Money

Despite the supposed strength of the US labor market that is touted throughout the mainstream financial press, the reality isn’t so rosy. That’s especially the case for younger workers, who…

Democratic Presidential contenders seem to be falling all over themselves with plans to soak the rich. From higher income taxes to wealth taxes to financial transaction taxes, there’s nothing that…

While the Coinage Act of 1792 established the US Mint and the American system of coinage, it took years for the Mint to really get started in creating money. With…

One of the most pernicious aspects of the Federal Reserve’s response to the financial crisis was how it incentivized people to take on more and more debt. With an economy…

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably never heard of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU). The LMU was a monetary union established in the 19th century to unite the currencies…

There’s no shortage of scumbags out there looking to take advantage of the elderly. And there’s no limit to how their devious imaginations work to try to come up with…

The Liberty Head series of gold coins was long in the tooth by the end of the 19th century. All major American circulating coinage, in fact, had retained the same…

One of the many problems with governments getting involved in setting monetary policy is that the conduct of monetary policy necessarily picks winners and losers. Due to the distributional effects…

By the 1880s many people had become fed up with the designs of American coinage. Both silver and gold coins had had the same designs since the 1830s, with the…

If you thought the worst excesses of the 2008 financial crisis were well behind us then think again. While the first few years following the crisis brought a return of…

While the $20 double eagle gold coins have long gained attention from collectors and investors, the less-appreciated $10 eagle coin was for decades the standard gold coin intended for circulation.…

Most people under retirement age never experienced the days of circulating silver coinage. And even those old enough to remember them never got to experience them as adults, as base…