The Freedom Coin
I've been kicking around an idea for a long time about a new dollar coin that seems even more appropriate now in this tribally divisive era.(sorry, I don't have a graphic yet)
It would be the size of a dollar coin. On one side would depict a lone eagle soaring above the mountains over fruited plains with the word "FREEDOM" super imposed. The bezel would say "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - ONE DOLLAR"
On the obverse the bezel would say "PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY" surrounding a highly reflective, slightly convex surface with the image of your own head looking back at you! Not some long gone abstract picture of a dead president or historic figure... YOU!
To me LIBERTY is nuanced a a group thing while FREEDOM is personal--individual.
The coin should have intrinsic value such its underlying material is actually ,worth a dollar. Thus gold or silver are ruled out, so I was thinking chrome plated nickel.
If you think this a good concept, please feel free to share it with others like dandelion seeds. I make no claims of ownership or copywrite. I'd love to see it go viral.
It would be the size of a dollar coin. On one side would depict a lone eagle soaring above the mountains over fruited plains with the word "FREEDOM" super imposed. The bezel would say "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - ONE DOLLAR"
On the obverse the bezel would say "PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY" surrounding a highly reflective, slightly convex surface with the image of your own head looking back at you! Not some long gone abstract picture of a dead president or historic figure... YOU!
To me LIBERTY is nuanced a a group thing while FREEDOM is personal--individual.
The coin should have intrinsic value such its underlying material is actually ,worth a dollar. Thus gold or silver are ruled out, so I was thinking chrome plated nickel.
If you think this a good concept, please feel free to share it with others like dandelion seeds. I make no claims of ownership or copywrite. I'd love to see it go viral.
These days the crap coins are made of represent value like casino poker chips. Despite being made of crap, me dino heard that it costs more to make a penny than what a penny is worth.
Me dino is now thinking that maybe Cherokee Indians were allowed to design the modern highly spendable twenty dollar bill with Andrew Jackson's face on it. You see, Andrew Jackson hated paper money. Now THAT'S enough to make an American Indian do a happy war dance while laughing his head off..
What if the coin were not tied to the dollar but just a round with a certain quantity of precious metals? Its value would vary wildly with fluctuations in the commodities markets. It would be really cool if it were somehow tied to some cryptocurrency.
I’m fascinated by this because we no longer have US currency with significant value. The last large cash transaction I did was $6000, and 60 c-notes are unwieldy. A $500 or $1000 note would help. But for better or worse the world has gone to electronic transactions.
I have a friend who keeps some of his wealth in stacks of 1oz gold coins. I do not think gold is a substitute for money, but I really am fascinated how he can hold the value of car in his hand. He can hand it over to someone else in exchange for something, and no one has to know except for the people involved in the transaction.
If the Freedom Coin were designed to be worth more, say in the $100-$2000 range, there would be larger “budget” for expensive metals to make it really shiny and robust against scratching. It could easily get half its value from its design value and half from materials.
On the other hand, precious metal has become a commodity even though it may exist in the form of a denominated coin so it's velocity would cease and its original message purpose would be lost. Gresham's law again. So how to resolve?
I believe it's good for money to have no intrinsic value, and it's good for money to be able to multiply in a fractional reserve banking system. Someone has a good idea and gets investors to give her money. She takes that money and puts the temporarily unused portion in a bank account that gets lent out to others with good ideas. She pays vendors with some of that money, who put in their bank accounts, which get lent out to others with good ideas. There's no limit to the wealth we can create for one another, so there should be no limit to money.
I am not knowledgeable about how to fix monetary policy issues, but it seems to me the problem is confusion about what is a risk free deposit. FDIC insurance accounts return roughly the rate of inflation, give or take, but are supposed to be totally secure. But then there are other instruments that are tacitly insured, and that's where it seems like we run into trouble.
I am also beginning to think one or more crypto currency should become the reserve currency of the world because with any national bank there's temptation for political interference. Even if there isn't interference, the central bank will try to even out the economic cycle with monetary policy, and who's to say they are better at it than a herd of market participants. I think we're far from the end of history of monetary policy.
I like the idea of cryptocurrencies or novel non-state-backed hard currencies. Let them compete fairly with fiat money backed by national banks.