Maybe They Didn’t Think We’d Notice
Posted by James R. Rummel on February 2nd, 2005 (All posts by James R. Rummel)
Business owner Jack Burton noticed a company that offers to sell Iraqi dinars as an investment. He also notices something funny about the amount you pay.
Like Jack, I’ve been interested in buying a few bills as keepsakes. I still might do that, I’m just not interested in making an investment.
February 2nd, 2005 at 6:43 pm
The currency offer is not quite a scam, but it appears to be aimed at people who are buying on impulse and don’t do the math, and who consequently don’t realize how much of a markup they are paying. As with every other deal, caveat emptor.
February 3rd, 2005 at 10:59 am
I collect foreign money in an extremely amateurish fashion (that is to say, I don’t obsess over getting the bestest or the rarest). I have some new Iraqi bills (not through this outfit) and some old, as well those of other countries.
You usually pay through the nose for nice crisp currency, shelling out dough far above the exchange rate. The alternatives are:
1) Go there yourself and get it.
2) Have a friend on the scene send you some.
3) Find another hobby.
(I suppose you might also form a club of globe-trotting foreign money collectors who pool their spare change and trade with each other.)
When they say “bet on Iraq”, they’re not kidding. You are literally betting that 1) the Iraqi economy improves significantly, and 2) the currency won’t be re-valued downwards before you can dump it. That is, if you want an investment, rather than a hobby.
This is one company where I get my notes. You see there they’re offering 25000 dinar for $45, not too different from the $50 the “Bet on Iraq” people are offering. But that’s the highest denomination they show, and I don’t know if they could sell you 200 of them (to get up to five million dinar).