/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>58101912
The vast majority of silver and gold coins that circulated were scratched and worn to some degree. Sometimes intentionally to ascertain purity. But they passed at face value once value was set by the government. In colonial and early American republic days when a mishmash of coins circulated, people weighed them if they were badly worn, clipped, or deeply gouged and then gave value by weight. Picrel is Thomas Jefferson's portable coin scale.

I am not aware that there was ever a time when a shiny coin circulated at a higher value than the same coin with some scratches or normal wear. Would that be different in a future where coins were valued by actual weight rather than a nominal face value and plastic shells were in use? Maybe. But rejecting coins with purely aesthetic defects seems pretty trivial for any working economy.

>>52198459
Another fud boy ignorant of history. Allow me to help you. In the early days of the American colonies and the USA, silver coins known as Spanish Milled Dollars circulated widely. Also known as "pieces of eight", they were regularly cut into pieces and circulated when smaller bronze token coins were in short supply. The term "two bits" for a quarter dollar dates back to that time.

One of the classic requirements for commodity money is divisibility. You can cut gold and silver coins into very small pieces. Historically, portable scales were used to weigh cut and worn coins. In fact, before the invention of coinage in ancient Lydia, silver, gold, and electrum bits were used as money and ALWAYS weighed. (Picrel is Thomas Jefferson's portable scale used for weighing coins. You can see it in Monticello.) And scales are far more readily available now than ever before. So, in short, you are an ignoramus.

>>50484231
In the Jefferson museum in Monticello, there is a display with Jefferson's pocket scale used to weigh coins. Most likely to assess wear or clipping of coins and discount accordingly. Picrel