Fun Facts About Gold and Silver
The Bible tells us so
Gold and Silver are God’s Money! God created both gold and silver and bestowed them upon us here on Earth. Gold and silver are but two of God’s 92 naturally occurring elements on the periodic table: Silver (AG) is #47; Gold (AU) is # 79. Gold and silver historically have been a store of value because of their scarcity, durability, beauty, malleability, and timelessness. Gold and silver are ever-lasting. Gold is mentioned in the bible 417 times and silver is mentioned 320 times. Dollars, Euros, Yen, Pounds, or Bitcoin were never mentioned. And Apple was a forbidden fruit.
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And so does the US Constitution
US Constitution Article 1, Section 10 says, “Make anything but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.”
A long, long time ago
The history of gold dates back a long way, so far back that, according to the National Mining Association, Gold and Silver were first used by societies around the year 4000 BC in what is today Eastern Europe. Gold is the currency of Kings; Silver the currency of Gentlemen; Barter is the currency of Peasants; Debt is the currency of “Slaves.” The US is the single most indebted nation in the history of planet Earth. US debt is now approaching 36 trillion dollars. And speaking of debt, we now run one trillion dollars in deficits every 100 days! Meaning we spend more than three trillion dollars annually than the IRS collects in tax receipts.
Since 1970 the US national debt has just about doubled each decade. Here are the facts ma’am…
US National Debt: 1970 $322 Billion; 1980 $914 Billion; 1990 $3.2 Trillion; 2000 $5.7 Trillion; 2010 $13.5 Trillion; 2020 $26.9 Trillion; 2030 $45.5 Trillion (estimated). The interest expense on the national debt ($36 trillion) now exceeds $1 trillion annually which is larger than our national defense budget. It amounts to about 20% of all the revenue the IRS collects.
A trillion here and a trillion there and soon we’re talking real money.
How big a number is one trillion? It’s a one followed by twelve zeros: 1,000,000,000,000. Let’s examine just how big a number one trillion is. One trillion seconds was 31,688 years ago. That would have been around the year 29,664 B.C., roughly 24,000 years before the earliest civilizations began to take shape. Therefore 36 Trillion seconds was 1,140,768 years ago when Homo sapiens (modern humans) didn’t even exist!
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If you spent $1 million a day it would take you 2,738 years to spend it all. In reverse, you would have had to start your million-dollar-a-day spending spree in the year 714 BC.
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The length of 1 trillion one-dollar bills stacked up would reach 67,866 miles into space. Therefore 36 trillion one-dollar bills stacked up would stretch 2,443,176 miles into space roughly the equivalent of more than ten times the distance to the Moon (238,000 miles) or 97 trips around the circumference of the earth (24,901miles)
I’m from the government and I’m here to help! Well not really…
The Federal Reserve is an independent central bank it is not a part of any branch of the US Government. It cannot be overruled, it cannot be audited. It is about as “federal” as Federal Express.
Since the inception of the Federal Reserve on December 23, 1913, the US dollar has lost 97% of its purchasing power. The 16th amendment to the constitution, giving Congress the power to levy an income tax, was ratified that very same year 1913. Hmmm… just a coincidence? Gold was used as legal tender ($20 gold piece) up until 1933 when President FDR issued Executive Order 6102 banning its use and confiscating the gold in circulation. You received $20 in paper money for your 1 oz. gold coin. The next year gold was revalued from $20.67 to $35. Your Federal Reserve Note was devalued by 40% in relation to gold in just one year!
In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson declared, “silver was too expensive to be used as money,” and eliminated the use of silver in dimes and quarters. The Kennedy half-dollar went from 90% silver down to 40%. The 40% silver Kennedy half-dollar ended in 1971.
Once upon a time
In 1944, forty-four nations met at Bretton Woods New Hampshire, and decided the US Dollar was, “as good as gold.” Thus the dollar became what is still called the world’s reserve currency. For international trade, the US dollar was redeemable in gold at a fixed rate of $35 an ounce.
The reckless spending of the Johnson administration known as, “guns and butter,” The Vietnam War, and The Great Society (Warfare and Welfare), resulted in excessive, “money printing,” that exceeded the gold the US allegedly had in storage. That caused panic among foreigners who sent ships to NY to exchange their US paper dollars for gold. It was a panic run on the US gold reserves forcing President Nixon to end the Bretton Woods agreement. On August 15, 1971, Nixon temporarily delinked the US dollar from gold. The dollar was now only backed by, “the full faith and credit of the US Government.” Since 1971 the US dollar has lost more than half of its purchasing power.
