca mie i outh Africa this expenditure accouts forbout 5 per cet About 6 per cent of the tota abour force ihe industry is empoed at factores.

The ore passes through seera stages of crsig giding a

sorting. od i extracted from the puped ore by the cyaideprocess or other methods Metig at minig factories i SouthAfrica yieds rough bars of god weigig about 000 oucesabo kloams) a cota fom to 0 p cpure god. The a reig is done by eectroysis at a cetrapat (the Rad Reery which beongs to he Chamber ofMines of outh Africa. This is a inuentia associatio of etre

pneurs which performs many importat economic and poiticafutios in paticuar recruiting workers for the mies adrepresentig the iustry in its retions with the gornmet

From the reery the god emerges in the form of stadardingots (as . These bars usuay weigh 402 ounces about 25kiograms ad are 96 ne Iternaiona standards traditionay perit ars that weigh from 09 to 3 kios ad are ot

ess tha 995 e These bars proide the primary raw materiafor a the subsequet uses of god.The mai adatage of working pacers is that it does not

require dep ies ad is more of ten than not dne by theopencast method There is usay o expenditure o crushingore either. Engeering has done a great dea to mechanise adincrease the abour productiity i the extactio of god from

pacer dpsits. Today use is made in this sphere of dredges4


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hydomonios wae guns o wash auieous sand) sluypipes ecaaos bulldozes and ohe machiney. Te uheocessing o auieous pulp and he eacion o gold e

pacically e same as hose wih pimay goldWe know ha igh up o e 970s he pice o gold in hewold make was ed a an aicially low level In mos counies he aing plc gold could no wihsand he compeiion o e Souh Aican mines and was gadually dyingI is pssible given he new level o pices ha he mining oceain plac deposis will be esumed and epanded bu specialiss do epec any signican changes

In ecen yeas a moe seious ival o he Souh Aicannes has emeged namly he obainig o gold as a bypoduc maily in he poducin o non-eou eals In Canadan ecen yeas abou one-hid o he oal gold oupu comesom inidenal oupu and in he USA appimaely 40 pecn. In he 970s he young island ae o Papua-New Guieain he acic Ocean gaied an impoan place among he gold

poduces On h iland o ouginville which oms pa ihee ae some vey ic coppe deposis which lage oeigncompanies have begun woking hey ae also gold poducesIn 97 PpuaNw uiea anked ouh among he gldpoducing nonsocialis counies wih an oupu o moe an3 ons I can e assumed ha he oal incidenal poduciono gold in all hese couies as now eached abou 100 ons

his is quie a lage amou bu neveheless i is seven o ighimes less han gold poducion by he Souh Aican ndusywhich eains a viual monopoly in he capialis wold

w Much Whn an Wh

Sisics know eveyhing uand his mus always beemeeedwih aying degees o eliabiliy e quesion

o how much gold as been and is being poduced in e woldbgan o inees peple long ago bu i was no unil he 9hcenuy ha some moe o less ealiic esimes o pas poducion wee made and ony a he end o he cenuy did saisics become saisacoy Wiou claiming any gea accuacywe can assume ha in he whol hisoy o gold poducionwhich coves moe han 6000 yeas mankind has dug up om90000 o 0000 ons o gold ou

he eah

44


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s that a lot r a lttle A lot, ne takes nto account hatts extracton s hghly labourconsumg. Een toay n the golrch Republc of outh Afrca 400,000 mners equppe wthmorn technogy "hst 700-00 tons pure metal annu

ally, whch means an aerage o about klogras per workerAn what har work each tny gran o gol gae the prospectrequppe wth notng but a spae an pan !

But, n spte f the technolgca progess, compare wthther metals lng knw t mank, ths s nt ery much, an a certan sene t s ery lttle. All the gol prouce bmankn coul be put n a cube wth a b o about 7 metres

or sa n a aage-zed ema he amunt f gl prouceannually wld ly sm lng rom.

