The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 39, September 30, 2007, Article 22

ARTICLE RELATES COLORADO SENATOR'S BILL TO 1890S BIMETALISM

"When it costs two nickels to make one nickel, which it does
in 2007, one has to wonder about the prudence of current currency
policy.

"So U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard is trying to change it.

"He is sponsoring a Senate measure to allow the treasury secretary
to more easily change the composition of coins, Allard said in a
recent interview.

"Allard had the mint in mind when he crafted the bill, he said.
But the mint isn't the only Colorado connection to currency.

"Colorado has always been very much involved in metal issues,
as far as coins are concerned," Allard said. "You know Henry
Moore Teller?"

"Teller, for whom a Colorado county is named, was secretary of
the Interior under President Chester A. Arthur and then a Republican,
Silver Republican and Democratic senator from Colorado.

"Teller advocated "bimetallism," a monetary standard in which
the value of money can be expressed with gold or silver. Being
from a silver-laden state with towns such as Silverton and
Silverthorne, Teller thought silver should have equal heft with gold.

"In 1892, Teller helped secure a declaration in support of
bimetallism at the Republican National Convention. Four years
later, he helped lead a revolt from the Republican platform and
withdrew from the party, taking thousands of votes with him. He
became a Silver Republican and briefly mounted a run for president
on that ticket. Ultimately, he threw his support behind the
Democrats, and he later switched parties. He never returned to
the GOP, unlike other Silver Republicans.

"We haven't had a silver nor a gold standard for currency since
the end of the Great Depression, when President Franklin Roosevelt
severed ties between paper money and gold bullion.

"Maybe that's too bad -- since nickels are worth more because
of their contents than for their stated value, perhaps it would
be nice to have a silver or gold standard against which our
currency could be measured. Maybe one day it would again be
worth more than the euro."

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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