Our library is still closed to browsing, but open to computer use by appointment. Today, while a library patron was paying for some printed paperwork, I noticed something odd in her handful of coins.

One was a 1964 90% silver dime.

According to [coinflation,](https://www.coinflation.com/silver_coin_values.html) that coin has a melt value just shy of $2.00 today. That value may shift up or down depending on when you read this, but it goes to show how badly the US dollar has been devalued following the shift to complete fiat instead of hard money.

I advised her to sell the coin to a dealer, and borrowed a donated dime from our stash to cover the rest of her print costs, since we have people who ask us to set aside the change from their printing for the purpose of covering someone else's needs. If I had $2.00 in my pocket at the time, I would have bought it from her then and there, but alas, I missed an opportunity simply because I only had a $20 for gas.

Keep your eye out and inspect your pocket change! If you're outside the US, look up your own coinage history to see when precious metals were still in use. Notice how the silver content and exchange rates correlated back when we had commodity money instead of central banking manipulation of paper and digital accounts. Gresham's Law has filtered most of the good money out of circulation, but it is still out there every now and again.