Incentall, on the subect f tota an anual prouctn nby s partcuarly tereste hw mch ol has een produced r hw much stee smlte snce the begnnng o tmehs s t r mrtant n relat t cpper r ee slerBut gl s a speca ase. Ol sappears n the process o co

suton. Ir an steel g onl n prt resmeltng as srapThe secondary use cpper an patcuarl sler s more ptant. But nl gl s eerlastng b rtue o ts naturalan soca prprtes nce t has een produce t es ntdspea es ot ansh nto the roun water r r. It spossble tht u wddng rng s mae o gld prouced threetusan ears ag Egyt r three hunre ears ag n ra

l Ths gld ma ae tken the frm a bar, con abrooch, cgar case ad goness knws what else n ts tmeIt s f cse, eaggeraon to sa that gold s eerlast

ng A certan percentae s cnsume neer to return. Ameltng dw nd prcessg gl nles lsses. When glcrculated cons they were worn ow rom eng handled bthuss gree r derent hands. Wo kns how muchhas pershed the sea ed and n res whc n oe wll ern Fall oer fms o the techcal use gl aeartal estro t the sense that ts secondar use s mpsbe or unecnmca (pellcles solutons, mecaments, etc.) . the 940s a merca wte estmated ths rrcably lstgd t 7 ,000-000 mn ollars, whch cesponded at hattme t but ,000000 tons (about 0 per cet ttal utput

4


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t pt p n t t th gld tratd is eay ae that it i in frsitabl fr furhr Annual prdtin adds n rsmal prcntag t h gd rsrs accuatd b ankind in cnt ar abt n pr n. N hr mmdit sawhr nr gld in this rpt.

Natural th ms dbfu siats f gd pt ar frth Ancin Wrld nd th Middl gs. Quiring has adrm carul calcuains using th idnc f ancinwritr, dcunts ggica daa andprhap t f alhi wn niin H bis ht

h disr f Amr

a abt 12700 tns f gd hd n tracd in th wrld.In h Anint Wrld p t th fa f m in h 5 cn

tur h w ain gdprdig aras wr Egpt tgthrwith wh is nw Sdan and h Prnn pninla Mannt f ari cultr and writing ha dnt r th Egp f th harah whi tsif t th rlf gd in it cnm, th prgrs in th hniq f ract

ing and lting g d, and h rribl ndiin f l burin h ins. Th arisic trr fr th t th Pharah Ttankhn 1th cnr BC nld s qisitgld ricl and r wrd fas.

ld fr gt mad is wa t th nigring cntrif th Middl East Th iplma rrpnn f th Egptian rur wh th Kigs f Babn Aria nd hr nigh

burin st 15t1th nr B. C fnd in th E Aarnarhi ntan nr rfrn t gld Th kings arnstant king th pah t shar th wlth with thatring aggrating its dimnsins nd fring ri giin rt. Suh wa dipac, frign trad and inrnatinapnts 350 r g

Quring sus tha n f t insritin f t Tunkha pd ntn th f th man wh can b cnsidrd ash rt ggst and tudnt f inra A rain nn rps tt h w snt b th grnnt k fr gld rIt i ig ikl tht mining wa taght in th nint niri t t t f th gd Pth n n lipis .

d inng rg al wa arid n in t arwih s nw Sain nd wh am h in f gldding th g th n Emir Th n bit

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e engneerng nttns r the rshng nd whg gderg res A siir ce wr w nt rechedgin nti the h century Accrding t Pin the Eder, theschr nd write wh ws highyped mn fci nSpin in the rt century AD the ines in thi re prdced(trnted int dern nit weigt t 0 grsf gd nny Ths s quite t een y reentd sndrds: sh gd-prdcing utries s Mec r Zre hveeen iing t the e munt n eent yers

The Mdde Age in Eurpe ws er the decne fgd prdcin Mny techniqes tht hd spred drng he

ge f e were frgtten The rdutin priry gdeed tgether nd pepe ny wshed gd here nd therein he eds rier nd stre n priie w Ery Cristinity pred ert s tue nd rehed gnt gdN d n were ned nyher n estern Ere frt the th t the 3th entury

