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From what does money derive its value?
Main Post: From what does money derive its value?
Top Comment: I know the whole "IOU" thing is a story some people love to tell but I frankly don't think it's particularly useful. Money as we usually think of it in our more colloquial understanding can't be formally redeemed for much of anything. It's not an IOU for anything, for no actual goods and services in the sense that nobody has any obligation to give you anything for your money. Money is a useful tool, that's why we use it, that's why we want it, that's why it has value. That's it. It literally is just supply and demand. Money is ultimately not special. We want things because we derive utility from them. And deriving utility from something just means it's useful in some way or provides us with "satisfaction" somehow. A hammer is a tool. You use it to hammer things. Money is a tool. A tool for trade. It has some core functions. It's a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value. If it performs worse in any of these functions, we demand it less. Food stamps are kinda close to money, right? Food stamps worth $100 can get you the same monetary value of $100, it's more or less the same as a unit of account, but food stamps are still somewhat less useful than money, mostly because they are inherently limited as a medium of exchange. Or think about countries with high inflation. Pesos might buy you something today and work as a unit of account but they are bad as a store of value, so you'd much rather have USD instead. We want money if it serves its functions well and it has demand because it's useful. That's not really different from anything else.
How to look up coin value(s) and the best way to sell them.
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Hello Coin Collectors Community!
I'm new here and looking for some info. A few years ago I inherited a coin collection and am looking for the best way to sell them/ it. It's a lot of nickles, quarters, half dollars, etc.. (Truthfully I haven't even looked at everything inside the box which weighs well over 30lbs/ 13.5kg..)
They are in old plastic bags and there's a Red Book that I don't really understand how to read.
I've started by looking up some coin values on coins.ha.com but I wanted to ask some questions before I spent too much time on this.
Is there a good way to identify the values of all the coins beyond just the face value of them? A website? Any recommendations are welcome!
Am I expecting too much in thinking that some might be worth slightly more than the face value? I'm not saying anything CRAZY- but possibly getting $7 for one of those Liberty Half Dollars I identified?
I live in northern California and drive by places that advertise "we buy coins" all the time. Is that a good way to sell the coins?
I honestly don't even know the right questions to ask and I don't want to be "ripped off" because I didn't do my research.
Any advise will help! Thank you so much!
Top Comment: Quite a few things to cover here. #1 - Anything pre-1965 in the dime, quarter, half, and dollar categories are silver and carry a large premium over face just because of the metal content. #2 - Be wary of a pawn shop or "We buy coins/gold/silver" place. Often they extremely lowball you. A local coin shop that only does coins and currency is usually a safer bet and they will often help you out if you need some guidance. #3 - There are main three components to a coins value: Date & mint, composition, and grade. Date & Mint are easy as they are right on the coin Composition is easy, certain coins are copper or silver or gold etc. Grade is difficult. Basically it is how worn a coin is. 70 is perfect, anything lower is less than perfect. Grade vastly effects the value of a coin. This link has photos of most US coins in every major grade so you can easily get a ballpark for grade, just match up how worn yours is to a picture. Once you have that then head over to your resources, line up date, mint, and grade and voila, you have an approximate price. I use a combination of Coin World and Ebay to ballpark my prices. If your coin is worn to almost nothing, it may still hold melt value because of its composition. #4 - Additional things effect value as well such as varieties, errors, toning, eye appeal, and providence. Just remember that the value of a coin is what someone is willing to pay you for it, resources are simply guides. Your Walking Liberty halves are worth $8.02 in silver value alone as of my writing, worth more to collectors.
Your Purpose Is More Important Than Your Values, Ethics and Principles
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All of us desire many things in life, which propels us to engage in various actions. However, it's important to recognize that mere desire alone doesn't guarantee fulfillment. Achieving our desires requires additional forces such as determination, courage, and support. These factors, in turn, have a profound impact on both ourselves and the people around us.
Nevertheless, amidst our pursuit of desires, we often overlook the significance of having a purpose in our lives. Cultivating and pursuing a purpose is the key to leading a truly fulfilling life. Yet, discovering our true desires and aspirations, and understanding how we want to shape our lives, is not an easy task. Even individuals in their 40s and 50s can find themselves grappling with questions of identity and purpose.
While it is possible for someone to exist without a clear purpose, their life may be limited to mundane routines and compulsive behaviors. Prioritizing values, ethics, and principles above all else may seem noble, but it alone doesn't provide a complete understanding of life's intricacies. The most crucial step is setting a purpose, which requires a deep understanding of oneself.
Having a purpose is akin to playing the game of archery. The purpose acts as the target we aim for, while our values, ethics, and principles serve as the bow, influenced by external factors like the wind and the bracer we wear. Although the latter factors are important, they play a lesser role compared to the aim we take.
