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      "body": "2nd chapter monetary history modern times\n\nMonetary History modern times. \nOld as Gold and Silvers monetary history is, it is just as relevant in modern \ntimes as ancient times. Gold was and still is mainly being used by kings or \nthe modern equivalent- Banks nowadays or for very big financial accounting \nright from the start of history, silver has far more been used as money \nthroughout history. Silver being the peoples money. Gold not being used for \nday to day purchases, only less frequent larger transactions.\nAs soon as paper was invented or animal skins the first forms of paper, the \nbankers persuaded people to store their so called heavy and so they said \ncumbersome silver in the bank and then they would issue more convenient  paper currency as receipts for their real money. They could then have \nexchange rates for these different types of currencies be they tally sticks or \nshells or animal skins with writing painted on them (the first forms of paper \ncurrency).\nThe problem was the bankers cleverly found out that they could issue more \ncurrency receipts than they held gold and silver. Anyone could write on a \npiece of old animal skin this is worth 1 ounce of silver. But no one would \nbelieve it was worth 1 ounce of silver. But the bankers had the power to write \nthis is worth 1 ounce of silver on as many skins as they could create and \npeople believed it was, because they thought the bank held 1 ounce of silver \nfor every \"paper\" currency \"note\" they issued. Of course the bankers \ndeceptively issued far more than they held real money. This is always how the\nmonetary cycle seems to start. The people would never swap silver for paper \nif they did not have confidence in that paper to start with, but over time the \nconfidence is taken for granted by the next generations just as we are seeing \nin the early 21st century. But that confidence is slowly being lost as I am \nwriting this. The exact same monetary cycle that has repeated for thousands \nof years is still repeating in our time.\nThen over time people began to suspect the banks were issuing and spending\nmore currency than they had gold and silver and the people began to lose \nconfidence in these bits of \"paper\" and started a rush out of currency and \ninto real money gold and silver. Then the truth becomes clear that there are \nfar more of these paper ounces of silver than real ounces. The paper currency\ngoes to its true value of nothing and real gold and silver become very very \nhighly valued.\nJohn Law was a great example of confusing people about the difference \nbetween currency and money. This is an important example of society \nreplacing its money with an ever increasing currency supply that I wish all \ncrypto currency enthusiasts would look at is the story of John Law. Laws life \nis a true roller coaster ride of epic proportions. \nFrom the son of a Scottish goldsmith and banker, John Law was a bright boy \nwith high mathematical aptitude. He grew up to be quite a gambler and \nladies man.and lost most of his family fortune in the course of his escapades. \nAt one point he got into a fight over a woman and his opponent challenged \nhim to a duel.  He cheated and shot his opponent dead, was arrested tried and sentenced to \nbe hung. Being the knave that he was, Law escaped from prison and now on \nthe run he bribed and deceived his way South and fled to France.\nMeanwhile Louis XIV was running France deeply into debt due to the war \nmongering and his lavish lifestyle even more than Law had been living. Law \nhimself living as a fugitive in Paris became known in the criminal underworld \nand a gambling buddy with Duke d'Olans, and it was about this time that Law\nhad high ambitions and wrote a paper letter to Lois XIV promising a solution \nto his mounting debts that were expanding exponentially. In the letter he \nsuggested an economic solution promoting the benefits of paper currency \nand confusing the people about the differences between currency and money\nand try getting people to think that currency is just as good and worth the \nsame as money.\nWhen Louis XIV died his successor, Louis XV was only eleven years old. The \nDuke d'Oleans who was Laws buddy was placed as regent (temporary king), \nand to his horror he found out that France was so deep in debt that taxes \ndidn't even cover the interest payments on Frances debt. What happens next \nin this situation as this same cycle repeats through history? Law sensed \nopportunity he showed up at the royal court with two more suggestions for \nhis friend and for France. Blaming the problems France faced on insufficient \ncurrency supply and expanding the virtues of paper currency over gold and \nsilver being used as the medium of exchange.\nOn May 15th 1716 John Law was given a bank out of thin air and the right to \nissue paper currency also out of thin air with the governments backing (fiat) \nand once again the monetary cycle repeated here in modern times in Europe \nthey went from money over to currency just as has always happened in the \nmonetary cycle, they thought they could get away with it.\nTo start with as always happens in the monetary cycle the slightly increased \ncurrency supply brought a new vitality to the economy. Law was hailed as a \nhero and a financial genius creating all this wealth out of thin air. Really? As a\nreward the Duke d'Orleans granted Law the rights to all trade from Frances \nLouisiana territory in America, stretching from Canada to the mouth of the \nMississippi river. At the time it was believed that Louisiana was rich in gold and silver and John \nLaws new Mississippi mining company, with exclusive rights to trade from this\nterritory, became the richest company in France. Law wasted no time \ncapitulating on the public's confidence in his companies prospects and issued\n200,000 company shares. Shortly after that the share price exploded \nmeasured in the rapidly expanding currency supply. Rising by more than 30 \ntimes in a matter of months which was soaking up the rapidly expanding \ncurrency supply as fast as the printing presses could print new currency and \nissue it.\nJust imagine in a few short years Law went from a fugitive on the run for his \nlife, a gambling addict and penniless murderer to one of the richest most \npowerful men in the world at this time.\nAgain Law was rewarded. This time the Duke bestowed upon him and his \ncompanions a monopoly on the sale of tobacco, the sole right to refine and \ncoin silver and gold and he made Laws bank the Banque Royal. Law was now \nat the helm of Frances central bank. And since everything seemed to be \ngoing so well and the apparent prosperity the expanding currency supply \nbrought about in this part of the monetary cycle, the Duke asked John Law to \nspeed up the rate he printed and issued the currency. France was flourishing \nas long as confidence held in this rapidly expanding currency supply. Law \ntelling the Duke that there is no such thing as too much of a good thing \nincreased the expansion of the currency supply just as the world is doing in \nthe 21st century its exactly the same monetary cycle repeating. The \ngovernment spent foolishly and recklessly while John Law was pacified with \ngifts honors and titles.\nYes things were going quite well. So well in fact that the Duke thought that if \nthis much currency supply expansion brought so much prosperity then twice \nas much would be even better. Just a couple of years earlier the government \ncouldn't even pay the interest on its debt, and now, not only had it paid off its\ndebts in full but it could also spend as much currency as it wanted all it had \nto do was print it.\nAs a reward for Law's service to France the Duke passed an edict granting the\nMississippi company the exclusive right to trade in the East Indies, China and \nthe South Seas. Upon hearing the news, Law decided to issue 50,000 new \nshares of the Mississippi Company. When he made the new stock offer, more \nthan 300,000 applications were made for the new shares. Among them were \nDukes, Marquises, Counts, and Duchesses, all wanting to get their shares. \nLaw's solution to the problem was to issue 300,000 shares instead of the \nproposed 50,000 he was originally planning. A 500% increase in the supply of\ntotal number of shares. A good example why you should avoid investing in \nshares and stick to real assets that are unlikely to be confiscated again. And  At the time it was believed that Louisiana was rich in gold and silver and John \nLaws new Mississippi mining company, with exclusive rights to trade from this\nterritory, became the richest company in France. Law wasted no time \ncapitulating on the public's confidence in his companies prospects and issued\n200,000 company shares. Shortly after that the share price exploded \nmeasured in the rapidly expanding currency supply. Rising by more than 30 \ntimes in a matter of months which was soaking up the rapidly expanding \ncurrency supply as fast as the printing presses could print new currency and \nissue it.\nJust imagine in a few short years Law went from a fugitive on the run for his \nlife, a gambling addict and penniless murderer to one of the richest most \npowerful men in the world at this time.\nAgain Law was rewarded. This time the Duke bestowed upon him and his \ncompanions a monopoly on the sale of tobacco, the sole right to refine and \ncoin silver and gold and he made Laws bank the Banque Royal. Law was now \nat the helm of Frances central bank. And since everything seemed to be \ngoing so well and the apparent prosperity the expanding currency supply \nbrought about in this part of the monetary cycle, the Duke asked John Law to \nspeed up the rate he printed and issued the currency. France was flourishing \nas long as confidence held in this rapidly expanding currency supply. Law \ntelling the Duke that there is no such thing as too much of a good thing \nincreased the expansion of the currency supply just as the world is doing in \nthe 21st century its exactly the same monetary cycle repeating. The \ngovernment spent foolishly and recklessly while John Law was pacified with \ngifts honors and titles.\nYes things were going quite well. So well in fact that the Duke thought that if \nthis much currency supply expansion brought so much prosperity then twice \nas much would be even better. Just a couple of years earlier the government \ncouldn't even pay the interest on its debt, and now, not only had it paid off its\ndebts in full but it could also spend as much currency as it wanted all it had \nto do was print it.\nAs a reward for Law's service to France the Duke passed an edict granting the\nMississippi company the exclusive right to trade in the East Indies, China and \nthe South Seas. Upon hearing the news, Law decided to issue 50,000 new \nshares of the Mississippi Company. When he made the new stock offer, more \nthan 300,000 applications were made for the new shares. Among them were \nDukes, Marquises, Counts, and Duchesses, all wanting to get their shares. \nLaw's solution to the problem was to issue 300,000 shares instead of the \nproposed 50,000 he was originally planning. A 500% increase in the supply of\ntotal number of shares. A good example why you should avoid investing in \nshares and stick to real assets that are unlikely to be confiscated again. And  silver would never be as much a target of potential confiscation attempts. \nGold has been confiscated many times through history including John Laws \ntimes and as recent time as my grandparents times in America.\nMeanwhile Paris was now booming due to the false boom as I call it part of \nthe monetary cycle and due to the rampant stock speculation and the \nincreasing currency supply. All the shops were full, there was an abundance of\nnew luxury goods and services and the streets were bustling. As Charles \nMackay puts it in his seminal book 'Extraordinary popular delusions and the \nmadness of crowds' \"new houses were built in every direction and an illusory \nprosperity shone over the land, and so dazzled the eyes of the nations \ninvolved. (much of the developed world at this time and today in the same \nsituation the entire world) that none could see the dark cloud on the horizon \nannouncing the storm that was too rapidly approaching.\" I think this quote is \nso powerful looking at the world in the 21st century. The same cycle is \nrepeating the currency supplies are expanding at an exponential rate both \nfiat and crypto and no one can see the dark clouds on the horizon that are \nannouncing the perfect economic storm approaching on the entire Earth this \ntime around.\nSoon however as the currency supply expanded exponentially problems \nstarted to crop up as the cycle repeats. Due to the rate of expansion of the \ncurrency supply prices of everything started to skyrocket. Real estate values \nand rents for instance increased 20 fold. Just as is happening in the 21st \ncentury due to expanding the currency supplies also.\nLaw also began to feel the effects of rampant inflation he had created. With \nthe next stock issue of the Mississippi company Law offended a Prince de \nConti when he refused to issue him shares at a price the royal wanted. \nFurious the prince sent three wagons to the bank to cash in on all his paper \ncurrency and Mississippi stock. He was paid in three wagons full of gold and \nsilver coin. The Duke d'Orleans however was incensed and demanded the \nprince return the coin to the bank. Fearing that he would never be able to set \nfoot in Paris again, the prince returned two of the three wagon loads of gold \nand silver.\nThis was a wakeup call to the public. The 'smart money' began to exit fast. \nPeople started converting their notes to coin. And bought anything of \ntransportable value. Jewelry, silverware, gemstones and gold and silver coins \nwere bought and sent abroad or hoarded.\nIn order to stop the bleeding in Feb 1720 the banks discontinued note \nredemption for gold and silver (exactly the same thing happened in 1971) but\nthis time in 1720 it was declared illegal to use gold and silver coin in \npayment. I can see this happening again in our day in the near future. Buying jewelry, silverware, precious stones and the like was also outlawed. Rewards \nwere offered of 50% of any gold or silver confiscated by those found in \npossession of such goods (payable in currency notes of course). Roadblocks \nwere set up and carriages were searched. The prisons filled the heads rolled \nliterally.\nAs always happens in this cycle faith is lost in currency no matter how hard \nthe governments make it illegal to use gold and silver or try price controls to \nstop run away inflation and insist nothing other than fiat currency is used, the\nfree market always wins in the end.\nFinally the financial crisis came to a head in May 27, the banks were closed \nand Law was dismissed from the ministry. Banknotes were devalued by 50% \nwiping out the zero's printed on the large denominated notes. It did not do \nany good. Any poor people who had their life savings in paper lost nearly all \nof it as faith was lost no one wanted it for exchange even though the \ngovernments had made it the law to accept it. A little later the black or free \nmarket overwhelmed the manipulated controlled one no matter how hard the\ngovernments tried. \nOn June 10th Banks reopened and resumed redemption of gold and silver for \nthe currency. Of course there was a rush to redeem money for the currency \nbut the amount of currency out there was far too much. When the gold and \nsilver ran out the people were paid in the next monetary metal copper, \nalthough its not a monetary precious metal. As you can imagine the frenzy to \nconvert currency into money was so intense that near riot conditions ensued. \nGold and silver (money) had delivered a knock out blow to currency.\nBy then John Law was then the most reviled man in all of France. In his single \nlife time the monetary cycle had repeated. He went from being one of the \nmost wealthy powerful men in the world to the nobody he was before. Law \nfled to Venice where he resumed his life as a gambler and womaniser \nlamenting \" Last year I was the richest individual who ever lived, today I have\nnothing not even enough to keep alive\" he died broke in Venice in 1729.\nThis collapse of the Mississippi company and one of the first fiat currency \nsystems in modern monetary history plunged France and most of the world \ninto a horrible depression, which lasted for decades. But what astounds me is \nthat the same cycle is repeating in our day since 1971 people have yet again \nbeen deceived as to what is money and currency and the exact same tricks \nJohn Law employed were the exact same tricks of ancient time deceiving \npeople with currency in place of money. It always end the same way and the \ncycle repeats.\nThere was a very interesting quote by John Law that is often quoted by \nBitCoin and crypto currency enthusiasts today. John Law said \"Money is not  the value for which goods are exchanged but the value by which they are \nexchanged\" He next said \"the use of money is to buy goods. Silver, while \nmoney is of no other use.\"\nI would disagree with those who agree with John Law, I would say money has \nto have value in and of itself anything else is just currency. I may have agreed\nwith Law in his time in the 1720's that silver has no other use but today silver\nhas arguably far more value than the tenth of an ounce (3grams) being \nvalued at a 12hr days wage. While it may have been true in his day, it is \ncertainly not true today to say Silver has no other use, as I go into later in this\nbook.\nHistory has repeated over and over throughout the millenniums. Frequently \nover the last few thousand years in different places around the world there \nhas been this rush out of currency and into money. Then the cycle repeats \nand the next generations forget and are fooled into thinking currency is worth\nsomething more than it is.\nI believe we are on the verge of this rush out of currency and into money \nhappening again now but not just in a few places around the world but for the\nfirst time ever the entire world all at the same time.\nFast forward to modern times. For thousands of years now since the first ever \nbankers we just talked about, the same cycle has repeated. Bankers try to \nconfuse people between what is currency and real money. They get the \nmasses to believe that currency is just as good as real money so they can \ncreate as much currency out of thin air as possible and spend it on what they \nlike. At some point there is so much currency about that people lose \nconfidence in it and rush back to gold and silver real money. Then over the \nnext several generation's this is forgotten and the cycle repeats.\nOne method that started in ancient Greece (which could be why the Bible \ndepicts Greece as copper) involved debasing the currency, the old fashioned \nway. Henry VIII earned his nickname \"Old Copper nose\" because he added so \nmuch copper to what were supposed to be silver coins that eventually it \nwould show through on the nose of his portrait. As the coins were being used \nthe nose was the first to wear away. Nowadays they debase the currency not \nby mixing copper into the silver but by typing zero's onto their bank account \nbalances.\nAnother famous example is the siege of Valletta by the Turks in 1565. As the \nOttoman embargo dragged on, the supply of gold and silver began to run \nshort. The cycle repeats as always in much the same way. When governments\nrun out of money the cycle repeats and they either go over to currency or \ndebase the money somehow. The Knights of Malta decided to mint coins \nusing increasing amounts of copper. The motto that they stamped on each  coin as they became less monetary precious metal and more monetary base \nmetals was to try to keep peoples faith in these coins: Non Aes, sed Fides - \n'Not the metal but the trust'. Just think about that for a moment. Before 1971 \ncurrency notes said on them something to the effect of \"I promise to pay the \nbearer on demand the monetary precious metal backing this paper\" now in \nthe UK the £20 note says \"I promise to pay the bearer on demand £20\". But \nwhat is that £20 backed by since 1971? Before 1971 all fiat currencies were \nbacked by gold through the USD, after 1971 they are all backed by nothing. \nIts just like debasing the coins but trying to say its not monetary precious \nmetal anymore because we have run out of money, but please can you just \nview this currency as just as valuable as money so we can have unfair \nwealth transferred to us without having to work for it.\nThis is what it all comes down to in the end, in a nutshell. In the sound money\npart of the cycle when money is being used gold and silver, it is fair for \neveryone. When the cycle repeats and currency is brought in usually as a \nrepresentation of the money, if equal amounts are being used as money \nbacking them then it is still fair, but when more currency is added to the \nsupply than money backing the units, then it becomes unfair and an unsound\nmonetary system. It is a wealth transfer to those expanding the currency \nsupply. If shells were being used as currency, then anyone able to gather \nthose shells themselves and spend them is having wealth transferred to \nthem. The official issuer of the shells to begin with may call this \ncounterfeiting, but it is only the same as they would be doing. In the end faith\nand confidence is lost in the currency and there is a rush to turn currency \nback into money as the cycle repeats. Then the next generations forget and \nas governments overspend and run out of money they once again repeat the \nmonetary cycle and try to issue some form of currency. Often by debasing the\nmoney gold and silver, or issuing some currency supposed to be backed by \nmoney gold and silver but then expand the supply. It is happening exactly the\nsame today in the 21st century. The world was supposed to be using currency\nbacked by the monetary precious metals after WW2, but the supplies were \nexpanded of the currency far more than the money backing them. In 1971 \npeople were so used to using the representations of the money, that they did \nnot notice the cycle repeating now the world is in the currency part of the \nsame cycle. The supplies are expanding and wealth is being transferred to \nthose with the power to expand the currency supplies. Next will come \nconfidence will be shaky in the unbacked currencies and there will be a rush \nto turn currency into money as the debasement intensifies.