From ancient times, when coins were first issued, right up until our era, gold and silver were the usual metals used for coins, and for good reasons.
First of all, gold and silver were valuable even before they were used in coins because of their beauty and their use in jewelry and religious decoration. Second, gold and silver will never corrode or rust like some other metals. And third, the supply of gold and silver was always small enough so that the metals remained valuable because of their rarity.
Paper money originally represented a certain amount of gold or silver. But today, you can’t turn in your paper money to the government in exchange for gold.
Paper bills are accepted as money because everyone knows that they will be accepted as money by other people. Coins, too, are only symbols of a certain amount of money. A quarter, for example, does not contain 25 cents worth of metal.
The ancient Romans stored their gold and silver reserves in the temple of a goddess named Juno Moneta. Her name later gave birth to the word “money”!
Related Posts
-
How Much Silver Has Been Mined From the Earth So Far and Where Does Most of the World’s Silver Come From?
Much more silver than gold has been mined, more than 1,740,000 metric tons from the earth. The amount of silver that has been mined would form a cube 180 feet (55 m) high…
-
Where does the term “German Silver” come from and What does German Silver mean?
German silver was named in honor of the country where discovered, for the original alloy was found in nature in ore found in Hildburghausen, Germany. Actually, it contains no silver at all, but…
-
Why Is Gold So Rare, Where Does it Come From, and Why Is Gold Found Everywhere?
Gold is very rare, but it's also very malleable. If, since the beginning of time, all the gold ever mined were to be lumped together, it would make a cube about the size…
-
In Which Country Can You Find Brown Gold and Green Gold?
Coffee grows best in a warm climate with plenty of rain, and coffee flourishes at higher altitudes. Colombia has all the ingredients to make it a leading coffee producer. Some of the world's…
-
What Is the Difference Between Yellow Gold and White Gold and What Are the Alloys Used For?
Pure or 24-karat gold is yellow and relatively soft. White gold includes an alloy of nickel and palladium. Zinc is added to harden the gold for gem settings. White gold can be more…
-
How Much Gold On Earth Has Been Mined So Far and Where Does Gold Come From?
More than 193,000 metric tons of gold has been mined from the earth. If you could take all of this gold and shape it into a solid cube, each side of the cube…
