There is no such thing as Gresham's Law... The proper name is: Copernicus' Law \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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There is no such thing as Gresham's Law... The proper name is: Copernicus' Law

477 sats \ 9 comments \ @jk_14 31 Jan 2023 bitcoin

I have used this term Gresham's Law here many times. But not properly.

There is such economic treatise named: "De monetae cudendae ratione" (LINK)

It contained especially the explanation of a basic economic principle, that of two currencies with equal legal tender existing in the same country, the bad one forces out of circulation the good one. By some scientific misunderstanding this principle was attributed to Thomas Gresham.

The famuos polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus wrote his Law in 1526, when Thomas Gresham was 14 years old kid... :)

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194 sats \ 3 replies \ @siggy47 31 Jan 2023

In the mid 60's I worked as a young kid in my father's pharmacy. One of my jobs was to go through the coin trays after we closed for the day. My father taught me how to recognize the old silver dimes and quarters (and occasional half dollars), and to remove them and put them in a bag to take home. The new coins had a brown stripe on the rim, revealing the alloys. We left them in the tray to use the next day.

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @falsefaucet 31 Jan 2023

as someone who has been involved with something similiar, it was the sound the real silver made, that caught my attention. i didnt know why at the time, just knew these were different.

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @OneOneSeven 31 Jan 2023

I've collected a few of these too over the years, I think '64 was the last year for silver being used (for quarters at least) so I've always checked the dates

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 31 Jan 2023

I think the silver bugs call them "junk silver" or "90 percent" silver. My dad passed away almost 20 years ago, but I still have those bags!

392 sats \ 2 replies \ @pillar 31 Jan 2023

Monetae cudendae ratione is such an impressive read. It's a bit frustrating because it shows you how we have been fighting the same problems for centuries and we, as humanity, have still not learned the lesson. You can read a translation here.

You just gotta love the opening. I regularly drop it on nocoiners to introduce the idea of currency debasement and its importance:

Although there are countless scourges which in general debilitate kingdoms, principalities, and republics, the four most important (in my judgment) are dissension, [abnormal] mortality, barren soil, and debasement of the currency. The first three are so obvious that nobody is unaware of their existence. But the fourth, which concerns money, is taken into account by few persons and only the most perspicacious. For it undermines states, not by a single attack all at once, but gradually and in a certain covert manner.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @jk_14 OP 31 Jan 2023

I even remember article, that there were some descriptions, from ancient Egypt, about:

"huge inflation" - due to x3 increase of some product price in 150 years... :)

what is less than 1% of annual inflation, simply the dream of FED or similar institutions :)

EDIT, source: "Unfortunately, inflation was already the bane of humanity back then. We know that, for example, sandals in a certain period of the existence of the state went up in price over 150 years from 1 deben to 3 deben. In turn, during the period of the New Kingdom, 1 to 2 deben was paid for 1 char of grain. In later centuries, however, prices increased to 12 deben." (source, by Google Translation)

61 sats \ 0 replies \ @notgeld 31 Jan 2023

Such price increase might be attributed to increase in demand.

To my opinion, It is not like humanity constantly tries to fight same problems it is people in power who constantly try to use the same tools for increasing their power.

71 sats \ 0 replies \ @Brunswick 31 Jan 2023

Currency manipulation isn't the only source of inflation. Others can be population collapse from debauchery brought on by prosperity and it can be from famine and other material shortages. There is at least one direct biblical account of monetary hyperinflation due to famine (Gen 47:17), and one from collapse u der societal decay and siege (Eze 7:18). These happened under hard money.

Under a regime of perfectly hard money, we will learn exposure to sustained deflation and how credit and finance will work under this system.

After hyperbitcoinization we may experience sustained prosperity which could lead to debauchery and demographic collapse. This could cause inflation of the unit of account which is a tax on everyone's wealth, but only at the rate of population decrease. One could consider this a tax on debauchery and hopefully future generations would recognize this before it happens.

If they understand the gift they have been given, a hard currency, they should conclude a utilitarian need for an improved societal ethic. An ethic that leads to morality, an agapè love for fellow man, a refrain from slothfulness and to hold dear a principal to maintain a sustainable level of population.

45 sats \ 0 replies \ @go 31 Jan 2023

Here's a nice article about it: https://newworldeconomics.com/nicholas-copernicus-treatise-on-money-1526/