The Government’s Greatest Con Job
Dollar: a paper money, silver or cupronickel coin, and monetary unit of the United States, equal to 100 cents.
So runs the dictionary definition. But if one dollar equals 100 cents… what then is a cent?
The answer is one-hundredth of one dollar. And what again is one dollar? 100 cents.
And so we begin an infinite chasing of the tail one dollar is 100 times one cent, one cent is one dollar divided by 100.
Trillions upon trillions of dollars are rolling from the presses. Many more will follow.
We should understand what in fact they are.
We seek clarity. We must therefore turn to the Coinage Act of 1792:
I promise not to ask if you remember when the price of gold was fixed at $35 an ounce or when U.S. currency was tied to the gold standard (hint: The Gold Standard Act was passed on March 14, 1900, but later suspended). Things have changed drastically over the years, with gold now hovering around $1,800 per ounce.
Let s turn to your jewelry box, shall we? Remember all that gold you bought in the 1980s when QVC and Home Shopping Channel were coming into their own? And when you could buy gold chains by the inch at county fairs and community swap meets?