Silver Certificate and Junk Silver...

[ElevenBravo]

So, today I got my daughter some goodies for xmas...

A 1$ Silver Certificate and six junk silver dimes.

I also got a $5 CSA bill, which I gave her today as an early present, and she about flipped out! Thought it was the COOLEST thing she ever saw (besides her daddy on the firing range of course..) so that was a big hit.

Now, shes starting to get the idea of modern survivalisim and I am wanting to present the certificate and junk dimes along with a lesson..

However, Im having some difficulty putting to paper exactly what to say, and how to say it...

So can you guys help me explain to a 16 year old how a dime now cost $1.50 to buy (worth $1.40 in silver and copper) and how the dollar is monopoly money since we went away from the gold & silver standard?

Id like to roll into that, how the dime is valued at $1.40 in silver, but the reserve note dollar bill is valued at XXXX cents... Im having some math trouble figuring that out. (publik edumakatiion victim)

Id also like to try to teach how the silver as a PM holds it value over time, but the reserve note fractions its value every time a new dollar is printed.

AFAIK, there was the federal treasury, where the gold and silver were kept and the dollar certificate drew its value from... when, why and how did we transition to the federal reserve, which is just an expensive printing press?

I guess you get the general idea, if not Id wonder if I were at the right forum! HA HA!

So give an ignorant dad who is just learning the finer points himself some help in being a teacher, and thanks for your time!

EB

[Vodin]

Money made today is just paper and worthless metal. Money that was made in the past was made with value in mind so they used Silver and Gold for the coins. A dime made out of silver with today's calculations is simple. It is worth more than a dime (10 cents) it is worth the weight of silver. That silver in the dime is worth more than a Dime made today. (Give value of silver dime)

[bacpacker]

It won't give all the detail you are looking for, but try and find the book "The Creature from Jekyll Island". It an older book that describes how the original folks who formed the Federal Reserve Banking System stole our monetary system from the country.

It's a good thing you are doing there EB! Teaching a love for old coins is a worthy ambition. My Mamaw got me started on coins when I was a little kid. still do it to this day.

[ElevenBravo]

Thanks BP, encouraging words and good tip on the book...

But it goes beyond the concept of collecting money, but I reckon you already know that... It delves into the cess pool of lies and deceit... a valuable lesson in its self.

It should also lend to the lesson of what WEALTH really is... Jack Spirco still insist that land is wealth, and the more I try to cycle that lesson he gave in my head, the more I understand it to be valid.

The only problem with land ownership is, it is never really YOUR land, with the debt of personal property tax. Skip a few tax payments and see where your land goes...Another instrument of theift IMHO..



Leads me to another topic, which is... off topic.... As was said in the movie Gone With The Wind, the personal property tax was originated by the Union so the Confederates would pay for the war. I think the war is paid for, but we still have the tax. I gotta do more research on this one...

The older I get, the more I learn, the less I like things. Rose coloured glasses removed, I see shit. :-)

Even if she doesnt "get it" right now, she will be exposed to it early, rather than after she is *cough* 46 years old.

EB

[bacpacker]

Learning never ends Brother. It just keeps getting extended more and more.

That book may be too deep for her at this time, but introduce it in small bites.

[Stormfeather]

Money made today is just paper and worthless metal. Money that was made in the past was made with value in mind so they used Silver and Gold for the coins. A dime made out of silver with today's calculations is simple. It is worth more than a dime (10 cents) it is worth the weight of silver. That silver in the dime is worth more than a Dime made today. (Give value of silver dime)

I like this explanation the best! ^^^

I sat down with my two older kids and set a stack of pre-64 coins totaling $1.oo on the table with a stack of post-64 coins totaling $1.00, and a stack of $1.00 bills totaling $10.00 and asked them if they knew which stack was worth more. Obviously they thought the dollar bill stack, but I explained it to them how the silver content was worth more in the pre-64 than either of the other stacks. This led into a discussion of value versus worth and it was pleasantly surprising how easily they got the concept! Now when they get change, they are always looking thru it trying to find pre-64 coins! One son has found quite a few pre-64 dimes and a few quarters as well! Maybe give this a try?

[Domeguy]

I know this is a necro post, but one well worth revisiting. While doing some research today to find out at what point are pre 1963 coins going to worth their face value, and was surprised to find out people have been making money on junk silver for quite some time. It only come to my attention in the last few years, but it seems I should have been doing it since birth.

"Once the Treasury stopped selling at that price, market quotes for silver quickly rose. In June 1963 the Treasury replaced the $1 silver certificate with Federal Reserve notes. By 1963, silver prices reached $1.29, the monetary value of silver in coinage. At prices above this level, holders of silver certificates would have been able to redeem them for more valuable silver, under the now-defunct silver certificate legislation. (The other trigger price the Treasury worried about was $1.38, at which level it would have become profitable to recycle coinage for its silver content."

[realist]

Junk silver has always been popular for those who want silver but still want to have it recognizable to others in the event of a monetary collapse. I used to have a bunch of silver certificates but I sold them off as collector items. I now prefer the silver eagles along with my backup just in case junk silver.

As to how to explain to kids the difference between coin vs paper, here is what I told my kids. Around 1900 if you had a $20 gold piece you could buy a Colt single action army revolver. Today you can still buy that same gun with that same coin. However if you had a $20 paper bill back then you could buy the gun but today you would be lucky to be able to buy a box of ammunition for that same gun.

[Onestep]

Great analogy Realist.