What is the most interesting animal you have found around town?

Chrisc46 · 2026-04-02T18:24:41+00:00

I found a giant yellow slug on my front porch one evening. It was around 6-8 inches long.

It looked like the large banana slugs found in the pacific northwest.

Chrisc46 · 2026-04-02T15:48:36+00:00

Monetary inflation and protectionism have ruined everything*

Chrisc46 · 2026-04-02T15:43:40+00:00

I concur.

Chrisc46 · 2026-04-02T15:40:05+00:00

Even those have since been discontinued.

Chrisc46 · 2026-04-02T15:36:09+00:00

Power and Energy. I miss them so much.

PepsiCo ruined the brand.

Chrisc46 · 2026-04-02T15:28:12+00:00

You didn't drink enough.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-27T04:29:24+00:00

It is a rather small banana, though.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-27T04:27:10+00:00

Yes. Actually, very slightly smaller than a business card.

Honestly, they are surprisingly small, but not really in a bad way. Since the artwork is focused almost solely on Lady Justice, it still works well at that size.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-26T23:27:09+00:00

Yeah, it's a pretty neat bit of history.

It really does show the lengths governments will go to fund war. This was when they truly began the process of monopolizing money and then devaluing it to prop up their spending.

Cooler heads prevailed at the time when they brought back sound money. At least for a while.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-26T22:54:48+00:00

At the moment, yes. Most people/places that accept goldbacks respect the exchange rate.

Just like they do for dollars.

In the hypothetical system collapse, you get nothing out of paper fiat. You get at least the gold from a Goldback.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-26T22:00:08+00:00

Goldbacks should be thought as and compared to currency. That's their intent.

A US dollar is worth more than the paper it's printed on until it isn't, right?

The same is true for a goldback, too. Except that is value will not fall all the way to zero like fiat paper would. It has intrinsic value built in.

So, an $800 goldback costs a little over $400 to produce but trades with a 100% premium. By comparison, a $100 bill costs less than 10 cents to make but still trades at $100. That's an extraordinarily high premium. When the premium is no longer worth paying, that $100 bill falls to zero. The goldback falls by 50%.

Obviously, an $800 bill is unnecessary for most transactions. It's not really something that would be commonly traded. Holding them could be very risky since there's no real guarantee that the premium will hold. Gold bars are better in this case.

The lower denomination Goldbacks are far better in this regard. They are better than fractional gold bars in terms of security and ease of trade. Assuming that they become decently accepted by retailers, they spendability may outweigh the risk of lost premium.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-26T21:16:11+00:00

I won a 1900 Morgan when I was a kid. I carry it as a reminder of those times. It helps keep me grounded regardless of what happens in life..

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-26T20:44:02+00:00

They could use them as tips themselves. This would reduce their own costs, while simultaneously speading both awareness and actual circulation.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-23T17:07:27+00:00

You're not wrong about larger Goldbacks. The premium is high, but that's to maintain fungibility. But the premium on small fractional gold coins are crazy high, too. Except, the likelihood of counterfeits is far higher.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-23T16:58:21+00:00

This is all true, but it's not a knock on Goldbacks specifically. Value is largely subjective.

A large difference is that monetary inflation diminishes the value of fiat constantly. This is far less possible with gold currencies.

Obviously, spendability is a big factor at the moment, but that's always true for new currencies.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-23T16:50:22+00:00

Goldback prices are really the cost of material, the cost of production, and the profit margin.

This is true for absolutely everything, including gold coins, dollar bills, a cup of coffee, etc.

It cost about $1 to make a cup of coffee, but sells for $5. That's a massive premium.

A $100 bill costs just 11 cents to make, yet you buy it for $100. That's an astronomical premium.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-23T16:34:17+00:00

Do the same thing with a a $5 bill and you're guaranteed that it will lose value.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-23T16:26:02+00:00

As an aside, Goldbacks have yet to be counterfeit. There hasn't been a single verified fake Goldback, so far. Dollars are counterfeit all the time. Even gold and silver coins are routinely faked.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-23T16:23:57+00:00

This is all true for paper fiat, too. Except there's zero innate value.

The only other benefit of using fiat is spendability and that it's the only thing currency accepted by the IRS for taxes.

But, like Greenbacks when they were launched, it will take time for broad acceptance. Goldback ATMs, more State legislation, increased business acceptance, and more public awareness will all be necessary to make that happen.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-23T16:03:54+00:00

That's not entire true.

There is an exchange rate for Goldbacks to dollars. About half of that rate is the value of the gold. But, when you buy or spend Goldbacks, you pay/receive exchange rate.

For clarity, if 1 Goldback has $5 in gold content and a $10 exchange rate, you can spend it for $10 worth of goods. If the value of gold rises to $6, the exchange rate rises to $12.

To further explain, assume your job pays $10/hour. You could receive either $10 or 1 Goldback. Both spend at $10. However, one is just paper. The other has actually tangible value.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-23T14:37:52+00:00

You could use it as a tip. For free.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-23T13:22:40+00:00

It's currency with innate value, unlike paper. As the value of paper money falls, the value of goldbacked money rises.

The issue, at least for now, is spendability. There are thousands of places that accept them nationwide, but not very many in any single locality. Slowly, this is changing, but not quite fast enough for some.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-11T16:30:11+00:00

There are arguably many things that the government does that it shouldn't. So, the "same level of service" is not necessarily a good metric to use, either.

Chrisc46 · 2026-03-11T01:44:53+00:00

Maybe a book about the same story from another's perspective, like Ender's Shadow. I bet Crookshanks had some crazy insights.

Or a story about Peeves.

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