How would you estimate the value of a currency as an investment?

[Boojatta]

Note: I'm not asking about exchange rates. Those are prices. I'm asking about value, not price.

[Warpy]

1. I'd look at what's backing it up

in the way of industrial infrastructure, population health, and other measurements.

Currencies with a lot backing them up would tend to be more stable.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. If the currency is 99.99 fine silver, or gold,

the value is intrinsic--and they also fluctuate a great deal.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. Why Not Use Uranium, Diamonds, Or Circular Rocks?

There's no particular reason to use gold or silver as standards, other than they're relatively rare, and look pretty.

[ret5hd]

6. Uranium: safety

Diamonds: fungibility
Circular Rocks: Rarity

[MannyGoldstein]

7. Feh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yap#Stone_money

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. Historical precedent

Gold and silver coins have been used as means of exchange for millenia.

[gravity]

3. What you can buy with that currency

because that is what you ultimately going to do with it. For the dollar, I would use the CPI as a benchmark

[Mind_your_head]

4. Utimately, "value" is whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Your guess at 'value' is as good as your crystal ball and being able to 'read people's minds' about what they think something will be worth in the future.

I doubt this helps, but it's an "honest answer".

Good Luck!

[marketcrazy1]

9. currency as an investment

only has value when traded against another currency, you buy or sell one ( or more ) against another anticipating that when you sell, your currency has gained value. ( or lost value, if you sold short ), as to how do you value a currency, I would look at what backs it ( the economic strength of it`s country ) it`s debt to GDP, employment level, and economic outlook. measured against it`s neighbors/competitors regional and worldwide. I dont really know what you are thinking, perhaps if you clarified your intentions.....