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No Silver in Your Money, but Save Your Nickels!

By The Professor   Follow   Thu, 29 Nov 2012, 2:54pm   524 views   8 comments
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I bought a monster slice at Cybelles Pizza last night and noticed a Franklin half dollar in the till. I bought it from the cashier. It was a 1961 franklin half dollar in good condition worth about $12 in silver content.

There is no silver in our change.

Current US coins are merely tokens representing the promise to pay a debt.

Except the nickel! The nickel is worth (in copper and nickel content) more than 5 cents. They will debase it soon so save your nickels!

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1. Patrick Follow Befriend (54) 5,191 threads 6,158 comments 46 male Menlo Park, CA

   1   3:05pm Thu 29 Nov 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike (1)   I dream of the day when we buy and sell with 100% pure silver by weight. No dollars. Just weight of pure silver. You can't debase that. A dime is about 2.5 grams right now, so we could easily make a 2.5 gram coin of pure silver about that size and at the current rate of about $1/gram, it would be cost about $2.50 to make. But the word dollar should be nowhere on it! Only this: "2.5 grams of pure silver".

2. The Professor Follow Befriend (5) 24 threads 1,306 comments Premium

   2   3:18pm Thu 29 Nov 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike (1)   Patrick says I dream of the day when we buy and sell with 100% pure silver by weight. 90% is fine by me.

3. Patrick Follow Befriend (54) 5,191 threads 6,158 comments 46 male Menlo Park, CA

   3   3:21pm Thu 29 Nov 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike (1)   100% has the advantage that the density is known. With 90%, you have to then ask what the other 10% is before you can figure out if your coin's density reflects the expected silver content.

4. SFace Follow Befriend (2) 61 threads 1,307 comments Premium

   4   4:12pm Thu 29 Nov 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Patrick says I dream of the day when we buy and sell with 100% pure silver by weight This is so backward looking. In the future, transactions will be scanned from your phone. Pay with a click. There is a VISA killer out there.

5. Patrick Follow Befriend (54) 5,191 threads 6,158 comments 46 male Menlo Park, CA

   5   4:21pm Thu 29 Nov 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike (1)   Those transactions are credit, not cash. I have no problem with credit, as long as it can be converted to cash.

6. Bellingham Bill Follow Befriend 30 threads 1,489 comments Bellingham, WA Premium

   6   5:27pm Thu 29 Nov 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Patrick says No dollars. Just weight of pure silver. You can't debase that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_coin_debasement

7. Patrick Follow Befriend (54) 5,191 threads 6,158 comments 46 male Menlo Park, CA

   7   5:46pm Thu 29 Nov 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike (1)   That's an interesting link, but weight of silver remains weight of silver. Clipping or "sweating" would just reduce the weight. All you have to do is weigh the coin, calculate the density, and maybe electricatl conductivity and sound (yes, the "ping" of a coin" has a certain ability to predict its metal content). Pure silver coins would be hard to fake. They would be a great boon for makers of scales, densitomiters, and other such devices though.

8. Bellingham Bill Follow Befriend 30 threads 1,489 comments Bellingham, WA Premium

   8   5:53pm Thu 29 Nov 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Yeah, the british currency is named the "Pound" for historical reasons, LOL. "Peso", same thing. As a renter in the time of QE3, I am not completely opposed to this honest-money idea, sigh. We leveraged-up 1995-2005, and now must pay the piper somehow. Or not.