In the te Midde Ages the n gd-rdcing re ws

Trpi Af Enterpring treer nd trders, prticrPrtuguee et f in serh gd eprng frther nd rther sh g the wet t Afric The preent independent stte f hn ws ed he d Ct in cni ies,te ne gen t t y Eurens in the th entury Theenterprising inn Cre, the hr Dne Dees us try, gies ntives sewhere n the t f the f

ine se rinkes in retun r gd dut (t25 igr The kied nd the hry ught t se he pre with

he he f chey, t nd wy f iing gd r eue es Peti res uy cntin certin nt gd nsie t the ned ee hen the re ws eedthe gd eprted fr it nd ed s thugh it ws nge r siver r cper Th ws the rigin th weening istkes nd rn cheting As we nw the sience cheistr sseqeny deeped he Aheygrey enivens the hisry f the Midde Age nd he terture s, t, nsfr we ae deing here with ttstic, wecnnt credit it with nge gre rded gd

Tere were ny tred in hey, u ertin gener prines erte whih hd een intrdced n the er Midde

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Age by Arbian achemit. hey beiee that a meta ra a reult of the cobination in arying proprtion of uphuran mercury n thi cae the tak of obtaining gol articiallywa imply to n he right proporion an way f combining

thee two initial material. The alchemit beliee that ulphurwa the father of god an mrcry the mther

It i ntereting that, a moern nuclear phyic how theheretca pibiity of btaining atom f gol from thee twoeement realy oe ext. To o o it i neceary to bombarmercury atm with the acclerae nuclei of ulpur atom Iti etimate, oweer, that thi method o producing ol woul

be bilion f ie mre expenie than he uual one Otherway f btaning gl by mean of tranformin element area theoretcay poibe but ulike eer t be praticabe.

Thee fac f mdern cience ar in n way connected withthe alchemit' "icerie, f coure, an are nthing mrethan coincience Mercury wa prbably rgared a related togol beca it hgh pecic wight, an ulphur beaue f

it coorThe belif n alchemy in the Mile Age wa o unieralthat Hnry I of Egand ed a decree frbiing anyone buthe ing egage i trnormin nonpeciou mtal into golYet alray at a ery early tage in he eelment of ciencethere were people who ai it wa impoile to tranform metal an that the alchemt cam were nonene mong them

wa the great Orinta thinker Aicenna.The ioery of Aerica pee up a new chapter n hehitory f reciou metal. Firt and foremot, f iler Accrding to the etmate of lph Soetbeer, who i an acknowegeauthority in the pher f the tatitic of preciou metal output, the anna w pt f ier exceeed in alue thatf gd rigt p t the 30, wth a ery arge percentage coming rom t New Word Th fact wa f great importancefor the fate of the mneary ytem : it prolonge the "mnetaryife ler and th preaence of the ua ytem (bimetalm t the de an h n of the 9t century

The reaie lagging bend of go pruction in mercai expaine alo by the fact that the Spaniar an Portugueedd nt uccee i dicering any ignicant depoit of priarygd, an the wrkig of placr coul nt roide tabe and

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poongd gold ott. Nt g t yo gold in Calionia ad Asalia in th middl o th thcuy Soth and Cal Amica maid th wold mangldpodcng gion. Accodig o Qiig titic bas

on Sob' ima i h 1th cnty Aica podcdmo tha onthid o wold outpu in h 7th cnty moha hal and i h 1th cuy wohd. In th t and17h ctui gold wa xacd moly in Colombia d Bolivia ad i th 1h ctuy i Bazil which hld st plac inh ld duing his iod. Potugal which hn owd Bazilwas t cony o itduc a gold moay sym o

ciay and to gi p silv.h nd o th 1h ad st hal o th 19h cnty w"la ya gold otp Th avag annal gold outptacd 24. to in h iod 174170 hn doppd adynil t wa oy 11.4 t i 111120 ad at that bgan toi slowly I us b bon mind ha duig thi iodth ndutal olion wa taing lac in Wtn uop nd

