S02E34: That Vexing Problem
Tonight’s Tarot:
Ace of Wands (R) – Linestrider Tarot Deck
Freaks of Hazard:
Arizona State University is a freak tonight and most nights!
Subscribe for the SXXY-est junkmail for your inbox right here!
WOW BAD DEAL
BROKE AS A JOKE
It’s been a tough week in the markets, a historically bad week brought on by tariffs fears and a volatile president. However, oftentimes nestled in the core of disaster is a glowing ember of opportunity.
It is not a bad time to look at what money actually is and can be,
Silver has been the most popular trade currency for the common man.
Silver coins have been minted since the times of Ancient Greece, the most famous being drachma. British pennies were made of silver until 1797.
In colonial America, the most common silver coin was a Spanish piece of eight. Spain’s discovery of the New World put them at an advantage for a long time, and for 150 years Spain was a dominant factor in developing what we now call “international trade”. Thanks to the Spanish silver dollar’s uniformity, consistency, and quality, it became the world’s first “international currency” and the standard to inspire all money created in North and South America, and many others around the world including Japan and China. The $ sign allegedly comes from this coin, but there is a lot of debate around that, insinuating that the design is of some secret occult origin, probably Masonic-adjacent.
1600’s America had very little silver or gold coins because…
Trade deficits, ruled under mercantilism
No local silver mines
🪙 Money 1 - Commodities Trading
With no silver or gold coin, what would people use for money?
🪙 Money 2 - Tobacco
It differed from region to region.
Tobacco cultivation and exports formed an essential component of the American colonial economy. It was distinct from rice, wheat, cotton and other cash crops in terms of agricultural demands, trade, slave labor, and plantation culture. Many influential American revolutionaries, including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, owned tobacco plantations, and were hurt by debt to British tobacco merchants shortly before the American Revolution.
Things Money Physically Needs To Be…
Shelf stable
Tough
Uniform
Consistent quality
Universally Useful
How long did it take for Virginia to abandon the tobacco currency exchange?
🪙 Money 3 - Paper Money
150 years later, in the 1750’s, is when they switched to paper money.
Tobacco was not perfect as money. It ultimately did rot, was inconsistent in quality, and bulky and expensive to transport in real exchange.
Meanwhile, further north, pelts were used as legal tender and medium of exchange.
🪙 Money 4 - Country Pay
“Country payments” were exceptions made when any farm produce or product could be used as legal tender to pay debts and taxes. Some salaries were paid in corn, which at one point was worth six shillings per bushel.
A shilling was a silver coin .925 (sterling) standard, minted at 66 shillings to the troy pound. Hence, newly minted shillings weighed 2⁄11 troy ounce, or 5.655 grams, or 1/5th of an ounce.
Silver in April 2025 is around $30 dollars an ounce, so a shilling today would be around $6. NOTE: Five years ago silver was trading around $15-$17, half the price now.
… So corn used to be $36 a bushel.
In 2025, according to recent projections, corn is valued at $4.60 per bushel.
A bushel is essentially a large bucket. The word Old French boise, meaning "little butt".
Corn has gotten a little cheaper! Back then, it was a valuable commodity used as country pay.
In fact, according to this professor at ASU, Harvard College was financed with corn and other forms of country pay, and tuition could be paid in this way as well.
The United States was a pioneer in paper money. Only China and a few select other instances note any earlier use of state-issued paper currency.
🪙 Money 5 - Peas and Silver
If your peas get wet, you will regret.
Of course, there were also clams, good old clamshells. Europeans eventually adopted shells as a medium of exchange.
🪙 Money 6 - Shells and Silver
THE MORE PANS, THE MORE PEOPLE
NOT AN AD
⭐ 1950s Advertising Propaganda - ADVERTISING, WHAT IT'S DOING TO YOUR LIFE - Video
The Old Man Got Wrapped Up - This film is about advertising, and ole Joel here is gonna explain to use all the different things advertising can mean to people! Did I miss anything dear?
The Gershwin Years - Woahhhh guess who?? Let’s hear all the miracle GE brought into the home.
Those Bright Lights - New jobs, new machines, so much money to pour into research and development!
So What? - What of a new product? 20, 30, 40 years the economy has been growing, more jobs better income means people have more money to spend! A new landscape requires a new type of advertising man.
Defying Heat And Cold - An Ad for corning ware.
A Personal Salesman - Getting into the math of how much it cost for one man and one man alone to sell. Remember, the more you can make the less it costs.
Talks Thru Plastic - An ad for Union Carbide.
Of Course It Does - More for more people! Advertising generates tax revenues!
You The Customer Win - Only the best can survive, all advertising can do is hope you try the product once! Like, say these onions for example. Pour, and use!
Errors of the Few - The navy ad, but at the end.
Face The Front - Duluth MN Chow Mein, yummmmm!
Keep It Keen - More, more more!! It can be done!! You can be sure Westinghouse is on your side.
Construction Ad
One Last Job - These are the things you had to be sold on.
Contact Is Broken - Uhhh this took a turn.
OPENER
charlixcx but make it hitting the second tower
INTERMISSION
Intermission From S01E135: Remove The Jaw For Security
CLOSER
TAKE THESE, IT’S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE!
