May 16, 2017 (Tuesday)
When I was about eleven years old, my tonsils and adenoids were surgically removed, and one of the expected benefits was better hearing. I do remember when I was much younger that I was always being told to stop mumbling and I was constantly being reminded to listen better. As a test of my hearing, I would be asked softly by an adult, “Charles, would you like to have a nickel?” If I replied, “yes,” the conclusion would be that there was nothing wrong with my hearing.
The “nickel” test was conclusive.
A nickel in those days, my pre-school years, looked like this:
In 1937, the year I started first grade, the nickel was changed. Thomas Jefferson was engraved on one side of the coin and on the other, his home, Monticello. I believe it’s still the same today.
When our country first started the distribution of coins, they were made of gold or silver. During the Civil War, however, people hoarded their gold and silver, including their coins, severely hampering commerce. How would you be able to buy something at a store if the owner had no change on hand?
In 1866, after the war, some changes were made. On this date, May 16, 1866, Congress authorized the 5¢ coin called the nickel. The coin that we call the “nickel” was changed from being smaller than a dime to its present size. Before that, the smaller 5¢ coin was called a “half disme (half dime).” It was necessary to change the content of coins, with less precious metal used. Today, the “nickel” is 70% copper.
A new problem has appeared with coins because of copper’s present inflated value, so that a penny is made of zinc with a tissue-thin coating of copper disguising that fact. Even at that, it costs more today to manufacture a penny than it’s worth as a coin.
Slowly but surely, we are moving toward a system in which we no longer use coins or paper money. I used to collect a lot of coins–quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies–as I emptied my pockets at the end of a day, but at the end of a day now I do not find those coins in my pockets. The Debit Card, the Credit Card, and the Bank Check are used more than the cash. Sometimes I wonder how this all works. My Social Security retirement money is deposited directly into my bank account, and my debit card moves that money from my account into someone else’s, and I never even see any of it. Neither does anyone else.
I would be willing to go out on a limb and say there is someone reading this blog today who has never seen a silver dollar. As a matter of fact, it’s been years since I saw one myself.
Jesus cautioned us to keep our priorities straight. He told us to prize spiritual values more highly than the stuff that money can buy. And Peter reminded us that we have not been redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold (his words), but with the precious blood of Jesus, like that of a perfect lamb. We need to remind ourselves about true value.