Nth Amica. h poduco commoditi o al gwadly and ho h nd o mony incad ol ouldot kp p th h nts and n th al o th 9thcnty as th basis o monay syms was by noan guaantd. I h hot id btwn h xhatioo th South Amica placs ad t Calioian diyia hld t lac i h goldpodcing lag In 3

140i poducd mo ha onthid o wold ott an

aid hi ladhi uil th d o th 140s.Achaoloical and hioicl daa tst ha gold was mid

i th Ual ad th Alai i aci ims. h y wodAlta com om kicMongoian almaning goldHw i mining wa badod ad ogotn and modn hitoy o Rssia gld gs i mddl th 1thcntuy wh t was discod i th Ual Lat gold pdominatly n placs) was dcovd also i Wtn and at Sbia and th Fa as

In thi gloomy iod o gold th anton o th Wtwa atactd to Ria gold miing by h gat manchola Alxad Humboldt who took a itt i gold obls all his li I 13 h publishd a spcial wok o thds o old gold poducio i which h incldd daa


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aou ua a e a recve recy rom e siaMiier o iace Kakri I is poile ha hi irmaio may have cheered up he aker ad ecoois iWeer urope omewha

A ewa exremely romaicage i h hiory o goldega i uary 848 whe a Gree wrie "a arpeer amedme Marhal ou wh he hough were pck goldi he airace o oh uer' mill ear he ucio o hemerica ad acrameo rivers A r Marshall ad uerrid o keep ews o he dicovery quie u rmours of goldwere o easy o quech ad soo he word had pread o a

racisco he a srugglig por o abo 2000 people. B sprighal Calioria had desered i arms ad homeeads adred o he gold elds By he aum o 848 he rsrumor o h dicoverie were yig aroud New York achday brough reh ew ad he excieme moed Wha happeed durg he ex ew mohs wa quie precedeed ihiory houad o me uddely aw a spark o opporiy

o ear a orue i a maer o day. ve efore PreidePolk ally corme he exe o he d i a peech oCogre i Decmer 848 he cramle o g o he WesCa wa o

o (oha Augus uer meioed aove wa a remakale pero i h way he r discoverer o Caiora gld came rom wzerlad ad had eled i America oly asho ime ere He wa eerpriig eergeic ma iclied o romaic aie His evful life ecae he sec o a elighul hiorical miiaure y h Auria wrierfa Zweig rom he cycle Stetude de Mehhet (Tharry Hour o Makid he dicovery o gold o hi lad did o rig uer hapess He died i pover d ocriyer wa o he rs or he la of hoe hom gold allydesroyd ruied ad e o heir grave We d uch gre

oh i he rue hiory o gold ad i wors o cio.Whe Zweig speak of he Calioria dicovey as of

he "arry hurs o makid he has i mid he hiorical imporace o hi eve e dicvery of gold i Califoria aha ime sparaed ro he cees o civiliaio by va diaces o easily raverd playe a impora rle i he developme of capialim i he 9h cery The Califoia od


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wc sare o w o e eas coas o he A an o Wese urope was ike resh boo or he capiais economy Isiuae he gwh o iusry russ an arge banks he

buing o raiways n he eveopmen o wor rae Gopaye a paricuary imporan roe in he ecomic eveopme he nie aes prooe he seeme o newvas erriories in he Wes an cenra regions he econmicrawing ogeher he iniviua saes a erriories an hegrwh a ranspr nework

he Caiornian go rush wih is hua suerig an aes sime pepe has gone wn in he okore o he Americanpope a become he subec couess ierary wrks Bu ahe momen we are inerese in gures hanks o he Caiornian ns he nie aes marche ino rs pace in worgo proucion an reain i amos uni he en hecnury giving way y occasioay o Ausraia whose wngrea go rush bgan in 85

he iscovry o g in Cairnia a Ausraia an as he

ise in opu in Russia an soe oher pars o he w resue in a ramaic change in he whoe wor suaion wih goIn he scn ha o he 9h cenury 000 ons o go wereprouce eigh imes more han in he rs an obe eamoun or he whoe perio aer he iscovery o America

