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March 11, 2010

About Gold Coins

Gold coins are extremely beautiful items and collecting them goes back to when coins were first issued in pre-Roman Europe. However, it was only in the Middle Ages that the hoarding of gold coins became a leisure pursuit amongst the aristocracy and merchants who could afford to save such valuable items for their beauty and historical importance alone.

Coin collecting in general is still a very popular hobby enjoyed by millions of people of all ages. School children all over the planet have small collections of foreign coins. Later, that hobby might develop into collecting coins from one’s own country. For example, it is simpler and cheaper to collect a cent or penny from every year in the 20th Century in your own country than a foreign country.

This higher level of collecting coins can later become an expensive hobby once one has started working and has more money to spend. One might choose to concentrate on collecting gold coins from a particular period or of a certain denomination. Dollar and sovereign coins are very popular in this regard.

In the USA, gold coins were in distribution from 1838 to 1933. The first design was the Liberty Head Bust but this was changed in 1907 to the Indian Head and Saint Gaudens motifs, which were used until 1933. The problems presented by the Great Depression caused gold coins to be recalled to be melted down. This made them rarer and therefore more valuable.

In the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe, gold was used for coins from before the birth of Christ and many exemplars of these Roman and Celtic gold coins still exist today. Gold is no longer used as currency in Europe either, although in the UK, a gold sovereign is still worth one pound. The motif on the reverse is George and the Dragon, while the reigning monarch’s head is on the obverse

South Africa minted its first gold coin named the Krugerrand in 1967. The Krugerrand has no face value because it was not intended to be used as currency. It is made of one ounce of pure gold and is usually purchased solely for investment reasons. Since then other countries have also issued bullion or investment coins. For instance, Canada manufactured the Gold Maple Leaf in 1979 and Australia made the Nugget in 1981.

In the days of the Gold Standard, countries promised to match the value of their currency with the amount of gold they held in reserve. That meant that if a country issued paper money without buying more gold to support it, the value of the paper currency would fall in relation to foreign currencies.

Different countries came off the Gold Standard at slightly different time, but most of them dropped the standard in or around 1971.

Collecting gold coins is a fine pastime, but it should not really be seen as an investment, because old gold coins carry a premium to the value of gold within them. This value is sentiment and that can change quickly. If you want to collect gold coins all well and good, but if you want to buy gold for an investment, then buy bullion coins or bars.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Clogau Welsh gold. If you have an interest in wedding rings too, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

December 23, 2009

Thailand: My First Night in Pattaya

It was seven-ish and I was sitting in a nice-enough room overlooking the front doorway to the pub above which I had just moved in. The pub was the Pig and Whistle on Soi 7 in Pattaya. Across the lane was a large hole, which they were hoping to build a hotel in and next door to that, just opposite me, was a tiny bar with one woman sitting on a stool outside it. Not that there was a wall there, it was open on two sides. The Soi was nice and peaceful, I thought. I also thought that I might go and sit in that little bar and talk to that woman, if my friend was late, because I would surely see him arrive from two metres away, the width of the Soi.

So, I went to the bar in the pub at 19:15 to await my friend who said he would come at 20:00. It was much busier than thirty minutes earlier but not noisy and I sat at the bar. The first thing a barmaid did was say hello, give me a menu and step back. I did not really want to eat, I only wanted a beer as I assumed we would be dining together later, but I wanted to read the menu anyway.

‘A pint of Boddington’s’, I said. It arrived and the girl started laying a place for me. I tried to say that I was not hungry, but it was no good. Like in Spain, most people eat and drink at the same time. All the while the girl was smiling at me. Then she said: ‘You live upstairs? My name Charli. What you want to eat?’. So, I gave in and ordered something and rice.

‘You first time in Thailand? You no can eat. Too spicy’, she said with a grin. ‘Oh’, I replied, ‘but I want to try. ‘I put only 50-50 for you’, she declared and went.

I battled my way through that meal and it took a Boddingtons and a bottle of water. Charli had been accurate, it was too hot for first-time foreigners and she had reduced the chilis by 50%. I have always heeded a Thai’s guidance on food ever since.

I changed seat to by the window to see what was going on as it was dark by 19:30 and I was curious. Within thirty minutes Soi 7 had transformed itself completely. I could see hundreds of ladies and tourists walking about. I wanted to go out and join in or at least sit in the quiet bar across the lane, but I’m ashamed to say that I was too frightened, so I sat put, rivetted to the Pig like a rabbit in a hunter’s flashlight.

My friend walked in on time and after we had been talking for an hour, he said: ‘Drink up, I have someone I want you to meet’. This was it, we were going into that mele. A waitress opened the door for us and the racket and the heat were tremendous. Particularly the din. Every metre at least two or three girls would shout: ‘Hello, sexy man, you want a drink’. Trying to say no courteously to each invitation was out of the question, so I just stuck close to my pal.

