bricklayer
New Member
Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone can recommend some (or one!) good book on the history of gold and silver as money. I've used the search function here and looked through dozens of threads with little return.
The couple of 'history of money' books I've seen often only have a basic chapter on gold and silver, with very little detail.
Similarly, books about investing in PMs will cover some of this history, but I'm trying to find something written by a historian, economist, anthropologist - or even just a very good journalist - rather than someone who has a vested interest in selling PMs.
I'm specifically interested in details about how gold and silver were used in different cultures and times, relative purchasing power, how ratios between gold and silver were set, and any manias or problems with the use of gold and silver as money as such (not just the usual information about debasement of currency).
Finding this information online seems to be an exercise in wildly differing 'facts', with very little in the way of sources to back them up. As one simple example on purchasing power: I've recently seen someone claim that for much of human history, 1 oz of silver would pay for one day's physical labour, while another claims the price was a consistent 1/10th oz.
I'm also interested in how gold and silver were used at the same time, and when and where cultures may have favoured one over the other. For example, much of the information on PM dealers' websites suggests that gold, rather than silver, has been the primary form of money in history, whereas Galbraith suggests that silver was preeminent ... before adding a small footnote to say that he got most of his information from Keynes.
Anyway, if you have any suggestions, please let me know!
Just wondering if anyone can recommend some (or one!) good book on the history of gold and silver as money. I've used the search function here and looked through dozens of threads with little return.
The couple of 'history of money' books I've seen often only have a basic chapter on gold and silver, with very little detail.
Similarly, books about investing in PMs will cover some of this history, but I'm trying to find something written by a historian, economist, anthropologist - or even just a very good journalist - rather than someone who has a vested interest in selling PMs.
I'm specifically interested in details about how gold and silver were used in different cultures and times, relative purchasing power, how ratios between gold and silver were set, and any manias or problems with the use of gold and silver as money as such (not just the usual information about debasement of currency).
Finding this information online seems to be an exercise in wildly differing 'facts', with very little in the way of sources to back them up. As one simple example on purchasing power: I've recently seen someone claim that for much of human history, 1 oz of silver would pay for one day's physical labour, while another claims the price was a consistent 1/10th oz.
I'm also interested in how gold and silver were used at the same time, and when and where cultures may have favoured one over the other. For example, much of the information on PM dealers' websites suggests that gold, rather than silver, has been the primary form of money in history, whereas Galbraith suggests that silver was preeminent ... before adding a small footnote to say that he got most of his information from Keynes.
Anyway, if you have any suggestions, please let me know!
