The People’s Money (silver nickname)
“The people’s money” is a nickname for silver. Silver is more affordable than gold and has, historically, been a favorite metal to use as coinage. “Silver is the people’s money” has been cited in print since at least March 1885. William Hope “Coin” Harvey (1851-1936) wrote in Coin’s Financial School (1894), “it (silver—ed.) was called the people’s money.”
Silver has also been nicknamed “poor man’s gold” (popularized in the 1970s), the “common man’s metal” (since 1986), “gold’s little brother” (since 2007) and the “devil’s metal” (since 2010).
Wikipedia: William Hope Harvey
William Hope “Coin” Harvey (16 August 1851 – 11 February 1936) was an American teacher, businessman, author, and politician best remembered for his views and his book on bimetallism and the health resort he built in Northwest Arkansas, Monte Ne. His enthusiasm for silver money was later incorporated into both the Democratic and the American Populist Party in the early 1890s.
(...)
Another case he had seems to have profoundly impacted him for the rest of his life. Harvey was representing a wealthy client who was the victim of a murder. From then on he mistrusted great wealth. He developed a strong belief in the coining of money with silver at 1/16 the cost of gold. This would increase employment in silver mines and bring people out of debt. He hated usury, and the practice of charging interest on loans. These views earned him the nickname “Coin”.
12 March 1885, The Jackson Sentinel (Maquoketa, IA), “Silver Money,” pg. 4, col. 3:
Silver is the people’s money. The silver dollar is older than the government. It was the unit of value and through nearly all our history has been the measure of all values, and no party, whether from selfish or political interests, can drive it from our money.
The people have faith in it. They know what it means. They store it away. It is secure, clear and solid. it has the historic ring of honesty. The silver money of the country is the emblem of our independence and our liberties, and should and will be protected and preserved by the people.
21 October 1885, The Daily News (Denver, CO), “Transporting Silver,” pg. 4, col. 4:
Silver is essentially the people’s money and if the people are given a fair opportunity they will soon absorb the entire issue of standard dollars, and as many more as can be coined.
8 August 1890, Weekly News (Aberdeen, SD), “Defend Your Money,” pg. 6, col. 3:
But in spite of all obstacles, silver made its way into circulation in gradually increasing quantities, an the people’s money triumphed.
13 August 1890, Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer, pg. 4, col. 1:
THE PEOPLE’S MONEY.
Silver is the money of the common people.
Google Books
Coin’s Financial School
By William Hope Harvey
Chicago, IL: Coin Publishing Company
1894
Pg. 8:
“In considering which of these two metals they would thus favor by making it the unit, they were led to adopt silver because it was the most reliable. It was the most favored as money by the people. It was scattered among all the people. Men having a design to injure business by making money scarce, could not so easily get hold of all the silver and hide it away, as they could gold. This was the principal reason that led them to the conclusion to select silver, the more stable of the two metals, upon which to fix the unit. It was so much handled by the people and preferred by them, that it was called the people’s money.”
Google Books
The Money Men:
Capitalism, Democracy, and the Hundred Years’ War Over the American Dollar
By H. W. Brands
New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
2007
Pg. 168:
“Gold was considered the money of the rich. It was owned principally by that class of people, and the poor people seldom handled it.” Silver was the more democratic. “It was so much handled by the people and preferred by them, that it was called the people’s money.”
(Spoken by “Coin” in the 1890s—ed.)
The Daily Bell
David Morgan on the Global Economy, Inflation, Recession and Where Silver Is Headed
Sunday, May 15, 2011 by Anthony Wile
(...)
Daily Bell: Explain why silver has historically been called the people’s money.
David Morgan: Silver has been used for longer periods of time, in more places in the world, and by more human beings for money than anything else ... period! End of story! If you have the ability to think then no further comment is necessary.
Daily Bell: There are some that believe that silver is a secondary money. And that gold is primary money. What about you?
David Morgan: Gold is worth more per ounce than silver and has been since the beginning of recorded history. In that sense it has a higher unit value (more value per ounce). Both serve their purpose.. Gold for international settlement and silver for individual settlement.
The Street
Silver Is the People’s Money: Opinion
BY Jeff Nielson | 11/07/11 - 02:58 PM EST
(...)
When I speak of precious metals being our salvation from the bankers’ world of debauched paper, for the average person what I mean specifically is that silver is their primary protection from the banksters’ stealing via dilution. In referring to silver as “the people’s money” I am not saying anything new here. Rather I am simply reiterating one of the oldest economic truths of our species.
Townhall.com
The Powerful Case for Silver
Peter Schiff | Jul 20, 2013
(...)
The People’s Money
After a couple generations of purely fiat currency in the United States, a lot of people have forgotten that money used to be backed by something of value - gold and silver. It wasn’t until 1965 that the US stopped making its dimes and quarters out of 90% silver, and the dollar was backed by gold internationally until 1971.
In spite of fiat money’s ubiquity, more and more people around the world are waking up to the dangers of paper currency and turning to gold and silver to protect their savings. Silver is particularly useful to everyday citizens around the world because of its smaller value-to-weight. A half-ounce of silver can buy you dinner. A half-ounce of gold can buy dinner for you and 60 of your closest friends. That’s why for centuries, gold has been considered the money of kings, while silver is known as the people’s money.