Complete Children's Guide
to

Money

This page was last updated on 6/17/25.

Money is gold & silver
&
Gold & silver are money

Money must be able to be both a medium of exchange and a store of value; and, this value must be intrinsic and not vary in quality by a change of form.

This strict, real physical plane definition of money eliminates almost everything generally used as money today such as Federal Reserve Notes. FRNs have no intrinsic value because they are debt instruments - mere promises to pay which add to not decrease the over all debt. Their collateral is future tax revenue not something that is of actual value here now or ever. No fiat currency including the current U.S. dollar meets the definition of money because there's no intrinsic value. The fiat economy is a house of cards.

It could be argued that silver certificates (that looked a lot like FRNs) that were issued up until 1964 in the U.S. were real money because they were backed by silver. Silver meets the definition of real money; i.e., its value is intrinisic and doesn't vary in quality.

It matters not whose face is engraved in a silver coin. It's value can be measured by its weight. If silver had no industrial demand, its place in the incredibly short list of items in this world that meet the definition of money is secure. Of course, gold is real money too; and, valued as such in almost all cultures and almost all times.

Why do gold and silver have intrinsic value? Consider this: The Periodic Table lists only 92 naturally occurring elements that make up the matter in this entire universe and gold and silver are two of them. Platinum and palladium can function as real money, too. See elements.

Most of the elements remaining can't: Carbon cannot function as money as diamonds vary in quality and are substantially more rare than coal and both diamonds and coal are pure carbon. Mercury is a toxic even to touch and liquid at room temperature so it doesn't work very well. Gases pretty much have to be ruled out. Water can be money when only a few have access to it. Thank God it hasn't come to that for most of us.

You can barter with things that are unwieldy or vary in quality but gold and silver are money. Gold and silver hold their value and have served as money in all of our lifetimes.

Real Money is Freedom

It is anonymous and invisible. Secure and hide it well; and, be discreet.

Complete Children's Guide
to Investing in and Collecting Money

Buy silver or gold whenever you can. Sell gold or silver whenever you have to. Go here to see the current fair buy price. Go here to see the current fair sell price. Then go to any coin shop near you and make the transaction.

On 11/6/24 at 245p, for example, the silver round generic one ounce coin buy price is $33.25 and the silver round sell price is $29.85. The gold round generic one ounce coin or bar buy price is $2,736 and the the gold round sell price is $2,598.

If you have trusted friends who collect precious metals, call them first before you drive to the coin shop. Split the buy and sell prices down the middle and you both benefit. In the example above, friends could buy or sell a gold coin to one another for $2,667 or a silver coin for $31.55. If none of your friends want to buy when you want to sell or vice-versa, go to the coin shop.

You can hide a lot more gold per unit weight & volume than silver. Silver is necessary for day to day affairs when you have to cash some in. Gold is like the Sun and silver is like the Moon. Over time, gold is more stable than silver. Silver is more volatile than gold.

The gold/ silver ratio is good to watch. The higher the ratio is, the lower the silver price is relative to gold and vice-versa.

Since ancient times, miners have unearthed about eight ounces of silver for every ounce of gold and this is still the case.

The earliest recorded instance of the gold-to-silver ratio dates back to 3200 BCE, when Menes, the first king of Ancient Egypt set a ratio of 2-1/2 to one. Ancient Rome set a gold-to-silver ratio, starting as at 8/ 1 in 210 BCE. and over the decades, varying gold and silver inflows from Rome’s conquests caused the ratio to fluctuate between 8-12 ounces of silver for every ounce of gold. As centuries progressed, ratios around the world fluctuated between 6-12 ounces of silver for every ounce of gold until about three centuries ago.

The gold-silver ratio when the United States was formed was 15. The last 100-year average is 40. The average gold-to-silver ratio over the last 30 years is 67.

Year    Gold  Silver  Ratio   Year    Gold  Silver  Ratio  Year    Gold  Silver  Ratio
1792   $19.39  $1.29  15     1990   $383   $4.83    79      4/2011 $1450  $49.90  31
1834   $20.67  $1.29  16     12/20/90 $390 $3.95  97      9/5/11 $1920  $34       56
1938   $35       $0.36  83     2/21/91 $352  $3.51  101    3/3/16  $1279  $14.75  82
1965   $35.50  $1       35     1991   $362   $4.05    89     7/14/16 $1345  $20.30  65
8/25/70 $35.6  $1.93  19    1992   $343    $3.94    87    7/11/19  $1418  $19.75  92
1970   $35.96  $1.76  20    1993   $359    $4.31   83     9/4/19   $1500  $19.50   79
1971   $38.21  $1.53   25    1994   $384    $5.28  72     3/26/20 $1700  $12.50 116
1972   $58.28  $1.68  35    1995   $384   $5.19   73      3/4/21   $1680  $26.40  65
1973   $97.22  $2.55  38    1996   $387   $5.19   74      12/15/21 $1820  $21.70 81
6/15/73 $120   $2.70  46    7/27/97 $316 $4.20   78      4/19/22 $1980  $26      76
1974   $158     $4.67  34    1997   $331  $4.89    67      5/12/22 $1770  $25.60  88
1975   $160     $4.42  36    2/10/98 $300 $7.85   42      6/6/22   $1850  $22.30  83
1976   $124     $4.35  29    1998   $270  $5.21    51      9/2/22   $1710  $17.55  95
1977   $147     $4.63  32    2000   $279  $4.95    56      1/23/23 $1930  $24.25  75
1978   $193     $5.42  36    2001   $271  $4.37    62      3/10/23 $1815  $19.80  91
1979   $305   $11.06  28    2002   $309  $4.59    67      4/14/23 $1990  $25.60  78
1/8/1980 $626  $41    15    6/3/03 $365  $4.45    80      5/2/24   $1985  $29       87
1980   $614   $20.98  29    2003   $363  $4.87    75      5/29/24 $1940  $31       73
1981   $459   $10.48  44    2004   $409  $6.65    61      8/5/24   $1930  $29       89
1982   $375     $7.92  47    2005   $444  $7.31    61      9/16/24 $2690  $30.73  87
1983   $423   $11.43  37    2006   $604  $11.54  52      10/29/24 $2638 $34.46 76
1984   $360    $8.14   44    2007   $695  $13.38  52      11/1/24 $2735  $32.42  84
1985   $317    $6.13   52    2008   $872  $14.99  58      11/6/24 $2662  $31.15  85
1986   $368    $5.46   67    8/2/08 $920  $17.60  51      4/21/25 $3424  $32.68 105
1987   $446    $7.01   64    11/29/08 $818 $9.20 80      6/17/25 $3386  $37.03  91
1988   $436    $6.53   67    2009  $1134 $17.67  64
1989   $381    $5.49   69    2010  $1225 $29.35  42

With all things considered, the higher the gold/ silver ratio, silver is the better investment than gold. Hedge toward silver when the ratio is above 75, to gold when it is less than 67.

When the ratio rises to near 100, turn 90% of your gold into silver. When the ratio descends to near 50, turn 90% of your silver into gold. If you have a large quantity in either scenario, you can do it securely in one fell swoop through Golden State Mint or some other established wholesaler and get a better deal than a coin shop.

Only God Is
In Gold We Trust
We Trust in Silver too

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