OneBiteAtATime wrote:This is interesting..... I've been exporing how to trade Labor for Silver for some time now.... has anyone managed to make something like that happen?
i dont know about "now"...where we have some sort of Fed Reserve fiat, full "faith and trust" game still hobbling along, but i was "wargaming" out a future scenario, with some friends, how much would labor/stuff cost? How to valuate goods.services.
the only historical model i can validate is in the New Testament, where it references a laborer's daily wage as a denarius, the roman 1/10th an ounce of silver.
for trade, barter purposes, lets just say that within the US, the prime instrument of trade would be the pre-65 90% silver coinage,
we all know that 90's in the $10 face value have 7.23 TROY ounces in them, but what about individual US 90%'ers, how would we round them off, or UP, shall i say:
our dime has .07 troy ounces in each one, so do we round them up to a tenth of a troy ounce? which would make it a modern denarius.
i've read that if you factor in inflation and old CPI accounting numbers, the old "Hunt" high comes out to $440 the troy ounce, which would make the 90% dime worth $44 "dollars", about what minimum wage 8 hour labor nets today, after taxes, and all that.
But if we go to coinflation, the intrinsic value of a 90% dime is quoted at $3.37 based on the play game Comex quote of 46.68 (4/22/11)
so what's it really worth? (i'm sorry to seem to be meandering, but i'm still tugging on my second cup of coffee)
i look at 90%'er's and ask, in a trade situation, what do we round the silver content up to?
the dime with .07 t oz, seems to be a obvious tenth of a t oz.
but what about the quarter, and its .18 t oz silver content, do we round that up to .20, a fifth of a t oz, or do we just say for trading purposes, its a quarter of an oz? period.....OR does it trade between .20 to .25?
the 90% half Dollar is even more difficult, as you all know, it has .36 t oz silver content, so do we round to .40, 2/5th's an ounce, or again, just quote a 90% halve at a half an ounce?
in a barter situation, a trade deal with silver as the medium, the store of wealth, who would have the upper hand? the guy with the full cord of split dried firewood, or the guy with the unc Franklin half? that MIGHT be valued at $220?
one might say, the guy with the firewood has the upper hand, BUT what if another guy, who also has a cord of split cured firewood, knows somebody who is willing to sell a hindquarter of dressed hog for a 90% Half Dollar, and says "i'll sell you that firewood for a Franklin half?".....ok.
but now the first firewood seller, who has to buy some flour and lard to buy, counters, "Give me a quarter and a 2 dimes for the cord".
who has the upper hand? bear with me a sentence more.
so the 2nd fellow, who REALLY wants this hindquarter counters, counters, "tell ya what, i'll throw in another face cord, and lets call it a deal".
so you're the guy with the 90% Franklin, what do you do?
i realize this is just a hypothetical situation, with many variables. The guy with the hindquarter of hog could even trade with the 2nd firewood guy, and the 1st firewood seller could sell for a quarter and two dimes, to buy flour and lard, knowing he'll get "change" back.
What i've been thinking about for months is "what is currency"? what are essentials worth in coinage, when FRN's are no good?
and i fully believe in such an environment, that there is a place for the copper penny as well as the 75/25 nickel.
One thing i read about was "Ferfal's" testimonies about what happened in Argentina during their currency crisis, and from what he wrote is that coinage just disappeared, went underground. and i know this, those Afghani farmers growing poppies, etc.....you "trade" up there and you will still find old clod like silver pieces from the old British Empire, STILL be used for trade, the things are as slick as a babies bottom, but they still trade.
the whole thing boils down to valuation, what you got, what you can produce, and how can you protect it?...and still think on your feet, meaning the art of doing arbitrage between different commodities and coins.
just food for thought. (didnt even realize that come out like a pun)
respecrfully, neil