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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Tejas, post: 7833760, member: 84905&quot;]Today (15.08.) marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the last vestiges of the gold standard. On 15.08.1971 (also a Sunday) President Nixon announced that the so called &quot;gold window&quot; was closed, i.e. that the US dollar could no longer be converted into gold. This decision has completely changed the nature of money and is therefore one of, if not the, most important single event in the 2500 year history of money.</p><p><br /></p><p>To function as money, a commodity has to have certain characteristics including: homogeneity, divisibility, durability, desirability and <b>scarcity</b>. Gold and silver in particular fulfilled these characteristics like no other commodities and hence became money, first in the form of ingots, then as minted coins and in the last stages as commodity to which paper and token money was linked.</p><p><br /></p><p>The characteristic of <b>scarcity</b>, i.e. the knowledge that gold can not be produced artificially and the realisation that the total supply of gold is natually limited i<b>nstilled great trust in gold and trust in money</b> (i.e. sayings like something is &quot;as good as gold&quot;, or something is the &quot;gold standard of services etc&quot; reflect this age old appreciation of gold).</p><p><br /></p><p>However, also in antiquity empires and kingdoms regularly diverged from the gold standard to create inflation, usually during times of war. In addition, the ancients ran dual standards with gold/silver on the one hand and copper alloy token coins on the other hands. We collectors still experience the difference in scarcity in the form of high prices for gold coins compared to the much lower prices for copper and bronze coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since 15.08.1971 the <b>natural scarcity of gold </b>was replaced with <b>an artificial scarcity</b> based on the promise by central banks not to inflate the money supply and thus maintain the trust in money. A third option to create artificial scarcity has emerged in the last 10 years or so with cryptocurrencies that promise scarcity through in-build <b>computer algorithms. </b>A big question currently is whether the central banks&#039; promise will remain trustworthy against the backdrop of the vast money supply increases of the last 15 years or so. </p><p><br /></p><p>In any case, one attraction of numismatics to me is the fact that it deals with history in general and monetary history in particular and that it allows us to experience the intrinsic value of money. If I hold a solidus in my hands I can really feel through the physical characteristics of gold (heavy, shiny, durable) the value of money.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since we all like to look at coins and since the solidus exemplifies the quality of gold currency better than almost every other coin ever minted, here is one of my solidi.</p><p><br /></p><p>I chose a solidus of Marcian, i.e. a coin that was produced to the highest standards despite the rising political and economic problems that were increasingly engulfing the Roman empire at the time.</p><p><br /></p><p>Marcian, 450 - 457</p><p><br /></p><p>DN MARCIANVS P F AVG //&nbsp; VICTORIA AVGGG&nbsp; -- CONOB in exergue.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mint: Constantinople</p><p>Year: AD 450</p><p>Measures:4.47g, 21mm, 6h</p><p>RIC 508; Depeyrot 87/1.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1346564[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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