\nThese bouts of debasement always 100% of the time end in disaster, as faith \nis lost in the currency, inflation shoots through the roof and the economy \ncollapses, after which politicians introduce a new, more credible system \nbased on monetary PM's, and the cycle repeats. There are little differences every time it repeats but its the same cycle.\nIn 1873, the fourth Coinage Act demonetised silver and put America on the \nGold Standard. This had a devastating effect on the majority of Americans. \nThe money they used on a daily basis, silver, was no longer allowed to be \nused to pay off debts and taxes. This, in turn, made the gold necessary to pay\nfor these debts and taxes worth much more. So the effect of the ‘Crime of \n1873’ is that it crippled the economy and sent U.S. into the worst economic \nperiod in the history of the United States. Who benefited from this? The \nbankers — it made their gold and loans worth much more. They eventually \nforeclosed on thousands of homes and millions of acres of lands.\nIn the late 1800's China had saved a lot of money in silver, then the West \nattacked silver because they did not have any left and China had more than \nthey had. They changed the rules with the crime of 1873.\nFast forward to the 21st century, these last few years China has been saving \na lot in gold and silver once again, well there isn't that much silver to buy, but\nthere is lots of gold so they have been buying what they can mostly gold.\nBloomberg Television’s “On The Move Asia” had a fascinating interview with a\nMr Cheng, the World Gold Council’s Managing Director, Far East. He discussed\nChina’s gold and silver market and what’s driving the country’s demand with \nRishaad Salamat.\n\"I think that the key of this is investment demand six years ago, you didn't \nsee any investment demand in China. China opened up the investment \nmarket through banks and now literally any Chinese person can walk into a \nbank and buy gold and silver products. And you look at the number of outlets \nsince 2008 where people can buy investment gold, silver bars, gold and silver\ncoins - there are a hundred thousand of them in China in just 6 years. If I  make a comparison with America -- Starbucks, McDonald's and Subway \ntogether have only fifty thousand outlets. In China there are now more than a\nhundred thousand outlets where you can buy gold. So, the availability of gold \nand silver in China, in every city, in just 6 years is growing at an alarming \nrate.\"\nMore than once the Western powers have used silver to bankrupt China. More\nthan once China has accumulated a lot of money and the Anglo-American \nworld power convinced the world that silver was not worth as much as it has \nbeen through history, thus devaluing or another way to put it robbing wealth \nout of money and into their currency. Could the West try and change the rules\nagain similar to the crime of 1873? They could try but this time China could \nwin. Silver is already as low as it can ever get.\nAnglo-America\nSo we are almost up to the twentieth century in this brief study of monetary \nhistory. I am writing this updated book exactly 100years after the start of the \nfederal reserve. It was brought about in 1913 but became firmly established \nin 1914 which everyone agrees was the year the world changed as never \nbefore. This was the start of the Lords day the Bible prophesied thousands of \nyears ago in the prophecy from Daniel. \nThis 2,500-year-old prophecy recorded by Daniel pointed towards the year \n1914. Some Bible Students spent decades before the start of the 20th \ncentury pointing out that the year 1914 would be significant. Many people at \nthat time were optimistic. As one writer states: “The world of 1914 was full of \nhope and promise.” With the outbreak of World War I later that year, \nhowever, Bible prophecy came true. The subsequent famines, earthquakes, \nand pestilences as well as the fulfillment of other Bible prophecies proved \nconclusively that the prophecies pointing to 1914 came true.\nAuthor G. Edward Griffin wrote a must read book that ranged across 2,000 \nyears of monetary and banking from Diocletian to the Rothschilds to Alan \nGreenspan, called The Creature From Jekyll Island. He agrees that the world changed significantly in the year 1914 and most \npeople only think of the great war, overlooking the importance of the \nmonetary cycle repeating and the significance of the start of the federal \nreserve in that year. This is what his book is all about.\nGriffin cuts through the obscurities about the Fed that are intentionally meant\nto mystify and disarm its victims (all of us around the world). Convinced that \nthe subject of money and banking is too arcane and complicated to \nunderstand, we victims are trapped in a world view that utterly fails to jibe \nwith reality. The money manipulators, says Griffin, are exploiting our \nignorance for the advancement of their own appalling plans; the urgency of \nawakening us to our danger has driven Griffin to write this extraordinary \nbook.\nI say it is not too complicated to understand in fact it is very simple, another \nway to say what Griffin says is how I put it - trying to confuse people about \nthe difference between money and currency. This monetary cycle has \nrepeated through history and will continue to repeat. Going from money (gold\nand silver) over to currency (anything other than gold and silver used as a \nmedium of exchange) and back again, then repeating. You have to hand it to \nthe banksters they have confused people and now most people view currency\nas money. But this always happens in the false boom part of the monetary \ncycle. Next come currency expansion which is what the world is now \nexperiencing at an exponential rate. Its easy to see the next part of the \nmonetary cycle coming soon as the worlds currency supply is expanded \nexponentially and ending badly then the cycle repeats and gold and silver \nrevalue as they do an accounting for all the currency since the last \nrevaluation.\nSo in 1914 the world changed as the monetary cycle repeats always ends badly and the 20th century was no exception. WW1 was the \nbloodiest war the world had ever seen.\nIn 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) declared that Americans could no \nlonger own physical gold. U.S. citizens were ordered to bring their gold to the \nlocal Federal Reserve branch to receive paper certificates in return. Soon \nafter the confiscation, FDR devalued the Dollar relative to gold, giving those \nprivate bankers — who now owned a lot of gold — an overnight 69% profit. \nFor the next 42 years, it was illegal for the average American to own gold.\nWe are now upto the 1940's. Then after WW2 the first Bretton Woods system \nwas introduced which meant that the US dollar was fully backed by real \nmonetary precious metal and all other currencies would be backed by money \nas well through the US dollar. So at the Bretton Woods meeting, the world \nagreed that all currencies would be backed by monetary precious metal \nthrough the US dollar meaning that the world was not using currency but real \nhonest money again, or at least representations of it. This is the cycle \nrepeating as normal. How long could it last this time?\nSince the 1948 Bretton Woods conference every currency in the world was \nbacked by monetary precious metal - tied to the US dollar, which was tied to \ngold. Then since 1971 the US dollar cut the cord to gold. Overnight, every \ncurrency in the world went from metal standard to completely unbacked \ncurrency, for the first time ever it is global as the same cycle repeats. On Aug\n16th 1971 the day after the Nixon shock any countries who wanted to cash in\ntheir paper currency receipts for money they were supposed to be backed by,\nwould from now on be settled in only more unbacked paper currency. How \ncould the world let this happen? Most people had got so used to using these \npaper receipts for the money in storage, they did not notice these paper \nreciepts for the money were not backed by anything anymore. Several years \nbefore 1971 silver was slowly unobtrusively replaced with a worthless alloy \nmostly iron/steel. Most people did not notice as happens every single time \nthis cycle repeats.\nIn 1964, with the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the repeal of his \nExecutive Order 11110, the bankers and politicians demonetised silver out of \nthe USA coins, replacing it with a worthless alloy mostly iron/steel that now \nacts as the symbol of the currency.  Which could be why the Bible depicts the Anglo-American world power as the \nlower part of the iron legs. The cycle repeated and they replaced the silver \nmoney with iron currency.\nSometime after the Bretton Woods agreement in 1948 where every currency \nwas promised to be backed by monetary PM's some countries suspected the \nAmericans of playing the exact same trick as the very first ever bankers we \ntalked about. The Americans were painting on extra bits of animal skin this is \nworth 1 ounce of silver or gold. Far more receipts for money than they held in\ntheir vaults. Only now it was not animal skin it was billions of little green bits \nof paper called US Dollars.\nNo worries under the Bretton Woods agreement each dollar was backed by \nreal gold and every currency was backed by the dollar. So some countries \nasked to be paid in real money instead of these funny green bits of paper. \nThe Americans did not like it. \nJust like when you take your shirt to the cleaners, they give you a receipt for \nit. It is a claim on the actual thing. Or when you drive to a valet parking and \nthe parking attendant gives you a receipt for your car. Imagine you are \nplaying poker like James Bond in Casino Royale. You put your valet ticket in \nthe pot. Someone else puts their valet ticket for their Aston Martin. What if \nsomeone had the ticket book the valet attendants use to issue unlimited \ntickets for cars that did not exist? And what if all the people playing poker \nbelieved these were as good as the cars they were supposed to be backed \nby? Everything would be fine as long as nobody checked to see if there really \nwere cars there as the receipts claim. But the moment confidence is shaky \nand more people go to claim their cars than cars exit then the faith is lost in \nthe paper receipts.\nThe USA under Tricky Dicky President Nixon wanted everyone to just trust \nthem that they would not print more paper than they held peoples gold and \nsilver. But everyone suspected they were printing far more receipts than they\nhad real monetary precious metal.\nThen France in the late 1960's said what's the difference the dollar is fully \nbacked by gold isn't it? We would like the actual gold not the funny green bits\nof paper receipts that seem to be increasing in quantity very fast.\nUnder the Bretton Woods agreement the US could not do anything about it. \nVast amounts of gold and silver were drawn out of America. This draining \ncontinued until August 15th 1971.\nThis was the year that many suspect the USA to have almost run out of gold \nand silver. It is now confirmed they have now run out of ALL silver stockpiles, \ngold is very plentiful but still they will not let anyone check but they now  admit all the silver is gone from the once full \nsilver vaults.\n So Nixon came on TV on August 15th 1971 and announced to the world that \nthe US dollar would \"temporarily\" no longer be backed by real gold!!!!!! He \nended the Bretton Woods international monetary system, that the world \nagreed on after WW2 without any other countries having a say. (I am writing \nthis book over 40 years after and they are still \"temporarily\" using fiat \ncurrency. For the price of gold and silver to catch up with all those units of \ndollars they created out of thin air, is a moving target. Because they are still \nexpanding the currency supply.) It's well worth watching this Nixon speech \nsearch youtube Nixon 1971 gold. He never really said how long this \ntemporary new monetary system would last but, here well over 40 years later\nthe world is still temporarily using this system.\nHis exact words on Sunday August 15th 1971 were \"temporarily\" and \n\"urgently needed new international monetary system\" urgently needed \nbecause they were running out of gold and silver, and they wanted people to \nforget about gold and silver are money and believe their animal skins that \nwere supposed to be backed by monetary precious metal (US Dollars) were \nworth something. \nThe cycle repeated once again. And once again the next generations would \nbe confused about what is real money and what is currency.\nThe tell tail signs of a boiler room scam! Three British men were just \nsentenced to a total of 43 years in prison. Their crime? A classic boiler-room \nscam. Which they used to con British investors out of £80M units of currency. \nThey spent their ill gotten gains on funding their lifestyle and having a good \ntime- think boats, planes and endless cars. Eighty million sounds like a lot of \nunits of currency, but the really horrible thing is they didn't find it that hard to\nget hold of.\nThe boiler-room scam involves high pressure sales tactics and getting peoples  confidence in low value or by the time they buy into worth a lot less shares \nand investments.\nYou may think you would never fall for this kind of thing. But that is exactly \nwhat happened in 1971 and the entire world fell for it. If you have confidence \nin the unbacked currency you are using right now then you have fallen for it.\nSo this new temporary international monetary system was started in 1971. It \nfits perfectly the very definition of a huge ponzi scheme. As the US dollar was\nno longer backed by gold and every currency in the world was backed by the \nUS dollar, the entire world was now using currency (just the same as the first \never bankers making extra animal skins with 1oz bullion painted on them) \nand not real money, for the first time ever its now global.\nThe central bankers all around the world could now add as many units of fiat \n(means by government decree, the government's say you have to use it) \ncurrency as they like. Just the same as the first ever banks becoming wealthy \nby painting on animal skins and people believing they are worth something, \ncentral banks print trillions of units of fiat currency, and people foolishly \nbelieve they are worth something when the truth is they are worthless, it's \nonly the foolish belief that they are worth something that gives them worth.\n What is even more absurd is now they don't even need to print it they can \njust type it into their bank account and spend it however they want. Its digital\nunits of currency not worth the paper they are not printed on. Expanding the \ncurrency supply of the planet and we work for it like slaves.\nThe first ever bankers had to get bits of animal skin to create currency, but \ntoday bankers really can create currency out of thin air by typing it into their \nbank accounts and making fancy names up for it like QE, or stimulus.\nAs long as an alcoholic can still manage to buy more booze, every thing's \nrosy. Doesn't matter that his marriage is tanking, his job's shaky, his friends \nhave dropped him, his health is going down, as long as the booze flows, he's \nokay.\nNo matter how much drugs (credit) will be added (growth) to a junkie’s habit, \nwhich make him feel better for a little while, his problems will get worse and \nhis health will deteriorate from more drugs. The only way to get his life on \ntrack is to stop using drugs, take the pain, and truly recover.\nWe actually work hard for these temporary units of fiat currency and the \nbanks are laughing as they churn out billions and trillions more units and \nspend them all over the world. They know its temporary, but as long as the \nbooze flows they are okay. The booze has been flowing for decades since Aug\n15th 1971. \nWe are now right up to the very start of the 21st century in this\nbrief look at monetary history. Gordon Brown’s announcement of \ngold “sales” by the Bank of England, intended to drive prices \nstill lower, this was one such attack in a very long series of \nattacks on precious metals prices by the paper money \nmob.---“Trading was on a very heavy scale throughout the day, \nthe weakness in prices marking the climax of more than a \nfortnight’s selling by the Chinese operators, who were getting out\nof a long position which had its origin earlier in the year. \nRecommendations of the Currency Commission, which has been \nin session during most of this year, PROVIDES THAT PAPER \nMONEY IN INDIA SHALL CEASE TO BE CONVERTIBLE INTO \nSILVER just as soon as confidence in paper money issued \nagainst a gold reserve shall be established.” (All steps taken \nagainst silver money eventually lead to the same actions against\ngold!)\n“One essential purpose of the proposed Reserve Bank of India, \nto the plan for which the weakness in silver has been partly \nascribed, is discussed in its monthly bulletin by the Midland \nBank of London. It is “TO ENCOURAGE THE USE OF PAPER  CURRENCY IN PLACE OF RUPEES AND TO PROMOTE THE \nDEVELOPMENT OF SOUND HABITS OF SAVING AND \nINVESTMENT. ON THE FIRST POINT THE COMMISSION \nRECOMMENDED THE ABOLITION OF THE LEGAL RIGHT OF \nCONVERSION OF NOTES INTO SILVER RUPEES AND THE \nCESSATION OF COINAGE OF NEW RUPEES FOR A LONG \nTIME TO COME.”\nThis is the same cycle that has repeated in various parts of the world \nthroughout the millenniums. But this time for the first time ever its the entire \nworld involved, the population of the planet is now well over 7 Billion and the \namount of gold and especially silver is getting very scarce in relation to world\npopulation.\nEvery single time this has happened the masses wake up to the fact that \nunits of currency are becoming worth less and less as the currency supply \nexpands. When confidence is lost in currency what happens? The same thing \nthat has always happened for thousands of years, that's what. There is a \nmass exodus from currency and into real money gold and silver.\nMost recent currency crisis happened in Zimbabwe where you had hundred \ntrillion dollar notes not worth toilet paper.",
