u/AdStraight6341

Got these when spot was around $1,700–1,800/oz. Most of the Italian ones are from 1881 or 1882, so other dates are relatively scarce.

When this was coined in 1893, Italy was going through a severe economic crisis due to the failure of the Banca Romana. Italian paper currency traded at around 15% discount to gold, so their small silver coins flooded neighboring LMU countries, which officially accepted them at par. As a result, Italian small silver coins ceased to be legal tender outside Italy in 1894.

5 lire crowns were an exception, as they had not been coined since 1879, and gold coins were also okay since their intrinsic value was always equal to their face value.

Each of them is very common in VF, but quite scarce in higher grades.

Although France no longer coined crown-size 5 franc pieces for circulation after 1878, they continued to be very common in commerce as late as 1914. According to a census conducted in 1897, those minted under the July Monarchy were still the most common type.

French 5 franc pieces were officially legal tender in the US from 1816 to 1857 at 93 cents, although many reckoned them at 93.75 or 95 cents. They mostly disappeared by the early 1850s, but they were still commonly used as $1 in California as late as 1859.

Got the French one when spot was around $1250/oz

This bank only issued $5 bills during the entire national bank note era. They began issuing notes only in 1932, probably due to the Glass-Borah rider of July 1932.

It is unknown why they issued only fives, but I guess that they used the opportunity to advertise their bank. Higher denominations were unaffordable for many people during the height of the depression.

In May 1934, a teller at the bank was accused of embezzling $25,000 in brand new currency, and some of these might have been among them.

I initially thought I had overpaid a bit after winning the auction, but it appears to be in better shape compared to the seller’s photos. It has no tears of pinholes.

Based on the s/n, the BEP delivery date of this note was Apr. 23, 1930. It was probably released into actual circulation in the spring of 1931, as total of 2,492,000 series 1928 $50 gold notes had been issued by June 30, 1931.

Silver Certs from series 1934 and onward were issued based on the Silver Purchase Act of June 1934. It made the government to purchase massive amounts of silver until the market price of silver reach $1.29/oz (the melt value of silver dollars) or 1/4 of the total money supply consist of silver. The silver was mainly used to back the newly issued Silver Certificates, while some Peace dollars were minted from this in 1934 and 35.

The silver act and the devaluation of the dollar caused the price of silver to skyrocket from $0.24 in Dec 1932 to $0.81 in Apr 1935. The exchange rate of the Yuan also surged accordingly as it was under the silver standard. The heavy export tax on silver after Oct 1934 slowed down the appreciation, but hundreds of millions of silver dollars were smuggled outside China, causing severe deflation and economic crisis.

China eventually abandoned the silver standard on Nov 1935 and silver went back down to 45 cents. Nevertheless, domestically mined silver continued to be purchased at subsidized rates between 64-71 cents under the act of 1934.

The SSC coinage might have been produced at Sir Isaac Newton’s initiative, as he was master of the Royal Mint at the time.

He was still a shareholder in the South Sea Company in 1723 despite suffering tremendous losses during the bubble of 1720, so he may have wanted to prop up its value.

Recently added the Jubilee Head for $55.

It was originally imprisoned in an NGC case, but I liberated from it since I hate slabs. Between late 17c and early 18c, this coin was so widespread in the 13 colonies that New York once issued paper currency denominated in “lyon dollars.”

Although the Mexican coin contained slightly more silver, its intrinsic value was only about 53 US cents in 1896. While the value of Mexican silver coins was based on their metal content since it was under the silver standard, Morgan dollars was tied to the value of the gold dollar and parity was maintained through limited coinage. Since the US had been under a de facto gold standard since 1879 (officially since 1900), the melt value of its gold coinage equaled its face value.

Before 1873, the Mexican silver had been worth at or slightly above 1 gold dollars, but the price of silver halved over the previous 20 years as many countries, including the US abandoned the silver standard / bimetallism. One of the main issues in the presidential election held that year and 1900 was whether to restore the free coinage of silver at a 16-to-1 ratio(suspended in 1873). Opponents of free silver referred to the morgan dollar or the 8 reales as the “fifty-cent dollar.”

2880 third farthing pieces equalled a golden sovereign. Third farthing pieces were a part of the pound sterling system, but circulated only in Malta.

960 farthings equalled a golden sovereign

Most Series 1928 $2 bills are from the 1928-C series or higher, so the earlier ones are less common(but not rare)

As I already mentioned, US Legal Tender notes were redeemable in gold coin between 1879 and March 1933 even though there was no gold clause printed on the note. The clause was written during the Civil War, but it remained unchanged even after they became convertible.

Therefore, 1928-plain series $2 and $5 bills can be exchanged for gold when they were initially issued. Some 1928-A and B notes were also eligible when they were printed, but uncertain by the time they were actually released into circulation.

Between 1914 and 1933, both Federal Reserve Notes and Gold Certificates were issued as regular cash at the same time, and both were redeemable in gold coin at par, so they had the same value.

However, their backing and roles were somewhat different. Gold Certificates were entirely backed by gold deposited in the Treasury, valued at $20.67/oz. Therefore, they were considered warehouse certificates completely equivalent to gold.

In contrast, Federal Reserve Notes were issued under a fractional reserve system. The minimum gold backing ratio was 40% for notes in circulation and 35% (in gold + “lawful money”) for deposits at the Fed, while the rest had to be backed by other assets like bonds. The average reserve ratio of FRNs during the pre-1933 gold standard was around 65-70%. The value of gold increased from $20.67 to $35/oz in 1934, and the minimum ratio was reduced to 25% in 1945, and 0% since 1968.

Under the pre-1933 gold standard, the Fed generally increased its own notes and contract Gold Certificates during gold shortages, such as during WWI and the Great Depression, and vice versa during gold gluts, as in the mid-1920s.