Precious metals naturally take a relatively important -
part in the history of such an illustrious -
banking dynasty.
The fiorino d’oro, or florin, was minted in 1252 at Florence.
The florin was already internationally known and well -
respected during the fifteenth century.
This coincides with the heyday of the Medici’s as the most
powerful banking and political family in Florence and
possibly the wealthiest family in Europe during that time.
Their wealth, combined with their passion for art, turn
them into generous patrons of many Italian artists -
during that time.
This effort fostered a period of proliferation of artistic
achievement, later known as the Renaissance.
The florin is the focus of this article.
It’s a coin containing fifty-four grains of fine gold.
The coin has the city’s Latin name, Florentia, stamped on
its reverse side and the city’s emblem, lily, stamped on
its obverse side.
In terms of purchasing power, here is what the florin can
buy in about 1430’s:
* A "handsome palazzo" can be bought for a thousand florins.
* A maidservant costs about ten florins a year.
* A man can live very comfortably with an income of 150 florins.
* A "cashier" in the Medici bank is paid with forty florins a year.
* An "apprentice" in the Medici bank earns twenty florins a year.
* The Medici Palace was worth about five thousand florins.
One troy ounce in weight equals to 480 grains.
Assuming that gold has been remonetized and that gold’s
remonetized value is calculated in the manner proposed
by Jason Hommel:
equating current M3 value with current official US gold,
one gets a value of approximately $35,000/oz -
(= $9 trillion divided by 261 million ounces;
see Hommel’s “Im Insanely Bullish on Silver”)
This is an outrageously high value for gold!
But consider first, a “handsome palazzo” can be bought for -
a thousand florins.
One thousand florins has a gold content of 112.5 ounces
(= [1000*54]/480).
Remonitizing that amount of gold would equate to $3,937,500 -
(= 112.5*$35,000) of purchasing power today.
Today’s equivalent of handsome palaces
(“palazzo” is the Italian for palace)
would be luxury estate, which is usually defined in
the real estate profession as single-family residences
in excess of $1,000,000.
But many would be in the range of several million dollars.
Ten florins, which was a maidservant’s yearly salary back
in the days of the Medici’s, would equate to today’s $39,375
(= {[10*54]/480}*$35,000).
This roughly equals to CIA’s estimate of US GDP per capita:
$37,800.
Considering the IRS’ highest income tax bracket in the
recent years is in the range of $200,000 to $300,000,
a man can certainly live very well with amount of
gold contained in 150 florins.
If remonetized, 150 gold florins would have the
purchasing power of $590,625 (= {[150*54]/480}*$35,000).
The Medici Bank was considered the bank -
in the fifteenth century.
It was the most profitable organization in the Europe
during that time.
Certainly the bank’s cashiers and apprentices should
be relatively well paid.
An apprentice’s 20 florins roughly correspond to $78,750
(= {[20*54]/480}*$35,000) today. Goldman Sachs, arguably
the most prestigious investment bank on Wall Street today,
pays its analysts $55,000.
In addition, in good years the entry-level analysts
of a typical Wall Street “bulge-bracket” firm can easily
be rewarded with approximately $10,000 of bonus
(as some of my friends who worked there informed me).
This would add up to $65,000.
While I don’t know what a typical Wall Street investment
bank associate’s annual salary is, I do know that top MBA
programs are such banks’ favorite recruiting destination.
Therefore, the average starting salary of, say, a
Harvard MBA, should be a fair proxy of an associate’s
first-year income.
Since an associate is the next employment level of an
entry-level analyst in an investment bank, an associate's
salary should roughly reflect the Medici bank cashier’s
40 florins annual salary.
For the class of 2002, a Harvard MBA’s median first year
total compensation is $125,000.
This amount approximates 40 florins current purchasing
power of $157,500
(= {[40*54]/480}*$35,000).
Finally, the ultra-luxury real estate market routinely
sells at $38 to $75 million dollars as reported by a
recent Forbes survey of Most Expensive Homes in America.
The price of Medici Palace, 5000 florins, represents
today’s purchasing power of $19,687,500
(= {[5000*54]/480}*$35,000).
This is lower than the low-end of recent ultra-luxury
estate price range.
But considering the Medici’s purposely built their
main residence “far from grandiose” to avoid jealousy,
this “undershooting” of purchasing power should
not be surprising.
So, while some may have expressed objection at
Hommel’s projection of gold’s remonetized value of
$35,000 per ounce, such a price actually has some validity
if one uses it as a proxy for comparing the purchasing
power of gold between today and the Italian Renaissance.
Put it the other way, if we were to go back to the
tradition of using the real gold and silver as money,
an ounce of gold can buy up to $35,000 of goods!
What does all this mean for silver?
Others can and have written better articles than I do on
why silver is a better investment than gold, such as
silver’s supply deficit, industrial use, etc.
But the bottom line is, there may exist less above
ground inventory of silver than gold, thereby, making
silver potentially more valuable than gold if both
are monetized.