Fortunately, we only had about fifty metres to walk and we sat down in another bar. My friend said hello to several ladies and then said, this a girl I have been going out with for some time. I was astounded as I had never heard him talk about her, ever. She was gorgeous, but could not speak English, so I sat in the din in silence. Not for long through, as my friend said, I have a blind date for you and he introduced another girl to me who was equally beautiful, but with whom I could speak a little. She was captivating and I was captivated. The din seemed to pass away, but it was only because I was listening to my new friend. The four of us had the best time and the best food I had ever had in my forty-nine years of existence.

If you want to know how to get a UK visa, please go over to our website now at How to Get a UK Visa Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

December 4, 2009

How I First Came To Thailand

I first came to Thailand in 2004 and I arrived here more of less by accident. I had travelled a fair bit in Europe: Russia, Western Europe, Scandinavia, North Africa and north South America, but I had never found the time to travel to Asia.

One night, I was chatting to a friend who had travelled extensively throughout the world and he was telling me about his favourite country, to where he had been returning year after year for fourteen years. Knowing the man’s experience as a traveller, I was very taken aback to hear that he had been choosing to go to the same location in Asia for fourteen years.

I had to ask him which part of huge Asia held such an enticement for him and he said Thailand. I knew practically nothing about Thailand, except that I had had a few meals at a near-by Thai restaurant over the years. I also knew from collecting stamps as a boy that it used to be called Siam. Anyway, my friend asked me if I’d like to go. I answered that I would ‘one day’ and meant it.

He startled me by stating that he was going to Thailand for a month soon and that I was welcome to go with him, if I wanted. I replied that I had a few jazz festivals to go to soon and maybe I would, if there was at least a month between them and if I could get a flight and if… I could hear myself putting him off, but I did not know why I was delaying.

A number of hours later, I went home and being an avid Internet surfer, I checked out a bit about Thailand on the travel brochure sites. It looked really fantastic. The prices were good too except for the flights. Hotels were cheap to reasonable and food and drinks prices were insignificant compared to where I lived. So, I checked the dates of the two Jazz festivals and they were thirty-three days apart. Now for the flight. I spent well into the next morning checking flights and found one for the day after the first festival leaving from our local airport. It was far from the cheapest flight, but it gave me more time.

In a reckless moment I booked it there and then online. I then found a pub with rooms to let online that my friend had said he went to on quiz evenings and guessed that they would be open by now serving breakfasts. I sent them an email and a response came back twenty minutes later. I had been lucky again. The boss was in the middle of checking yesterday’s figures, when he saw my email come through. However, not sure of his Internet ability, he wanted me to phone him right away. I checked my watch, it was still 4AM so I phoned.

He took my booking on trust and so I did not have to make a payment. I had heard about Thailand, made up my mind to go and booked the flight and room all within five hours and I could not wait for nine o’clock to come to notify my friend that I would be going too.

If you want to know how to get a UK visa, please go over to our website now at How to Get a UK Visa Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

November 24, 2009

Gardening Tools: An Overview

You probably already know the best way to keep your plants growing healthily in your garden. However, in order to keep your vegetables and garden plants growing well, you do require good quality soil, sunlight and enough water. Although these are gifted by nature, you also need contemporary gardening tools to keep your garden in good form. Gardening tools are a huge help in taking care of your plants and providing the right growing conditions that have such a positive effect on your plants’ health.

Poor gardening tools can also instigate damage to your plants. In order to reduce this risk, you ought to use the best gardening tools you can afford. Often, when people talk about the ‘best gardening tools’, they actually mean gardening tools that allow energy efficiency.

Here are a few of the best gardening tools obtainable on the market. They will provide better care than ever for your plants and your garden.

Lawnmowers: The Luxus Push Reel Mower was voted the best lawnmower by gardening enthusiasts. It has a large top guard to protect overhanging fruit, flowers and shrubs. Another extraordinary gardening tool is the American Lawn Mower Deluxe. It has also been recognized as one of the best. It is hand operated, therefore causing no pollution, but it is not useful on very long grass.

Garden Shredders Generally speaking, all garden shredders have a high power motor and a near-silent crushing system. This type of gardening tool is employed to speed up shredding garden waste. Garden shredders can be electric or gas powered. The electric shredders are simple to put together. They assist in disposing of tree and hedge prunings up to a maximum of 40 mm in diameter. This gardening tool is voted to be among the most useful by gardeners. They are obtainable with fixed wheels for added manoeuvrability.

Cultivators These modern gardening tools are obtainable with patented tines to help in cutting into hard, compacted soil without difficulty. Some cultivators are available with a free border edger. The cultivator is ideal for clearing moss and aerating soil. This garden tool is especially useful for preparing vegetable plots, flowerbeds, etc..

Leaf sweeper These gardening tools are extensively employed for removing large numbers of leaves from smaller lawns. They often include a very large 200-liter collector.

Hedge Trimmer This gardening tool has also been voted as important equipment by gardening equipment reviewers. It is useful for trimming hedges and pruning plants.

Garden Fork This is a fantastic gardening tool employed for aerating and transplanting. You can also use this gardening tool to split grasses and perennials. Furthermore, the spading fork is of use for working manure, mulch and sorting hay in smaller gardens.

Mattock The mattock is an essential gardening tool for splitting up clay soils and working around older trees with large roots. A mattock can be employed as a replacement for a pick and a hoe in your garden.

