Rusted Sky

Jerry, the numismatically disadvantaged owner of this fine blog said:

this will be of interest to currency collectors in about fifty years - but until then, you won't get much of a return.

Just to check I googled some currency collector sites and found that genuine Confederate Currency in Fine or Extra Fine shape is going for as much as 50 times face value. Old crumpled, torn, and worn out Confederate currency is trading at 3 to 10 times face value depending on rarity.

It's not 200,000 percent return in 10 years but even if the Iraqi adventure bombs completely a 1,000 to 5,000 percent return on a $500 investment today would make a real nice "Hello from Great-Great-Granddad" present for somebody down the line.

otpu

P.S. And by the way, the "bombs completely" phrase wasn't meant to be a pun but it was so atrocious I decided to leave it in anyway.

OFCRS

For SueK: OFCRS => Old Fart Can't Remember S[tuff] {bowdlerized version}

John - I was attempting to shove in enough disclaimers so five years down the road someone won't look at my blog and sue my assets off for promoting Iraqi dinars.

Heck, YOU know the types of stuff my father gets massive piles of. All of it 'sure things' if he throws enough money at it... so I figured I'd be very up front here and tell folks considering investing in the dinar that things could go wrong and they could waste their money.

I could have done better - but I ain't no financial advisor!

J.

The time to buy was a couple of years ago when the Iraqi Dinar was first issued. Since then it has made solid gains against the USD and EURO, reflecting the underlying strength that Iraq can have with proper economic outlook. For me the interesting thing to do would be to invest in the Micro-Banking concept as those have the highest rate of loan payments of any type of bank, including the large commercial institutions. The Iraqi central bank after initial stand-up needs to go through a horrific amount of training and expansion to service towns and cities that have no banking institutions left. Micro-Banks being small, relatively independent and community oriented will serve a need that central banks and commercial banks can't serve: small scale business.

Then there is the 'Overstock.com' effect: sending in one or two people to a war ravaged area to start buying up local goods with cash sent in via wire service or via localized banks. One woman walked off a plane for Overstock.com right after the fall of the Taliban and started to immediately find goods (jewelry, rugs, clothing) made locally and put in lot-orders at a set price in hard currency. Within the first year this was so successful that the largest private employer in Afghanistan was Overstock.com. I really do appreciate that while the locals will not be getting Western prices, they don't have the ability to market in the West without Overstock... more than willing to pay that overhead for those willing to risk life and limb to get foreign capital into such places to restart local economies.

We have come to depend far too much on large institutions and Nations for purely local needs, while the best way is to support local entrepreneurship that adjusts via small, private groups. There will always be a need for large projects, like dams, roads, airports and such... but loans for sewing machines? For chickens and goats? For local jewelry shops in areas with little connection to the outside world? That *is* small business oriented capitalism and, as our own Nation has shown, it *works*.

Jerry:

I know, just poking fun.

Neither one of us is a qualified financial adviser and anybody who takes our advice deserves what he gets.

otpu

I think I found another site that sells the dinar. Don't remember where it was, but the general appearance was similar - almost as if they had different sites with the same stuff. I'd prefer buying stock in individual companies, or maybe a mutual stock - but maybe the dinars are better.
Also looking into this one - at the rate we're going, it seems to me that health insurance is going no where but up. I figure that as long as we have to pay at one end, maybe we can get something out at the other end. More research needed...no doubt!

http://www.ishares.com/fund_info/detail.jhtml;jsessionid=K5DJ2Q4DDGPSWRJUMTCBBGSFGQ0EOD50?investorType=FP&symbol=IHF&_requestid=328734

PS: We still have some deutsche marks...both coin and paper - just in case someone is willing to pay big bucks for them! At this point, I'm just hoping a grandkid will have a collection to put them in...

AJacksonian -

Microcap loans... they're a good concept and pretty successful. I sure wish there were a micro-cap mutual fund - I think it'd be a good one!

J.

J - That is *exactly* what I want! I would invest in that as it has a proven track record and adjusts to local societal norms to retain that track record.

The business of America is *small business* and that is the great source and wellspring of our economy and has been since the founding. People working and able to utilize the fruits of their labors *is* the definition of Liberty.

The world needs more of *that*, not splendiferous trade agreements and the like, for that is working to *be* free and understand that your own work *makes you free*. That is a future worth investing in, and I would definitely change my investing habits to reflect that.