Proud of my son
FredF
Posts: 526 ✭✭✭
My 9-year old saw an advertisement in a magazine for the New York Mint 1 ounce "$100 silver proof" bar for $99. He said he wanted one because he wanted real silver. I sat down, read the ad, explained that silver was roughly $30 an ounce, showed him where the ad showed the price of bar and the amount of silver, and he realized it was a rip off. I said if he wanted a 1 ounce silver coin I would sell him one for $30. Then he went to finish his homework and I went to work out. About an hour later he comes down to say good-night and he told me he put $30 on my bedside table, and he wanted a silver coin. So, I went and grabbed my stash, got out a silver eagle, told him it would be $30, and he thought that would be cool. But then I said that he had other options. Grabbed some of my 90%, showed him quarters and dimes. He observed that they looked somewhat like today's coins and he knew today's coins were copper/nickel, and I asked him to look at the years. Then we walked through the composition of coins through 1964 and then the 40% halves. I put a clad dime in one of his hands and a silver dime in the other and asked him to close his eyes and feel the difference. We also talked about how silver is a great conductor of heat compared to the clad coins. I said that for $23 he could have $1.00 face of those coins, or I would sell him a dime for $2.30 or a quarter for $5.75. He rooted through things and picked out two Roosevelt dimes, we put them in coin flips so he wouldn't mix them with his "regular" coins, and then I only kept $4.60 of his $30. Kid was happy that he got two silver coins and still had money left over.
I know you guys probably have gone through that scene with your kids too (and don't get on my case for overcharging him - I couldn't remember exact quote for junk silver off top of my head, probably should have charged him closer to 21.5x face
). But it was good to have the conversation about what silver means, how not to get ripped off, and what "real" money feels like. Figured you guys could appreciate.
-Fred
I know you guys probably have gone through that scene with your kids too (and don't get on my case for overcharging him - I couldn't remember exact quote for junk silver off top of my head, probably should have charged him closer to 21.5x face
). But it was good to have the conversation about what silver means, how not to get ripped off, and what "real" money feels like. Figured you guys could appreciate.-Fred
Successful BST (me as buyer) with: Collectorcoins, PipestonePete, JasonRiffeRareCoins
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Comments
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
I knew it would happen.
nice work Fred!
I think that's true of just about any kind of "teacher". Caring about what is being taught is invaluable to the recipient of the knowledge.
Great post OP!
dad, his multiple families. etc.
Last night I was bathing my coins in acetone and putting them in airtites.
My 3 year old son asked for "tanti soldi" (translation: lots of coins).
He sat by me with his dust can blowing the coins I gave him from the change jar.
I then put an AGE in the mix and asked which coin he liked more...he picked the cent!
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