The money of the American Constitution

FGMR ^ | 28 Aug 25 | James Turk

[C210N]

And, now there is bit coin...which I finally understand.

Don't forget tulips. In the genre (IMHO) of BTC.

[C210N]

Are gold and silver coins easy to counterfeit as well?

Yes, however it's easy to "stack" while being confident the gold/silver is authentic, by being diligent (being savvy about signs of counterfeiting, reputable dealers, etc).

In a sense, the paper fiat dollar currency is counterfeiting by the government. Legal counterfeiting.

[C210N]

Excellent money primer article! Thanks for posting!

(such a FR sense of fresh air, in contrast to the daily stream of uke/Z propaganda)

[C210N]

There simply isn’t enough gold and silver to run a modern American economy.

Sure there is. You may be thinking along the lines of AU/AG dollar prices today compared with the amount of M2, vis-a-vis that the total amount of derivative dollars is hundreds and hundreds of trillion$.

I'm not a BTC fan, but I'll note for a counterpoint, some proponents say that it could take over for the dollar, with a limted 21M BTC. You just fractionalize it.

To the point of having "enough" AU/AG, given all the derivative dollars, consider that a lot of those derivatives dollars were created out of thin air, with one big purpose to steal wealth.

USDebtClock estimates what the dollar price of AU/AG could be if just the physical metal would be recognized as money, in terms of the money supply. For gold, it's $9000 per ounce and silver $1156 per ounce.

[TTFX]

There simply isn’t enough gold and silver to run a modern American economy.

- - - - - - -

If so, you can add other things to be used as money. But you can still use gold and silver. If there is a need for other types of money, the free market would provide it.

[Miami Rebel]

I’m not sure how it’s liberal/conservative thing.

The current conservative administration and congress are doing their best to debauch the dollar, hence the soaring price of bullion.

[Vermont Lt]

“which remained until the turmoil from the war between northern and southern States, a.k.a. the Civil War.”

I stopped reading there. It was a tad bit more than “turmoil.”

When writing a paper such as this, it is critical to remove your obvious bias and emotion. It could be full of legitimate facts, but it still reads poorly.

[C210N]

This is quite a great day to post an article of this sort. Silver just hit new post-Hunt highs: last 4 hours, from $38.80 to $39.80. The flip side to this, the dollar is hitting new lows (vis-a-vis silver), as the value of silver is unchanged today, yesterday, and the last 180 years.

[delta7]

With the USD still plunging, ( today 97) the article has much relevance. Three years ago the USD was at 114….and two decades ago it was at 120,….and the 80’s past 150…..clearly in a long term decline…..down 11.5 percent since January….how much more dollar debasement can occur?

https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/dxy

[delta7]

“ Money” is confused with Wealth. The ever decreasing “value” of dollars spell one thing, USD’s are for spending, PM’s are for storing Wealth….been that way for over four thousand years….history records over 4,000 paper currencies returning to their intrinsic value- zero.

[econjack]

I defined it perfectly: It’s a medium of exchange. What money actually “is” is defined by whatever is acceptable as a medium of exchange, which can be different things to different cultures.

[econjack]

Whatever facilitates an exchange of dissimilar goods and services is money. Commodities are often used as money where there is no medium of exchange. The medium of exchange is dollars in the US, but it could be commodities in different cultures.

[TexasGator]

“With the USD still plunging, ( today 97) the article has much relevance. Three years ago the USD was at 114….and two decades ago it was at 120,….and the 80’s past 150…..clearly in a long term decline…..down 11.5 percent since January….how much more dollar debasement can occur?”

30 you years ago it was 85. A 30 year long term increase.

98 is close to par. It was at 100 when the index was created decades ago.

[TexasGator]

"PM’s are for storing Wealth"

Unfortunately, I stored mine in my mother's basement and while in prison some maintenace found it and sold it for pennies on the dollar.

signed, Martin Armstrong

[Vermont Lt]

It might be relevant. But I was talking about how unreadable it is.

Does everything have to be written in a “breathless” voice? It’s tiring.

[philman_36]

The medium of exchange is dollars in the US, but it could be commodities in different cultures.

We're not talking about different cultures though, are we.
And what composes those dollars which make up American money?

[misanthrope]

Great article. Learned a few things, and I’ve been studyin’ this stuff for a long time.

delta7, I really appreciate your posting these G&S articles. I read them all.
It’s quite a testament to your patience that you continue despite the d-heads
that always troll / stalk your threads (you know who you are).

Thanks!

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4166577/posts

[Freedom4US]

Read what I wrote again if you have to. It is very much a leftist mindset. FDR outlawed gold.

Alan Greenspan (before he went bad, I guess) wrote a very nice treatise in a 1966 “Gold and economic freedom” that makes the case pretty well.

[Freedom4US]

Not true. All kinds of things have been used for the purpose of money. Money is a medium of exchange:
——

True. However, some items have proved much better as money than others. Aristotle a few thousand years ago described the attributes of good money - it should be compact, durable, portable, divisible, and fungible etc. Rare, though not too rare, and difficult to to counterfeit. Gold really is fairly useless, for the most part - a few technical uses in electronics or aerospace, except it is really great as Money.

“Medium of exchange” historically is only one component of Money, it is also must be a store of value. Modern Econ 101 leaves that part out, or is downright hostile to the idea.

Wheat stores value, but it is very bulky and is prone to spoilage. In World War II silver traded at a hefty discount. It is fairly valuable too, but far too heavy and bulky for any serious wealth as an asset. People on the run wanted gold, and converted their assets into it that way. Vietnamese “boat people” ran into a similar issue.

[Freedom4US]

Not true. All kinds of things have been used for the purpose of money. Money is a medium of exchange:
——

True. However, some items have proved much better as money than others. Aristotle a few thousand years ago described the attributes of good money - it should be compact, durable, portable, divisible, and fungible etc. Rare, though not too rare, and difficult to to counterfeit. Gold really is fairly useless, for the most part - a few technical uses in electronics or aerospace, except it is really great as Money.

“Medium of exchange” historically is only one component of Money, it is also must be a store of value. Modern Econ 101 leaves that part out, or is downright hostile to the idea.

Wheat stores value, but it is very bulky and is prone to spoilage. In World War II silver traded at a hefty discount. It is fairly valuable too, but far too heavy and bulky for any serious wealth as an asset. People on the run wanted gold, and converted their assets into it that way. Vietnamese “boat people” ran into a similar issue.