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Kelantan gold dinar sold out
New Straits Times ^ | 2010/09/05 | By Halimatul Hamid

Posted on 09/06/2010 4:13:05 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin

PETALING JAYA: The Kelantan gold dinar has sold out three weeks after it was launched.

Prof Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, chief executive officer of the state-owned Kelantan Golden Trade Sdn Bhd (KGT), which mints the coins, said RM2 million worth of dinar and dirham were sold after it was launched on Aug 12.

He said of that amount, RM1.5 million were gold dinars.

"We received an overwhelming demand for the gold dinar from the public with most of them purchasing the coins as investments. We have received pre-orders for another RM4 million and it is still growing," said Umar at a conference yesterday.

He said those who were interested in buying the dinar would have to wait until after Hari Raya Aidilfitri. The dirham now available would only be sold to buyers who want to use them to fulfil their zakat obligations over the next few days.

The dinar is sold in denominations of 1/2, 1, 2, 5, and 8 while the dirham is sold at 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20. One gold dinar is equivalent to RM592 and one dirham is RM13.

The coins can be purchased at the Siti Khadijah market and Ar-Rahn (the state government pawn shop) in Kota Baru.

"We are making every effort to satisfy the demand for the syariah currency. The government of Kelantan has doubled the operating capital of KGT from RM2 million to RM4 million to allow for larger production of coins."

Umar said the subsidiary had also started additional production of the coins in a second minting facility in Penang with a company called Public Gold Sdn Bhd and was increasing distribution agents in the country. Currently, there are only two distributors -- PKB Ar-Rahn and Nubex.

Umar said Selangor and Kedah state governments had expressed interest in using the coins recently.

"We have met the Selangor and Kedah menteris besar as well as the mufti of both states. They are keen to apply the syariah currency for trading and especially to pay zakat."

Umar clarified that the use of dinar and dirham in Kelantan was strictly on voluntary basis.

"Nobody has been forced to use or buy the coins as some media has suggested. People buy the coins voluntarily and the shops join the network voluntarily.

"And why wouldn't they when the dinar and dirham are more stable compared with currency notes. The dinar and dirham depend entirely on the market value of the commodity (gold and silver).

"The coins can also be used in countries that accept the currency like in Spain, Germany and Indonesia."

The Perbadanan Menteri Besar Kelantan (PMBK), KGT and other government agencies have agreed to allow employees to be given 25 per cent of their salaries in dinar and dirham upon request.

Among those present at the event were KGT executive director Nik Mahani Mohamed and Hishamudin Ubaidulla, the first man to pay zakat with dinar and dirham in Kelantan.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: gold

1 posted on 09/06/2010 4:13:07 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Kelantan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelantan
fyi


2 posted on 09/06/2010 4:15:11 PM PDT by cowtowney
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To: DeaconBenjamin
Malaysians 'embrace Islamic gold dinar'
September 4, 2010 AFP

Malaysians are embracing gold dinars which were introduced last month by the northern state of Kelantan to promote usage of Islamic currency as an alternative to paper money, an official said on Saturday.

The gold coins and silver dirhams were introduced in early August by the Islamic opposition party PAS which rules Kelantan state to coincide with the start of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Umar Ibrahim Vadillo, chief executive officer with Kelantan Golden Trade, said the first batch of gold and silver coins worth two million ringgit ($A686,700) had been sold out in less than a month.

"There is enormous response in Malaysia. Their reaction is unbelievable," he told reporters.

"In Kelantan, businesses including garage owners and taxi drivers are using the gold and silver coins."

Civil servants in Kelantan are paid up to 25 per cent of their salary in dinars and dirhams if they wish.

Umar said three more Malaysian states controlled by the opposition -- Selangor, Kedah and Penang -- had indicated interest in minting similar coins.

"By the end of the year, we anticipate sales of the dinars and dirhams to hit 60 to 70 million ringgit," he said.

According to Islamic law, the dinar coin is 4.25 grams of gold, while the dirham is 3.0 grams of pure silver.

A gold coin is equivalent to about 582 ringgit ($A200) while the silver coin is worth around 13 ringgit but their values fluctuate according to market prices.

The coins were intended to be used as an alternative to the Malaysian ringgit and sen but are not legal tender.

"Of course it is not legal tender," Umar said.

"The gold dinar is a commodity. The use of it is on a voluntary basis."

"The government of Kelantan has not received any petition from the government of Malaysia (against the usage)."

"The people in Kelantan have spoken loud and clear that they like the gold and silver coins," Umar said.

Former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose administration promoted a moderate form of Islam that emphasised economic and scientific development, shot down the proposal to use the traditional Islamic currencies.

But his predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, was an advocate of the dinar system and urged Muslim countries to use it as a trade instrument.

3 posted on 09/06/2010 4:16:43 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin (A trillion here, a trillion there, soon you're NOT talking real money)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Don’t buy anything from those koranimals!

The Malay PM had the nerve to tell the OIC (Which every member agreed in unison) that they need NUKES to confront the Great Satan!

