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Mark Neely - accessnt@ozemail.com.au said:

Well, doesn't this beg the question - the "desire" by people to own them is not as a result of advertising, but the fact that society has long fixed them as standard units of "currency".

If all those centuries ago marble was decided upon as a central unit of currency, we'd all be killing ourselves to get some, not because of any aestetic beauty.

I do not think so. The common never holds value because value, especially in a crude civilisation, is related to rarity or difficulty to produce and obtain. AFAIK, gold was considered a value in every civilisation. If some did not consider it a value, then, they either ignored it's existence or had so much that it was not a value. Marbles are easy to make in most civilisations. They therefore cannot be used as a value standard. One problem with e-$, as pointed out by many, is that it has to have a *perceivable* value. Backing it by something physical that is already valued might be the best way to launch it. Otherwise, it will have the statute, if not legally, at least in the mind of the average Joe, the same as junks bonds. JFA -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2i iQEVAwUBMV7fLMiycyXFit0NAQEGfAf8C3/kwoJ4Fnk7W7UP0P92+TGtgn3HAf/q AJ9V13iZVuX9hI96lP9PPixWryz0olI6D2df6c509peCoND4JUUXj2eBhJ0U/tHz 3Xw2D2oCep0fgm8NC6TzBBobrzcTExM41N5BG8H76SAJk9bz9zoHRx5OH2HVNCvu WyRXA0g2C9N6v0FpmQaQ2C0ose5c/WVQ9Yk/JmMgc0kw0HaT6VVVDfAkz+jTjCbj +0fh3gLREUdkx3pHXQ6ulfrZ4VoSz1qHSXCVKLy5kODieIYAMkZ0k/aYnbxPZRyX oHmk5kIKP9dO5Ao064ViJACi8gAYlwFp7YOSCexpJRDz0b7UMtO9/g== =a251 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- PGP key at: http://w3.citenet.net/users/jf_avon Jean-Francois Avon <jf_avon@citenet.net> ID:C58ADD0D 96/03/01 fingerprint: 52 96 45 E8 20 5A 8A 5E F8 7C C8 6F AE FE F8 91 Unsollicited commercial e-mail will be proofread at a rate of 165 $ U.S. per hours. Any sender of unsollicited commercial e-mail will be considered as to have accepted the above ment- ionned terms.