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NEWP: Bryan So Called Dollar
aficoinado
Posts: 297
I saw this at a local auction and caught my interest. There is a rim bruise at 4 oclock. The damage is contained to the rim edge itself but it was hard enough to disrupt the obverse surface. It's pretty cool how it is twice the size of a Morgan $, but supposedly of "equal" value. It is the more rare Spaulding variety.
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Lane
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
actually, the whole debate centered around righting a flawed policy that had caused mild economic chaos throughout the middle of the 19th Century in America, with weights being changed, which accounts for all the with/without arrows coins we all know, among other things. further, the "big money" Democrats were just as much of a problem as your Republicans, being the instigators starting the re-coining of Silver Dollars which the populace had clearly denounced. from all that i read, it was pretty clear that the country as a whole was headed for the Gold standard and in fact wanted it, the Government simply propped up the Silver-side of the debate until it could no longer be done. as a result we have the sarcasm embodied in these large cartwheel medals.
the bottom line in the whole thing is the same bottom line which has driven quite a number of U.S. coins-----the Sacred Almighty Dollar and the greedy, grubby hands that hoped to control it.
The Munchkins were simply outspent by the Wicked Witch of the East.
The silver lobby, which included some wealthy folks who owned silver mines, wanted the government to convert as much of their silver as possible into silver coins. Their ideal was the “free coinage of silver.” Under that system they could have brought silver into the mint system (Carson City mint would have been the most convenient place) and had it converted into silver dollars and other silver coinage for little or no charge. This was in fact government policy during the early days of the U.S. mint.
The trouble was the silver mines were producing so much silver that the market price was falling because of excess supply. If “free silver” had been the policy one could have taken 40 cents worth of silver to mint and had it turned into a silver dollar thus giving the depositor a quick 60 cent profit. This would have continued until the buying power of the dollar equaled the value of silver that was in it. The net result would have been a missive increase in the money supply and massive inflation.
Those who owned money, which included a lot of farmers, thought this was a great idea. Massive inflation would lower the value of the dollars with which they repaid their loans, which would get them out of debt. The trouble is monetary systems like this are the hallmarks of the so-called banana republics. These regimes are noted for inflating their currency, most often with paper money, to keep the “rabble” happy. Sadly, however, the monetary systems of such countries usually end up on the scrape heap.
When William Jennings Bryan ran in 1896, the “free silver” debate had almost run its course. It had been raging since the mid 1870s. The real boost for Bryan was the Panic of 1893, which had been a relatively brief, but very sharp recession. The recession had been partially caused by a shortage of gold in the U.S. Treasury had been caused by the ill-conceived Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890. In the wake of that problem, an increase in the U.S. money supply would have been a reasonable policy, but there were two problems with Bryan’s free silver scheme.
First, he didn’t put any limits on how much the money supply could have been increased with silver coins. That posed a threat to the U.S. monetary system. Second, the rest of the industrialized world at that time was on the gold standard. If the U.S. had gone to bimetallism, we would have been out of step with other countries which would have undermined the international integrity of the dollar.
Bryan was not a very deep thinker, and he got dumber as he got older. Even Bryan admitted that he didn’t have the silver issue figured out, but he’d get to that once he was elected President. Fortunately we didn’t reach that point, and Bryan lost.
And you can look at this way. If Bryan had won in 1896, Theodore Roosevelt would never have become President. The reason for that is another long story, but I’m going to rest here for the moment.
Here are couple of pieces you might find of interst. This stud is from the days when William McKinley was running for Congress and in favor of bimetallism. He changed his tune when a fellow named Mark Hanna became his chief fund raiser.
And here is one of the more unusual satirical Bryan Dollars. This piece is made of nickel plated iron, and it's the only variety that has Ms. Liberty facing right.
I still think it is a significant fact that the election was "fraudulently manipulated and coerced by monied legions of the robber barons and big business (i.e., J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and others)."
That started with Jackson really, he was the last freely elected pres we've ever had...
The men you mentioned, the robber barons, are in my opinion the men who ruined our nation and our nations monetary policy.
The monied interests poured cash into the McKinley campaign, but trust me. Bryan was a boob, and we dodged a bullet when he failed to be elected president. Remember Brayan lost again in 1900 and 1908 and then had the distiction of being rated as one of the worst secretaries of state in history. He served in Woodrow Wilson's administration.
<< <i>The men you mentioned, the robber barons, are in my opinion the men who ruined our nation and our nations monetary policy. >>
How did they ruin the nation's monetary policy?
'The Creature from Jekyll Island' by: G. Edward Griffin
Which has ended up leading us to where we are as a nation today.
Rockefeller quote from his memoirs:
"For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as internationalists and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure one world, if you will. If thats the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."
When men of this stature say things like that, and you go back into history and really read about what happened and who stands to make money from it, its easy to find some of the truth.
Also, read my sig.
I know many points in history are debatable, but when the very people making the rules say things like that, I listen.
<< <i>There was never any evidence of major fraud during the 1896 presidential election. (All elections have minor instances of fraud.) If you want to say that it was unfortunatel for the Republicans to have $6 or $7 million while the Democrats had $500,000, that's a statement of fact, but not of fraud. >>
"fraudulently manipulated", which historians agree.