Stomp them into hummus before buying an ounce of their wretched currency.

Another thing, you’d better cut some of those in half to see if they’re not tungsten filled like the other one’s floating around Dar-Al-Harb, you stoooopid Kafirs.

They’re koran-bent on breaking us and they “offer” these coins for sale “only” after ramadan ends?

STOP SNORTING HUMMUS!!


4 posted on 09/06/2010 4:20:58 PM PDT by bayouranger (The 1st victim of islam is the person who practices the lie.)
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To: bayouranger; jiggyboy; TigerLikesRooster
1) Did you see where I was offering to sell these coins?

2) The adoption of gold and silver as money by a jurisdiction is significant, no matter what jurisdiction it is. The significance increases as the number of jurisdictions (and individuals) participating in the practice increases.

5 posted on 09/06/2010 4:30:27 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin (A trillion here, a trillion there, soon you're NOT talking real money)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

No I didn’t, did you get some of those right away?


6 posted on 09/06/2010 4:47:44 PM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten per cent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: PA Engineer; blam; TigerLikesRooster; Cheap_Hessian; CJinVA; Jet Jaguar; OneLoyalAmerican; ...

Goldbug Ping

I think there were a couple of posts on this back in early to mid August. I certainly remember “dinar” in fairly recent titles.

Mail me to get on or off the Free Republic Goldbug Ping List.


7 posted on 09/06/2010 4:49:27 PM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten per cent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: jiggyboy

That was directed at bayouranger. To my knowledge, there is no vendor in the US.


8 posted on 09/06/2010 4:52:24 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin (A trillion here, a trillion there, soon you're NOT talking real money)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Ah, ok you get to stay on the Goldbug Ping List then. :-)


9 posted on 09/06/2010 4:58:57 PM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten per cent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

And the significance of this event is... what exactly?


10 posted on 09/06/2010 6:16:42 PM PDT by TopQuark
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To: TopQuark

As stated above, the adoption of gold and silver as money by a jurisdiction is significant, no matter what jurisdiction it is. The significance increases as the number of jurisdictions (and individuals) participating in the practice increases.


11 posted on 09/06/2010 6:35:30 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin (A trillion here, a trillion there, soon you're NOT talking real money)
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To: DeaconBenjamin
"adoption of gold and silver as money by a jurisdiction "

It is unclear what this means in the contest of the article. The shops accept gold coins --- fine. Well, you can buy lots of stuff in Italy for dollars, but dollar-denotminated trade has never been accepted by that jurisdiction. I think you are reading too much into this.

I respectfully question your criterion as well. The world economic system is not a democracy; the number of jurisdictions does not matter: what matters is their proportions in the economy. An example of Italy or even Hungary matters to some extent, but Malaysia hardly. By the same toke, you could count a great number of African jurisdictions that adopted socialism in 1960s. What is the effect on the world system today? None at all (aside for a greater need for assistance of that even more impoverished continent).

12 posted on 09/06/2010 6:50:12 PM PDT by TopQuark
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Comment #13 Removed by Moderator

Comment #14 Removed by Moderator

To: DeaconBenjamin

Suppose India or China were to do something like this? the U.S. should re-value the dollar 1 for 10 or 20 and return to minting coins from gold, silver, copper, nickel etc. No paper money at first anyway. Like I said, what if other countries do it first?


15 posted on 09/06/2010 7:13:49 PM PDT by Waco (From Seward to Sarah)
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To: DeaconBenjamin

Evidently, the Mod’s deleted my response to you. Sorry Mods.

Q 1 Answer:

This is the first time in the last 100 years, since the fall of the Ottoman Caliphate, when a Muslim government introduces Shariah Currency. Indeed there has been four generations of Muslims who have not seen Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham; four generations of Muslims who have been divided into little national reservations and sentenced to permanent robbery first by local, then by international Masters of Riba; four generations of Muslims who haven’t known what is their Deen. The introduction of Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham in the state of Kelantan is not a new idea or experiment, it is the return to the medium of exchange that has been known for 1400 years throughout Dar al-Islam as Money of Shariah taking its legislation from Allah’s Revelation and Rasul’s Sunnah.

2) The adoption of gold and silver as money by a jurisdiction is significant, no matter what jurisdiction it is. The significance increases as the number of jurisdictions (and individuals) participating in the practice increases.

A Q 2:

JUDAS, you’re selling your soul.

I’m not buying. BUT, if you have a URL to your site OR a mailing address that I can send you my payment to, please submit it to me via FRmail.

Thanx, Really!


16 posted on 09/06/2010 7:15:21 PM PDT by bayouranger (The 1st victim of islam is the person who practices the lie.)
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To: Waco

Indeed, a precious-metal backed ruble or yuan could well supplant the US dollar as the foremost international reserve currency (I can’t see the rupee becoming pm-backed at this time, notwithstanding the long history of silver rupees).


17 posted on 09/06/2010 8:50:50 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin (A trillion here, a trillion there, soon you're NOT talking real money)
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