‘Medium of exchange, ‘is just another way of saying ‘money.’ Actually, ‘money,’ started with barter. Bartering equal valued things for equal, was obviously matters of opinion of value. Each side raised the value of theirs and the opposite also raised theirs, so it became necessary to find a medium of exchange, using a coin or ‘money,’ so that neither side could raise the value of their side with the opposite one doing the same thing. The first coins seem to be dated back to about 700 B.C. and the first ones were made of bronze.
Long before that however, back in the times of Mesopotamia, 7,000 years ago, people were trading cattle, grains, cloth, and anything tradable. Before coins could be used, counting was necessary. If you couldn’t count, basic barter was the rule, and it still is used thousands of times a day, around the world in various yard sales and auctions. My wife can never avoid a ‘yard sale’ sign, and she has picked up some great bargains, with a little bit of dickering. The person holding the yard sale, is trying to unload their surplus or raise some money, and buyers are looking for bargains or something unusual. If you have ever watched “Antiques Roadshow,” which happens to be the most popular adult show on PBS, you have seen many times, someone who has bought a trinket for a couple of bucks, and found it to be worth thousands. Great show, (Monday 7PM, PBS in Colorado). The barter has occurred before the show, but the owner is finding out what his ‘bargain’ is worth.
Bronze was eliminated from coinage, and replaced with silver; obviously because silver is more valuable than bronze, and then gold, which was in history, worth 16 times more than silver, although now it is over 85 times the price of silver. Why? I think it is because silver is far easier to barter with than gold. A couple of silver dimes have always bought a gallon of gasoline, and a good men’s suit, has always gone for an ounce of gold, and both still buy the same things. I think my observation of the current silver-gold ratio is accurate, meaning that silver is a bargain. Here is where the word ‘bullion’ comes in, and it means not antique, but as close to the spot price as is possible. That’s all we sell here at Colorado Gold. I think the high gold-silver ratio, is because smart people sense that all is not right in D.C. and barter might indeed become necessary. “We’d better get some silver Ma.”
Now consider: What else is there to barter with, if such a time as it becomes necessary? Both are compact, universally popular, desirable, barterable, and useful. Every other possible bartering thing is huge, compared to gold and silver coinage. Barter with a horse? A bail of hay? An antique piece of furniture or auto? Silver and gold coins can be carried in your pocket, or stored in a safe, and if they come from a reliable mint, will have their weight and purity stamped on them. $20 worth of groceries for a one ounce .999 pure silver coin? Sure, if it ever comes down to that, and it always has. Yes, un-backed paper money, has always gone to absolute zero, from the first Chinese paper money in 997, called ‘flying money,” because the wind often blew it away. It failed, because it was so easy to ‘create’ wealth then, as was Bitcoin today. Even when coins were made of silver, various governments always reduced the silver content, and eventually, like in America, in 1964, no more pure silver coins were made. All governments since, and all governments in the future, will control their currencies and coinage, to their benefit, not yours. All governments are like a crooked used car salesman, telling a customer, that the jalopy was, ‘only used by a little old lady to go to church on Sundays.’ Governments are undoubtedly the biggest liars in all of history, regardless of the years, and you and I have to protect ourselves from them, with inflation going the way all inflations have gone, and that is their ‘money’ became a laughing stock. Failed paper money is as easy to predict as is the Sun rising in the morning! Some times it happens quickly, and other times it takes a bit longer, but the end is always ZERO.
How about antique paintings and coins, etc.? All priceless historic paintings have been perfectly copied by talented artists, and the original can only be detected by an art professional expert on paints, their contents and age, because the duplicate paintings are exact copies. Same with any antiques. Antique coins can be sent to PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service), for accurate appraisal, but in barter times, people want silver and gold, not antique silver and gold. It’s the silver and gold, people want for emergency protection, not antiques. I’ve got an 82 year-old truck that’s worth $26,000, but if I want a useful truck, I can get a reliable, far newer, reliable, faster, parts available one, for a tenth the price. Same with coins. Get the purest, cheapest, for safety and insurance against runaway inflation, not antiques.
Want our silver “Buffys”? You can lock them in at today’s price. You’ll get them in March. Mints are running 24/7. Silver Eagles, at $15 more, are a bit faster, but ten ounces might be difficult to barter with, at well over $200 each. don@coloradogol.com or 1-970-249-4646