Re: largest collection of Iron Age gold coins found in Britain since 1849

On Jan 18, 1:46 pm, boots <n...@xxxxx> wrote:
"Koolchi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <john.kulczy...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jan 18, 12:37 pm, boots <n...@xxxxx> wrote:
"Koolchi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <john.kulczy...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jan 18, 11:48 am, boots <n...@xxxxx> wrote:
Towse <s...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/suffolk/7835228.stm>

I saw that earlier and was surprised at their statement that over the
period since the coins were made gold seems to have depreciated.  That
is what they were saying, isn't it?

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No what they were saying was that the value of goods that those coins
could have bought at the  time in modern terms was amounted to 1/2 to
1 million Pounds S. At the time, you could live really really well on
the equivalent of about 5 Pounds S a year.  (Just think back to
England in the 1890's)

However their value as only gold is less than that today. Say there's
1oz. of gold in each ( they are not pure gold), 824 coins is 824oz. at
say $600.00 per oz. that's about $450,000 or about 200,000 Pounds S..

Gold has kept a good portion of its value over time but overall,
inflation ( especially wage based inflation) has decreased buying
power in relation to all commodities.

In other words the coins have depreciated.  

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No, they just not appriciated equally in relation to their percieved
buying power from point zero to now.

Hello.  They will buy less now than they would have bought then.
Their value has decreased.  They have depreciated.

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NO, because the basket of goods available is entirely different. If
say, you were only looking at say only wheat or barley, then they
would have appreciated greatly because the cost of production and
supply is much lower now than it was then.

If you look at it in terms of the social lifestyle it would buy, as
related to all social lifestyles available today, as compared to the
relative social lifestyles it would have bought at the time, the
amount loses its value relative to what is available today and what it
would cost to maintain that life style.

It is a historical apple-orange argument tossed on top of social
anthropology and sprinkled with economics.
.

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