So, if you are new to gardening or you want to buy a gardening enthusiast a useful gift, check out what they already have and pick something from this list.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with Black and Decker Tools. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Woodworking Power Tools

categories: carpentry,woodwork,tools,apprenticeships,family,careers,social issues,history,genealogy,small business,sociology,Wales,UK,other

November 10, 2009

Four Generations of Carpentry

My family has had carpenters in it for at least four generations and I can not go back any farther than that. My father’s father came from Anglesey, an island off north Wales called Ynys Mon in Welsh. I visited his place of birth once. We were directed by a local old-timer to a meadow, but we could not see a house or any ruins. I scrambled up unto a mound of earth to get a better view and then we realized that I was standing on his old home.

He had lived in a hole in the ground covered over with earth! A door was still on it, overgrown after 70 years or so of neglect and there was a kind of stone chimney in the long grass on the top. I was 10 years old and my Dad was 33 and it was the only time either of us went the length of Wales to look up our family history. It is more than probable that my great-grandfather was a shepherd.

My grandfather ran away from home at– years of age to Liverpool and became an apprentice ship’s carpenter. That would have been in’14. What a time to choose to go out into the big world – the start of the First World War in Europe. He could not speak English at the time, but must have taught himself as he learned his apprenticeship.

He passed out as the best in his year and was given a set of the finest woodworking tools of the age. Each tool had a small brass plate in the handle with his name etched onto it. My father still treasured them when I was growing up.

I never met my granndfather; he died a month before I was born, but I was named after him and, knowing that I was due and that he was going, he left me a teething ring, which I still have. More to the point of this article though, there was not a single power tool in his tool bag when he died in’54.

My father was the youngest son and when he was old enough, he had to leave school to be apprentice to his father who had stopped his roaming by then. Growing up with my father in the’50’s and’60’s, I do not remember him using power tools either. He used a brace-and-bit for drilling, several assorted hand-sharpened saws for cutting and his only acquiescence to modern technology, a Yankee, which was a pump-action screwdriver. Everything he needed to hang a door or cut a roof was in one bag or later on a box, which he made himself.

I went away to study and travel and when I returned for good 12 years later, my brother had finished his carpenter’s apprenticeship and was working for my Dad. That would have been in about’80 and my brother still vows to ths day that Dad only bought power tools then because he, my brother, had learned how use them in technical college. Something which my father always denied, although it did seem a bit of a coincidence to me. My brother, now in his Fifties, still uses hand tools where he can, but also has the full range of power tools in a near-by van.

His son, now nearly 30 is also a carpenter and he has a power tool for every job and throw-away saws. How times have changed.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with Black and Decker Power Tools. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Woodworking Power Tools

November 7, 2009

About Electric Screwdrivers

Have you ever had to deal with a stubborn screw that just would not go into the material as easily as you wanted? How about one that would not come out for you either? This is annoying as well as time wasting. Electric screwdrivers are a great resolution for these problems. They are very effective and inexpensive.

In line power screwdrivers are intended for fundamental household projects. They are not very powerful, but more than adequate to get the task finished. For heavy duty work, think about using a drywall screwdriver. Some models offer a range of speeds. There are a number of models to select from. Some are very similar in design to a basic screwdriver. Other are shaped like the number seven, with a handle for you to channel the screws in. Others come with a handle that swings to help you to get into just about any angle you can come across.

Choose a electric screwdriver that fits well in your hand. Some of the handles are rough and others have a soft, foam grip on them. Hold the electric screwdriver in your hand and see how it feels after a few minutes. If you will be using it for lengths of time then comfort is very important. You don’t want to finish up with sore hands or blisters.

Different electric screwdrivers have different amounts of torque electric and speeds. You will want to compare this information before deciding on the electric screwdriver you wish to purchase. Take some time to appraise what each power screwdriver is recommended for. Compare that with the work you are liable to undertake with the electric screwdriver.

It is a good plan to maintain your power screwdriver fully charged. This will give you the best possible results from it. If the battery won’t hold a charge for very long, you will to swap the battery. Some people opt to purchase a second battery from the start so that they can have one charging and one in the power screwdriver. This is strongly recommended if you are going to be using the power screwdriver on a regular basis.

For those of you who mean to use your power screwdriver often, consider buying a power screwdriver kit. It comes with a sturdy carrying case. Inside you will find the power screwdriver and a slit for each accessory. You will normally get many sizes of bits to use. It will also include a power cord. Some of the power screwdriver kits also include an extra battery as well as a charger that plugs into your cigarette lighter. You can get a electric screwdriver kit at a much better price than having to purchase accessories individually.

Very few accidents truly result from using a electric screwdriver, but they can. When using a power screwdriver, remember the driving force behind it. Both of your hands should be away from the area that turns. The turning blade can slice your hand if you aren’t careful. It is a good idea to use eye protection as well.

Power screwdrivers will drive through almost anything. It is very important that you make sure there are no electric cords or wires behind the area where you are screwing. Keep your hair back from your face as well. Leaning forward to establish your progress can result in loose hair getting caught and twisted on the blade.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with Jet Power Tools. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Woodworking Power Tools

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