Currency investments can be lucrative! The latest speculation to hit the market of the get rich quick schemes and geared towards unsuspecting consumers is to purchase the Iraqi Dinar.
The dinar was first introduced in 1931 as a replacement of Indian Rupees. In 2003, a new dinar was introduced and has become virtually worthless within minutes of its debut thus making it attractive as an investment. Due to the unfortunate events in this war torn country, it does not appear that the value of this currency will gain any momentum in the near future. Today the exchange rate is 1.00 IQD = 0.000863558 US dollar; which means that you can purchase ten thousand dinar for the bargain price of $8.63 USD.
If you purchased the Euro, during its introduction in 1992, the rate was 1 EUR = .85 USD. If you held on to it, you would have gained a healthy profit in a relatively short time as the value of the Euro increased steadfast. During the first half of 2009, the rate is approximately 1 EUR = 1.39 USD. With increases such as that example, many people believe that purchasing other currencies while they are low is a good investment.
The lure of purchasing dinars (besides what time has shown with the value of the Euro) is based by recent events of the Gulf War in the eighties and investing in the Kuwaiti dinar. At the time of their invasion by Iraq, the Kuwaiti dinar plunged to .10 cents. Within a few years it jumped to 3.00 dinars to the dollar and today is holding at 3.50 USD. Think of the fortunes made by buying a currency.
So called wheelers and dealers are convinced that will happen with the Iraqi dinar and are trying to persuade you to do so.
The Iraqi dinar has enormous assets behind it; dealers will state, after all, Iraq sits on the worlds second-largest oil reserves. Note that even if it increases by only one penny per dinar, that’s a lot of money to make, when you own it at its present price.
The true scenario is quite different this time than as in Kuwait during the 1980s. As inflation continues to devalue the worth of the dinar, it can cause the Iraqi dinar to become a currency of the past. Further civil strife also could clobber the currency. Speculators who bought dinars early could be sitting on huge losses and the current situation in Iraq is still pretty grim. With $125 billion of external debt, no stable government and oil facilities and pipelines sabotaged regularly makes the risks for investors enormous.
Some dealers seem ludicrous in the face of these challenges by stating you will become rich by purchasing dinars. Yet you must realize that most of the dealers who sell dinars, won’t buy them. You will not find any bank in the U.S. banks who will buy them or sell them either.
You can, however, sell your dinars on eBay. Dinar exchange rates vary widely, and after reviewing the situation, it is an unwise investment. This type of investment is only for those who won’t miss the investment if it goes bust. Unless you can afford this loss, be moderate in any purchase of Iraqi dinars and heed to the saying that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
So where can you purchase or sell dinars besides eBay? The Iraqi dinar is not freely traded, and is not being used in any significant international transactions. You can check the web for dime a dozen dealers, but note that purchasing dinars is the number two scam according to the Utah Division of Securities, so know who you are dealing with.
Check out Forex and XE ; these are two of the most reputable and reliable exchange companies for purchasing any currency. You will know if they begin to sell Ior buy Iraqi dinars in the future, it will be legitimate.
Resources:
Utah Division of Securities. http://www.securities.utah.gov/forinvestors_scams.html