"Good as gold!" - an expression that many New Zealanders, especially older Kiwis, will often use when the want to attribute real value to something. In contrast "good as a paper banknote" is something we have yet to hear - and we hope we never will - unless one day in the future such paper is backed by gold instead of politicians worthless promises.
The use of that expression "good as gold" is a reminder that many sensible Kiwis still see something uniquely special in the yellow metal. It is a term that we cannot recall hearing before we moved to New Zealand in 1990. Yet such a presence of gold in the psyche of many Kiwis is understandable. The precious metal, through the gold-rushes in Otago, the West Coast, and Coromandel occupies a prominent place in New Zealand's history and the early struggle towards nationhood. Those pioneering days belong to an era when gold still occupied a central place in the financial systems of major trading nations - and to find gold was to find wealth!
Today, certainly in most western countries, gold has retreated from public consciousness as a monetary medium and its primary visible role is as an adornment in the from of jewellery. Yet the yellow metal - famously dismissed by the British economist John Maynard Keynes as a "barbarous relic" - appears to be undergoing something of a renaissance as an 'investment of last resort'.
Our first tentative interest in gold began around August 1999, when the British Chancellor of the Exchequer ordered the selling of a very substantial proportion of Britain's Gold reserves. Having learned about this on the internet we called our share-broker to enquire whether a small investment in gold might be a good idea? After all, if a leading politician was divesting his nation of something - at a very poor price - our instincts told us that it must be an excellent time to buy! Our advisor was less than impressed - gold had been in an excruciating bear market since 1980 and, to be fair, the options for the conservative Kiwi investor seeking a 'token' foray into the yellow metal seemed very limited.
So, having identified the nadir of gold's twenty year spell in the doldrums with reasonable accuracy, we put any thoughts of investing in the precious metal into the 'too hard basket'. Subsequently, as we witnessed the astonishing expansion of credit and house-price lunacy that has embroiled so many 'Anglo-Saxon' economies, our thoughts returned to gold (and silver) as possible safe havens should hyper-inflation or deflationary collapse follow the current madness.
Thus, this website emerges from our experiences in first becoming mildly interested in gold and the other precious metals - and then researching these issues rather more extensively. As we have done so - and gold has emerged from its long period of being 'persona non grata' - new investment options such as the World Gold Council's Exchange Traded Fund and 'digital gold monies' have become available. We must emphasise that we are not eminent authorities on the precious metals. However, we do hope that a combination of our free commentaries and forthcoming 'for sale publications' will prove to be of value to those who have an emerging interest in gold and silver.
The use of that expression "good as gold" is a reminder that many sensible Kiwis still see something uniquely special in the yellow metal. It is a term that we cannot recall hearing before we moved to New Zealand in 1990. Yet such a presence of gold in the psyche of many Kiwis is understandable. The precious metal, through the gold-rushes in Otago, the West Coast, and Coromandel occupies a prominent place in New Zealand's history and the early struggle towards nationhood. Those pioneering days belong to an era when gold still occupied a central place in the financial systems of major trading nations - and to find gold was to find wealth!
Today, certainly in most western countries, gold has retreated from public consciousness as a monetary medium and its primary visible role is as an adornment in the from of jewellery. Yet the yellow metal - famously dismissed by the British economist John Maynard Keynes as a "barbarous relic" - appears to be undergoing something of a renaissance as an 'investment of last resort'.
Our first tentative interest in gold began around August 1999, when the British Chancellor of the Exchequer ordered the selling of a very substantial proportion of Britain's Gold reserves. Having learned about this on the internet we called our share-broker to enquire whether a small investment in gold might be a good idea? After all, if a leading politician was divesting his nation of something - at a very poor price - our instincts told us that it must be an excellent time to buy! Our advisor was less than impressed - gold had been in an excruciating bear market since 1980 and, to be fair, the options for the conservative Kiwi investor seeking a 'token' foray into the yellow metal seemed very limited.
So, having identified the nadir of gold's twenty year spell in the doldrums with reasonable accuracy, we put any thoughts of investing in the precious metal into the 'too hard basket'. Subsequently, as we witnessed the astonishing expansion of credit and house-price lunacy that has embroiled so many 'Anglo-Saxon' economies, our thoughts returned to gold (and silver) as possible safe havens should hyper-inflation or deflationary collapse follow the current madness.
Thus, this website emerges from our experiences in first becoming mildly interested in gold and the other precious metals - and then researching these issues rather more extensively. As we have done so - and gold has emerged from its long period of being 'persona non grata' - new investment options such as the World Gold Council's Exchange Traded Fund and 'digital gold monies' have become available. We must emphasise that we are not eminent authorities on the precious metals. However, we do hope that a combination of our free commentaries and forthcoming 'for sale publications' will prove to be of value to those who have an emerging interest in gold and silver.
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