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      "body": "This is why the \n7th final world power the Anglo-American duel world power was prophesied \nto be fragile.\nChris Duane who started the silver bullet movement often stresses leaderless\nresistance. The Silver Bullet and the Silver Shield is about fighting the \npredatory forces by withdrawing our capital from their system and stacking \nreal wealth. He coined the term listen to all follow none. He quite rightly says \nmarches and unrest do no good whatsoever. One ruler famously said \"let \nthem march all they want as long as they pay their taxes\" When buying silver\nbullion and taking it off the market is a the most effective silver bullet that \ncan do far more good than protests or marches. It is also a silver shield to \nprotect yourself from the perfect storm that is historically due to repeat.\nSo the 7 kings prophesied in Revelation are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-\nPersia, Greece, then Rome then British-American world powers. Each of these \nworld powers were also symbolised by other beasts in the scriptures as can \nbe seen in this picture.\nWhen I first presented this information to some monetary historians they all \nsaid this is information that can not be found elsewhere. I said thank you for \nsaying that there is information in my book that can not be found anywhere \nelse. I am a very keen student of the Bible all my life and in recent years \nmonetary history, so I formulated these thoughts about the metal image from\nDaniel chapter 2 and the monetary cycle that has repeated through history.\nI am not the first to say the reason silver was so fitting for Medo Persia was \nbecause of the silver monetary system, but I believe I am the first to say why \ngold represented Babylon. Also why Copper was for ancient Greece as they \nwere the first to debase gold and silver with copper, then iron for Rome and Anglo-America because steel coins have now replaced monetary PM's. Then \nthe clay mixed with iron could represent digital currency worth even less than\nsteel or iron. We are slowly becoming a cashless society. At the moment we \nare iron mixed with clay, we do use iron or steel coinage alongside digital \ntransactions. The so called elite version of digital money if implemented, they\nwill be able to take all of ours and control it 100%. No more privacy \nwhatsoever.\nBut that was just to set the scene on why to live self reliant. I wanted it to not\nbe about describing the problem but mainly solutions that are helpful.\n-\nIt has to be said that these 7 dominant world powers do not include every \ndominant world power through out history. But I feel it does include most of \nthe main ones. Most others if not almost all dominant world powers through \nout all history went through these stages of the monetary cycle that ended \nbadly for them. For example Genghis Kahn's reign went far further than \nAlexander the greats. But his dominant world power only lasted a few \ngenerations unlike the 7 main ones I looked at. But even his and subsequent \nKhan's went through the monetary cycle, there is a famous quote that has \nsurvived until this day. \"The great Khan (Chinese ruler), causes the bark of \ntrees, made into something like paper, to pass for money all over his \ncountry.\" It's well worth repeating for emphasis that many things have been \nused as currency but only gold and silver are money in and of themselves.\nSo we have just looked at seven of the dominant world powers of history. As I \njust said there have been many many more dominant world powers and less \ndominant world powers. It is a fascinating subject to study, if you want to look\nat monetary history. Even in modern times the cycle has repeated in lesser \nworld powers like Wiemar Germany then Argentina a few times recently, then\nZimbabwe and at the time of writing its happening in Iran, to name just a few.\nI know some have disagreed on comparisons made to Wiemar Germany and \nZimbabwe for reasons relating to functional debt markets (Wiemar) and the \nfact that Mugabe is absolutely nuts- granted our central planning overlords \nare crazy too- but they are far more subtle. The moment that major \ndevaluation occurs in the West, it's game over for them.\n So there are always differences every time this cycle has repeated. It will be \ndifferent in many ways this time around but its the same cycle repeating that \nhas always repeated. From money to currency and back again.\nGOLD WARS BY FERDINAND LIPS, first of all what a great name. But seriously \nthis is a must read book for those interested in monetary history and this \nmonetary cycle that repeats through history. A few words on Ferdinand Lips:  He was a renowned Swiss Banker born in 1931, and established his own bank \nin Switzerland, Bank Lips AG (Bank Lips Silver) in 1987. He openly says in his \nbook when he says gold he means gold and silver. Aside from banking, he \nwas also active in finance and a respected authority on gold and silver \nmarkets. His long experience gives great weight and value to the insight he \nprovides in Gold Wars. He was also a vocal critic of the sale of Swiss Gold \nReserves, and dedicated a chapter on this matter in the book. In his foreword \nof the book, he says about himself:\n“I am not an economist. For most of my fifty professional years, I was a \npracticing banker. The experience gained and thirty years of studying history,\nparticularly monetary history, led me to recognize that the present monetary \nsystem is in disarray. It is a slap in the face of law and order, civilization and \ncivility; but, most importantly, it is a threat to our freedom. Let us hope it will \nnot last much longer, as the same monetary cycle repeats.”\nGold Wars is a great source of information on monetary history, the part of \nmonetary history that is no longer taught, the part that is overlooked. Very \nfew if any universities offer this information, there has been an effort to keep \nthis history hushed up. In the book he answers the question that so many are \nnow asking, what is money? He discusses money at a high level, perhaps in \nsome ways at a beyond PhD level, since many PhD’s in economics frankly \ndon’t truly seem to understand the difference between money and currency \nthemselves.\nIn Gold Wars, Ferdinand Lips reveals how the world economy has swayed \nfrom money which is only gold and silver, over to currency which is anything \nelse used as a medium of exchange. Summary of gold wars.......\nGold in History \nAncient Civilizations Rose and Prospered With Gold and Silver then went over \nto currency and back again.\nThe rise and fall of ancient civilizations goes back to the stability of gold and \nsilver in their markets. Cultures flourished on wealth and stability – this \nprosperity was secured by sound money - gold and silver. The Egyptians were\nthe first ancient civilization to mint and use gold and silver as a currency, \nthen ancient Assyria, Babylon and Medo-Persia went from money over to \ncurrency, followed by the Greeks, and the Romans repeated this cycle several\ntimes during their dominance. After a prosperous and stable economy under \ngold and silver sound money, the monetary cycle repeats and develops into \nthe first Keynesians, tempted to cheat one another with weights, diluting the \ncoins, ultimately debasing it – which Lips says can explain why they suffered \nfrom long periods of instability and civil war, then the cycle repeats. Many \nfactors could be blamed for the fall of these Empires, but the monetary cycle \nrepeating was certainly a critical one. \nIt is important to point out that silver and gold have been monies dating back\nmore than 5,000 years. I think they were being used as money even before \nthat but there is no proof. The very same monetary cycle going from money \nover to currency and back again has repeated time and again and is \nrepeating again in our time early in the 21st century. It is also worth noting \nthat every inconvertible fiat (paper currency) monetary system in history so \nfar has collapsed each time the monetary cycle has repeated, with each \n“monetary unit” returning to its intrinsic value of zero. It could be argued that\nnot all of them went completely to zero, but as a practical matter the \ndevaluations were so harsh that the currency was abandoned by the \npopulation as a medium of exchange—effectively making it worthless. Yes \nyou could burn it or maybe stuff your mattress as insulation but to all intense \nand purpose these paper notes are worthless.\nThe average fiat monetary system has lasted roughly 35 years, which \nironically, is seldom if ever pointed out in academia. Is it just coincidence that\nan economic event (hyperinflation) came about at nearly the same time that \nfiat money came into existence? Hyperinflationary episodes have occurred \nmore than 50 times in the 20th century alone. Various economists have \nanswered the question regarding why silver and gold, as opposed to other \ncommodities, are considered money. A. J. Turgot, Richard Cantillon,Carl \nMenger, and others have pointed out that it is because these two precious \nmetals have the most marketability or salability. Aristotle named the \nattributes that the most ideal (commodity) money should have. It should be \nscarce, durable, malleable, divisible, homogenous, transportable (having a \nhigh value to weight ratio) and be a store of value of long periods of time. \nThese virtues almost perfectly describe silver and Fiat simply means a \ncurrency that derives its value from government regulation or law, such as  \npaper currency. Currency may well fit some other requirements, but has \nnever been a store of value over long time periods, only gold and silver have.\nTurgot argues further that, while almost all commodities may more or less \nconveniently serve as money, gold and silver have been chosen as the \n‘universal money’ because they possess in the greatest degree the various \nphysical properties which peculiarly suit them to that role. Joseph Salerno, \nsays a similar statement as do many other respected monetary historians. I \nwill briefly summarize just how intertwined silver and money have been \nthroughout history, which is necessary to understand because silver has two \ndemand drivers. The first is the industrial demand component, which I break \ndown between fabrication (jewelry, photography, and silverware) and that for\nindustrial uses (electronics, batteries, brazing alloys and solders, \nphotovoltaic, 10,000 other uses etc.) The second is investment or monetary \ndemand. Investment demand hit a record in 2013 and looks to do the same \nagain in 2014. Investment demand should continue to set new records nearly \nevery year until the current fiat money house of cards implodes or a \nworldwide monetary reset occurs, as soon as this next decade to 2024 or 25. \nThis is for several reasons, including but not limited to:\nInvestment demand of silver in both China and India continued at an \nextremely robust pace last few years and looks set to at least continue or go \nup. India in particular really drove investment demand in 2013. As of the end \nof December 2013, net silver imports stood at a whopping 7.063 tons for the \nyear, an increase of well over 15% year-on-year. This puts India on track to \nimport 27%-28% of world mine production (assuming total world mine \nproduction increased to 842m oz. in 2013). American Silver Eagle Sales set \nanother record high in 2013, reaching the 2012 threshold with a month left in\nthe year. Remember this is immaterial but gives us insight into what the \nsmart money is doing.\nAt some point in the next five to ten years, the price of silver is destined to \nreach tripledigit prices, or over 6 times greater than the present ($14-$16oz \nin 2014). With silver, the potential is exceptionally strong because of required\nindustrial consumption, which will greatly augment the coming effects of \nsignificantly higher investment or monetary demand. This means the price of \nsilver should rise sharply as total demand far outstrips supply. But its value \nshouldn’t be looked at in currency terms, rather in terms relative to other \ncommodities.\nTo fully grasp the concept of the origination of money, it is necessary to start \nat the beginning, answering such questions as: What is money? Why is \nmoney necessary? What is its function? Who chooses what constitutes \nmoney? And lastly, what makes a chosen monetary system sound or \nunsound? These are key question that are answered in this book. \nSo in review of Ancient Monetary History of Silver – from 3,400 B.C. - 1792\nMoney is a medium of exchange and a unit in which prices are expressed but \nit is not, as many people think, a measure of value. This is because exchange \nis an action that expresses preferences; that is, he who acquires a good or \nservice values it more highly than what he pays for it. Market participants use\ncardinal numbers to measure such things like space, time, weight, and mass. \nThis begs the question as to what technical or economic need there could \never be for a measure of value, given its subjective nature. If one were to \nassume money could measure value, meaning the price paid for a good \nrepresents that good’s cardinal value, this should then be applicable to \nmoney if it were a measure of value. And this brings up the question, “What \nis the value of this measure of value?”\nThe Origin of Money\nStarting from the most basic monetary system, a barter economy is when a \nperson engages in direct exchange with another individual, lacking a \nstandard unit of account. This problem is solved by the development and \nusage of indirect exchange.\nNaturally problems arise when exchanging one good for another in a barter \neconomy, because the market is constantly changing due to an individual’s \never-changing subjective values of needs and wants. Furthermore, exchanges\nonly take place if each party in the proposed transaction has a direct, \npersonal need for the good he/she receives in exchange and views the good \nhe/she receives in exchange as more valuable than what they have to give \naway for it.\nWhat makes a monetary system sound? A clear and concise answer is, “any \nmonetary system that a government is not involved with.” A sound monetary \nsystem inherently rises in a market economy, with checks and balances that \nprevent monetary inflation. A more detailed answer, which history has shown \nus time and time again, is that the market would choose a commodity \nmoney, notably gold and/or silver. This shouldn’t be confused with the \nmonetary system of the U.S. during the period of 1913 to 1971 as this wasn’t \na true gold standard. As many suspect the Americans of printing more dollars\nthan they held gold and silver.\nOne of the great things with the presence of a 100%-backed commodity \nstandard is that such a standard is synonymous with freedom. The inherent \nnature of government is to usurp as much power as it can in an economy, or \nsaid differently, attempt to control all or as many as possible factors of \nproduction, the most important being monopoly control of the currency, \ncommunication, and transportation.\n The irony here is that government and central banks are the cause of the \nboombust cycle (business cycle) by distorting interest rates, which relay \nimportant information to every individual, instead of letting the market \ndetermine interest rates. A common fallacy is that modern day business \ncycles (1913-present) are commonplace and, as Alan Greenspan would say, \nare “Economic Phenomena.” Interest rates relay such information as to what \npart of the structure of production capital will be most efficiently allocated. It \nreflects society’s savings/investment-to consumption preference and acts as \na signaling mechanism to capitalists as to whether they should invest capital \nto maximize accounting profits. Artificially manipulating interest rates \ndownward, combined with fractional reserve banking, induces an artificial \neconomic boom in the first place, which is followed by a natural bust, or \ncleansing, of the imbalances from the economy created by the artificial \nboom.\nLooking at Turgot’s contribution to monetary theory—more specifically, how \nexactly the market adapts and has adapted silver and gold as the ideal \nmoney—the following quote from Turgot is ingenious, with an obviously deep \nunderstanding on the origins of money:\n“Individual actions generate a spontaneous and self-reinforcing market \nprocess whereby silver and gold evolve into money. Market participants, \nrealizing this, will become increasingly eager to acquire and hold stocks of \nthese metals for the purpose of being used in exchange at a later date. This \ndemand for silver and gold and the corresponding market values of each will \nbe augmented by this development, further enhancing their usefulness as a \nmedium of exchange. Once this is accomplished and universally becomes \nthe preferred medium of exchange and traded against every other good in \nthe market, the metal weights become the standard unit in which all market \nvalues or prices are expressed.”\nSadly, in order to have a natural money circulate as the predominate medium\nof exchange, private property rights must at all times be acknowledged and \nprotected! To the degree that private property rights aren’t acknowledged, \nthe money that comes into use is forced money, a clear violation of private \nproperty rights. Forced money therefore has one feature—it owes its \nexistence to violations of private property rights, which violates free market \nprinciples. In reality (as opposed to theoretically), there is nothing in the \nmiddle of capitalism and socialism, thus if government has monopoly control \nof the mint, it is anything but free market capitalism, and sadly, this is what \nexists in every major economy today.\nJust how pronounced has silver’s monetary role has been throughout history? \nThe very word for silver is money in many languages. In Italian, Spanish, and \nFrench, the words can be interchanged. In Hebrew, the word kesepph means both silver and money. Even in Early-American slang, the word silver was \noften used to signify payment:\n“Grease my palm with silver!” To be precise, among more than 250 million \npeople in over 50 countries, the word for money is identical to the word for \nsilver. Many Europeans refer to both silver and money as “argent,” while \nSpanish-speaking people the world over use “plata” to mean silver, money, \nor both.\nAnother greatly misunderstood concept is that of deflation and how \nmainstream media and market pundits exhibit such great disdain for it. It \ncould be because central bankers do the same, but history has shown that \neconomic forecasts by members of the Federal Reserve Open Market \nCommittee are generally inaccurate and always inaccurate for medium to \nlong periods of time. These forecasts aren’t just wrong, but, at times, so \nsignificantly inaccurate as to be almost comedic when looked back upon. My \nwife grew up in Japan during many years of deflation. This is referred to as \nJapans lost decade/s. For the people living in Japan it was wonderful seeing \nyour currency go up in value and be able to buy more and more each passing\nyear.\nSilver’s Use as Money: a Brief History\nWhile it is unclear who the first people to mine silver were, we can trace \nsilver mining and silver used as money back to 3400 BC in Mesopotamia \n(although some argue that silver mining began before that, in Hungary, \ncloser to 4000 BC). This was also beginning of writing, and correspondingly, \njournal entries. These entries were for local trade, which had various \nstandards as a unit of account, such as silver and animals, amongst several \nother goods, illustrating that even 5,000 years ago, the market chose silver \nas a medium of exchange. As identified at the start of this chapter with the \nfirst ever recorded financial transaction when Abraham paid for his wifes \nplace of rest with silver money. While this money system was very primitive \nand remained so until coinage came about, it didn’t stop other societies from \nusing silver as a monetary unit nor did it impede the advancement of the \nmonetary system.\nThe first instance of bimetallism, actually the use of three metals (gold, silver \nand copper), began 1,400 years later (2000 BC) in Egypt. The monetary \nsystem evolved and had definitive weights for trade purposes as well as \nexchange rates against one another. The unit of weight(deben) and monetary\nunit (sha) were the following:\n· A deben of gold was worth 12 shas\n· A deben of silver was worth 6 shas \n. A deben of copper was worth 3 shas\n· 1 deben = 7.5 grams of gold, 15 grams of silver, or 75 grams bronze/copper\nWhat a wonderful simple fair monetary system. Easy to understand \nand work out. Why does it need to be more complicated than that? I \nthink this could be a fair monetary system today, with these relative \nvalues used in physical form as well as using the blockchain \ntechnology for backed crypo currency. There could be the main \nmoney used to compete with bitcoin et al called the silvergram, \nwhich would be worth half a goldgram and ten times a coppergram. \nGiven the relative supply demand fundamentals of the three \nmonetary metals today. Most of the time the world would just use \nsilvergrams either digitaly changing ownership of serial numbersof \nsilver grams in a vault, for long transactions or physical grams of \nsilver for hand to hand transactions. See later in the book for more \non the new silvergram monetary system.\nAmazingly, by today’s standards the gold-to-silver ratio was 2:1, followed by \ncopper worth around 10% as much again. This advancement of the monetary \nsystem continued, and in 1500 BC, monetary units of the same melts had \nvarying weights. The Hittites reverted to a monometallic standard, using \nsilver as a medium of exchange. It is also important to point out that this was \nprior to the advent of coinage, which came 800 years later.\n· Shekel ~ 8.41 grams of silver\n· Stater ~ 16.82 grams of silver\n· Mina ~ 500 grams of silver, or 15.5 ounces\n· Talent ~ 30 kilograms, or 933 ounces\nThe Lydian System\nAn immense advancement in the monetary system was made by the Lydians,\nwho were the first to utilize coinage (silver and gold) for monetary purposes, \nwhich first occurred around 700 BC. The Lydians were the first to not only \ncoin money but to also develop the first system of coins, initially making \nthem from gold and silver alloys. They were also the first to establish retail \nshops. Some argue it was King Alyattes who developed and then first coined \nthe stater, while others argue it was King Gyges who first circulated this \ncoinage. These small oval nuggets circulated throughout the East. As you can see, the \noval nuggets were not 100% homogenous, so technically could not be called \ncoinage. King Gyges ruled from 690 to 657 BC, while King Alyattes ruled from\n610 to 550 BC. Historians tend to link King Gyges with the first coinage and \nsystem of coins. These coins were actually not silver or gold, but rather an \nalloy of the two. Later, the son of King Gyges, King Croesus, greatly improved \nthe smelting technique of his predecessor via separating silver and gold from \nthe electrum. While either King Alyattes or King Gyges came up with the first \ncoinage and system of coins, King Croesus originated the first bimetallic \nsystem of coins, with an exchange rate between the two, as follows:\n· 1 gold stater = 8.17 grams of gold\n· 1 silver stater = 10.89 grams of silver\n· 1 gold stater = 10 silver staters\n· (8.17) x (1) = (10.89) x (10) OR\n· Gold-to-silver ratio = (108.90/8.17) = 13.33\nThe Lydian system spread like wildfire through the East, then to Greece and \nall of Mediterranean Europe. Greece was able to develop its economy thanks \nto silver-lead veins running south of the city. The first mines exploited easily-\nobtained surface veins, which is silver closest to the earth’s surface.\nThis was the start of the first large-scale mining industry, which included \nmore advanced ore refining. As a result, Athens sported a strong currency \nand advanced trade, but it then made one fatal flaw—initiating the \nPeloponnesian War.\nAthens society and political philosophy were more capitalistic than its \nneighboring city, Sparta. Sparta had almost the exact opposite philosophy, \none that would be regarded as Socialist in today’s world. Athens instigated \nthe war in 429 BC and to their detriment did not foresee it lasting 27 years. \nThis brings us to the first instance of government manipulating/debasing its \ncurrency. In 407 BC, the government debased its currency by adding copper \nto the coinage, therefore causing a face value that was less than the value of \nits metal content. Another devaluation occurred just two years later in 405  BC. During the biblical times of Jesus, notably the betrayal by Judas, we know \nJudas was paid 30 silver “pieces” for this betrayal. It is unclear as to what \nweight of silver these 30 pieces equated.