1964 was a long time ago, when the U.S. Mint stopped making 90% silver dimes, quarters, and halves. In 1964, a silver dime would buy 10 cents worth of something, a silver quarter would buy a quarters’ worth of something, and a half dollar would buy fifty cents worth of something. In my Dad’s drug store, a tin of Bayer aspirin was a dime in 1964. In 1964, a gallon of gas was about 30 cents, or three dimes. All dimes were silver, remember? Today, a gallon of gas, as I write this, can be bought for two silver dimes. The United States had silver coinage almost from its founding till 1964, when silver became so expensive that a silver dime had more than ten cents worth of silver in it, and the same with quarters and halves. Was silver really “too expensive,” or the dollar so much debauched, with silver having the same purchasing power as it does today?
Today, U.S. silver coins are not a great way to hold silver. A U.S. silver dime has .07234 of an ounce of silver in it, making U.S. silver coins have over $28 per ounce of silver in them. or $4 per ounce higher than current spot price, or a couple of bucks higher than a silver buffalo is, currently. Even if the price of U.S. silver coins were equal to the current price of a silver ‘Buffy,’ as we call them, there are further disadvantages, beside the fact that U.S. silver coins are difficult to find. Silver ‘Buffys,’ or any silver one-ounce coin from a reliable mint, will always have their contents and weight stamped on them, namely, “One Troy Ounce .999 pure silver.” Silver is a marvelous way to barter for goods if the paper money fails, and for that matter, it is fun to try to barter with them at a yard sale, or even for a haircut, which I did last week.
Try to barter with a U.S. silver coin, and when you explain that you have a silver dime or quarter to buy their stuff with, they will say “Silver coins? Who ever heard of them?” You then tell them that America always had silver coins till they stopped making them in 1964, and their reply will be to the effect of, “Hey lady, I was born in 1980, so don’t tell me about silver coins. Looks like an ordinary dime to me. Nothing on it says it is made of silver, and, how much silver is in it anyway?” Are you going to remember .07234 of an ounce of silver in a dime, and it’s now worth $2,00? I doubt it, or maybe .18084 of an ounce of silver in a quarter? How about 36.169 ounce of silver in a half dollar? That’s after you have convinced them it is real silver, or at least 90% silver. “90%? You mean it isn’t pure silver? You’re just trying to fool me lady.” (The weights above, are their weights in pure silver, not 90%.) It’s still fun, even if you can’t convince the seller, and you’d probably do better to keep the silver anyway, as it keeps going up in fake dollars, and the yard sale junk the opposite.
When you’re an old geezer like me, it’s a fond memory going back to the time when all US silver dimes, quarters, and halves were 90% silver. You never had a thought about it. Cokes were a nickel and streetcar fares (remember streetcars?) were a dime. Or maybe when the U.S. penny was copper? That was 1982 or earlier. Even copper’s price became so high, that a copper penny had over a penny’s worth of copper in it, so that finished the copper penny. As I was writing this, a customer came by and bought 8 Gold Eagles, to add to the 12 she had bought some time before, giving her 20. She wanted to know if I thought that was enough, since she has no debts, $30,000 cash in her safe, and $100,000 in a savings account, giving her about zero in interest. Since we supposedly have 2% inflation, if you believe government’s releases, she is losing 2% every year. I told her that I couldn’t sleep at night if I had $100,000 in a savings account earning no interest, and backed by the “Full faith and credit of the U.S. government.” “Hey Suzie, you could lose 10% of that purchasing power overnight,” were my exact words to her. She has a new car, or at least it looks new, since I am not an expert on any car’s appearance, after maybe 1980. “You lose $10,000 when you drive a new car off of the dealer’s lot.” She knew that.
And on it goes, with $3 trillion having been added to the U.S. money supply, and more on tap before you read this probably, causing every physical thing going up in devalued dollars. Gold and silver’s recent price rise happened because of a huge increase in the money supply? I don’t know, or maybe because of a resurgence of the Covid 19 virus? Don’t ask me. Saving is admirable and even a necessity. Just save in gold and silver, not computer entries or paper. Contribute to your candidate and hope for the best in November.
-Don Stott
don@coloradogold.com