When we gain a clear perception of ourselves, incredible qualities are unlocked within us, including commitment, intensity, and passion. One effective way to truly understand oneself and find purpose is to spend dedicated time in solitude, exploring the depths of our minds, examining patterns in our lives, and simply realizing the nature of our existence. I often get reminded by this following piece of wisdom from Sadh-guru that touched me very deep "How deeply you touch another life is how rich your life is"
Top Comment: How old are you?
What are the most essential values you would dedicate your financial success to?
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To elaborate, what are your most established characteristics that put you ahead in the of the game of life?
Top Comment:
- delayed gratification
- hard work
- empathy to others
While these are pretty important, what isn't on the list
- being born with good health, ok enough looks, and intelligence
- being born into a family with enough money / education to value my education and help me get surrounded by higher net worth and successful people
- enjoying working in a high paying career.
Plenty of characteristics that make me financially successful make my sister, a special education teacher, very successful in her career and family. But her money and my money will never compare.
Which Type, Currency Values In DB?
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Hi,
Looking around the web this seems to be an age old argument, but what is the 'correct' way to store currency values in a DB.
It's often argued that currency values should be converted and stored as an Integer, but then DB's provide Decimal.. and seemingly just as many arguments for this.
Has anyone here actually ever ran into issues using Decimal?
How do you store yours?
Top Comment: Dealing with conventions are annoying. Some people like to be strict about GAAP to avoid rounding errors, others think 2 dec storage is fine. If you store in cents (integer) this argument goes away, as does the any potential floating point errors.
How to go about finding an SO with same fi/re desires/values
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So I have seen about a million posts of someone and their SO making a combined household income of X and planning to retire, etc. My current situation is I am 27 years old, male, I live in my parent's basement for free. I rent my home out for a monthly income, I work a primary job, I work a second job as well(which I am hopefully planning on decreasing hours only so that I can pursue my CPA exam so I can increase my income). I eat for free at one of my jobs and my only real costs on a monthly basis are property tax, gas, insurance, and that's essentially it. I basically spend nothing. I work approximately 80+ hours a week. I try to socialize and go out when I can. I have no interest in drinking a ton so I try to have conversation. My main issue has been a phobia of dating someone who doesn't have their finances at all together or has racked up insane amounts of debt, or just has no opinions or knowledge on finance or even close to similar values that we all as fi/re people have. How do I get past that fear? How do I open myself up to meet someone? It feels like when I am going out on a date or if I am trying to meet someone that I am almost looking at it like I am interviewing them since I need to know what their aspirations are. I ideally want a partner with great qualities, takes care of their body, has a decent career, wants to grow, but the finance thing throws me off. Help plz?
Top Comment:
I am 27 years old, male, I live in my parent's basement for free.
Quite honestly it doesn't matter how much money you have or what else you are doing it is very unlikely that you will find a woman who is financially sound that is looking for a 27 year old guy living in his mother's basement rent free.
A woman like that is quite the catch, that means that you are going to have to be equally worthy to catch her.
Medals and their respective gold, silver and bronze values
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Firstly the medals look amazing 🤩 and HEAVY irrespective of which metal is in question. The minting and engraving of the medals is sublime!
It got me thinking what’s the weight of each respective medal i.e. gold, silver, bronze etc. and what are their values?
I doubt any of the Olympian medalist would even think of selling them due to how rare they are and how much of their life work and legacy goes into their preparations 🙌🏼
In addition do the podium athletes also receive prize money?
Top Comment: Any prize money generally comes from the country they represent although apparently athletics (track and field) is awarding prize money for golds this year. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/paris-olympics-2024-prize-money/5645454/#:~:text=For%20Team%20USA%2C%20the%20U.S.,silver%20and%20%2410%2C000%20for%20bronze . Medals are not necessarily pure This year at the Paris Olympics, the gold medals consist of 523 grams of silver, coated in 6 grams of gold. Silver medals, on the other hand, weigh 525 grams and are made of pure silver, while bronze medals weigh 455 grams and are made of copper, tin and zinc. That’s not the only surprise. This year’s Olympic medals will depart slightly from their historical tradition, with the Paris Olympic medals including an iron piece from the Eiffel Tower , on top of their usual composition. While the value of the Eiffel Tower iron piece is priceless, the commodities used to create the Olympic medals have specific prices. Excluding the value of the Eiffel Tower iron piece, which will be placed in the centre of each Olympic medal, we estimate that the value of each gold medal during these Olympic Games is more than a thousand USD – specifically US$1,027, while silver and bronze medals are worth US$535 and US$4.6, respectively. https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/economists-notebook-how-much-is-a-paris-olympic-gold-medal-worth/#:~:text=This%20year%20at%20the%20Paris,of%20copper%2C%20tin%20and%20zinc .