\n“Then one of the twelve, who was named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief \npriests and said, ‘What will you give me, if I give him up to you?’ And the \nprice was fixed at thirty bits of silver.” Matthew 26:14-15\nThere is evidence of two different monetary units (denier and shekel) as well \nas varying weights of both during this time. At the creation of the denier, it \ninitially weighed 4.51 grams of silver but the silver coin created in 212 BC \nbecame devalued and by 140BC, weighed 3.96 grams of silver. But although \nthe evidence that Judas was paid in “shekels” is much stronger, therein lies \nanother problem. At the time, there were different variants of shekels, \n“biblical shekels,” “Tyrian shekels,” and the basic “shekel.”\n· 30 denier/denarii x 3.96 grams or .127 troy ounces = 3.82 ounces\n· 30 biblical shekels x 6 grams, or .193 troy ounces = almost 5.79 ounces\n· 30 shekels x 11 grams, or .35 troy ounces = 330 grams or 10.61 ounces\n· 30 Tyrian shekels x 14 grams, or .45 troy ounces = 420 grams or 13.50 \nounces\nThe Tyrian shekel was used over the time period in Jerusalem and they were \nspecifically referenced in the book of Matthew. Due to the fact that a shekel \nof a specific weight was mentioned (Tyrians) in the book of Matthew (21:12) \nand it was the medium of exchange used to pay temple tax in Jerusalem, \nJudas’ payment for betraying Jesus was most likely approximately 13.50 \nounces of silver.\nHowever, this is a bit confusing, given that the biblical shekel was 6 grams, \nwhich naturally sounds as if that were the shekel referred to in the Bible. \nWhen the first shekel was coined in 600 BC it weighed almost 11 grams \n(10.89). Further complicating the issue is the denier/denarii, which is also \nreferenced in the Gospel of John as well Luke (10:25).\nThe Roman monetary system fell apart when the denier as a weight of silver \nwas reduced as silver coins were recast over and over again with each \nemperor. Over the period 158 AD to 284 AD, Rome had 20 different emperors,\nmost of whom debased its currency. Starting with Nero in 158-167 AD, the \nweight of silver in a coin was 2.19 grams. Then in 282-284 AD under Emperor\nCarus, the weight of coin dropped to 7.47 grams and only included .04 grams \nof silver. In other words, the silver content in each monetary unit was less \nthan 1/54 of what it was 115 years earlier. Year Emperor Silver Weight in Coin Depreciation 156-167 Nero 2.19 167-170 \nMarcus Aurelius 1.57 -28.31% 191-192 Commode 0.92 -41.40 212-217 \nSeptimius Severus 1.16 26.09% 224-227 Caracalla 0.88 -24.14% 235-238 \nMaximanus I 0.74 -15.91% 238-244 Gordian 0.61 -17.57% 244-249 Phillip \n0.87 42.62% 261-268 Gallian 0.4 -54.02% 268-270 Claude 0.26 -35.00% 282-\n284 Carus 0.04 -84.62% \nThe Medieval Period\nThis period primarily involves Charlemagne, who became king of Gaul and \nGermania in 771, after the death of his brother. Charlemagne went on to \nexpand his empire by defeating the Saxons to the north, followed by Austria \nand then Northern Italy. Charlemagne decided to replace the previous \nworthless currency with a new one, a currency strictly minted in silver. The \nnames of the monetary units were nearly the same, the basic unit being \ncalled the Roman denarius. This weighed 1.70 grams, with the next monetary\nunit being the obol, weighing 0.85 grams. A popular unit was the penny, \nbeing worth 12 denarii, as well as the pound, worth 240 denarii. This \nmonetary system was on a monometallic standard (silver), partly due to the \nfact it was the only one relatively plentiful among the Franks. Charlemagne is \nimportant in monetary history because his change to monetary policy would \nbe influential throughout Europe for many decades.\nThis monometallic system lasted for four centuries. In Venice 400 years later, \nthe first “sequins” were minted. Sequins were first called ducats, which \nweighed 3.60 grams of gold (3.495 grams of fine gold), thereby replacing the \nmonetary system Charlemagne Cyrille Jubert, Silver Throughout History, had \nput in place. Venetian bankers imposed an exchange rate on gold \n(manipulation) in order to control its inflows.\nIn 1275, the prevailing gold-to-silver ratio was 8, increasing to 15 just 50 \nyears later. This along with trade with the Mongols and what was essentially a\nmonopoly on gold mines pushed Europe onto a monometallic monetary \nsystem, but this time using gold. The gold-to-silver ratio was reduced as the \nemperor of Mali undertook a journey to Mecca, bringing with him 60,000+ \nmen and more than 10,000 slaves. In every city this journey took them \nthrough, they paid generously in gold for the needs of all the journeymen. \nDue to the influx of gold, Venice reestablished the gold-to-silver ratio, from 15\nto 1, to 9 to 1 by 1345. Florentine bankers were ruined by the gold manipulation of the Venetians. \nTheir fortune prior to the manipulation was primarily in silver and the \nincrease from 8 to 15 per Gresham’s Law drove silver out of circulation. This \ncaused 60% of the silver to be driven out of circulation by 1345, and \nfractional reserve banking (multiple claims on one monetary unit in specie) or\nlending out more money than it actually held in deposits caused a financial \nmeltdown. This crisis, also known as the “systemic crash of 1345,” led to a \nsubstantial spike of inflation.\nThe results were extreme poverty and famine among the masses, the recipe \nfor a wave of epidemics due to the immune system becoming substantially \nweakened. It was known as the Black Plague. In five years, it wiped out \nroughly 40% of the total European population. This, along with the Hundred \nYears’ War, resulted in a century of silver shortages and economic stagnation,\nor in other words, set back economic progress for more than a century.\nChina: The birthplace of paper money\nThe first use of pseudo-fiat money was 2,000 years ago by the Chinese \nEmperor Wu-ti, as he was caught up in a series of wars and needed financing \nto fund his battles. He tried numerous money substitutes, most of which were\nvery odd, with one of these being deerskin money, which was exactly like it \nsounds. This money at the time was highly ritualistic. While this use of \ndeerskin money was successful in financing Wu-ti’s campaigns, it didn’t last \nvery long. To get an idea just how valuable this was in society, a deerskin \nmonetary unit was equivalent to 480 ounces of silver! This was not the first \ntime animal skins were used as currency, that was as shown earlier in this \nchapter, in ancient Babylon when both animal skins and clay tablets were \nmarked with values of silver. But it could be argued that animal skins were \nthe first forms of paper currency.\nThe Tang Dynasty\nDuring the Tang Dynasty (618-906) in China, paper money widely circulated \nand “religious paper” that corresponded to silver, gold, copper, and silk was \nnot money that circulated in commerce, but was just religious offerings. \nCopper coins were the primary circulating medium of exchange and for brief \nintervals of time, silk rolls were used in exchange for medium- to large-sized \ntransactions. Gradually, silver gained preference as the common monetary \nunit among the people. Three types of credit institutions existed, one being a \nmoney shop, which was a concept similar to a bank.\nBy 750, fei-ch’ien, or “flying money,” illustrated the advancement of the \nChinese monetary system. Today it would be considered an instrument used \nin credit exchange, similar to a credit card transaction. It could be argued that\nthis is comparable to a warehouse receipt used in “classical” deposit banking, as it was a negotiable draft note.\nIt became commonplace to keep metal on deposit somewhere and draw \nnotes against it (known as debiting the metal on account). It is important to \nnote here that this system arose from the market, not government.\nBy 812, flying money came to an end as government prohibited private fei-\nch’ien as the fee for using fei-ch’ien, similar to credit card fees today (fees \nwere raised from 3% to 10%).\n“Chinese histories attribute the origin of ch’ao-pi, or paper money, to the fei-\nch’ien ‘flying money,’ of the Tang period. The ‘flying money,’ also known as \npein-huan, ‘credit exchange,’ was essentially a draft to transmit funds to \ndistant places; hence it may be considered a credit instrument but not \nmoney. This history of paper money and that of other credit instruments, \nhowever, is so closely woven together that the ‘flying money’ forms a logical \nstarting point for our account.”\nPaper money was used in Szechwan in 1011, which was called Chia-Tzu. \nThere were problems from the start as the three most prominent money and \ncredit institutions (pawnshop, co-op loan society, and money shops) had \ncontrol over issued notes, either shortchanging their customers on deposits \nor even completely ruining them. It only took 11 years from the start of this \nfirst paper money experiment until it collapsed due to a loss in confidence, \ncausing the government to close the private note shops. There were and still \nare a myriad of contradicting explanations regarding why this system \ncollapsed.\nThe Song (S’ung) Dynasty\nNot too long following the first fiat collapse, the Chinese again experimented \nwith fiat money, with the Song (S’ung) dynasty being the second to issue \npaper money (1024), which was called Chiao-Tzu. As is typical, the prevailing \ngovernment began abusing this new concept. The notes in circulation did \nhave an exchange rate against gold, silver, and silk, however, convertibility \nwas prohibited. Initially, all notes would be redeemed after three years and \nreplaced by new notes at a 3% service charge. This, however, began to be \nabused as the government stopped this practice and instead just printed \nmore and more notes, inflating the inconvertible fiat paper money. Shen Kuo, \nthe minister of finance, explained to the emperor how the economy prospers \nwith more money in circulation in 1077: “The Utility of money derives from \ncirculation and loan-making. A village of ten households may have 100,000 \ncoins. If the cash is stored in the household of one individual, even after a \ncentury, the sum remains 100,000. If the coins are circulated through \nbusiness transactions so that every individual of the ten households can \nenjoy the utility of the 100,000 coins, then the utility will amount to that of 1,000,000 cash. If circulation continues without stop, the utility of the cash \nwill be beyond enumeration.” His logic is astoundingly ridiculous and quite \ncomical. Inflation at that time took a bit longer to be recognized as the S’ung \ndynasty was cautious at first and only issued small amounts, such that the \nchiao-tzu held its value for seven decades. Inflation,nonetheless, became a \nbig problem around 1085-1090. For a time, fiat money and sound money both\ncirculated, but then the government started demanding taxes be paid, at \nleast in part, by inconvertible fiat paper money.\nThe government also introduced various laws, which essentially forced \nindividuals to use fiat in a plethora of situations. Less than a century later, \nthe inevitable happened and inflation became an issue. The dynasty was \nfighting the Mongols (the Yuan dynasty) and the increasing cost of fighting \nthe war made inflation very apparent. The S’ung dynasty eventually lost the \nwar early in the 13th century (1217). From the start in 1106 through 1217, \nseveral other fiat systems were tried, but they failed, due to lack of faith from\nsociety as a whole. The Chin Tartars gained control of the Northern China \nEmpire, and the S’ung dynasty continued to reign over the empire, which \nmakes up modern-day Southern China. The Chin brought back paper money \nin the form of Chiao-ch’ao in 1153. The Chin currency maintained its \npurchasing power for 40 years because the currency was believed to be fully \nbacked by silver and gold as the Chin emperor proclaimed; however, even \nwhile he was saying such things, all the precious metals that backed the \ncurrency were either redeemed or sold.\nMerchants relied heavily on silver to sustain commerce, despite the \ngovernment trying to do everything in its power to prop up inconvertible fiat \npaper money by Yang, prohibiting the hoarding of metals, imposing a \nmaximum drawdown on silver and gold from the imperial treasury, and \neventually inflating the money supply to finance the war.\nComing back to the S’ung dynasty in Southern China, the old S’ung leaders \nagain took charge and introduced paper money after this failed the first time.\nThis time it was in the form of Hui-Tzu, to circulate in everyday commerce. \nThe society reluctantly accepted the new paper money because the collapse \nof the S’ung currency in the north had been just a few years prior.\nLike the paper monies in China before it, the hui-tzu eventually was worth its \nintrinsic value of zero. For the first 50 years, this paper money was more or \nless stable— that is, until the government’s management of the currency \nbecame reckless. This paper money hoax that began in China is in practice in\nEVERY other government throughout history. More notes came into circulation\nand the purchasing power declined, followed by an attempt in 1204 (after the\ncurrency had lost roughly 20%-22% of its purchasing power) to increase \nconfidence in the monetary unit by calling the newly issued paper note a  gold, silver, and cash communicating medium.” Hu Zhiyu criticized the \ncurrency, declaring it worthless and stating that only precious metals backing\ngave paper value . .. in other words, blaming the inconvertibility. He ascribed \na great analogy between paper and precious metals as paper money being \nthe child, which is dependent on the mother, precious metals.\nThe Yuan Dynasty\nThe Yuan dynasty fared better with fiat money relative to the S’ung dynasty, \ndue to the actions of Kublai Khan, who followed the recommendation of Yeh-lü\nCh’u-ts’ai, his most prognostic advisor, and instituted a conservative ratio of \npaper to backing by silver. Further inspiring confidence in the Chung-t’ung \ncurrency, in 1268 the government established the Equitable Ratio of \nTreasuries. These bureaus served only as a place where convertibility of \npaper money to silver and gold was processed.\nAt this point it could be stated that the Chinese had learned from their \nfailures experimenting with paper fiat money. It was clear the government \nlearned something, albeit not in full, from the mistakes made in monetary \npolicy from the recent past, as Minister Liu Hsuan said the following: “If there \nwas the slightest impediment in the flow of paper money, the authorities \nwould unload silver and accept paper as payment for it. If any loss of popular \nconfidence was feared, then not a cash’s worth of the accumulated reserves \nof silver and gold in the province concerned would be moved elsewhere. At \nthat time, still very little paper money was issued without a reserve to back it,\nand it was therefore easy to control . . . For seventeen or eighteen years the \nvalue of the paper money did not fluctuate.” Liu accompanied this by also \nwarning of the dangerous risks in inflating the money supply and stressed the\nnecessity of confidence in a currency, which was brought about by precious \nmetal backing and/or convertibility. The economy improved at first, most \nnotably in agriculture, water irrigation, encouraged silk production, and a vast\nimprovement in monetary affairs, while he made paper money even more \nwidespread but backed the money by specie. This led to more active \ncommerce with the construction of roads, improved canals, and a postal \nsystem.\nThis, however, got the economy into trouble after some time, due to \nexcessive spending on public works programs that persisted after Khan’s \nreign. His successors fared no better and began engaging in currency \nmanipulation, higher taxation, and several other economic shenanigans that \nwere both unpopular and unsuccessful.\nPeasant uprisings began to occur after the government tried to exploit them \nin various manners, and a series of over 30 very harsh winters caused the \nexisting economic problems to worsen. The Yuan currency morphed into a fiat currency due to the vast expenditures on public works programs, and the \nMongols undertook numerous unsuccessful military and naval excursions.\nIt wasn’t one single event but rather several that caused the dynasty to go \nbroke. Several incredibly large naval fleets were destroyed by typhoons, and \ncountless other small events put pressure on the system. Price inflation took \noff due to massive printing of inconvertible and unbacked paper money, \ncausing society at large to accumulate precious metals. Minister Liu Hsuan \nwas very outspoken in his opposition to the printing of paper money.\nThe transition from the Yuan dynasty to the Ming dynasty was a result of the \npeasant uprisings combined with the harsh winters and other natural \ndisasters. The Ming dynasty arose from the collapse of the Yuan dynasty \ncaused by wars among the Mongol imperial heirs. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang \nbecame the emperor; he was a Chinese peasant and former monk turned \nrebel army leader.\nThe Ming Dynasty\nThe Ming dynasty brought back paper money, purportedly because it lacked \nthe wealth to instill a sound monetary unit. The Ming dynasty managed to \ninflate the money supply to such a degree that over a 75-year period (1375-\n1450), the purchasing power of the Ta-Ming pao-ch’ao was reduced to \n1/1,000 of its original strength by the end of this period, relative to the start.\nIn 1375, one ounce of silver was worth one string of paper. By 1450, one \nounce of silver was worth 1,000 strings of paper29. The Chinese finally had \nenough and before the 16th century, silver was far and away the most \npopular medium of exchange. By the end of the Ming dynasty, the people \nrejected all attempts by the government to bring back paper money.\nSilver Fever in Asia\nLastly, the Manchu dynasty (1645-1911) flourished as it became even more \nliberal (in the classical sense) than the West, with much more freedom from \nstate interference. Silver ingots overwhelmingly dominated exchange in both \ndomestic and world trade as well as in everyday use in commerce. It could be\nstated that China had “silver fever” during this time as well, accounting for a \nwhopping 25% of world population. It is important to note that during this \nexperiments with a “pseudo-fiat” monetary system, the Chinese had \neventually realized that such a monetary system would not work and would \ninevitably fail. In this sense, economic knowledge has not only been lost, but \nhas actually regressed!\nAt this point in history, the Europeans realized the Chinese civilization was \nadvanced relative to theirs, and had little desire for most European goods;  however, the Europeans desired Chinese products, most notably, silk. Gold \nhad no real monetary value in China, so a significant amount of trade with \nthe Chinese was done using silver as the primary monetary unit. Silver \nbecame much more highly valued in the Eastern world (China and Japan) and,\nbecause of the combined populations, had an uncanny ability to absorb the \nmetal. From the 15th through the 17th centuries, the gold-to-silver ratio in \nChina averaged 6-6.5:1 and roughly the same in Japan. Starting in the 17th \ncentury, the gold-to-silver ratio began to climb in the Eastern world. By the \nmid-17th century, the gold-to-silver ratio had increased to 13-14:1.\nIt has been said the value of silver in real terms peaked over the period 1450-\n1489 as the Hundred Years’ War came to an end. Since silver was in short \nsupply during this period, the government once again resorted to debasing its\ncurrency. This backfired, driving individuals to hoard silver, naturally \nexacerbating the shortage.\nThe Renaissance and Discovery of the Americas. This period was marked by \nseveral innovations, notably in navigational instruments (compasses, maps, \netc.) and in mining. In 1451, new methods were discovered for the extraction \nof silver (increasing the recovery rates) by adding mercury, salt, and copper \nsulfate. Furthermore, new hydraulic processes were implemented to “de-\nwater” underground mines.\nThese two occurrences allowed for increased extraction of silver from both \ncopper and silver ore. Mining became a more viable industry, which attracted \nmany financiers to invest in both mining and refining. This increased \ninvestment and superior mining methods soon resolved the silver shortage \nissue.\nThis brings us to a major currency crisis in England known as “The Great \nDebasement,” as Henry VIII debased the English coinage by first re-smelting \nthe coins so they contained less and less silver. The market soon realized that\nthis was a 75% depreciation. Thus, as a consequence, rampant inflation \noccurred in short order. The British currency quickly reversed course when \nElizabeth the 1st took the throne and named her financial advisor, Sir Thomas\nGresham. This is where the fairly popular term “Gresham’s Law” originated \namong free market economists. It can be explained in different ways, but \nbroadly speaking, it means “bad money drives out good.” In those days, it \nmeant that if two currencies are in circulation, the undervalued one will be \nhoarded/exported and driven out of circulation while the other will be used in \neveryday transactions. Seigniorage, the right to coin money, was considered \na source of income; thus, newly minted coins were overvalued relative to \ntheir weight in silver. Each new minting of a given metal resulted in inflation \nor confirmed Gresham’s Law and was driven out of circulation. We then move to the discovery of “the Americas,” in particular, the West \nIndies and the Caribbean, as Christopher Columbus and the conquistadors \nwere looking for a new route to India. Initially, only gold was shipped backed \nto Spain from South America. It wasn’t until more than five decades later that\nsilver mines were discovered, bringing with them, unprecedented wealth.