Dman was growing even aser however or uring hisperio he go sanar was inrouce in a he main coun

ris a go became he basis o he mneary sysems an hewr money Thereore by h 870s when he cream ha beenskimme rm pacer eposis an n ew arge an easiy accessib ore posis ha been oun pessimism began o spreaamg he speciaiss In 877 he Ausrian uar ess pubishe a book enie De Zukunf de Golde he Fuure oG) which sone mos origina a ha ime bu has becoe

worn ou b consa repeiion an variaions in he as cnury he ae, prospecs chaces e o g ess mainaine rstly ha uur prouion o go epene overwhemingy on acer eposis; secoy ha mankin ha areayaine more han ha he go accessibe o i an h prospecs or procion were very unavourabe a, hiry hahere was nowhere near enogh o e mea or h universainrucin o h g sanar


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ll ths pohss tund ot t msta a malat ons y t way T sty o gld aonds n als popss and wg pctons n 935 t Eglsh nancal

xpt Paul Enzg sttd n a ook wt th sam ttl ThFuture of Gold tat xapl "t s sa yond dut ttak t gantd tat t gold standad wll nv unsally andnd also assud tat "t s yond dout tatt dontsaton gld would duc ts pc to a actono ts snt gu ot tat t statmnt w "eyoddoubt n act th counts o th socalld gold loc whcld y anc tand t gold standad long than all tos had alady aandond t th nk ad tm t don t ags o Enzgs ook T oal dmntsaton ogold c took plac n an ntnatonal scal n t 970s ddnot sult n a dop n ts akt pc and pucasng pow

n t 870s and 880s gld was n t tsold o t msllant stag ts ca T s t ddg opd pnw pspcts o otanng gld om placs sads) n 88

t out Acan Wtwatsand was dcod t sgold o gon n t wold wh t pducton gold wasst placd on an ndustal ass on th als o lagscal capal nmy. Impran hnal innvain w n itro-dcd mang t pssl to mn goldang at npcdtly low dpts and t ncas gatly t pcntag ogld tnd om t o Ev sc h nd t 9t

cntuy th at o t gldmnng ndusty n th captalstwold as n ndssluly lnkd wth south Acan 88 lss than a ton o god was mnd n suth Aca

and n 898 7 tns At sap dop causd y BoWa gold pducton gan o s agan saply n th stdcad o t 20t cntuy outh Aca ankd st n woldgold outpt 93 t Unon o ouh Aca hs stat aos

n 90 as a Btsh domnn) pducd 274 tons o 42 pcnt t wld total T UA cam scond wth 4 tosT nd th 9 cntuy wtnssd t Kldk pc n

othn Caada ad Alaska otalsd y th p o acknd nd t actng o Cal Capln Ths hw adlttl nunc o th man tnds god podcto n t 20tctuy

Untl th gold poducton dd om oth achs o


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capiait idusr. I was mre ike a game f chace tha aa terprise wih g accutig Thusads f prsecrs were ruied ad a i hadfu grew fabuus rich Isuthr Africa it was a differet matter. The cpaies erekew er we hw much he spet per t f prcessed read per uce f gd prduced The sught t bai a prrm gd prducti hat was wer tha the prts her idusries. T a certai exe the cud maeurechae the ut f re pressed ad gd baied depedig he damics f prduci css

her impra chae k pace up t the 1930s he

pice o gold i puds sterig ad dars had remaied pracica uchaged fr two cetuies because i was dermiedb he stabe gd ce f these tw currecies.

