Realcent.org

Shel Silverstein, when he wrote this poem, probably never imagined a world in which it would be true in terms of metal content. We are in that transitional phase right now, of course. I'm posting this in the Nickel forum because that's the one with the greatest value at this time (see below for details).

Smart
My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

And then I took the quarters
And traded them to Lou
For three dimes - I guess he don't know
that three is more than two!

Just then, along came old blind Bates
And just 'cause he can't see
He gave me four nickels for my three dimes,
And four is more than three!

And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs
Down at the seed-feed store,
and the fool gave me five pennies for them,
And five is more than four!

And then I went and showed my dad,
and he go red in the cheeks
And closed his eyes and shook his head-
Too proud of me to speak!

Market Value of Metal Content (cents)
11.2 < 2 Quarters
6.7 < 3 Dimes
23.7 < 4 Nickels
13.2 < 5 Pennies

Pretty funny. I want to think I remember that poem from some years ago? I haven't looked it up, but maybe that's possible? It didn't have the same meaning to me then that it does now, obviously.

I can't remember if it was in A Light in the Attic or Where the Sidewalk Ends, but there's a good chance more than a few of us have run into that one before. Kind of the defining poem of Realcent, I'd say! Conventional wisdom turned on its head.

And don't forget the original dollar bill.

$1 is worth what, 4 cents?