American Gold Explained!
Thinking about American gold, one thing comes immediately to mind: an exquisite coin, the official gold bullion of the United States. Its full name is the American Gold Eagle, it was minted for the first time in 1986, and it comes in 1/10, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 oz denominations. It's authorized by the Congress, and guaranteed by the United States Mint, to contain the above amounts of pure gold. The gold must come from the US resources. Some small additions of silver and cooper are present; to increase coins’ wear resistance. This result in the coins having the karat value of 22, as per the English Gold Exchange standards. The face values of these coins are: $5, $10, $25 and $50. But, their market value is almost equal to their gold content. It is a legal tender, but mainly used to keep savings "safe" from currency devaluation, and prevent ending up with the bunch of worthless banknotes.
It's worth mentioning, that these coins are also available in a proof version, for numismatics collections.
The American Gold Rush is being used, to describe the mad stampede that followed the discovery of gold in the wild terrain of the American West, in what is now the area of San Francisco and the North-West California State.
The rush has four stages: 1839-47, 1848, 1849 and 1852-54. It all started with the arrival of John Sutter from Switzerland, and ends with the great local fires and establishment of Sacramento as the first capital of California.
When the dust has settled, thousands of ounces of gold, in a farm of nuggets, were found. Thousands of enterprising people from around the world landed on the American continent, and followed the tracks of the first gold diggers, to the untold wealth. At the end, when the stocks were taken, many people have lost their lives to the harsh climate, poor health and lawlessness. A few became very rich. And the legend was born of the American Gold Rush...
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Finally, what one would call the American Gold, is the precious metal that is supposed to be stored in the Fort Knox's vaults, under the watchful eye of the Federal Reserve. Although the common perception is that of the incredible wealth, almost of the king Midas dimensions, the little known reality is, that actually nobody knows how much gold is being kept there. For those naive Americans who believe in the riches that are dully theirs, it may come as an unpleasant surprise, that the American gold is probably long gone. Not that it really matters for the nation anymore.
The state of the economy and standard of living in any society is determined by their fiscal policy, and the soundness of the commercial practices and resolve of their citizens.
Scrap Gold
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