/biz/ - Business & Finance

HISTORY OF SILVER CURRENCY
The Vikings equated the value of 4 cows to 24 sheep to 8 ounces of silver and 8 ounces of silver were traded for every 1 ounce of gold. Given land ownership distributions and available resources, everyone more or less agreed that the labour required to rear 4 cows was approximately the same as the labour required to mint 8 ounces of silver. Although not all classes of man would have had the capacity to obtain or possess silver in those days, it had a much closer correspondence to its labour value.

One of the consequences of the liberties afforded by fractional reserve banking is a suppression in the silver spot price [relative to fiat]. Modern silver markets are buyers markets, probably because over 50% of the yearly demand is industrial (whereas for gold it is sub 8%), so the majority shareholder’s preferences are reflected (those of industrial buyers).