\nThe first major discovery was made in modern-day Bolivia, part of Peru at the\ntime. The Potosi Mines were discovered in 1545, being the first large silver \nmines discovered in the “New World.” These mines were in the Andes \nMountains and contained very pure and high-grade silver ore. During the first \n20 years of mining at Potosi, 60 tons were produced, followed by an average \nannual production of 240 tons per year for the next 115 years. This amounted\nto 170,000,000 oz. of silver over the life of the Potosi Mines. All this silver has\nnow been consumed, as of the 21st century.\nProduction after 1680 saw a sharp drop off, because once the extremely \nhighgrade surface veins were fully exploited, grade and prevalence declined \nat depth. Silver only occurs near the earths crust, once mining gets \nunder that there is no more silver to be found, only gold is still \nfound. Although this knowledge wasn’t known at the time, so it naturally was\nsurprising to the miners. During the period of mining at Potosi, other smaller \nscale deposits were discovered both in Peru and Bolivia. However, the next \nbig mines would be found in Mexico. The silver mines in Mexico were \ndiscovered and exploited relatively soon after that in Bolivia, and by 1650, \nsilver production in Mexico exceeded that of Peru and Bolivia combined. Prior \nto the significant innovation in silver mining, exploration, extraction, \nrecoveries, and refining developed during the 20th century, Mexico’s peak \nproduction came in 1780, totaling 22,000,000 oz. Today, Mexico produces \nroughly 120,000,000 oz.\nThis too will see a significant increase a decade from now. This took place \nduring the reign of Charles V, who, along with his successors, received the  Royal Fifth,” or 20%, of all the gold and silver extracted. Added to this was \nthe seigniorage tax for producing money. Naturally, these taxes became too \nburdensome and many evaded them by smuggling, shipping, and selling \nmetal to Asia, among other things.\nThe “Royal Fifth” was changed to the “Royal Tenth” after the Spanish realized \nwhat was actually happening. Over time and around the world, the price of \nsilver fell, due to the vast increases in supply from the Americas. This can be \nseen through the increase in the gold-to-silver ratio, depicted in the chart \nbelow. For example, in England, wages increased to 4.1 grams from 3.4 \ngrams over the period 1600-1650 from 1550-1599. Each 50-year period, the \nsame thing happened through 1800. Wages increased to 5.6 grams, 7.0 \ngrams, and then to 8.3 grams by 1800. \nGSR Over History \nMenes, 3200 B.C. 2.5\nEgypt, 2700 B.C. 9\nMesopotamia, 2700 B.C. 6\nEgypt, 2000 B.C. 2\nEgypt, 1000 B.C. 10\nKing Croseus, Lydia, 550 B.C. 13.33\nPersia under Darius 13\nPlato, 445 B.C. 12\nXenophon 11.66\nMenander 341 B.C. 10\nGreece, 333 B.C. 15\nGreece, 300 B.C. 10\nRome, 207 B.C. 14.5\nRome, 189 B.C. 10\nRome, Julius Ceasar 40 B.C. 7.5\nRome, Claudius 12.5\nConstantine The Great 10.5\nTheodosian Code 14.4\nMedieval England 11.1\nMedieval Italy, 1275-1300 8\nMedieval Italy, 1301-1325 15 \nMedieval Italy, 1326-1345 9\nSpain, 1497, Edict of Medina 10.07\nChina: 1400-1600 6.7\nJapan: 1400-1550 4.8\nJapan: 1550-1650 9.6\nFrance: 1500-1650 13.9\nGermany, 1500 10.05\n1600-1620 12.1\n1700-1720 15.1\n1800-1840 15.3\nAs the cycle repeats it always repeats in a similar way. Going from money \nover to currency creates a false boom, everything looks rosey then comes the\nfeeling that something isn't right as the currency supply expands more and \nmore. Then as the cycle repeats all through history from ancient Egypt \nthrough all the dominant world powers right up to the Anglo-American current\ndominant world power today, it always repeats in a similar way going from \ncurrency abuse back to money. It always ends badly as the currency \nexpansion phase comes to an end and usually involves war, riots, civil \ndisturbances and very hard times for many. In my opinion this time this part \nof the cycle as the cycle repeats it will involve all of these. Here in the early \n21st century we are in the end phases of the currency expansion part of the \ncycle, next comes loss of confidence in the currency con game then things \nend badly as the cycle repeats. Now let us look at some examples of the \ncycle repeating in more modern monetary history.\nComing soChapter 2 \nMonetary History modern times.",
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      "body": "Rome.\nDaniel continued his explanation of the dream image: “As for the fourth \nkingdom [after Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece (not including Egypt and \nAssyria)], it will prove to be strong like iron. Forasmuch as iron is crushing and\ngrinding everything else, so, like iron that shatters, it will crush and shatter \neven all these.” (Daniel 2:40) In its strength and ability to crush, this world \npower would be like iron—stronger than the empires represented by gold, \nsilver, or copper. The Roman Empire was such a power. Rome crushed and \nshattered the Grecian Empire and swallowed up remnants of the Medo-\nPersian and Babylonian world powers. \nLets look at how the Rome empire fell.\nTo quote Mike Maloney again.\n\"Rome just as every empire in history never learnt from the mistakes of past \nempires. Over the many years of Roman leaders various leaders inflated the \nRoman currency supply by debasing the coinage and issuing more paper \nreceipts than they held real money gold and silver. All this led to one of the \nworlds first known about hyper inflation's. At one time a pound of gold was \nworth 50,000 Denari in the year AD 301, but 50 years later it was worth 2.2 \nbillion denari. It had risen 42,400 times in 5 decades. In modern times to \ncompare, 50 years ago gold was $35 an ounce if it rose the same amount in \nthe same time period it would today be worth over $1.5 million an ounce. If \nan average new car sold for about $2000 50 years ago which they did, the \naverage new car today would sell for $85 million.\"\nThe Romans expanded the currency supplies so much that there was not \nenough gold and silver or even copper. Thus the Iron coins replaced monetary\nmetals, iron was almost unlimited in supply so these new iron coins that were\n'fiat' as in the government says you have to use them slowly replaced the \nmonetary metals gold, silver and copper. This could be why the Bible \nrepresents Rome and indeed the next world power Anglo-America using iron. \nBecause the idea continued through to our day, iron/steel coins going through\nthe legs all the way down to the feet mixed with clay. Even today the majority\nof the coinage in the Anglo-American currency is made of iron or similar low \nvalue metals. You almost certainly have iron/steel coins in use today look in \nyour pocket or purse. I think a lot of the old cupro-nickel coins are nickel clad \nsteel in the UK, actually Wikipedia (take them for what you will) states only \n5p and 10p are nickel plated steel from Jan 2012. 20p, 50p is still cupro-\nnickel. In 1992 the copper 1p and 2p coins in the UK were replaced with \ncopper coated steel coins. Steel is actually an iron alloy with a carbon content between .2 and 2.1 \npercent. Steel is a common name for many combinations of Iron. So much of \nmodern coinage today is iron/steel. This started with the Roman empire which\ncould be why the Bible depicts Rome then Anglo-America using iron. \nIron may be worth a little more than paper but it is still classed as currency \nnot money. It does not hold its value over very long periods of time like \nmoney does. \nI have long been studying the image in the book of Daniel so to review my \ntheory - the head was gold because Babylon used gold as the monetary \nsystem the chest and arms were silver because medo-persia used silver as \nmoney systems then the hips were copper because Greece debased their \ngold and silver coins with copper then the legs were made of iron is it \nbecause Rome then Anglo-America used iron/steel coins in place of the \nmonetary metals?\nDan chapter 2 says the feet were partly made of iron and partly made of clay.\nI wonder if the clay could represent the cashless society we are becoming? \nCould the clay mixed with iron represent unbacked digital and unbacked \ncrypto currency? All the dominant world powers started off using Monetary \nPM's and then the cycle repeats but its a little different each time just as its a \nlittle different in our time now that the cycle is repeating but this time we \nhave unbacked crypto as the cycle repeats.\nLets get back to Rome and how the monetary cycle repeated as always. To \nlook at the mentality of the Roman emperors, we can look just at the advice \nthat the Emperor Septimius Severus gave to his two sons, Caracalla and \nGeta. This is supposed to be his final words to his heirs. He said, \"live in \nharmony; enrich the troops; ignore everyone else.\" Now, there is a monetary \npolicy to be marveled at!\nCaracalla did not adhere to the first part of that advice; in fact, one of his first\nacts was to murder his brother. But as for enriching the troops, he took that \nso seriously to heart that his mother remonstrated with him and urged him to\nbe more moderate and to restrain his increasing military expenditures and \nburdensome new taxes. He responded by saying there was no longer any \nrevenue, just or unjust, to be found. But not to worry, \"for as long as we have \nthis,\" he insisted, pointing to his sword, \"we shall not run short of money.\" \nHis sense of priorities was made more explicit when he remarked, \"nobody \nshould have any money but I, so that I may bestow it upon the soldiers.\" And \nhe was as good as his word. He raised the pay of the soldiers by 50 percent, \nand to achieve this he doubled the inheritance taxes paid by Roman citizens. \nWhen this was not sufficient to meet his needs, he admitted almost every \ninhabitant of the empire to Roman citizenship. What had formerly been a \nprivilege now became simply a means of expanding the tax base.\nHe then went further by proceeding to debase the coinage. The basic coinage\nof the Roman Empire to this time — we're speaking now about 211 AD — was\nthe silver denarius introduced by Augustus at about 95 percent silver at the \nend of the 1st century BC. Which makes it more durable similar to 9.25% \nsilver today. The denarius continued for the better part of two centuries as \nthe basic medium of exchange in the empire.\nBy the time of Trajan in 117 AD, the denarius was only about 85 percent \nsilver, down from Augustus's 95 percent. By the age of Marcus Aurelius, in \n180, it was down to about 75 percent silver. In Septimius's time it had \ndropped to 60 percent, and Caracalla evened it off at 50/50. Same as the \nGreeks did who discovered debasing silver coins when you run out of silver.\nBut the real crisis came after Caracalla, between 258 and 275, in a period of \nintense civil war and foreign invasions. The emperors simply abandoned, for \nall practical purposes, a silver coinage. By 268 there was only 0.5 percent \nsilver in the denarius.\nPrices in this period rose in most parts of the empire by nearly 1,000 percent.\nThe only people who were getting paid in silver were the barbarian troops \nhired by the emperors. The barbarians were so barbarous that they would \nonly accept silver in payment for their services. They were smart enough not \nto fall for debased coinage.\nBut ten years later, he finally abandoned the silvered coinage, which by this \ntime was simply a bronze coin dipped in silver rather quickly. Now one interesting thing with all this inflation should be a great comfort to \nus: historians of prices in the Roman Empire have come to the conclusion that\ndespite all of this inflation — or perhaps we should say, because of all of this \ninflation — the price of silver, in terms of its purchasing power, remained \nstable from the first through the fourth century. In other words, silver \nremained, in terms of its purchasing power, a stable value whereas all this \nother coinage just became increasingly worthless. Silver on average \nmaintained it historical average norm of a tenth of a troy ounce or about \n3grams valued at a 12 hour hard human labor 1 days wage.\nA practical example is in Acts 19:19 which tells us something enlightening \nabout newly converted Christians in Ephesus at the time Rome was the \ndominant world power: “Quite a number of those who practiced magical arts \nbrought their books together and burned them up before everybody. And \nthey calculated their value and found them worth 50,000 pieces of silver.” \nThe silver piece in question was the Roman denarius which was 0.1ozT of \nsilver, the sum would have equaled the combined 12hr daily wage of 50,000 \naverage workers—a substantial amount! \nImagine today in 2014 in the west an average 12 hr days wage today is $120 \nthen the modern day equivalent value would be $6million. Yet to show how \nundervalued silver is today this 50,000 tenth of a troy ounce of silver would \ntoday be able to be bought for just $100,000 ($20ozx5000oz).\nAlso of note is that just before Rome fell the barbarians demanded a ton of \nsilver to not sack Rome, but the Romans would not or could not pay them, so \nthey sacked Rome. I think it was the latter.\nBut they could pay them as many debased 5% silver denarius coins as they \ncould carry. The barbarians said no way we're not falling for that, only silver. I \nwonder if they would have fallen for unbacked US dollars or bitcoins? I doubt \nit.\nIn the end it was currency debasement that brought down the Roman empire.\nJust like every empire throughout history it thought it could go from money to\ncurrency and get away with it. As you can see debasing currency is a pattern \nthat repeats throughout history. It is a pattern that always ends badly.\nTo repeat a key take away point as already said and as Chris Duane brings \nout in his truth never told and silver bullet silver shield series of video's \n\"When the Barbarians were at the gates of Rome they gave them the choice \nof paying 1 ton of silver and they would not sack Rome. As Chris says The \nRomans either would not or could not come up with 1 ton of silver, I think it \nwas the latter. But they could offer a lot of currency to the barbarians which \nof course was almost worthless hence the barbarians sacking Rome and leading to an end to the great Roman world power.\nBut the iron legs of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream image pictured not only the \nRoman Empire but also its political outgrowth. Consider these words we have \nalready looked at recorded at Revelation 17:10: “There are seven kings: five \nhave fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he \nmust remain a short while.” When the apostle John penned these words, he \nwas being held in exile by the Romans, on the isle of Patmos. The five fallen \nkings, or world powers, were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and \nGreece. The sixth—the Roman Empire—was still in power. But it also was to \nfall, and the seventh king would arise from one of Rome’s captured territories.\nWhat world power would that be? Britain was once a northwestern part of the\nRoman Empire. But by the year 1763, it had become the British Empire—the \nBritannia that ruled the seven seas. By 1776 its 13 American colonies had \ndeclared their independence in order to set up the United States of America. \nIn later years, however, Britain and the United States became partners and \nhave been ever since. Thus, the Anglo-American combination came into \nexistence as the seventh dominant world power of Bible prophecy. Like the \nRoman Empire, it has proved to be “strong like iron,” exercising ironlike \nauthority. The iron legs of the dream image thus include both the Roman \nEmpire and the Anglo-American dual world power.\nWe can learn from the way Daniel described the metal image that the Anglo-\nAmerican world power would come from Rome, not conquer Rome. Daniel \nsaid the iron starts in the legs and continues to the feet and toes. In the feet \nand toes the iron is mixed with clay. This clay that is mixed in with the iron \nmeans people within the Anglo-American world power that make it weaker \nthan the Roman empire was. Just as solid iron is stronger than iron mixed with\nclay. Daniels prophecy says that the clay means \"the offspring of mankind\" \nDan 2:43. The common people have weakened the Anglo-American world \npower when they have fought for civil rights, to have more freedom and even\nto become independent nations. \n The common people make it hard for this world power to become strong like\niron. \n Daniel said in v42 of chapter 2 \"The Kingdom will partly prove to be strong \nand will partly prove to be fragile.\"\nWe the common people have the power to walk away from their debt and \ndeath paradigm. If we get out of all of their paper ponzi schemes and buy \nsilver, we can start a silver revolution. I strongly recommend Chris Duane's \nwork for understanding how the common people can just walk away. If we \nwalk away we take away their power and enpower ourselves. All we have to \ndo is sell everything we have have in their dying paper currency denominated\nWorld and buy rel physical silver and take it off the market.",
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      "body": "It is a fact that this monetary cycle has been around for thousands of years \nand it is key to understanding what is happening in the world \nright now. It's basically the same process every single time that the cycle \nrepeats, because human nature hasn't changed. So we're always going to get\ngovernments going over to currency from money then trying to inflate away \nthe currency out of greed and in order to stay in power so they can keep \nspending when they run out of funds. And we're always going to see people \nwho actually figure it out early and act accordingly. You can be one of the \nearly smart ones who change your currency for money before the masses \nrush to change their currency for real money. So we're in the same cycle and \nnow in the late-stage of the currency abuse again although most people, if \nthey don't feel it right now, they know something's wrong but they don't \ncompletely put all the pieces together yet. But eventually they will and then \nwe'll go to the next stage which is the end of the con game, confidence is \nlost in currency and everybody wants to change their currency for real \nmonetary precious metals. This has happened so many times through history \nit is the exact same cycle we are going through today in the early 21st \ncentury.\nMany Egyptologist's and historians speculate that this first time the cycle \nstarted, several other things were used as currency at this time which \nreplaced the money - gold and silver ingots as means of exchange. \nThis, one of the first known cases of using something other than gold and \nsilver, ended badly for the once great Egyptian world power, and led to the \nrise of the next great power on the scene Ancient Assyria. The monetary \ncycle repeated as it always has and gold and silver revalued to account for all\nthe currency that had been added to the supply. The currency also revalued \nto its true value of almost nothing. Assyria who took over from Egypt as the \ndominant world power went back to using newly revalued gold and silver, \nthus monetary precious metals did their first accounting and revalued to \naccount for all the currency that had been added to supply. You could say one\nof the first hyper inflation's. The currency goes to its true value of almost \nnothing and gold and silver value to their true value.\nConsider these words recorded at Revelation 17:10: “There are seven kings: \nfive have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive\nhe must remain a short while.” When the apostle John penned these words, \nhe was being held in exile by the Romans. The five fallen kings, or world \npowers, were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. Rome was \nthe world power at the time of writing and the Anglo-American world power \nwas the seventh that was prophesied to remain a short while. We have looked at Egypt the first of the 7, now lets look at the other 6 world \npowers of Bible prophecy from a monetary history point of view. Next after \nEgypt came Assyria.\nAssyria\nNineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire that was the second great \ndominant world power in recorded history after Egypt. In its heyday, Nineveh \nmay have been the largest city in the world. The Bible refers to it many times\nas a great city. It was a vast metropolitan region that evidently included \nseveral other cities. So a good question would be what was the means of \nexchange and if there was one, what was the unit of account being used?\nAssyriologist Archibald Henry Sayce says they used gold and silver ingots but\nthen other things were introduced as currency to replace monetary precious \nmetals. He describes the mighty empire after it went from money over to \ncurrency this was the second time the monetary cycle repeated, he says it \n\"experienced a huge economic boom.\" It was what I call a false economic \nboom due to expanding currency supplies and people believing they are \nworth the same as gold and silver. Archibald says \"Nineveh was a mighty city \nwith magnificent places and temples, broad streets, and massive walls.