A

1. Name various commodities that have served as money.

2. What must be the chief characteristics of a good money ? Why ?

3. What is meant by the expression, "large value in small bulk"?

4. Would diamonds serve well as a;medium of exchange? Why, or why not ?

5. Name and explain the physical characteristics of a good money.

6. Discuss the characteristics of a good money as applied to gold.

7. Why is gold the most generally accepted of all money?

8. What are the uses of money?

9. What are the advantages of money exchange over barter exchange ?

10. What is the standard coin of the United States ?

11. Is the ten-dollar gold piece a standard coin? Explain.

12. Does the value of gold fluctuate ? Explain.

13. Does the price of gold fluctuate? Explain.

14. Why is it not unlawful to melt gold coins?

15. Name the different silver coins in circulation.

16. Are any of these coins standard money? Explain.

17. Why is alloy used in the coinage of gold and silver?

18. Why are gold and silver certificates called "representative" money ?

19. Why are these certificates used in the place of coins ?

20. What are "United States notes"?

21. Why are these notes usually referred to as "greenbacks"?

22. Why did the value of greenbacks fluctuate during the Civil War ?

23. Why has it not fluctuated since 1879?

24. Is the government prepared to redeem all greenbacks on demand? Why, or why not?

25. Why are relatively few greenbacks presented for redemption?

B

1. Give instances of where you have used money as a medium of exchange; as a measure of value; as a basis of credit.

2. Make a collection of silver coins both new and worn. a. Weigh each of the dollars.

i. What does the new dollar weigh? ii. Compare it with the weight of the worn dollar.

b. Weigh each of the other coins.

i. How does the weight of the new half-dollar compare with the weight of the new dollar? the new quarter? the new dime? ii. Compare weights of new and worn fractional coins.

c. Which coins show the greatest proportionate wear?

3. Get permission of some banker to examine gold coins, gold certificates, silver certificates, and greenbacks.

a. Note various denominations of each.

b. Are there denominations higher or lower than the ones examined ?

c. What are the legal-tender qualities of each?

C

1. Suppose the federal government should decide to make a bushel (56 pounds) of shelled corn the standard money unit: a. Would gold be robbed of its value? Why, or why not?

b. What difficulties would be encountered: i. In preventing wide fluctuations in value ?

ii. In standardizing the new money unit? iii. In transporting money? iv. In storing money?

c. How would the demand for representative money be affected ?

d. How would the production of corn be affected?

e. Would an Iowa corn farmer be richer or poorer as a result of the change? Why? .

2. Suppose the federal government should decide to change the money standard, displacing the gold dollar of 25.8 grains (nine-tenths fine) by a gold "diller," of equal fineness, weighing 40 grains.

a. How would the amount of gold money in circulation be affected ?

b. How would the value of gold be affected ?

c. Would the price of gold be changed ? How ?

d. What would be the effect on the prices of commodities ?

e. How would gold mining be affected?

3. A well-known public man asserted a few years ago that anything would serve acceptably as a money if it bore the government fiat.

a. Have governments been successful in creating an artificial currency ?

i. What was "Continental paper money"? ii. Sketch briefly the history of the greenbacks, iii. What served as money in the Southern Confederacy? b. How much value does the government stamp add to gold coins ? c What causes gold coins to circulate? d. What causes greenbacks to circulate? 4. "Representative paper money is not money at all; it merely represents money held by the government." a. Define "money." b. Does an exchange of a ten-dollar gold certificate for a ten-dollar gold coin change the amount of money in circulation? in the treasury?

c. Suppose the government should spend the gold held to redeem gold certificates: i. Would they still be "gold certificates"? Explain. ii. Would they be money ? Why, or why not ? iii. How would their value be affected ?

d. Suppose the government should declare gold certificates to be redeemable like greenbacks: i. Would they still be "gold certificates" ? Explain. ii. How would their value be affected? iii. How would the value of greenbacks be affected ? iv. What would be the effect on government credit ?

Supplementary Reading

Bullock, Introduction to the Study of Economics, 3d ed., pages 224 - 269. Ely, Outlines of Economics, 3d ed., pages 248-281. Fisher, Elementary Principles of Economics, pages 144-164. Johnson, Introduction to Economics, pages 253-279. Seager, Principles of Economics, pages 322-340. Seligman, Principles of Economics, 5th ed., pages 449-465. Taussig, Principles of Economics, 2d ed., Vol. I, pages 227-235.