My original point was the the Republicans got their money from the instigation of the Robber Barons, who were trying to protect their own interests, and that such a transition, in terms of election financing, was quite significant.
<< <i>The centralized control of printing our nations money by a private bank whose owners are not even publicly known. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913?
'The Creature from Jekyll Island' by: G. Edward Griffin
Which has ended up leading us to where we are as a nation today.
Rockefeller quote from his memoirs:
"For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as internationalists and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure one world, if you will. If thats the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."
When men of this stature say things like that, and you go back into history and really read about what happened and who stands to make money from it, its easy to find some of the truth.
Also, read my sig.
I know many points in history are debatable, but when the very people making the rules say things like that, I listen. >>
I take it from this that you are one of those people who are opposed to a central bank, like the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England. If a central bank does not exercise influence over a nation’s money supply, and exert controls over the banking system, then who should perform that function? One can certainly disagree over some of the specific policy decisions that the Federal Reserve System has made over the years, but scraping the whole system would be dangerous and foolhardy.
As for Thomas Jefferson, I greatly admire his writings on human rights, but when came to the subjects of economics and finance, he was totally out of his realm. Jefferson’s idea that The United States should be a nation composed of yeoman farmers living on largely self-sufficient plots of land surrounded by a poorly integrated economy was a recipe for national poverty.
Jefferson and his political successor Andrew Jackson (ironically Jefferson feared and disliked Jackson’s political influence) both opposed The Bank of the United States. The bank certainly had flaws in its charter which were ripe for reform, but as an institution it’s influence was a vital first step in the reforming the early American monetary system. It is interesting note that every time the bank lost its charter that an economic recession or depression followed.
Yes, I am firmly against such institutions like this in America. The idea is out dated and unAmerican.
I agree with your points about Jefferson and Jackson, but I feel they were right in alot of regards. Personally, Id rather have a U.S. that was self sustaining like it once was for the most part. We're not anymore. We have a Treasury, and a mint, and a BEP... Why cant these three govt agencies set up to create and control our nations money supply, handle our nations money supply?
If they started with an audit of the Fed, I might rethink my position... Untill then, they are corrupt and should be dealt with accordingly...
Monetary policy is an inexact science, and some like the late economist, Milton Freidman, suggested that it was best to add money to economy in proportion to economic growth instead of trying to fine turn it. Friedman’s argument was that fiscal (tax and spending policy) was ineffectual and monetary policy had took to long to work its way though the economy to be effective. Therefore he took the steady as you go approach when businesses could operate in an atmosphere of monetary stability. Freidman did not call for politicizing monetary policy even more.
Given the general lack of expertise in Congress when it comes to the economy, I’m not ready to turn over money monetary policy to them. Just look at the mess Congress made with Fannie Mea and Freddy Mac. Do you think the guys who made a mess of those organizations and lied about what was happening should be put in charge of the nation’s monetary policy?
Your idea about auditing Federal agencies is a good one. It should apply to all agencies, not just the Federal Reserve. Yet the interesting thing about the Federal Reserve is the profits, which the agency always earns though its operations, are turned back to the general fund every year. Overall I’d say in the grand scheme of government, the Federal Reserve has been one of the more honest agencies.
I agree about Congress, but Congress is the only authority that has power to coin money, or us, as per the U.S. Constitution. And until we start a new political system, the old one including Congress has to do. Since the Fed hasnt saw fit to disclose the owners of the bank, and that they, including the Treasury sec, (who couldnt figure out TurboTax) lied about the AIG bailouts, I believe they are all dirty.
Im not saying I have the answers, but the Fed is the root of all evil.
Unelected officials running a nations monetary supply, along with no oversight, control, or scrutiny, can only lead to corruption.
Also, Freddie and Fannie? Man, I remember when Barny Frank was saying they were fine and not to worry... I think that was in late 07...
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
Thats the nicest example Ive ever seen I believe! Thats the type of coin that should be a plate coin.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
<< <i>Nice medals!!! How much do these large silver medals sell for? Quite a piece of history. Will any of the TPG's slab them or are they just too large? >>
There are a number of varieties of anti-Bryan comparative silver metals. The pieces shown here were made by Gorham, and they are generally the most common varieties. Prices for pieces that have not been cleaned are in the $350 to $400 in AU – Unc. These pieces can be bought in certification holders.
Rarer varieties were made by Tiffany & Co. There are also pieces for 1900 presidential election and restrikes made in 1908 of the Tiffany pieces. Here is a piece from the 1900 campaign that is the same size as a Morgan silver dollar. The message is the same but adjusted for the size. Fred Schornstein in his book Bryan Money claims that this piece is common, but I've seen far fewer of these than I have of the more common 1896 varieties.
<< <i>
WOW!!!! That one is GORGEOUS!!!!
<< <i>Anyone know what these sell for in the slabbed grade of MS62 NGC? >>
Like any coin, depends on how it looks. But also depends on which one, the one with the wagon wheel or the uniface. More people seem to like the version with the wagon wheel. Sold an NGC MS62 earlier this year on eBay for $900 or so I think.
Michael Kittle Rare Coins --- 1908-S Indian Head Cent Grading Set --- No. 1 1909 Mint Set --- Kittlecoins on Facebook --- Long Beach Table 448