| Coin collectors can rejoice - this week U.S. Mint puts into
circulation a dollar coin with the second American President John Adams on it.
This new coin is part of the currency program by the Federal Reserve
Bank which will add a new dollar coin every three months, featuring American
presidents in the chronological order they held the office. Such design plan intends
to increase the attractiveness of dollar coins versus dollar bank notes, as
means of money. American collectors should start accumulating the new
shiny dollar coins as they are printed by the U.S. Mint Bureau. Once their supply
increases, and they are no longer considered a numismatic rarity, people
will start using the accumulated silver dollars as money for slot
vending machines where they are much more convenient than four
quarters. Current Federal Reserve program mimics the 50-state quarter
program which was the most successful coin program in U.S. history.
Many of those quarters are still sitting in the coin collections.
John Adams silver dollar is printed three months after the launch of
George Washington dollar coin.
Money history - From grain to metal:
Gradually in the developed civilizations of antiquity barter gave way to cash payments. Possibly significant disadvantages of barter - the lack of a clear system of equivalents, the indivisibility of exchanged goods, various requests from members of the exchange, played a role. However, such obstacles should not be considered as critical, as they could be overcome with the help of various appliances. For example, in Ancient Egypt, first exchange was done on top priority commodities. Later, based on available documents, during the New Kingdom (XVI-XI century BC.) methodology was slightly changed and various measures of weight of gold and silver, copper and bronze, particularly deben, equivalent to 91 grams. The calculations were simplified also by the existence of the theoretical unit of 7.5 grams weight, called "Shati", which was used to generate pricing and define the equivalents. Actually the money appeared in Egypt only in the middle of I millennium BC. and these were Greek coins.
Such auxiliary converters of prices somehow defused the main disadvantages of barter, but were powerless before the development of the legal system and the related need for retention of fines, taxes and compensation. That’s why an uniform ad valorem equivalent was actually required.
Decisive stage in the evolution of monetary systems took place commencing from II millennium BC. Usage of metallic – mostly silver bullion, rings, or wire during the calculations, allowed Babylonia, followed by Phoenicia and Egypt to intensively develop the domestic and foreign trade, bartering with neighbors on natural raw materials for the abundantly produced grain and handicraft products. This silverware is very reminiscent of modern money, as it served as both a means of payments, calculation and preservance of valuables, pointing to the owner’s right to receive specific quantum of grain. Moreover, metallic "money" satisfied those requirements, which we make for means of payments today: to be durable, convenient to store and transport, and to be attractive. But since silver also had significant intrinsic value, including that of a decorative material, that’s why it was not available to all and for a long time wheat was used as a small change currency.
Human history is quite frugal, and bartering, as such, did not remain as the prerogative of the past, but in contradiction, it flourished not only in primitive societies, but also in developed countries during the chaos and wars. Thus at the end of XX century in Russia in conditions of galloping inflation and economic chaos, the volume and number of barter transactions reached historic highs. In 1992, the share of barter in a total volume of commercial transactions amounted to 6%, in 1998 it has grown to 51%, and in 2003 again declined to 9%. |
This Thursday U.S. Mint puts into circulation the dollar coin with the second American president John Adams engraved on it. This new dollar coin program prints coins of constantly changing design - four new US presidents per year in the chronological order they held the office. Every collector's dream will be the crooked dollar coin with Richard Nixon.
