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“The poor man is called a socialist if he believes that the wealth of the rich should be divided among the poor, but the rich man is called a financier if he devises a plan by which the pittance of the poor can be converted to his use.”
— William Jennings Bryan, House of Representatives, August 16, 1893
Silver in Roman and British History
Jeff Thomas writing in Doug Casey’s column: “The denarius was the coin of the realm during the centuries when Rome was a republic. Although the gold that was sold was used as a storage of wealth, the silver denarius was equal in value to a day’s wages for a common laborer and, as such, was more useful as the primary unit of exchange. During this time, it was a stable currency.
“However, as Rome turned into an empire, all that conquest in foreign lands became extremely costly and it was decided that one way to offset such costs was to devalue the denarius. Each successive emperor added a bit more base metal than the previous one and, by the time of Diocletian, there was no silver in the coin at all, only bronze.”
Studies such as those by economic historian Peter Spufford in his Money and Its Use in Medieval Europe detail silver’s key role in medieval economies. Manorial records, like those from England’s Winchester estates, demonstrate price stability. Pennies from the 12th–15th centuries, analyzed by institutions like the British Museum, confirm consistent silver content.
Marc Morris in The Anglo-Saxons: “In 1066 King ‘Harold was the ruler of a single kingdom, which contemporaries called England, with boundaries very close to where they are today. It was peaceful and prosperous, with an expanding economy, an abundant silver coinage, and dozens of towns, cities and ports. It was also a Christian country, with sixteen cathedrals, around sixty monasteries, and thousands of local churches.”
The stability of the penny’s value in medieval England (circa 1130–1530) was tied to its silver content. The English penny, known as a ‘sterling’ penny, was made of high-purity silver. Its value was directly linked to the weight and purity of the silver, which was widely accepted as a store of value across Europe.
From the 12th century, English kings maintained strict control over minting. The penny’s weight (around 1.4 grams initially) and silver content were standardized (typically 92.5% silver, or “sterling” standard, hence the term), ensuring consistency. The penny’s value was intrinsic—its worth came from the metal itself. The penny’s silver content remained largely unchanged from the reign of Henry II (1154–1189) to Edward III (1327–1377).
Major re-coinages, like those under Henry II in 1158 and 1180, reinforced quality rather than debasing it. Chronicles and manorial accounts show that basic goods such as a loaf of bread, or a day’s labor cost roughly the same in pennies for centuries. For example, in the thirteenth century, a laborer’s daily wage was about 1–2 pence, a figure that held steady into the early 14th century.
Stability waned however, particularly from the 16th century. For example, Henry VIII’s “Great Debasement” (1544–1551) slashed the penny’s silver content, debasing it to fund wars and royal expenses, causing inflation, eroding trust and inflating prices.
Silver in America: Now and Then
In the U.S. in the past six months silver has risen from $37.00/oz to $122.88/oz. There was a correction in early February and as of this writing silver is selling for approximately $75.00/oz. — double what it was last August.
Silver isn’t only a hard asset precious metal. It is widely used in solar panels, electric vehicles, electronics, semiconductors, and emerging technologies. Strong, consistent demand tied to clean energy and AI (artificial intelligence), has tightened supply. Production and recycling haven’t kept pace with orders.
Silver’s surge has been driven by a mix of industrial and investment purchasing pressure, perceived geopolitical risks, supply constraints, and monetary worries — the weakness of the dollar and its vulnerability to the whims of the bandits at the privately owned, never audited Federal Reserve Bank. They are likely at any time to engage in “quantitative easing,” an Orwellian euphemism for recklessly printing money, a prime driver of inflation. Today’s dollars (“Federal Reserve Notes”) are only backed by the so-called “full faith and credit of the US government.”
One cannot redeem Federal Reserve Notes in gold or silver as was the practice in American history. From 1878 to 1968 paper currency was legally redeemable in specie (gold or silver), though the rules changed repeatedly, during which time silver was usually the loser in favor of an exclusive gold standard.
President Franklin Roosevelt ended the gold standard by executive order on April 5, 1933, requiring the American people to surrender gold coins, bullion, and gold certificates to the Federal Reserve Bank in exchange for paper currency. January 30, 1934 Congress passed the Gold Reserve Act which transferred all gold to the U.S. Treasury, devalued the dollar and ended the domestic redemption of gold. The ownership of gold by the American people was henceforth prohibited.
Exceptions included industrial, professional or artistic use (dentists, jewelers, sculptors, tailors, etc.) in “legitimate and customary” quantities. Up to $100 of face value in gold coins could be owned per person. A loophole was created in the form of a provision permitting ownership of rare coins having “recognized historical value to collectors.” Dictator Roosevelt’s draconian measures lasted forty years. They were ended by Congress in 1974 (Public Law 93-374).
President Lyndon Johnson ended redemption of paper currency in silver coin on March 25, 1964. He ceased redemption of paper currency in silver bullion four years later, on June 24, 1968.
Johnson signed the Coinage Act of 1965 which eliminated silver from dimes and quarters and reduced half dollars from 90% silver to 40%. Nixon and Congress eliminated the 40% silver which had been in circulating half dollars beginning December 31, 1970. From 1971 onward, all circulating US coins had the intrinsic value of glorified slugs.
The Fed’s quantitative easing occurred under President Trump beginning March 23, 2020. The Federal Reserve’s dollars expanded from $4.2 trillion in February 2020 to $7 trillion by December 2020, the largest and most rapid liquidity expansion in U.S. history. President Biden continued this policy through February 2022. Inflation followed on the back of this money printing. The dollar became less valuable. It took more dollars to purchase food, commodities and services than before.