Assuming GATA is right, which I think so, that
the central banks have already leased out as much as half
of its 30,000 tons of gold, which implies 15,000 tons,
or roughly 480 million ounces, of gold remain in
the Central Banks’ vault?
However, the above ground silver inventory is estimated
at 200 million to 600 million ounces, with the average
estimate at 400 million ounces.
And due to silver’s supply deficit, this 400-million ounce
inventory is shrinking!
Do you see how silver can have the potential to exceed
even gold’s fabulous $35,000 per ounce projection?
By Yi-Chang Wang thanks -
history often repeat itself -
SIL has generated $100s of millions without to do
the hardrock mining, milling or processing! -
dd....
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=5810
Franklin Awarded Third COMIBOL Contract -
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=21774707
Thanks for the interesting silver read -
http://silverstockreport.com/2007/rosen_interview.html
Imo. Tia.
FMNJ - mission -
God Bless
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=5406
Ps.
Gold & Silver - The Only Real Money Standard =
not paper, not electronic credits, not chips and
not polo-ticz fiatz or 666counterfeitz vs....
The old real dollar is the name of the official currency
in several countries, dependencies and other regions,
including Australia, Canada, the East Caribbean, Liberia,
Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States -
It is represented by the symbol $, placed before the dollar
amount (in French Canada, after) -
The dollar was also in use in Scotland -
during the 17th century, and there is a claim that -
it was invented at the University of St Andrews -
The name is related to the historic currencies Tolar,
in Bohemia, Thaler, in Germany and Daler, in Sweden.
The name thaler (from thal, valley) originally came
from the guldengroschen (great gulden, being of silver
but equal in value to a gold gulden) coins minted -
from the silver from a rich mine at St. Joachimstal
(St. Joachim's Valley) in Bohemia -
(now in the Czech Republic).
The name Spanish dollar was used for a Spanish silver coin,
the peso, an 8 real coin, which was widely circulated -
during the 18th century in the Spanish colonies -
in the New World -
The use of the Spanish dollar and the Maria Theresa thaler -
as legal tender for the early United States -
is the reason for the name of that nation's currency -
The word dollar was in use in the English language -
for the thaler for about 200 years prior to -
the American Revolution -
Spanish dollars, or pieces of eight as they were called,
were in circulation in the 13 colonies that became
the United States and legal tender in Virginia -
Bucky - corrupt disgraced - 666fiatzbanksterz-9/11shame -
Bucky-scandal-debasement -
part in the history of such an illustrious -
banking dynasty.
The fiorino d’oro, or florin, was minted in 1252 at Florence.
The florin was already internationally known and well -
respected during the fifteenth century.
This coincides with the heyday of the Medici’s as the most
powerful banking and political family in Florence and
possibly the wealthiest family in Europe during that time.
Their wealth, combined with their passion for art, turn
them into generous patrons of many Italian artists -
during that time.
This effort fostered a period of proliferation of artistic
achievement, later known as the Renaissance.
The florin is the focus of this article.
It’s a coin containing fifty-four grains of fine gold.
The coin has the city’s Latin name, Florentia, stamped on
its reverse side and the city’s emblem, lily, stamped on
its obverse side.
In terms of purchasing power, here is what the florin can
buy in about 1430’s:
* A "handsome palazzo" can be bought for a thousand florins.
* A maidservant costs about ten florins a year.
* A man can live very comfortably with an income of 150 florins.
* A "cashier" in the Medici bank is paid with forty florins a year.
* An "apprentice" in the Medici bank earns twenty florins a year.
* The Medici Palace was worth about five thousand florins.
One troy ounce in weight equals to 480 grains.
Assuming that gold has been remonetized and that gold’s
remonetized value is calculated in the manner proposed
by Jason Hommel:
equating current M3 value with current official US gold,
one gets a value of approximately $35,000/oz -
(= $9 trillion divided by 261 million ounces;
see Hommel’s “Im Insanely Bullish on Silver”)
This is an outrageously high value for gold!
But consider first, a “handsome palazzo” can be bought for -
a thousand florins.
One thousand florins has a gold content of 112.5 ounces
(= [1000*54]/480).
Remonitizing that amount of gold would equate to $3,937,500 -
(= 112.5*$35,000) of purchasing power today.
Today’s equivalent of handsome palaces
(“palazzo” is the Italian for palace)
would be luxury estate, which is usually defined in
the real estate profession as single-family residences
in excess of $1,000,000.
But many would be in the range of several million dollars.
Ten florins, which was a maidservant’s yearly salary back
in the days of the Medici’s, would equate to today’s $39,375
(= {[10*54]/480}*$35,000).
This roughly equals to CIA’s estimate of US GDP per capita:
$37,800.
Considering the IRS’ highest income tax bracket in the
recent years is in the range of $200,000 to $300,000,
a man can certainly live very well with amount of
gold contained in 150 florins.