\"\nHow they went over to currency is unclear, but it is certain they started off \nusing money gold and silver after the Egyptian currency system expanded so \nmuch that it brought down that Empire. When the next great Empire Assyria \nfirst started issuing currency maybe people said no way, look what happened \nto Egypt when they went from money over to currency we want to keep using\ngold and silver as money! But the Assyrian Empire was most famous for its \ncruelty. If they said from now you will use our currency for exchanges and not\ngold and silver then if you ran a business back then you would do as you \nwere told. If you ever visit the British Museum and have a look at the Assyrian\nsection you will see the extent of their cruelty. One relief from Sennacherib's \npalace depicts a torturer wrenching the tongue out of a prisoner who had \nbeen pinned to the ground. People who did not do what they were told were \nskinned or burned alive or reserved for a worse fate. So when businesses were told to use this new government issued currency \nthat is what people did out of fear. Price inflation is the result of expanding \ncurrency supplies but governments have in times past tried price controls. \nAssyriologist Archibald Henry Sayce describes how the Assyrian leaders tried\nto curb inflation of their currency units with price controls even as they \nexpanded the supply. So those with the power to create and issue currency \nbecome very wealthy but as they issue more and more currency there are \nmore units chasing the same amount of goods and services, prices want to \ngo up but it is illegal to put up prices and business owners were frightened of \nbreaking the law no matter how stupid the laws were. The initial boom from \ngoing over to currency and expanding the supplies exponentially is doomed \nto failure. In the end no matter how frightened business owners are they can \nnot afford to keep selling their goods for the low prices forced on them to try \nto curb inflation, they will either go underground and create a black market \nselling goods for fair value in relation to the expanded currency supply or go \nout of business or try and run away, maybe run their business far away and \naccept gold and silver as payment even though it would be breaking the law. \nWhatever else may happen expanding currency supplies exponentially \nalways ends badly. Manipulations never last forever. Price controls never \nwork. Forcing people to use your currency never works, the free market \nalways wins in the end. This was what brought an end to the Assyrian empire \nthe 2nd dominant world power in history. \nToday some say the petro-dollar is backed by the Anglo American world \npower's military. Same thing happens every time this monetary cycle repeats.\nSimilar to the other dominant world powers like the Assyrian world power \nusing fear to try to force people to use their currency alone as a means of \nexchange as they expand the supplies and spend it on what they like. But the\nfree market always wins in the end.\nThe current dominant world power Anglo America is trying to force the \ncontinued use of the petro-dollar for world trade, but the world is slowly repudiating it. Saddam tried selling oil for gold they went in and killed him, \nthen Gaddafi tried the same thing and the same thing happened. Now Iran is \nturning its back on the petro-dollar and selling oil for gold, the Anglo \nAmerican world power is looking for every way possible to go to war but the \nrest of the world will not stand by and let it happen so easily as last times. \nSo a quick review, after Egypt the monetary cycle going from money to \ncurrency and back again started. Then Gold and silver started off again as the\ndominant forms of means of exchange in the world dominated by Assyria, \nwhich were used as common denominators of value. Then barley, salt again \nand other forms of currency even shells however, slowly replaced money. \nOther things were also made into currency and spent on whatever they liked \nby the currency creators.\nThus the monetary cycle started to repeat and the people started using \ncurrency (anything other than gold and silver) as a means of exchange. This \nonce again to start with brought great prosperity to ancient Assyria, for as \nlong as confidence is in the currency, but as we now know it was what I call a \nfalse boom because it is a con game. Eventually confidence is slowly lost as \nthe currency supply is expanded more and more, until the general feeling is \nsomething is wrong. Eventually again the free market and the will of the \npublic bid up the price of forgotten gold and silver to meet the currency \nsupply as the con game comes to an end and confidence is lost in the \nexpanding supplies of currency. Even if its on the black market and no mater \nhow frightened the populace is, gold and silver are used underground if its \nillegal to use gold and silver as it has been many times in history and could \nbe again in the future. This cycle still happens its natural. The cruel Assyrians \ncould not stop the natural monetary cycle from repeating with price controls \nand other manipulations, no matter how much fear they instilled. Whenever \nthis happens it always ends badly for the nation who issued the currency. This\nonce again proved true for ancient Assyria.\nBabylon\nIt was around this time just after Assyria's decline as the dominant world \npower due to the monetary cycle repeating that the Bible gives an incredible \naccount of some of these world powers “In the second year of the kingship of \nNebuchadnezzar,” wrote the prophet Daniel, “Nebuchadnezzar dreamed \ndreams; and his spirit began to feel agitated, and his very sleep was made to \nbe something beyond him.” (Daniel 2:1) The dreamer was Nebuchadnezzar, \nthe king of the Babylonian Empire. He had effectively become world ruler \nwith the decline of the Assyrian empire. The following day Daniel told \nNebuchadnezzar: “There exists a God in the heavens who is a Revealer of  secrets, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what is to occur in \nthe final part of the days.” Daniel was ready to reveal not only the future of \nthe Babylonian Empire but an outline of world events from Nebuchadnezzar’s \nday to our time and beyond.—Daniel 2:24-30.\n(The prophetic dream has been well written about, but I am looking at it ONLY\nfrom a world monetary history point of view. If you want to learn more about \nthe more important aspects of the prophecy I suggest the Daniel's Prophecy \nbook published by JW.org.)\nNebuchadnezzar listened intently as Daniel explained: “You, O king, \nhappened to be beholding, and, look! a certain immense image. That image, \nwhich was large and the brightness of which was extraordinary, was standing \nin front of you, and its appearance was dreadful. As regards that image, its \nhead was of good gold, its breasts and its arms were of silver, its belly and its\nthighs were of copper, its legs were of iron.\" Daniel next declared: “This is the\ndream, and its interpretation.”—Daniel 2:36. “You, O king, the king of kings, \nyou yourself are the head of gold.” (Daniel 2:37, 38) The successive world \npowers represented by the metallic parts of the image could now exercise \nworld domination. Lets look at them one at a time and what led to their \ndemise as world powers.\nLets go back to the start again by way of review before money was invented \npeople traded using a barter system. They exchanged goods and services of \nequal value. Traders using barter eventually saw the need for a more \nconvenient commodity that could be used to buy and sell goods. The solution\nwas to use precious metals such as gold and silver coins and ingots to buy \ngoods and services.\nFor example as already said the earliest recorded example was right at the  start of the Bible when Abraham bought a burial site for his beloved wife \nSarah he weighed out the required amount of silver.-Genesis 23:14-16\nSilver was almost certainly money long before this first recorded example. \nThe first coins rather than ingots were likely minted in Lydia (modern-day \nTurkey) sometime even 1000's of years before Christ. So before silver coins it \nwas small silver ingots that were used as money for thousands of years \nbefore this. Metal workers in various countries were soon mass producing \nsilver coins and bars people throughout the lands mentioned in the Bible \nbegan using them.\nAs well as traders another group who handled money were the bankers, of \neach dominant world power. They devised saving systems, made loans, and \npaid out interest to those who invested in the bank. Jesus referred to these \nbankers in an illustration about slaves who were given various amounts of \nmoney with which to do business.-Matthew 25:26,27\nAs silver coins and ingots were supposedly (so said the bankers) heavy and \ncumbersome these bankers soon devised ways of holding onto peoples silver \nmoney and issuing currency in place. Lots of things have been used as \ncurrency throughout history like shells, sticks and of course paper but only \ngold and silver are money.\nApparently by Nimrod’s time, the basis for such a system was largely in \nplace. The Collins Atlas of World History explains that “from the third \nmillennium onwards Mesopotamia [Babylon] developed powerful corporations\nof businessmen. They stocked goods, speculated, used various types of \ngoods as currency, and used ingots, especially of silver, carved into particular\nweights and sizes and sometimes bearing authentication marks.”\nThe main money used was silver bullion known as a Shekel 11.4g of silver. \nThis was 12hrs 1days wage. For bigger purchases they used the Mina which \nwas 50 Shekels 570g of silver. Or for very big purchases the Talent = 30 KG \nsilver was 60minas about 19 years wages. For smaller purchases the Gerah \nwhich was a tiny 0.57g of silver. Or 10 Gerahs about 5.7g of silver was called \na Bekah and 2 Bekahs were a Shekel. There was also a Pim which was \n7.8grams of silver. But these values have differed from time to time over the \nmillenniums. A couple of thousands years later the world was still valuing \nthings in silver Minas and Talents but the amount of silver needed was less. \nSilver goes up in value through history (with the exception of the last hundred\nyears or so). By the time of Greek and Roman money you only needed 340g \nor 10.9 Troy ounces to pay for something costing a mina when it used to be \n570g or 18.35Tozof silver. A talent which was 60 Mina was now only 20KG not\nthe previous 30KG. It was still about 19yrs wages but it took 10KG less silver \nbecause the silver was worth more. So average wages were less silver per day. For the first few thousand years of history a shekel was an average days \nwage 11.4g of silver but silver slowly increased in value over thousands of \nyears by the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries average days wages all around \nthe world were just under 3grams or a 10th of a ozT which was the average \ndays wage through history.\nHere is the interesting bit according to some historians they in time (ancient \nBabylon) started issuing written cheques or receipts for stored silver (carved \non plates or written on animal skins the first ever 'paper currency') with same\npersonal details as cheques today (Amount, quantity, date, name etc). The \nEncyclopedia Americana says that the ancient inhabitants of Shinar—the \noriginal name for what was later called Babylonia—carried on “a surprisingly \ncomplex system of lending, borrowing, holding money on deposit, and \nproviding letters of credit, on animal skins.” Or in simple terms confusing the \npeople about what is money and currency and getting them to think currency\nwas as good money. Then those with the power to write on animal skins \"this \nis worth one ounce of silver\" could literally create as much wealth as they \nwanted. As long the people were fooled into believing it was worth one oz of \nsilver then they could spend as many animal skins as they could create, i.e \nfar more than there were ounces of silver in existence. Again it is a con game.\nIt is all about confidence every time the monetary cycle repeats.\nCommercial activities in Nimrod’s day are not directly referred to in the Bible. \nYet, expressions found in its first book, such as “to buy,” “to sell,” and “carry \non business,” indicate that at least a few hundred years later, commercial \nactivities were commonplace.—See Genesis 25:31; 34:10, 21; 39:1; 41:56, \n57.\nSo we are up to Babylon the 3rd dominant world power after Egypt and \nAssyria.\nIt is true that for a prolonged period of time, cuneiform texts are silent with \nrespect to commercial activities in Babylonian society. Admitting that this is \ndifficult to explain, the book Ancient Mesopotamia nevertheless concludes \nthat “one cannot assume that trade relations ceased through that \nmillennium, especially since they are known to have flourished greatly in the \nsubsequent period.” This work suggests that at that time trade may have \nrested mainly in Aramaic hands and that papyrus and leather (animal skins \nthe first EVER forms of paper currency) were used as writing materials as well\nas using as a form of currency. Maybe one of the first EVER forms of paper \ncurrency made from animal skins. Amazing that today the world is \naccustomed to using paper as currency. These first ever examples of paper \ncurrency have not been preserved through the ages like the cuneiform \ntablets that can be seen in the British museum.  All we know is that the once mighty Babylon was sacked in 539 B.C.E. If any \nof these animal skins had been preserved through the ages I wonder if there \nwould have been evidence that because animal skins were increasing in \nquantity at such a rate more than the banks held real money gold and silver, \nthe people began losing confidence in them. The con game always comes to \nan end. Babylon experienced the knock out blow of currency (anything used \nas a medium of exchange that is not gold or silver) and the once again easily \nwon battle between currency and real money gold and silver repeated.\nSo the head of gold in the dream image represented not just Nebuchadnezzar\nbut the entire Babylonian line of rulership. Gold was fitting to represent the \nBabylonian dominant world power as they started of using gold as well as \nsilver money until they could not fund the very costly war and the cycle \nrepeated so they got the people to have confidence in and use paper \ncurrency which they expanded the supply to pay for the war.\n Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar: “After you there will rise another kingdom.” \n(Daniel 2:39) A kingdom symbolised by the image’s breasts and arms of \nsilver would succeed Nebuchadnezzar’s dynasty. Some 200 years earlier, \nIsaiah had fore told this kingdom, even giving the name of its victorious king\n—Cyrus. (Isaiah 13:1-17; 21:2-9; 44:24–45:7, 13) This was the Medo-Persian \nEmpire. \nSome 60 years after interpreting the dream, Daniel witnessed the end of \nNebuchadnezzar’s dynasty, as they had their own version of what the world is\ngoing through at the time of writing, their own little Babylonian financial crisis\ndue to expanded currency supplies. Many historians agree things were not \ngoing well for Babylon at this time, they were at war and it was proving very \ncostly for them. (Sound familiar?) They expanded the currency supply to \ncontinue funding the war. Daniel was present on the night of October 5/6, 539\nB.C.E., when the writing was on the wall for Babylon. The Medo-Persian army  diverted the protective waters around Babylon so they could surprise attack \nat night. Cyrus took seemingly impregnable Babylon and executed King \nBelshazzar. With the death of Belshazzar, the golden head of the dream \nimage—the Babylonian Empire—ceased to exist. The monetary cycle going \nfrom money over to currency always ends badly.\nMedo-Persia\nFollowing Babylon, Medo-Persia became the dominant world power of Bible \nhistory. So after Babylon the next dominant world power was Medo-Persia, as \nrepresented by the silver chest and arms of the dream image. There is ample \nproof that the monetary cycle repeated once again they went back to using \nsilver as money. They went back to using the terms shekel and minah which \nwere once again the basis of the monetary system based on silver once \nagain. Indeed the Bible chose silver to represent them in the dream image, \nmany Bible scholars say this was due to the new silver monetary system that \nreplaced the Babylonian currency system that had just collapsed ending that \nworld power. I have been researching for a while when and how they next \nwent from using real money to issuing and using currency but historians do \nnot always agree on this. I can see its the same monetary cycle repeating as \nnormal. However what we do know is that when the next world power that \nhad been prophesied in the Bible - Greece's new leader Alexander the Great \nbecame the next dominant world power by force formed an international new\nmonetary system after the monetary cycle repeated the next time, 2300 \nyears ago when he conquered the Medo-Persian empire and imposed his own \nmonetary system, based on gold and silver once again. This indicates that \nbefore the fall of the then world power Medo-Persia, the world was using \ncurrency not money as a global financial system. But as I said there is ample \nproof that they started off using silver as money not currency. Indeed the \nBible chose to use silver to depict the Medo-Persian world power because they started off once again using silver as a monetary system.\nSo how could Alexander the great go back to silver money, if they were \nalready using gold and silver? The answer is the monetary cycle repeated as \nnormal so they (Medo-Persia) had gone over to currency and expanded the \nsupply to the point where people lost faith in it. As always it ended badly for \nthem.\nBy now it is easy to see the pattern developing. A world power starts using \nmoney and then fools its people into thinking its currency whatever that may \nbe is as good as money and fools the people into having confidence in the \ncurrency as they expand the supply which ends badly for them when the con \ngame comes to an end.\nThe last of the kings on the throne of the Persian Empire was Darius III. His \nreign ended abruptly in 331 B.C.E. when he suffered a terrible defeat by \nAlexander the Great at Gaugamela, near ancient Nineveh. This defeat ended \nthe Medo-Persian World Power as symbolised by the silver part of the image \nof Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. I suspect the pattern was similar after the Medo-\nPersian world power expanded the supplies of currency to a point where the \npeople began to lose confidence in it and the con game came to an end \nwhich always ends badly for the world power issuing the currency that died. \nThe power to come was superior in some ways, yet inferior in others. This \nbecomes clear as we listen to Daniel’s further interpretation of \nNebuchadnezzar’s dream.\nGreece\nDaniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the belly and thighs of the immense image \nconstituted “another kingdom, a third one, of copper, that [would] rule over \nthe whole earth.” (Daniel 2:32, 39) This third kingdom would follow Babylonia\nand Medo-Persia. As copper is inferior to silver, this new world power would \nbe inferior to Medo-Persia in some ways. However, the copperlike kingdom \nwould “rule over the whole earth,” indicating that it would be more extensive \nthan either Babylonia or Medo-Persia. What do the facts of history bear out \nabout this world power?\nAfter the victory at Gaugamela, Alexander the Great went on to take the \nPersian capitals Babylon, and others. Subduing the rest of the Persian Empire,\nhe extended his conquests into western India. As Daniel had foretold, the \ncopper kingdom ‘ruled over the whole earth.’  If you have studied history you will know that ancient Greece was considered \none of the great civilisations of all time. So what happened why did such a \ngreat world power fall? The answer lies in the same pattern we have see time\nand again.\nThe Owls of Athens.\nThe owls of Athens are thick and bulky silver coins stamped with the \nhelmeted head of Athena on one side and her owl, the symbol of wisdom, on \nthe reverse. First minted at the end of the sixth century BC in Athens, they \nsoon spread far outside its walls. I used to be a sailing instructor working out \nof Athens sailing to many of the islands in the Mediterranean. Every museum \nfrom all the surrounding islands and lands will have a history using these \nsilver coins as money.\nThey were used for foreign trade and became a symbol of Athenian power \nduring the time when the position of the dominant world power was held by \nGreece. The monetary cycle repeated as normal, other coins came and went \nbut these owl silver coins remained consistent for more than three centuries. \nAnd that consistency ensured that Athenian coins were accepted and trusted \nthroughout the Mediterranean. Only the Venetian ducat of medieval Europe \nsilver coins, which were minted for more than half a millennium, would rival \nthe longevity and credibility of the Owl.\nThe first owls were minted just as Athens was starting to go through a period \nof unprecedented political and economic growth. Athens prosperity depended\non silver, much of which came from the silver mines of Laurium, 65  kilometres south of the city of Athens. The mines helped Athens rise to \nbecome the pre-eminent civilisation of the Mediterranean. Xenophon wrote: \n\"the divine bounty has bestowed upon us inexhaustible mines of silver.