It is generally agreed that if you hire a man to do a job and then fail to pay him, you have cheated him. Likewise, if you pay that man with counterfeit money or a bogus (NSF) check, you have committed fraud. When we exchange our labor for money, the idea is that the money will buy us goods & services at some future date. It does us no good to accept it, if we will not be able to use it later.

It is reasonable that a $10.00 bill exchanged for 2 five dollars bills is a fair exchange. I would caution anyone from going into a store and trying to spend 5 $2.00 bills, as you will likely be accosted by the secret service for a while. $2.00 bills are real currency, but the average citizen is too drugged up/dumbed down to know that. That is a whole other series of entries.

If someone were to offer you a dollar for your dime, would you think them crazy? Would you take the trade? Would it be a fair trade?

Anyone born before 1950 should remember when all coins above five cents were made of 90% Ag. The weights were proportionate to the value. A silver dollar (~1 oz) had 10 times as much Ag metal as a silver dime (~0.1 oz). After Congress printed so many paper dollars (silver certificates) that they couldn't all be redeemed, the gov't did what they have done throughout history... lied to and shafted the citizenry. The last "real" value coins were minted with 1964 stamped on them (although they were minted until 1966). According to the treasury website (ustreas.gov), this was because there was a shortage caused by "speculation". Well, the "speculation" was due to people not wanting crap clad for money.

All coins above a nickel, stamped 1965 and after, are copper "clad" coins. The pre-65s trade for multiples of their face-value. Their "price" rises and falls with the bullion price of Ag.

But something interesting has happened over the years. Ag is trading near $10/Oz. That means that, right now, a pre-65 silver dollar has a "melt" value near $10. By extension, a pre-65 dime has a "melt" value near $1.00. This means that a 1983 dime has 1/10 the value (even less on a strictly melt basis) as a 1963 dime, even though they both have the same jerks' picture on them (don't get me started); and this is before you get into things like the grade/condition/rarity of the '63 coin.

So now I reposit my questions... If someone were to offer you a dollar for your dime, would you think them crazy? Would you take the trade? Would it be a fair trade? And, if not, who is getting the better end of the deal? Which will have value in another few years?