From Cowrie To Copper February 15, 2011
Posted by lizp4 in Uncategorized.trackback
I’ve posted on here before about my nostalgia for the “old days.” Not necessarily the “good” old days, but definitely OLD.
One of the things I remember was dollar bills that were Silver Certificates. That meant, for you younger readers, that that bill was redeemable for the face amount in actual silver. You could take your bill to the bank, and they would exchange it for a silver dollar that was all silver, all 90% silver, to be exact. They were called “cartwheels.”
It was also possible, if one had enough silver, to buy a Gold Certificate, which one could redeem for the face amount in GOLD coins. 
Nowadays, you have a Federal Reserve Note, that is not backed by any real treasure, and is redeemable for goods and services, or for more FRN’s, or some coin change which has long since lost all its value, as well as all its silver or gold content.
Pennies are no longer copper, they are zinc, with a thin copper veneer. Dollar coins are made of several utility metals. Gold, as a metal, has increased in value to the point where it is almost unaffordable except by large investors. Silver, while much cheaper, is creeping up in value, as well. Meanwhile, our paper money is still worth nothing in real value, and only has a perceived value as a means of exchange. (Seeing that most of the stuff we can buy these days is cheap Chinese junk — if you can pick it up, the chances are 95% that it is Chinese-made — it figures. Cheesy, fake money buying cheap, tawdry junk from overseas.)
Money is what we say it is. To the Polynesians, it used to be cowrie shells and coconuts. To the Yaps of Yap Island, it was huge stone rings. To the Tlinghit, it was a large copper shield called a “‘tinnah,” or, simply, a “copper.”
So, apparently, today’s U.S. legal tender is whatever it has been designated to be, which is currently zinc, copper, tin, and paper. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is more than a dollar’s worth of technology and materials in a modern U.S. $1.00 bill, but that doesn’t change the fact that whatever we call our money; whatever it looks like, and whatever its value, there is definitely more of it around, but it is worth decidedly LESS.
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Unfortunately, I’m not the owner of those beauties, but I do remember them from when I was a lil’ nipper. I remember the silver certificates well, along with the real silver coinage. We have lost a lot, haven’t we?
Yes, Alaska is finally “normal.” It was below zero again this morning when I got up, and will be tomorrow, as well. The days warm up into the twenties, but as soon as the sun sets, the chill returns. My daughter-in-law in ND tells me the snow is melting like crazy there. Around here, the saying is, “Everything that melts today will freeze again tonight!”
Wow! Liz, do you actually own a gold certificate? I’ve never actually seen one before. Silver certificates I remember quite well, but that was a loooong time ago. Today we have pieces of paper with strange colors, not just green any more, but worth nothing. It certainly does not inspire confidence.
On a different matter, I’m glad to see that Alaska is colder than Iowa for a change. It restores the balance of nature as it should be. We have actual been up close to 40 deg, and the stuff is melting like crazy!