\" This \nto me is such an interesting quote. I have visited these long since exhausted \nsilver mines and couldn't help wondering to myself if only they had known \nthat silver only occurs on the earths crust and it is not indeed \ninexhaustible. The fact that silver is not inexhaustible became clearly \nknown around 413 BC, Athens began to find less and less silver as the mines \nbecame depleted. The real problems became evident as the new silver \nstarted to run out, in an act of desperation, the city even melted down the \ngold objects on the Acropolis, including eight gold statues of Nike, the \nGoddess of victory. In 404 BC, following a prolonged siege, Athens \nsurrendered to the Spartans. Thucydides described the chronic shortage of \nsilver as the principle cause of Athens defeat. The silver mines had supported\nthe rise of this great civilisation, but their absence upon the realisation that \nsilver is not inexhaustible, hastened its fall.\nNike had been abandoned. From her, new gold coins were made with the \nsame weight and form with the owl and helmet. But they did not prove to be \nas popular. It was silver, not gold, that reigned supreme during Athens' \ncultural, political and economic heyday. The importance of silver was evident \nby the greater value given to it at this time. Historically the silver gold ratio is\naround 16:1 because this was around the amount of silver being mined \ncompared to gold through most of history. But in Athens gold was valued only\n12 times that of silver. Very similar to the ratio of ten to one decreed by King \nCroesus of Lydia. For over four and a half millenniums the GSR (gold silver \nratio) fluctuated in the range of 9:1 all the way up to the high end of the ratio\n16:1. Today in 2014 the ratio is 75:1. Seventy five ounces of silver are valued \nthe same as one ounce of gold despite the fact that silver is now more rare \nthan gold in available worldwide stockpiles.\nThrough history the relative values of gold and silver simply float, based on \nsupply and demand. But this is not the case today as the silver manipulation \nneeds to keep the price of silver down to keep the investment interest of the \nmasses away for as long as possible. As Franklin Sounders says \"If I had a chart 45 feet long on which every foot \nrepresented 100 years of human history, the gold/silver ratio would remain \nunder 16:1 for all but the last 15 inches. In fact, 16:1 are the highest spikes \non the chart apart from the last 15 inches and for the first 40 feet the ratio \noscillated under 12:1, and spent most of its time between 8:1 and 12:1. So \nthe majority of the time over the 45 feet it was around 8:1 which is the \nnatural ratio they are coming out of the ground today.\"\nOver 97% of that 45 feet chart the ratio has been average under 16 ounces \nof silver valued for one ounce of gold which was the natural ratio that silver \nhas been mined for every one ounce of gold. That ratio has now halved, only \n8 ounces are now mined for every one ounce of gold.\nImagine that 45 foot chart on a wall. Most of the time 8:1 with a few spikes up\nto 16:1, averaging about 12:1 for all but the last few inches. Then right at the\nend few inches it shoots up to 75:1. And that only covers the last 4500 years \nback to the great flood of Noahs time. Almost certainly gold and silver were \nbeing used as money for more than a 1000 years before that and I would \nguess the ratio was similar the long term norm about 8:1.\nSo as we have said when Greece became the next dominant world power the \nmonetary cycle repeated as normal and they went back to using money as \nmoney rather than currency, how long would it last this time? Well they really\nflourished under this new monetary system. As Mike Maloney says in his book\nabout monetary history \"Then they got involved with a war that turned out to \nbe far longer and more costly than they thought (sound familiar?). After many\nyears of war and most of their money spent the Greeks came up with a very \nclever way to continue funding the war. It was the same thing that led to the \ndemise of every major world power we have looked at up to this time. They \nbegan to debase their money into currency to pay for the war. They \ndiscovered if you take 1000 silver coins in taxes and then mix in 50% copper \nyou can then spend 2000 coins. Does it sound familiar? Maybe not as bad as \nissuing 2 animal skins for every 1 silver coin, but its very similar to what the \nprevious world powers did.\"\nThis was now a government currency that you could buy gold and silver with, \nbut the currency supply was no longer gold and silver in and of themselves. \nAnd as a consequence this currency became practically worthless. It's very \ninteresting the Bible chose copper to represent Greece as the next world \npower when they were the first to use copper to debase their currency. Silver \nwas very fitting for the Bible to use to represent Medo-Persia as they started \noff with a silver monetary system. Copper was very fitting for Greece because\nthey were the first to debase their silver with copper.\nTo repeat because its so important and as far as I know I'm the firsts ever to recognise this: Gold was fitting for Babylon because gold was being used \nalong with silver as money, silver was fitting to represent Medo-Persia \nbecause silver was once again the monetary system, then the Bible chooses \nCopper to represent Greece which is again very fitting because they were the \nfirst to debase their silver with copper, a practice which has been repeated \nright up to modern times. I am the first to make these observations and that \nis all they are observations. The Bible using copper to represent Greece may \nhave nothing to do with them debasing their silver coins. But it is generally \nagreed that the Bible using silver to represent Medo-Persia was based on the \nfact that they went back to using silver as money again after the Babylonian \nfinancial crisis. I am a long time student of both the Bible and monetary \nhistory which is why I am so interested in these three monetary metals \ncopper, gold and silver. In particular the two monetary precious metals at the \ntop of the image- gold and silver.\nBut obviously once the public woke up to the abuse of money and the \ncurrency debasement by mixing in 50% copper, anyone who held on to their \nold silver coins found they were worth a lot, lot more than the same face \nvalue 50% copper coins. Many times over the next thousands of years this \nhas been tried debasing monetary coins, and those who held onto the old \nones found they were worth a great deal more. See the next bonus chapter \non urban mining to see how this can be done today. This once again ended \nbadly, as the monetary cycle repeated as normal, within a short time of going\noff money and onto currency they eventually became nothing more than a \nprovince of the next great world power that had been prophesied in Daniels \ntime......",
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      "body": "Monetary history Ancient times.\nJust the facts about what is money exactly?\nBefore a medium of exchange was invented, people traded, using a barter \nsystem. They exchanged goods and services of equal value. There was no \nunit of account in the exchange, the medium of exchange was just exchange.\n But bartering could be inconvenient. For the system to work, each party had \nto desire the goods that the other was offering. This is called a coincidence of\nwants. In addition, traders had to carry or care for cumbersome trade items \nlike animals or bags of grain.\nIncidentally barter can still work well on an occasional individual basis. I \nhappen to be good with electronic gadget's and phones/small computers. But\nnot very good at fixing cars now they all seem to be computer controlled. So I\nswapped an hour unlocking and improving then setting up a garage owner \nfriends new smartphone with a new operating system. He spent an hour \nservicing my car. Nothing formal, nothing in writing just a favour for a favour. \nOf course governments do not like barter because there is no tax to pay.\nMy wife is a highly qualified experienced beautician. But there are many \nbeauty treatments that can't be done to yourself. For example eyelash extensions, she tried doing hers herself but you really need to close your \neyes. So now she regularly meets up with other beauticians and has an \nexchange of services. No currency needed, no tax to pay. She spends an hour\nor so treating them and they then do her nails or hair or something. Everyone\nsaves money and you are paying less tax than if you charged for your \nservices then went and paid for another service.\nBut it’s surprising how many skills you and your friends have. If someone \nworks in one field and can get you something for free that you normally have \nto pay for, can you provide something for free in return? Swapping skills or \neven goods you've made rather than fiat currency cash is efficient so long as \nboth parties feel they have had value. You just have to get over the \ncoincidence of wants, this can be done through good reasonable negotiation.\nSo what really is Money?\nToday, we're accustomed to thinking of small paper rectangles or digits on \nour on line banking account as the definition of money, and we think of the \ngovernments of the world as the only source of money. To honestly discuss \nsound money, we need to realise where our current money customs came \nfrom.\nAt first, it was every man for himself. You ate or wore what you could pick or \ncatch. Barter as we said was the first advance. If you had some extra meat, \nand your neighbour had an extra fur, you might make a direct exchange. If \nfood, water, clothing, and simple tools are the only goods on the market, \nbarter is fine - you can always find someone who has what you want and \nwants what you have.\nBut as soon as there's basic manufacturing and prosperity begins increasing, \nbarter becomes inadequate. Say you're a hunter and you want a bed, but the \nonly bedmaker in town is a vegetarian. What do you do then? You would have\nto figure out what the bedmaker wanted (maybe tofu), and then find \nsomeone who had tofu and wanted meat. If you couldn't find that person, you\nwould have to find a fourth person (someone who wanted meat, and had the \nhats that the tofu maker wanted), or try to convince the vegetarian bedmaker\nto take the meat and trade it for something else. Meat, however, spoils, and \nso the bedmaker would have to unload it pretty quickly. So, unable to get \nyour hands on anything the bedmaker wants to consume, you trade your \nmeat for some salt and approach the bedmaker.\n\"Look, I know you don't want salt, but think of all the people who do. They \nuse it to preserve their meat and flavour their soup. And this stuff is non-\nperishable, so you can hold it quite a long time. And if, when the tofu dealer \ncomes through town, he doesn't want salt, you can explain to him what I've \nexplained to you - he can use it to buy something he wants.\" If you and thebedmaker agree, you've just created currency. Organically, more people in \nyour community begin taking salt for payment, even if they have no intention\nto use it, because they know others will accept it.\nBut - and this is important - the value of salt currency is not entirely \ndependent on other people accepting it as payment. If, for some reason, folks\nstopped taking salt as payment, you could use it as, well, salt. In the same \nway silver today is has over 10,000 applications as, well, silver, as well as a \nmonetary precious metal. The value of paper currency today is entirely \ndependant on people accepting it as payment.\nSalt was a pretty good currency, especially before refrigeration, because it \nwas widely demanded, divisible down to the grain, very portable, easy to \nweigh, and could easily be tested for counterfeit by tasting it. Salt was used \nas a medium of exchange in ancient Egypt and through all dominant world \npowers many times right up to the Romans who used salt for currency as a \nmedium of exchange.\nBut just because salt served as a medium of exchange didn't mean there \nwould be no other form of currency in circulation. Tobacco leaves might be \nwidely accepted as payment. Salt will not last generations passing on \ngenerational wealth and it is not that durable, if it got wet you could lose your\nentire life savings. Imagine your life savings were kept in salt in what you \nthought was a safe place then there was a flood? Which is why people prefer \nto save up over time gold and silver which are money in and of themselves. \nBut to really answer the question what is money you first need to understand \nthe difference between money and currency. The official definitions of \ncurrency and money are:\nCurrency must be a medium of exchange so we have to be able to buy and \nsell things with it. It has to be a unit of account, so one gram or unit is equal \nto one gram or unit. It has to be portable so not to large or heavy. It has to be\ndivisible which means you can make change. Durable which means it has to \nlast and not dissolve in water or evaporate or degrade in near extreme \ntemperatures. And then something called fungible. Fungible means that each \nunit is interchangeable so the unit in your pocket buys the same as the unit in\nmy pocket. \nMoney has to be all these things plus it has to be a store of value over long \nperiods of time. So if you only remember one thing today remember that lots \nof things have been currency but only two things have ever been money. \nNothing else meets ALL of these requirements and is a long term store of \nvalue only gold and silver are money in and of themselves. Currency doesn't \nhave to meet all these requirements, but to be money it has to meet all of \nthem especially a long term store of value. There are many things that are along term store of value (like land for instance) but they do not meet the \nother requirements land is not portable. Diamonds some say are a good long \nterm store of value and very portable but not fungible because no two grams \nor units of diamonds are worth exactly the same. But diamonds are used as \ncurrency a lot mostly for the sale of arms. Another reason I do not like \ndiamonds as a long term store of value because they are not nearly as rare \nas people have been led to believe. I go into rarity of different physical stores \nof value later in the book.\nSalt and tobacco as we have said meet most of the requirements of currency \nbut are not durable even if they arguably do hold their value over long \nperiods of time like money does, gold and silver. Things like this do hold their \nvalue over long periods of time but what good is this if they are not durable. \nJust because the value of something lasts the thing itself may not. Even \nmodern digital currencies like Bit coin may well meet all or many of the \nrequirements of currency but can not be a long term store of value because it\nis dependent on many things like electricity and Internet being reliable and \nnot being hacked or messed with. Bit coins can not have any intrinsic value in\nthemselves because they do not exist, they are virtual currencies. They come\nand go. Bit coins may be limited in quantity but they are not limited in \ncompeting digital competitors so the number of bit coin lookalikes could be \ninfinite. Bit coins and suchlike are only a medium of exchange they don't \nhave any use in themselves other than a virtual currency, so can not be a \nlong term store of value. They can not be money in and of themselves like for\nexample gold and silver coins because Bit coins and other virtual currencies \nare digital and not tangible they are not backed by anything just like fiat \ncurrencies from governments.\nCurrency Money\nmedium of exchange medium of exchange\nunit of account unit of account\nportable portable\ndivisible divisible\ndurable durable\nfungible fungible\nslowly becomes worth less STORE OF VALUE over long periods Mike Maloney brings out this point very well in his free video series. It is \nworth repeating, Many things have been used as currency but nothing has \nmet all these requirements and been a lasting store of value over long \nperiods of time (thousands of years) only gold and silver are money. The key \npoint to remember as we go through monetary history in the next chapter is -\nOnly gold and silver are money, EVERYTHING else that has been used as a \nmedium of exchange is just currency.\nMonetary history the very start.\nGenesis 2:11-12 in the Bible is the first and earliest place anywhere, where \nyou will find that Gold is being talked about for the first time. According to \nthese Bible verses, in the land of Havilah, Gold is endorsed as being “good”. \nThis was just after the first ever man Adam was created and just before God \ncreated the first woman Eve, around 6000 years ago. They were then \ncommanded to have children and fill the Earth and become many. Some say \nthe first mention of gold and it being endorsed as being good even before the\nfirst Woman was created suggests that God had in mind monetary precious \nmetals as a monetary system for when they filled the Earth and became \nmany. I am not so sure but it is very interesting that the Bible talks about gold\nbeing good so early on, just after the first man was created.\nNow I would like to start at the very beginning of monetary history. So when \ndo you think was the earliest ever recorded financial transaction where the \nunit of account and the means of exchange was recorded? And what was the \nfirst ever unit of account mentioned?\nEgypt\nInterestingly it is silver that is first mentioned not gold, it is in Gen 13:2 \nWhere Abraham was leaving Egypt heavily stocked with silver and gold. This \nwas not really a financial transaction as such but a good indication of what \nwas being used as money. There is no clear mention of any money earlier \nthan this time anywhere in historical records ANYWHERE. A few chapters laterin 17:13, 23 mentions purchasing with money, what was being used as \nmoney here was not specifically mentioned, what do you think it was? What \nwas being used as money at this time? The accounts say purchasing with \nmoney, so this had most definitely moved on from barter at this time over \n4000 yrs ago. Chapter 20:16 tells us the answer it talks about 1000 silver \npieces of money. v16 is arguably the earliest ever financial transaction in \nrecorded history \" And to Sarah he said: \"Here I give you 1000 pieces of silver\nto your brother\" This is not a clear financial transaction but the unit of \naccount was clear, it was 1000 pieces of silver being used as money.\nThen Abraham in chapter 23 first of all in v9 asks someone to sell him a piece\nof land for the full amount of silver, so that he may own the property. He got \nsilver ready for a burial place for his wife. Then in v13- 16 he weighed out the\nrequired amount of silver which was 400 silver shekels to bury his beloved \nwife Sarah. He paid for her funeral with 400 silver shekels, and bought this \nfield as a burial place, this was the first earliest ever clear recorded financial \ntransaction. There are no other really clear records of financial transactions \nearlier than this time. This was different from Chapter 20:16 because this \ntransaction is clear we can see what was being bought and how much it cost. \nWe dont know how much land exactly but it was a field that had a cave and \nall the trees within the boundaries were part of what Abraham purchased for \n400 silver shekels. A silver shekel at this time was 11.4grams or 0.367ozT. So \n400 shekels was 4.56Kg or 146.8 troy ounces. This has varied a little but not \nmuch through all of history. Depending on where it was obviously and how \nmuch land was included in the transaction about 4 or 5KG of silver was what \na large plot of land was valued at. This is the true value of silver at all times.\nNow most of this book is based on solid facts that can be verified. Like the \nvery first mention of money/silver in recorded history. Some of it will be my \nopinion based on sound reasoning which is this next bit, I am going to say \nthat silver was most probably being used as money long before this first ever \nrecorded example. Even though there are no clear examples of financial \ntransactions before this first one. There are several accounts of carrying on in\nbusiness, and most importantly accounts saying they were buying and selling\nlong before Abraham's first recorded financial transaction. But the first ever \nrecord of the unit of account is later as already mentioned, when Abraham \npaid for his wife's funeral with silver. The account's from before did not say \nbartering as means of exchange it said buying and selling so there must have\nbeen a unit of account, even if it wasn't recorded. This is not proof alone of \nmy theory that silver was being used as money but further sound reasoning \nto support my theory comes from Genesis 4:22 where they were mining \ncopper and iron and other metals to make tools. Why is this so interesting? \nWell silver has a lower melting point than iron and some of these other \nmetals they were refining. Also silver is many times a by-product of mining copper and iron and other metals. So there was a good chance they did have \nsilver at these times over a 1000yrs before the first ever recorded financial \ntransaction I mentioned, and the point I am making in this book is that silver \nis nearly always the money of last resort but also the money of first resort as \nwell. Silver was often mentioned being used as money at this time, but \ncopper has no record of being used as money until a long time, thousands of \nyears after.