GRASS VALLEY, Calif. (Silver Stock Report

GRASS VALLEY, Calif. (Silver Stock Report) -- I was often bored as a kid, and sometimes I read the encyclopedia for fun. My mom got us the World Book, from 1976, and much later, we got a new $1000 Britannica! One of the most exciting CD's I got in 1997 with my new Gateway Computer was an encyclopedia--and it was so much better, because articles linked to each other, which was so much faster than flipping pages manually! Later, I read on the internet about how the encyclopedia Britannica was drastically changed starting about 1913, and that you could order CD's of the "original" Britannica online. I never did.

In 2004, I noticed Wikipedia begin to show up in many search results at Google. But the information was often quite limited, often not as good as the World Book, and I didn't pay it much attention.

In the last six months, the quality of the information at Wikipedia has vastly increased to the point where it is one of the best sources in the world for many topics. The best part is that if an article is wrong, you can easily correct it, and you don't even have to register as a user! Anyone can add information to any topic almost instantly.

Many people ask me for beginning books on investing, or they ask me for information on certain topics, as if I'm an encyclopedia on silver. Use the encyclopedia or Wikipedia!

About 6 months ago, I updated the article on money by including the following section on the "Desirable features of money" (which has since, been updated even further). Since my original contribution seems to have "stuck," and even improved upon by others, I've been encouraged to add to a few more articles recently.

Desirable features of money

To function as money, the monetary item should possess a number of features:

To be a medium of exchange:

It should have liquidity, easily tradable, with a low spread between the prices to buy and sell, in other words, a low transaction cost.
It should be easily transportable; precious metals have a high value to weight ratio. This is why oil, coal, vermiculite, or water are not suitable as money even though they are valuable. Paper notes have proved highly convenient in this regard.
It should be durable. Money is often left in pockets through the wash. The Mexican 20 peso note is made of plastic for durability. Gold coins are often mixed with copper to improve durability, and coins are made with ridges around the rim to prevent coin shaving or debasement.
To be a unit of account:

It should be divisible into small units without destroying its value; precious metals can be coined from bars, or melted down into bars again. This is why leather, or live animals are not suitable as money.
It should be fungible: that is, one unit or piece must be exactly equivalent to another, which is why diamonds, works of art or real estate are not suitable as money.
It must be a specific weight, or measure, or size to be verifiably countable.
To be a store of value:

It should be long lasting, durable, it must not be perishable or subject to decay. This is why food items, expensive spices, or even fine silks or oriental rugs, are not generally suitable as money.
It should have a stable value.
It should be difficult to counterfeit, and the genuine must be easily recognizable.
Money also is typically that which has the least declining marginal utility, meaning that as you accumulate more units of it, each unit is worth about the same as the prior units, and not substantially less.

For these reasons, gold and silver have been chosen again and again throughout history as money in more societies and in more cultures and over longer time periods than any other items. Platinum and Palladium have not been meltable until recently, are not as widely recognized by the general public and are not as suitable for use as money.

One key benefit of these features of money is that it facilitates and encourages trade; because barter is inefficient.

Many investors may be interested in learning from, or adding to and increasing the accuracy of, the following articles at Wikipedia:

Perhaps we should start with money or maybe investing or stock market? Maybe stock investor, Warren Buffet or Jesse Livermore? Beginning investors may want to look up market cap, P/E ratio or fundamental analysis? For those looking for stock tips, maybe they should look up value investing, efficient market theory or pump and dump? Perhaps you were thinking of investing in the futures market, at NYMEX or the CBOT? Maybe you need a stock broker because you want to invest online? Perhaps you need to look up a few terms like bid and ask, liquidity, margin (finance) or leverage (finance)?

Or maybe I should have started by listing not money, but gold, silver or precious metal? But actually, I see that we should really be looking at gold as an investment, silver as an investment or numismatics? Maybe we should study the gold standard, or the silver standard?

Maybe to get back to topic, you want to study the history of money or the crime of 1873 or the political interpretations of the wizard of oz? Or perhaps currency, federal reserve notes or fiat money?

Maybe you want to research famous silver investors such as the Hunt Brothers or Hearst family?

Why should I write articles on the following topics, when there are such great articles at Wikipedia:

Money supply, interest rates or usury.
Or fractional-reserve banking & FDIC Insurance.
Look up U.S. public Debt & History of U.S. public debt.
Look up the U.S. budget deficit or U.S. trade deficit or economy of the United States.
Look up the economy of China or the economy of Russia or the economy of India? Because of the war, you may want to look up economy of Syria, economy of Lebanon or economy of Israel?

Perhaps you want to investigate trade, free trade, or even the free trade debate? Maybe you just want to relax and learn more about the free market, capitalism or economic theory? Maybe you want to read the criticisms against intellectual property, patents, and copyright?

Ever wonder about the differences between the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Bank for International Settlements? Perhaps we ought to be familiar with the concepts new world order, world government, International Criminal Court or United Nations?

Maybe it is not money that you seek, but rather, wealth or health or simply happiness or even holiness?

One of the best sites on the internet I've found on the history of money is "The History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day," by Glyn Davies. So, I added that link to the articles on money and history of money at Wikipedia. (I also finally ordered the book.) A chronological summary of the history of money (referenced in the book) is available online, and is fascinating reading of the history of the usage of gold and silver coin as money.

One of the most fascinating things I learned at wikipedia this week was in the article on the history of banking, under the subheading, "Coffee houses of London."

Coffee houses of London

Coffeehouse proprietors overheard many conversations about business and even made modest investments themselves. They came up with the idea of producing lists of share prices or shipping data. The weekly published lists of the London coffee houses (simply pasted to the door) made it possible for the first time to compare the relative success (and liquidity) of bankers and investment opportunities. This was much more efficient than word of mouth. These lists were most notably Jonathan's Coffee-House and Edward Lloyd's. In 1698 John Castaing, began publishing a twice weekly newsletter of share and commodity prices, which he sold at Jonathan's, and which led to the London Stock Exchange. Lloyd's list led to the establishment of the famous insurance company Lloyds of London.

Do you see that? A mere listing of share prices led to the founding of one of the largest financial houses in the world, Lloyds of London! Amazing!

The best part of Wikipedia seems to be its ability to grow in increasingly accurate detail by encouraging editors to find neutral ground on many controversial issues. The keys seem to be to encourage editors to write from a neutral point of view, to cite sources and to provide no original research.

If you add bias, other editors won't let you get away with it, and they will remove your work. So, if articles are vandalized, anyone can always revert to a previous article, as every revision and every change is saved. For every article, there is also a discussion page to hash out differences, which often splinter off into a different articles.

Surprisingly, there is not yet an article on GATA, nor gold leasing, nor gold lending, nor central bank gold.

Therefore, I encourage you to read the Wikipedia. And add your knowledge where appropriate, and always cite your sources. FYI: Wikipedia has an annual budget of about $750,000.