It's amazing what you can find with a simple Google search. One minute you know nothing about a subject and the next minute you can pretend to be an "online expert" by showing everyone your vast knowledge!
@Sirknight asked me to write up some information on the historical importance of Gold and Silver so after 5 minutes of research here is my expert advice.
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The New World & The USA
The search for more gold and treasure was what lead to the discovery of the "new world". Granted this discovery lead to the theft of gold from the indigenous people and mass killings, but without this drive and greed I'd be living in a vastly different country right now.
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1792 AD: The United States began a silver-gold standard monetary system. The established value of a dollar is set to 24.75 grains of pure gold or 371.25 grains of pure silver.
1900 AD: The United States is officially put on a gold standard. The country agreed to maintain their currency at a fixed exchange rate in relation to other nations.
1971 AD: President Nixon takes the United States off the gold standard.
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I knew that at one point in American history an executive order was given to make owning gold illegal (another reason I prefer to use Bitcoin to store some wealth, but that's a story for another day), but I never knew (or forgot) that America was on a Silver Standard at on point as well. Thanks Google.
Historical Importance
The ability to mine silver is one of the reasons why Greek became such a powerful nation for its time. The mines in and around Athens is what paid for Greece's first navy. This, however, came with a price as silver ore often contains lead and was mined using slave labor, because anyone with free will didn't want to die of lead poisoning.
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The denarius that Jesus held in Matthew 22:19 was a perfect example of the dangers of this. When it was first minted around 211 BC it was made from almost pure silver and weighed around 4.5 grams, but over the years both its size and purity were reduced. In Jesus’ time it contained around 3.9 grams of silver, and later in the 30s AD emperor Nero further reduced the silver content. By the middle of the third century AD it was a copper coin with no more than a thin plating of silver.
One silver denarius was the standard rate of pay for a day’s labor (Matthew 20:2).
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Gold, Silver, and even Barley have been used as a currency since the beginning of time, but what's interesting is that it appears that Silver has been the preferred currency and Gold has been the preferred store of value.
What's also interesting is that government controlled inflation is not a new thing. The Roman government devalued their silver by reducing the purity of the coins, making them smaller, and even getting to the point where the coin is a copper coin with a thin silver plating.[2][3]
A false balance is an abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight.”
Proverbs 11:1
Modern Day Importance
Just like using silver vessels to hold wine because of silver's antibacterial properties, part of what drives the values of these metals today is their uses in technology and industries. Both are valued in the electronics industry and for jewelry, but silver the next largest use for silver is in photography.
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Even though I believe in Bitcoin (digital gold) and Litecoin (digital silver) I still very much see the value of owning physical metals including Gold and Silver. Silver rounds or coins is one the most popular investments you can make due to the popularity and affordability of these rounds. Some of these rounds even carry premiums due to their popularity and sell at numbers considerably above the spot price.
In conclusion, these metals will not only hold value due to their attractiveness, physical properties, and "special abilities but because of the industrial uses that will help drive up demand along with their limited nature. It's also why I keep at least 1 Steem Silver 1oz round on me at all times. You know, just in case of a zombie apocalypse.
References
1 The Shining History of Silver
2 Bible Say Gold Silver
3 Biblical History of Silver
@gniksivart now that is what I call the GOLD and SILVER Basics for the Person that wants to understand why we Value them so Highly over the FIAT of The Banksters.....
Yeah not only can they serve as a monetary unit, but I was suprised in all the different areas they are used for technology and industry.
Just like the Roman Empire, when it started diluting the silver denarius for a days work, the Roman solders stopped fighting so hard to keep the empire together. The USSA did the same thing in 1964, which started the severe debasement of the dollar to the hockey stick level. History will repeat. Keep stacking the real 0.999 fine.
I've just started last year and my goal is to 3x my stack this year.
Quite a goal, stay the course, don't listen to your friends, as you should never listen to BROKE people giving advice. Go get ya some......................
Great information. Silver and Gold are the only true money. Have been used since the beginning. Enjoyed your post.
Thanks for stopping by and glad you enjoyed it!
Very interesting... I'm learning a lot
Good job
What specifically did you learn?
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This was a very informative post, thank you for the information. Although, in these "End Times", Christ will be the one to hold all of the silver/gold. It is stated in Haggai 2:8
Well it must not be the end times yet because I keep a silver round in my pocket and it's still there . . . for now.
Test
you need a weekly test for votes to be dropped on.
amazing intresting post
What did you like the best?
historical importance
Good! Teach em and they will buy! probably got a few converts with this info...
Well did you get any converts now with this?
This post compliments a post I wrote the other day as far as "preparing for the future that we most probably face".
I touched on gold and silver as potential forms of "currencies" that could be used as an alternative to the "Big Brother" monetary systems in place.
So when reading this post a few moments ago, had to share it on my wall for people to read, so as to fill in the gaps as far as the role of gold and silver from the angle you looked at them here.
Big thumbs up dude!
Jack
Hey man thanks for the resteem and glad you enjoyed it!