By Allen Mincho, Bank Note Reporter

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the time gold soared to over $1,000 per ounce, it was the time that the bear in “bear market” rose up on its hindquarters to maul even such an established Wall Street name as Bear, Stearns.

What is one to make of such times? And, more important for those whose role it is to report, advise and generally pontificate, what can one say to bring clarity and direction to a currency market caught in an American economy that is beginning to appear closer to that of Argentina than Switzerland?

A look at history gives annoyingly little guidance, nor does it offer black-line rules that can be applied to the situation in which we seem to find ourselves today. During the past bout of “stagflation,” the term applied to the economy of the 1970s where inflation was high and growth low, the currency market rose steadily through the decade. As inflation and interest rates reached record levels not seen since the Civil War, the currency market erupted in an orgy of speculative excess, with prices of many type notes doubling and tripling within an 18-month period, buoyed by record prices for precious metals and an economy where confidence had disappeared and fear reigned. Read Full Numismaster Article