If remonetized, 150 gold florins would have the
purchasing power of $590,625 (= {[150*54]/480}*$35,000).
The Medici Bank was considered the bank -
in the fifteenth century.
It was the most profitable organization in the Europe
during that time.
Certainly the bank’s cashiers and apprentices should
be relatively well paid.
An apprentice’s 20 florins roughly correspond to $78,750
(= {[20*54]/480}*$35,000) today. Goldman Sachs, arguably
the most prestigious investment bank on Wall Street today,
pays its analysts $55,000.
In addition, in good years the entry-level analysts
of a typical Wall Street “bulge-bracket” firm can easily
be rewarded with approximately $10,000 of bonus
(as some of my friends who worked there informed me).
This would add up to $65,000.
While I don’t know what a typical Wall Street investment
bank associate’s annual salary is, I do know that top MBA
programs are such banks’ favorite recruiting destination.
Therefore, the average starting salary of, say, a
Harvard MBA, should be a fair proxy of an associate’s
first-year income.
Since an associate is the next employment level of an
entry-level analyst in an investment bank, an associate's
salary should roughly reflect the Medici bank cashier’s
40 florins annual salary.
For the class of 2002, a Harvard MBA’s median first year
total compensation is $125,000.
This amount approximates 40 florins current purchasing
power of $157,500
(= {[40*54]/480}*$35,000).
Finally, the ultra-luxury real estate market routinely
sells at $38 to $75 million dollars as reported by a
recent Forbes survey of Most Expensive Homes in America.
The price of Medici Palace, 5000 florins, represents
today’s purchasing power of $19,687,500
(= {[5000*54]/480}*$35,000).
This is lower than the low-end of recent ultra-luxury
estate price range.
But considering the Medici’s purposely built their
main residence “far from grandiose” to avoid jealousy,
this “undershooting” of purchasing power should
not be surprising.
So, while some may have expressed objection at
Hommel’s projection of gold’s remonetized value of
$35,000 per ounce, such a price actually has some validity
if one uses it as a proxy for comparing the purchasing
power of gold between today and the Italian Renaissance.
Put it the other way, if we were to go back to the
tradition of using the real gold and silver as money,
an ounce of gold can buy up to $35,000 of goods!
What does all this mean for silver?
Others can and have written better articles than I do on
why silver is a better investment than gold, such as
silver’s supply deficit, industrial use, etc.
But the bottom line is, there may exist less above
ground inventory of silver than gold, thereby, making
silver potentially more valuable than gold if both
are monetized.
Assuming GATA is right, which I think so, that
the central banks have already leased out as much as half
of its 30,000 tons of gold, which implies 15,000 tons,
or roughly 480 million ounces, of gold remain in
the Central Banks’ vault?
However, the above ground silver inventory is estimated
at 200 million to 600 million ounces, with the average
estimate at 400 million ounces.
And due to silver’s supply deficit, this 400-million ounce
inventory is shrinking!
Do you see how silver can have the potential to exceed
even gold’s fabulous $35,000 per ounce projection?
By Yi-Chang Wang thanks -
history often repeat itself -
SIL has generated $100s of millions without to do
the hardrock mining, milling or processing! -
dd....
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=5810
Franklin Awarded Third COMIBOL Contract -
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=21774707
Thanks for the interesting silver read -
http://silverstockreport.com/2007/rosen_interview.html
Imo. Tia.
FMNJ - mission -
God Bless
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=5406
Ps.
Gold & Silver - The Only Real Money Standard =
not paper, not electronic credits, not chips and
not polo-ticz fiatz or 666counterfeitz vs....
The old real dollar is the name of the official currency
in several countries, dependencies and other regions,
including Australia, Canada, the East Caribbean, Liberia,
Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States -
It is represented by the symbol $, placed before the dollar
amount (in French Canada, after) -
The dollar was also in use in Scotland -
during the 17th century, and there is a claim that -
it was invented at the University of St Andrews -
The name is related to the historic currencies Tolar,
in Bohemia, Thaler, in Germany and Daler, in Sweden.
The name thaler (from thal, valley) originally came
from the guldengroschen (great gulden, being of silver
but equal in value to a gold gulden) coins minted -
from the silver from a rich mine at St. Joachimstal
(St. Joachim's Valley) in Bohemia -
(now in the Czech Republic).
The name Spanish dollar was used for a Spanish silver coin,
the peso, an 8 real coin, which was widely circulated -
during the 18th century in the Spanish colonies -
in the New World -
The use of the Spanish dollar and the Maria Theresa thaler -
as legal tender for the early United States -
is the reason for the name of that nation's currency -
The word dollar was in use in the English language -
for the thaler for about 200 years prior to -
the American Revolution -
Spanish dollars, or pieces of eight as they were called,
were in circulation in the 13 colonies that became
the United States and legal tender in Virginia -
Bucky - corrupt disgraced - 666fiatzbanksterz-9/11shame -
Bucky-scandal-debasement -
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