Ok, Ok, I exaggerated. I didn't really clean out my sock drawer but my wife cleaned out hers and the lessons were REAL!
How Did Cleaning Out a Sock Drawer Teach Me About Money?
Do you ever end up with a bunch of foreign currency when you travel? Well we do and over the years my wife has sorted it according to county, put it in envelopes and stuffed it in her drawer with the hope of using it one day. The problem is that that day doesn't always come!
The other day my wife decided to clean out the drawer and see what we had. The results were not only eye opening but provided a lesson on what real money is!
After "saving" this money for years most of it is worthless!
Most of The Old Money Was Now Worth Little or Even Worthless!
Worthless:
We had "money" from many countries that was no longer legal tender and had absolutely no value. For example all of the following currencies had since been replaced by the Euro:
- 409.60 Slovenian Sit......Worthless
- 228.10 French Francs.....Worthless
- 85.28 Austrian Schillings.....Worthless
- 5.13 German Marks.......Worthless
- Thousands of Italian Lire........Worthless
Worth Little:
Of course inflation also eats away at the value of a currency and therefore what you stuck in your sock drawer 20 years ago will likely have only a fraction of the purchasing power that it had when you put it there.
For example we had $14.00 U.S. dollars. The buying power of the US Dollar goes down every year!
Watch How The Value Goes Down:
- In 1900 for $1.00 you could buy a pair of fine leather shoes!
- In 1940 for $1.00 you could buy 20 bottles of Coca Cola
- In 1960 for $1.00 you could buy 2 movie tickets
- In 2000 for $1.00 you could buy a Wendy's hamburger
- In 2010 for $1.00 you could buy 1 song on iTunes
We Did Find One Major Exception to This Trend!
Included with all of the coins that we found was a 20 Swiss Franc coin from 1898. The difference this time is that the coin was made of gold!
The coin on the left (20 Swiss Francs from 1898), although the smallest and not necessarily the best looking is made of gold. The other two coins from Italy and The Dominican Republic are basically worthless!
Look at the amount of gold that 20 Swiss Francs could purchase in 1898:
20 Swiss francs in 1898 could buy 5.815650142709974 gram gold. (According to the Historical Currency Converter tool)
As you can see the 20 Swiss Franc Coin that we found contains exactly 5.806450 grams of fine gold!
The spot price of 5.815650142709974 grams of gold today is $241.81
Here you can see a coin similar to ours on eBay selling for $260.00. Depending on the condition of the coin they can sell for up to $496.00 This is because the coin not only has the value of the gold but value as a rare coin as well!
Look What I Read in a Post by @onceuponatime Yesterday!
""Fiat" currency. Every fiat currency in history has gone to a zero value, and on average in well under 50 years. Gold and silver have NEVER gone to zero value, anywhere, anytime. In fact, during some hyper inflations of fiat a few gold coins would buy you enormous amounts of hard assets (houses, land, factories etc.). Enough said?"
I guess that you're right @onceuponatime. My sock drawer research proves it!
So, What Have I Learned About Money From My Sock Drawer?
Many are skeptical about crypto currency. They say that it isn't real money. However is what many consider "real money" (fiat currency) really real money?
One thing is for sure Gold and Silver have been real money, real stores of value, for as long as mankind has been recording history!
Points to Ponder!
- Does crypto have any parallels to precious metals?
- Is there a way to invest in physical gold or silver using crypto?
- Have you heard of the Quint? Check here and here
- Have you investigated purchasing gold with Bitshares?
I hope that you enjoyed this article about " What I Learned About Money From Cleaning Out My Sock Drawer!"
Until next time,
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)