The deauati f the pud i 931 ad f the dar 1934 mea a sharp drp i the gd ce f hese currecies ad cseque a rise i the price f gd. I dars rse b 69 per cet ad i puds (b the begiig f Wrd

War II) ee re. At he ame time uder the iece f hewrd ecmic crisis he prices o her cmmdities ad cseque he csts f he gdmiig idusr drpped

A rage thig happed at a time whe mst idusriwere sufferig frm he depressi cuig dw prduci egd mpaies were urishig ad reapig as prs I1940 gd prducti i he capiaist wrd reached is high

est peak1138 s udig bu 40 per ce i he if Suh Africa. Secd pace gd upu was w hd bCaada wh he id States cmig hird

Te ext three decades wre difcut es fr the gd prduces f the capitaist cutris The mbisai f idusrfr war eeds resuted i a sharp drp i prduci i thSA Cada ad e i suher Africa der he iuec

f ii there was a csiderabe rise i cs whie he fci dar pice f gd xed 1934 reaied ucaged ui1971 The i f gd was becmi ess ad ess rabea ies were emae r emrari csed dw TheSuh Africa idusrsuried this perid mre easi ew richdepsis were dicered hre techgica prgress made i pssibe t cut ss ad Africa bur wer was si far cheaertha hat f whte wrkers


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In 45 gd utput in the cpitst wrd dred t 4tns o which mre thn h cme r sern Arc B162 prdctin hd ertke the prewr pek nd in thelte 160s nd erly 10s it setted t n nnu ee 12501300 tns with the Repuic Sut Arc (s t ecme cld in 161) stedly priding ut thre-qurters hs tt

A ew er begn in 16 when the ree mrket rice gldw ed t deite rm the xed c pce It mednly prs curse Unti 12 the dierences werecmprtiely smll but then undr the inuence ntn

he uniers rise in rw mteri prices nd te wrseng mnetry crisis the ree price g rckted

The prts the gldning cmnies s rcketed utthe prductin gld wen down, nead of up The cmpnies behed s bets mnlists they restricted rductint keep prices hig Techniclly this is dne ging er tprer res which t ws unprtbe t prcess t the rmer

prce In 15 gld utput in the cpitlst cuntres drpped tbelw ne thusnd tns r the rst tme in mny yers

God Poco i he Caais Coes(in tons)

nts 3 4 6 7 5

Toal 652 1 138 1 047 1 273 956 969 968 960incldng:

Repblic of Southrca 274 437 665 1 000 713 706 703 675Percenage otoal 4 2 0 3 8 . 4 6 3 5 7 8 6 7 4 6 7 2 8 7 2 6 7 0 0

Canada 25 166 14 75 51 52 49 48Bazil 5 6 9 13 22 25 3

USA 134 151 5354

33 31 28 29Phlppes 1 35 1 3 19 16 1 9 20 23usrala 69 51 34 20 1 6 20 1 9 1 8apuaNew Gunea 1 1 8 23 20 15Ghana (Gold oas) 1 2 28 27 22 18 14 12 13Zmbabwe(Rods) 22 26 18 15 1 6 1 1 12 11

Sc Cuenies of the Wrld, nn sttst s ; Bako Ieiol Seleme51s Al Repo s


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In 980 sme 960 tons were produced icluding 6 tons(abut 0 per ent) in the epblic of South fria Secondcame ada as bfore the war third was razil and fourth

the US Howr the abslte olue of utpt in both outris of North mrica was much lower than befor Wrld WarII The remainer was made by many countries the mostimportat of which ae listed in Table They inlude suchtraditional goldmining countries as ustralia hana an Zimabw and also the recent newcomer PapuaNew uinea There ishardly any gldmining indusry in Europe Neertheless in secounris a small amount of gold is produced from old minedaing back almost to oman times and as a by-prduct in theproduction f nnferrous metals. In recent years all th countries f Western Europe taken ogether produced 05 tons ofgold nnually Setmes it is a matter of national pride to haeone's "own gold Te wedding ring of

andrei anikin, the yellow devil gold and capital

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