Coins From Horrible Times And Places

If we're talking about moving places, you should visit the Holocaust Museum in DC. I don't think I've ever cried so hard for so many people I will never get the chance to know. Pro tip (my mom was a teacher and did a yearly trip to DC; I've been to the museum three times, I should know), take a box of Kleenex with you. Not one of these stupid little pocket packs, either. You'll run out.

If you have a conscious about this, this will apply to every single coin that you have.

Imagine how many people have died mining minerals from the earth? Underground mining - roofs collapsing on them. Imagine how many people die from breathing poisonous fumes when extracting impurities. The list goes on.

I personally dislike gold for this matter - I consider gold as a blood metal and do not own much myself. Appearently one of the professors that I remember quoted that 17 men die from mining 1 ton of gold and this is from mining alone - does not include extraction, transportation etc. Needless to say, the figure was a lot higher during WWII.

Imagine how many people have died mining minerals from the earth? Underground mining - roofs collapsing on them. Imagine how many people die from breathing poisonous fumes when extracting impurities. The list goes on.

I personally dislike gold for this matter - I consider gold as a blood metal and do not own much myself. Appearently one of the professors that I remember quoted that 17 men die from mining 1 ton of gold and this is from mining alone - does not include extraction, transportation etc. Needless to say, the figure was a lot higher during WWII.

I don't accept that line of reasoning at all. Gold is fungible and as such the gold that goes into making coins can be from anywhere. It could come from the crown of a Pharoah, or from a ring worn by George Washington, or from a mine in Wales with an exemplary safety record.

No point feeling guilty about gold because ultimately it's impossible to say where it comes from and who might have suffered to bring it to us.

Diamonds are a different story...

Personally I think historical coins are important to keep and share with others because it just brings you closer to it. I've visited Auschwitz and its probably one of the most emotionally over-whelming places to experience, but holding a Nazi silver brings history to life as well. If you cant visit places, historical objects like coins still help bring things alive compared to just reading a history book. I have a lot of Confederate notes as well and owning these things helps you stay connected to history. I have a bunch of Saddam Hussein notes too, no value, but definitely some history.

I am a little bit against buying current Chinese bullion coins due to my own politics but that is neither here nor there.

I collect coins because of their link to history and events. I have a lot of Nazi coins but I only think about them the same way I think about my Roman Imperial coins, or my Persian empire coins, or my Russian Empire coins, or my Northern Sung dynasty coins - all regimes which committed atrocities just as bad. I have a set of very nice coins from the Belgian Congo (EF) and that was the scene of one of the worst discraces in human history.

They are "just" coins - but they are links to help place yourself in history and understand it.

Unless you collect NCLT "collectible coins" with fluffy bunnies or kittens on them - it would be hard to have a coin and not find something unpleasant that has happened in that place at that time.

Demarco, there is a difference between industrial usage and vanity. Gold's demands are mainly from jewellery and investment purposes with some used in industry. All minerals are classified as environmentally unfriendly. This applies to iron, copper etc.

I have reasons to dislike gold as for the following reasons, not just the fatality aspect. Granted in any industry, there are always fatalities which is always one too many.

For starters, waste to ore ratio is absurd - 0.3g - 0.6g gold to per tonne of rock is classified as "economic".
1. High energy extraction required which includes diesel, electricity, water. These facilities must be in place.
2. Where high grade ore is available and labour is cheap and people discount their health (normally in poor countries such as Indonesia), cyanide and mercury is used to extract gold by hand. This includes child labour.
3. Waste or tailings must be contained as they normally contain toxic chemicals. Ok Tedi (Papua New Guinea) is a good example where tailings failed. Baie Mare (Romania) is another good example where cyanide used to extract gold spilled into the river.
4. Depleted mines in particular gold or any gold byproduct mines are almost next to as toxic as lead or uranium mines due to the nature of chemicals and minerals involved. Gold mines are usually associated with sulfur compound minerals leading to acid mine drainage.
5. Gold can be melted down and normally do not show signs of where it orginated from. European gold in particular Swiss gold coins from 1940s had traces of mercury. The gold was appearently sourced from the Nazi era to clear the German debts. I am certain you do not want to know where the source originated from.
6. Fatalities. Do I need to mention this again?

History unfortunately has shown gold as a source of conflict, i.e. Portugal conquest in Africa, Spanish conquest in South America, Californian gold rush impact on Native Americans and environment, Nazi gold etc. List goes on.

Again, you can go on debating about this but this is my reason why I do not buy gold coins as I used to. The original topic was about "coins from horrible times and places" and gold does have it's own aspect of it.

Considering Mercury amalgam recovery of gold from ore was common from very early on until fairly recently, finding traces of Mercury in gold from any source would not surprise me.

"dark side" to me would be coins form around when there was cannibalism and honorable sacrifice, rituals and headhunters. Not to step on any toes but I did not automatically think




Believe it or not found it the other day, this is the only kinda sorter nartzi thing I have I think