Argentina: Black Market Grows With Currency

ABC News ^ | May 19, 2012 (AP) | By DEBORA REY

[Vigilanteman]

At this time last year, you could by $250 worth of dollar coins online for $250. They covered credit card fees, shipping and everything.

Supposedly, too many people were buying the coins to earn credit card points and immediately turning them into the banks rather than circulating them.

Personally, I think that is a crock. They could have easily controlled this by numbering the rolls and blocking your future card transactions if they showed up at banks within 60 days or whatever, or limiting sales to $250 per month or whatever.

But they wanted a kabuki show about how they were saving taxpayer money by discontinuing what they called the circulating dollar coin program.

I believe the Chester Arthur coin is the first minted after the announcement the program was discontinued. So it actually might be minted in small enough numbers to have some collector's value in the future.

[griswold3]

Democrat EconoMissed! Since all their predictions ‘missed’!

[hinckley buzzard]

They stopped trying to get the dollar coin into circulation, and are now stockpiling billions of them somewhere. There may be some coin dealer willing to offload a bunch at close to face value, as they have little or no collector value.

[nikos1121]

I don’t understand what you’re saying. YOu tried to get Anthony dollars?

[MeganC]

One more reason for the Argie government to try to take back the Falklands and get at their oil reserves. They need the money and the b*tch they have for a President is obviously not at all beyond trying to steal it.

[BfloGuy]

Ecuador still uses the US dollar; no mas Sucres(?).

They do so at their peril. Traditionally, countries with a history of currency debasement would peg to the dollar. But, as Argentina learned the hard way, when the dollar soared in the late nineties due to Greenspan's inflation-caused stock bubble, Argentinian raw materials became uncompetitive and the economy tanked.

At the moment, Ecuador (which also depends on exports of raw materials) is probably doing alright because a dropping dollar is making its products attractive. But a Republican presidential victory coupled with a Euro collapse could drive the dollar high enough to make them regret their decision.

These small countries should forget the politically-driven American dollar and go on a gold standard.