\n The earliest known financial artefact's are actually 4100 years old \nrecords of civil law which refer to the amount of compensation an aggrieved \nplaintiff is to be awarded for various offences. \nThe code of Ur Nammu, written between 2100 and 2050 B.C. and similar to \nthe more familiar code of Hammurabi, which pre-dates by as much as three \ncenturies, announces the standardisation of units of measurement, and \namong other things is followed by list of fines to be paid in standardised units\nof silver. These non Biblical lines of evidence authenticate the Genesis \naccount which used silver as money around the same time period. \nSo that was the very beginning of monetary history, we are not sure the \nexact time but my theory is long before Abraham's first ever earliest recorded\nfinancial transaction silver was what was being used as money. But human \nhistory did not start that long before Abraham because he was born only 2 \nyears after Noah died and Noah was born not long after the first man ever \nAdam, died. So we are talking about very early on right at the start of \nhumans being on the Earth. No doubt about it silver was money when we get \nup to Abraham's time period, and who was the dominant world power at this \ntime? The first ever major dominant world power on the scene was Ancient \nEgypt at the time when the earliest financial transaction using silver was \nrecorded. There is much other evidence that silver was being used as money \nfor a long time during Egypt's dominance on the Earth. For example Joseph who was Abraham's great great grandson. Joseph who was sold by his jealous\nbrothers as a slave to Egypt just a few generations after Abraham. Joseph \nwas sold for 20 pieces of silver, most probably these were silver shekels. A \nsilver shekel at this time was 11.4grams or 0.367ozT so 20 shekels was \n228grams or 7.34 troy ounces of silver. This has varied but through most of \nhuman history a slave for life would be valued at around 200grams of silver. \nWhen his brothers years later came to Egypt to buy food during the famine \nthey paid with silver. But towards the end of the reign of the Pharaoh's the \nmonetary cycle that has repeated throughout all known history began to \nmake its presence. The people were deceived and convinced to use \nsomething other than gold and silver as a means of exchange and a unit of \naccount. At first the imported gold and silver pieces were used by the \nEgyptians as precious metal of standardised weight in ingots rather than \ncoins. Then other things were introduced as a promise to pay with silver. To \nstart with in the monetary cycle when some form of currency is introduced a \ntemporary prosperity or false boom happens. To understand this false boom \npart of the monetary cycle, think of a business who is borrowing twice as \nmuch as they have profit every month. For as long as the bank foolishly \nkeeps lending them funds every month they will look like they are booming \nbut it is a false boom and can not last. This happened in ancient Egypt they \nbecame by far the wealthiest nation ever to exist on Earth up until this time, \nall because of expanding their currency supply and people believing it is \nworth the same as gold and silver. Remember anything other than money \ngold and silver used as a medium of exchange is just currency and currency \nbecomes worth less over time but money holds its value over time.\nThe people had confidence in the currency for some time in ancient Egypt, \neven as the supply was expanded more and more, it is a con game. It's all \nabout confidence. But the monetary cycle is very consistent and after the \nfalse boom which can vary in length, come the feeling that something is \nwrong with the expanding currency supply and then the slowly losing \nconfidence in the currency that has replaced gold and silver. Maybe you arefeeling that way about the expanding currency supply in the world right now \nin the 21st century.\nAccording to wikipedia Currency evolved from two basic innovations, both of \nwhich had occurred thousands of years BC at the time of ancient Egypt. \nOriginally money was gold and silver ingots. Then a form of receipt, \nrepresenting gold and silver in storage in Ancient Egypt replaced the ingots, \nthis was the first known currency ever.\nThis first stage of currency, where something other than monetary precious \nmetals were used to represent stored value, eventually formed the basis of \ntrade in Ancient Egypt. After gold and silver were replaced with currency \nthough it is not known everything that functioned as a currency to facilitate \nexchanges, but before Egypt went over to currency it is thought that ox-hide \nshaped ingots of silver, functioned as the medium of exchange. Then grain, \nsalt as already stated and other things functioned as currency. Remember \nanything at all other than gold and silver used as a medium of exchange is \ncurrency only gold and silver are at all times money in and of themselves. \nMike Maloney did an excellent free video series called the hidden secrets of \nmoney. I highly recommend you watch it all, its extremely educational. Where\nhe traveled to Egypt and talked about how this monetary cycle started there, \nhe puts it a different way to me he says in this cycle they go from quality \nmoney (gold and silver) over to quantity currency (anything else used as a \nmedium of exchange) then back again. \nThis is the same monetary cycle that has repeated through history and \ncontinues to repeat in our time. Some argue that the cycle will no longer \nrepeat but that has been said many times in the past just before money does \nan accounting for the expanding currency supply as the cycle does indeed \nrepeat over and over again. I am convinced the cycle will repeat again in our \nlifetimes early in the 21st century. My prediction is it will repeat in about the \nfirst quarter of this century, so I am looking towards the year 2025 at the \nlatest for the cycle to have completely repeated. But it could be well before then, it could be very soon.",
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      "body": "@@ -187,16 +187,133 @@\n rove it.\n+ That link you showed there may be copying some of my work but I can't find it, which bits do you think are the same?\n %0A%0AMore t\n",
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      "body": "This is definitely not copy and paste this is all my work. I have written extensively about urine therapy and done many videos and public speaking events. This is all my work and I can prove it.\n\nMore to the point, does anybody have any questions about urine therapy?",
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      "author": "steemcleaners",
      "body": "Source: http://www.biomedx.com/urine/\nNot citing sources is plagiarism, and copying pasting articles without permission is copyright infringement. If you want to share a news story, simply link to the source, and include your original commentary, and possibly small quotes from source. \nCopy paste is discouraged by the community, and may result in action from the [cheetah bot](https://steemit.com/steemitabuse/@cheetah/cheetah-bot-explained).",
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      "body": "Drinking urine is beneficial, it's very good for you.\n\nIt's not waste it is just excess. It's 95% water and the rest is very good for you. Every time you loop it it gets cleaner and cleaner.\n\nI have been looping all my urine for several years and have had no negative effects. People tell me I look younger, and I feel many benefits. I feel great. Please ask me any questions and I will be happy to answer anything.\n\nThere is a lot of info available now about plasma ultrafiltrate. Here is a good read.....\n\n\n\nI will tell you the secret of secrets that has purposely been hidden from you.\n\nDo you know of the water of life? Come watch, the mystery of mysteries. The end and the beginning. The water of life.\n\nYour own perfect medicine.\n\nThe Water Of Life.\n\nYour own personal pharmacy complete.\n\nThe most awesome substance you could ever drink.\n\nThe best substance you could ever put in or on your body.\n\nTo use its correct medical name, plasma ultra filtrate, or ultra filtered blood plasma. The water of life is the most sterile, most structured and most pure distilled liquid you could put in your ears. \n\nIts the most incredible substance you could ever use to bathe your eyes in. The most pure and most beneficial thing you could ever use on any one of your three eyes.\n\nWhy three eyes? Because your pineal gland is called the third eye, but I call it the first eye because it is the most important of your three eyes. How can you bathe your pineal gland using the water of life? Answer is You snort it up your nose.\n\nWhen you look at the design of the nasal passage, your two nostrils are almost pointing right at your first eye, your pineal gland.\n\nThe water of life is the very best thing you could ever snort up your nose, ever. Far, far better than what most people use these days to snort up their noses. \n\nTo drink the water of life through your nose, (after cleaning and blowing your nose very well) is incredibly beneficial for you in several key ways. It keeps your sinuses clean and healthy, you are putting your own stem cells and your own DNA right into your head, more on this later.\n\nThe water of life, your own ultra filtered blood plasma is the very best substance you could ever massage into your skin and hair. It is the very best moisturiser in the world.  But the cosmetic industry want this to be kept secret, they would rather sell some of the things in the water of life back to you in expensive face creams. The best ever commercial moisturisers contain many ingredients of the water of life. But they are never as good as the real thing.\n\nSome may worry about the smell of urea in the water of life, well they never worry about this smell in the best cosmetic products available that are the best because they contain urea. Why? Because they are mixed with many scented fragrances.\n\nThis can also be done with the water of life, fresh warm orin mixed with a drop or two of essential oils and massaged into the body and hair everywhere is very beneficial. To amplify the benefits fermented orin in glass containers with airlocks can be warmed up and rubbed into the skin and hair. The beneficial properties are amplified the longer it has been fermented, then warmed back up to body temp, the same as fresh orin. This is best done outside in the sun, there will be very strong scent from the fermented plasma ultra filtrate. But once it has been completely rubbed into the skin and absorbed the smell will no longer linger. Some time later it is not noticeable, but what is noticeable however is how soft and youthful your flesh will become when regularly embracing orin therapy.\n\nThe reason a baby has such beautiful soft skin is because they have just spent nine months floating in the water of life. The first few months after conception it is the mothers orin, then once the baby has formed enough to produce its own water of life this is what the baby floats in, drinks and even breaths. We have all looped the water of life for nine months, your body will remember.\n\nLooping refers to consuming ALL of the water of life you pass out of your bladder. You do not need to only consume the midstream. It is very antibacterial, and will sterilise the container you use to capture this precious liquid and bring back upto your mouth.\n\nIt is more pure and more distilled than the best ever achieved machine made distilled liquids. Pharmaceutical grade distilled liquids have been through high end distillers many times, each time getting more and more distilled. The kidneys are the best distillers in the universe. So every time you loop your own water of life you are getting it to a higher level of distillation and purity. Far more distilled than the best ever pharmaceutical grade distilled liquids could ever get to. Also far more structured than the very best Vortex machines or other water structurisers could ever achieve.\n\nIn Layman's Language\n\nUrine is not, as many believe, the excess water from food and liquids that goes through the intestines and is ejected from the body as \"waste\". It is much different and much more. When you eat, the food you ingest is eventually broken down in the stomach and intestines into extremely small molecules. These molecules are absorbed into tiny tubules in the intestinal wall and then pass through these tubes into the blood stream.\n\nThe blood circulates throughout your body carrying these food molecules and other nutrients, along with critical immune defence and regulating elements such as red and white blood cells, antibodies, plasma, microscopic proteins, hormones, enzymes, etc., which are all manufactured at different locations in the body. Yes the body makes them, and you can drink them back in when you loop your orin even if you cant get these things through food or supplements.\n\nAs the blood circulates, it passes through the liver where toxins are removed and later excreted from the body in the form of solid waste. Eventually, this now purified \"cleaned\" blood makes its way to the kidneys. When blood enters the kidneys it is filtered through an immensely complex and intricate system of minute tubules called nephron through which the blood is literally \"squeezed\" at high pressure. This filtering process removes excess amounts of water, salts and other elements in the blood that your body does not need at the time.\n\nThese excess elements are collected within the kidney in the form of a purified, sterile, watery solution called urine or orin. Many of the constituents of this filtered watery solution, or urine, are then reabsorbed by the nephron and delivered back into the bloodstream. The remainder of the urine passes out of the kidneys into the bladder and is then excreted from the body. Yes not all your urine will end up in the bladder, so if your drink it or not, you are practising urine therapy everyday whether you choose to or not.\n\nThe function of the kidneys is to keep the various elements in your blood balanced. When your body doesn't need something at a particular time, it is excreted -  not because it is toxic or poisonous or bad for the body, but simply because the body does not need that particular element at the time.\n\nMedical researchers have discovered that many of the elements of the blood that are found in urine have enormous medicinal value, and when reintroduced to the body, they boost the body's immune defences and stimulate healing in a way that nothing else does.\n\nA Nutrient Rich Powerhouse\n\nIn 1975, one of the founders of Miles Laboratories, Dr. A. H. Free, published his book Urinalysis in Clinical Laboratory Practice, in which he remarked that not only is urine a sterile body compound (purer than distilled water), but that it is now recognized that urine contains literally thousands of compounds. Among the urine constituents mentioned in Dr. Free's treatise is a list of nutrients that will knock your socks off. Here's just a few...\n\nAlanine, Arginine, Ascorbic acid, Allantoin, Amino acids, Bicarbonate, Biotin, Calcium,  Creatinine, Cystine, DHEA, Dopamine, Epinephrine, Folic acid, Glucose, Glutamic acid, Glycine, Inositol,  Iodine, Iron, Lysine, Magnesium, Manganese, Melatonin, Methionine, Nitrogen, Ornithane, Pantothenic acid, Phenylalaline, Phosphorus, Potassium, Proteins, Riboflavin,  Tryptophan, Tyrosine, Urea,  Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12,  Zinc/\n \nStories have been told of individuals who have both lived and died by being trapped in places without food and water for days. Those that survived did so because they drank their own urine, those that perished did not. The ones that died probably could not overcome the mis- informed thoughts that urine is a waste product of the body. It's not. It's just a substance the body secretes that contains elements not needed at the time.\n\nDespite what you may have been led to believe about urine, pharmaceutical companies have grossed billions of dollars from the sale of drugs made from urine constituents. Research is happening every day in labs attempting to isolate specific elements of urine so they can create new drugs and patent the substances. For instance, Pergonal is a fertility drug made from human urine. 1992 sales of this drug were reported at $855 million while it costs a patient $1400 a month to consume. Urokinase, a urine ingredient, is used in drug form and sold as a miracle blood clot dissolver for unblocking coronary arteries. Urea, medically proven to be one of the best moisturizers in the world, is packaged in expensive creams and lotions. Take the M out of Murine eye drops and what do you have? Yep. It's made from carbamide - another name for synthetic urea.\n\nThis is the reason this is such a powerful secret. Big Pharma cant patent your own urine. They can not sell it to you, because mother nature gives it to you for free every day. All they can do is indoctrinate you into thinking it is a waste product and then sell these things to you in fancy drugs which are not nearly as good as the real thing they have been taken from.\n-\n\nA key point to remember the kidneys are the best ever distillers in the universe. Part of the kidney are called the distillation nodule. Then there are billions of tiny fibres which push the liquid through under pressure distilling it further.\n\nThe kidneys are the best distillers in the universe, and the liver is the best filter in the universe.\n\nThe liver filters the blood, of what comes into this incredible filter, there are two channels coming out. Mother nature decides what is good which carries on round the blood stream, and what is bad which goes on the be excreted in the faeces.\n\nOnce again, the liver is the best filter in the universe. It is designed to take out any unwanted substances that are toxic or harmful to the body. These toxic substances will then be excreted with your excrement. The GOOD stuff that mother nature has filtered and decided is good for you is what comes out of the liver into your now cleaned blood stream. This is the highway system that goes to every part of your body.\n\nEventually this clean blood will get to the kidneys, one purpose of the kidneys is to regulate the blood. Remember the Liver filters the blood, the cleaned blood arrives at the kidneys to be regulated and sorted as it were.\n\nMother nature decides how much of all the good things you need at any one time. The EXCESS that is not needed will be sorted out by the kidneys and end up in your bladder with the plasma ultra filtrate. What good things are we talking about here? Well there are several thousand known micro nutrients and substances that are identifiable in your blood, then there are estimated to be tens of thousands of unknown as of yet unidentifiable micro substances in your blood at any one time.  \n\nRemember, the water of life is your ultra filtered blood plasma. It is the ultra filtered watery part of your blood. It is not blood, but it can contain everything that the blood contains. However, the chemical complexity of urine has made it a difficult substance to fully understand, researchers have said. \n\nHere is a short example of some of the identifiable substances in your ultra filtered blood plasma at any one time. If you didn't know what it was, you may think you are reading the ingredients of a new super concentrated deluxe supplement. Well you are..................\n\nYour body doesn't go to the store to buy those ingredients. It makes them. Alchemy has long been the holy grail of science, when it is happening inside each and every one of us every single day. Ultra filtered blood Plasma is mostly water, the most pure distilled, most structured water in the universe, which is absorbed from the intestines from what you drink and eat, with the liver as well as filtering it, also supplying important proteins and other micro nutrients. The liver actually makes some micro compounds out of other things and puts them into the blood stream.\nPut all these ingredients together and you have blood — an essential part of the circulatory system. Thanks to your heart (which pumps blood) and your blood vessels (which carry it), blood travels throughout your body from your head to your toes. Depositing good things where they are needed and carrying bad things back through the liver again to be filtered out in your faeces.\n\nAnd thousands of other identifiable as well as maybe tens of thousands of as yet unidentifiable super substances that are in your blood. Science has not even scratched the surface trying to identify these complex compounds.\n\nHere in the 21 century much is made of new stem cell research. The stem cell in laymans terms is the first part of a new cell forming, and then it can become whatever it needs to become. Each cell has your DNA encoded in it. Just as the bible talked about thousands of years ago, in your book all my many parts have been written down.\n\nYour own water of life contains your own stem cells and your own DNA. It can become whatever it needs to become. Both internally and externally. There have been photographic testimonials of wounds so bad you can see the broken smashed up bones in the wounds. The wounds were regularly treated with the patients own plasma ultra filtrate and the stem cells became the part of the bones that were missing. It became the ligaments and sinues that needed repairing. It then became the flesh that need covering the repair work. Plasma ultra filtrate is basically liquid flesh.\n\nBut doesn't it sometimes contain bad things? Well it depends what you mean by bad things. There are sometimes micro dots of whatever may be wrong with you in your orin. Homoeopathic micro dots, that when consumed again through looping will tell your body what is wrong and make antidotes.\n\nThis is why orin looping is called self auto immune therapy. It is far superior to getting shots before you fly to another land. These just guess which micro dots of each virus or disease you may need so your body can build an immunity response.\n\nJust like a baby breast feeding from her mother will get immunity from all the things their mother has already built immunity to. \n\nWhen you practise auto immune therapy you regularly vaccinate yourself against anything that you need to be vaccinated against. No guess work here, no taking in micro dots of some virus that you didn't ever need to take in.",
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