Who need gold? We’ve got canned ham: 10 kooky alternative currencies | Investing

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Who needs gold? We’ve got canned ham!

10 kooky alternative currencies

Jan 23, 2012

Consider it a golden rule: when people become worried about the stability of their country or the value of their country’s currency, they often buy gold as a hedge (like a back-up plan). Their thinking is that if their country goes bankrupt or a global apocalypse occurs, gold will always be valuable to others and therefore can act as a kind of universal currency.

However, not everyone is a believer in gold’s luster. According to Financial Times writer and economist Tim Harford, a good currency is “fungible, homogenous, non-perishable and easy to carry around.” With this in mind, we decided to take a cheeky look at what commodities other than gold could work as alternative currencies…

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