Slip slidin’ away
In June 1974, in the wake of the Arab oil embargo of 1973, a new, “child,” was born named the Petrodollar. Henry Kissinger and William Simon Secretaries of State and Treasury respectively, went to Saudi Arabia and made the Saudi Kings, “an offer they couldn’t refuse.” Price (OPEC) oil in US Dollars ONLY, and reinvest the excess proceeds into US Treasuries and we will protect their Kingdoms and Sheikdoms using our massive US military power. That was the carrot. The stick was if you don’t we’ll bring, “democracy” (aka regime change) to the region.” The US dollar was now de facto backed by oil. The Petrodollar just passed its ceremonial 50th anniversary in June 2024 and is slowly slipping away.
The way it was
In terms of silver, gas is half the price it was in the 1960s! Need proof? In 1964 a gallon of gas cost $0.31. Thus $1.40 in silver coins (dimes, quarters, half dollars) would buy you about 4 ½ gallons of gas. In 1964 $1.40 in silver coins contained exactly 1 oz. of silver. The current spot price of 1 oz. of silver ranges from $30-$35. So now you would be able to buy about 7-8 gallons of gas with those same 1964 and earlier silver dimes, quarters, and half dollars.
A gallon of gas is still a gallon of gas. An ounce of silver is still an ounce of silver it is the purchasing power of the dollar that has plummeted.
Gold was $20 an ounce in 1787 when the Republic was founded and remained at $20 an ounce until 1933 when FDR, after confiscating everyone’s gold, then revalued it to $35.00 an ounce a year later. This lasted until 1971 when Nixon ended the dollar’s link to gold. Today gold is around $2700.
Gold and silver are real money backed by human intellect and labor. You need to find it, mine it, and refine it… Fiat currencies (i.e. currencies backed only by government legal tender laws) are backed by nothing more than the power of the State.
There’s a new kid in town
A group of nations known by the acronym BRICS meaning Brazil, Russia, India China, and South Africa are emerging and soon the US dollar will have some stiff competition on the world stage.
Inflation Nation
The true definition of Inflation is NOT an increase in the cost of living known it is an increase in the money supply (M2). M2 (cash, coins, checking accounts, certificates of deposit, money markets) stands at around $22 trillion. The US is the world’s leading holder of gold around 300 million ounces. If you divide the M2 money supply of about $22 trillion by the 300,000 ounces of gold we supposedly have, If our money was fully backed by gold, that would come to more than $70,000 an ounce.
If gold is a “pet rock,” as some financial pundits suggest, then why are we still holding 300,000 ounces of gold in Fort Knox?
Pet Rock or Rock Star?
Physical gold and silver in your possession are wealth preservation, insurance against a currency collapse, and good investment. Since the year 2000 gold has increased from $275 to $2700 a 10x increase. Silver went from $5 to $31.00 a 6X increase in the same period. The Dow has increased from 11,000 to 42,000 about a 4X increase over that same 24-year time period.
Gold was $35.00 an ounce in 1971; $275 an ounce in 2000 and $2700 today. Silver respectively was $1.00 in 1971; $5.00 in 2000 and $31.00 today.
Silver shines brightest
Silver is the best and safest investment opportunity with enormous upside potential and very little downside risk.
The gold-to-silver ratio (how many ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold) stands currently around 85:1. Silver is mined at a ratio of about 10:1. When it was used as money it was 20:1 ($20 gold piece; $1 silver dollar). Historically over 250 years, the ratio was about 40: 1. Its low was 120:1 during the 2020 Covid era and a high of 15:1 in 1980. Based on its historical average of 40:1 with gold around $2700 silver should be trading at $67.00 more than double its current price.
About 1 billion ounces of silver are mined and recycled each year; about 100,000 ounces of gold are mined each year. Silver is also an industrial metal used in solar panels, electric car batteries, the military, and electronics. It is considered a strategic commodity. Gold’s primary use other than a monetary metal is mainly in jewelry.
Silver and Gold are outside the system in your possession. ”There is no, “counterparty relationship,” (e.g. banks, brokerage houses, reliance on the internet, and so on).
Get Physical
Gold and Silver ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are fine but they are not physical gold and silver in your possession. If you don’t hold it you don’t own it. Gold and Silver are wealth preservation and insurance against the ever-decreasing fiat US dollar.
Total Media and Miles Franklin perfect together
Total Media Precious Metals is an authorized affiliate of Miles Franklin. Miles Franklin is one of America’s oldest, most trusted bullion dealers and one of only twenty-seven authorized US Mint resellers. Miles Franklin has been in business for 35 years amassing over $9 billion in sales over that span with zero complaints. They will ship your orders securely and promptly. Miles Franklin can help with storage suggestions and how to use gold and silver in your 401K or IRA.