What would you think of a return of Silver money?

[Tyrannical]

What would you think of a return of Silver money? Maybe not exclusively, but being able to spend silver coins as normal currency.

We used to use silver coins, and this site shows how much the silver in them is worth.
Silver at about $42 oz, the silver content of the old ( ~<1964) US coins is:

dime, $3.02
quarter, $7.55
half dollar, $15.11
silver dollar, $32

http://www.coinflation.com/

I could see bringing back a silver dollar size coin with a $50 or $100 face value. People might bitch about a $20 quarter size coin. I suppose you could even get fancy and sandwich gold or silver foil of different weights between a clear plastic coin. Of course silly collectors love that type of stuff too.

[Coito ergo sum]

I'd just be happy if they would get rid of the paper dollar and go with exclusively a $1 coin. I think it saves like $5.5 billion. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... n-gao-says

[Azathoth]

The reason coins aren't used for high denominations is that is is very easy to counterfeit them. Coin clipping even makes sure that you have the right metal for the mould that you can make yourself in 5 minutes

[Atheist-Lite]

The reason coins aren't used for high denominations is that is is very easy to counterfeit them. Coin clipping even makes sure that you have the right metal for the mould that you can make yourself in 5 minutes

A return of peasantry might make some coin based system work though? The drop in educational standards over in the US means most people would be too ignorant to coin clip and might even prefer to be paid with turnips?

[Schneibster]

Lousy idea. Use of silver in money would make this industrially useful metal less available for more important tasks, for starters.

[Tyrannical]

The reason coins aren't used for high denominations is that is is very easy to counterfeit them. Coin clipping even makes sure that you have the right metal for the mould that you can make yourself in 5 minutes

You could encase a silver proof struck coin in a clear polymer shell with hologram security. A $100 coin might have ~$40 silver in it, a proof struck coin is prettier and harder to duplicate, and the polymer shell would prevent shaving the metal off the coin.

Something like this, it's a proof coin in a plastic case.


Maybe even low cost gold coins, that have maybe gram(s) of gold pressed into a thin coin sheet in a polymer shell.

[Schneibster]

As collectors' items? Sure. Nice. Not as ordinary money. It's all fiat money anyway, or else it's a velocity trap. You're limiting the velocity of money in the economy if you don't use fungible money, and you'll regret it. We always did. That's why we stopped using it. Duh.

[Atheist-Lite]

As collectors' items? Sure. Nice. Not as ordinary money. It's all fiat money anyway, or else it's a velocity trap. You're limiting the velocity of money in the economy if you don't use fungible money, and you'll regret it. We always did. That's why we stopped using it. Duh.

Reaching escape velocity and facing immanent hyper-inflation ain't a good idea either.

[Schneibster]

As collectors' items? Sure. Nice. Not as ordinary money. It's all fiat money anyway, or else it's a velocity trap. You're limiting the velocity of money in the economy if you don't use fungible money, and you'll regret it. We always did. That's why we stopped using it. Duh.

Reaching escape velocity

"Escape velocity" is what you need to escape from a liquidity trap.

You earn an economics fail:



There is your Hindenberg.

[Atheist-Lite]

As collectors' items? Sure. Nice. Not as ordinary money. It's all fiat money anyway, or else it's a velocity trap. You're limiting the velocity of money in the economy if you don't use fungible money, and you'll regret it. We always did. That's why we stopped using it. Duh.

Reaching escape velocity

"Escape velocity" is what you need to escape from a liquidity trap.

You earn an economics fail:



There is your Hindenberg.

I don't know much about economics. I just know enough.

[Schneibster]

I don't know much about economics.

Ummm, OK. What are you talking about hyperinflation for then?

Just askin'.

[Atheist-Lite]

I don't know much about economics.

Ummm, OK. What are you talking about hyperinflation for then?

Just askin'.

There's many ways of looking at things. You can be technical, over technical and simple, over simple. A model of reality just about right, for me anyway, is that there's all this imaginary money floating around - and there'll come a day when the guy with the money printer starts using his printed money to buy more money printers in a dramatically circular fashion until he runs out of ink or puts a extra zero on the notes. Afterall money is money.

[Schneibster]

I don't know much about economics.

Ummm, OK. What are you talking about hyperinflation for then?

Just askin'.

There's many ways of looking at things. You can be technical, over technical and simple, over simple. A model of reality just about right, for me anyway, is that there's all this imaginary money floating around - and there'll come a day when the guy with the money printer starts using his printed money to buy more money printers in a dramatically circular fashion until he runs out of ink or puts a extra zero on the notes. Afterall money is money.

Sure dude. Whatever.

[Atheist-Lite]

It looks like this latest injection of $450,000,000,000 is gonna be directly injected into the bloodstream of the US economy. We'll see soon enough I guess?

[Schneibster]

It's not quite as good as all that. It's too small again, if nothing else. But the things he's talking about are all the obvious stuff that Congress politically is likely to have the will to do. There is more he can do in the Executive branch as well, and many economists making suggestions. Many of the suggestions can be used together. We'll have to see what happens. I have rather the impression he's spent the last three years cleaning up the mess made by Chimpy the Smirk, and now he's ready to get down to it and rassle with the Republicans. His timing looks fair, and maybe even good.

I don't have high expectations at this point, though it's pretty clear he intended to pivot, that he has, and that he has at least the initiative if not the tactical advantage. We'll see. The Republicans are the Flacks; they often have the advantage in messaging. On the other hand, he didn't get to be President by not knowing politics, and this one looks pretty well calculated to stymie their usual delay-deny-whine-game the system bullshit.