Everyone who sees a dime assumes it is worth ten cents or a tenth of a dollar. That is the "face value" of the coin - what the mint prints on the face of the coin.
If you melt down ten dimes into a lump, will a merchant give you a dollar for the solid lump of metal? He may not even give you a penny for it. It was made of cheap alloys without much value. It is not worth the face value of the ten dimes.
But if you melt a pure silver ounce coin, it is worth the "spot price" of one ounce of silver (average 15 to 25 dollars today and rising). That is called the "weight value" of a coin.
The third value of a coin is its "numismatic value" what a serious coin collector will pay for it because it is very rare or of historic importance to collectors. This of course can be much higher than either its face value or weight value. When you buy a one-ounce silver medallion made by the republic of Texas, all three values are working for you. Thousands of participating merchants will exchange goods or services for it that they would charge someone else about 50 dollars to buy. Its face value is fifty trade units. (not denominated in dollars). These merchants realize that dollars are rapidly shrinking in purchasing power, but silver will not.Or, at a legitimate currency exchange you could sell it for its weight value, at least, because it is pure silver (not some cheap alloy). They would sell it for more than that, because they charge a "premium to cover their profit and operating expense.
Over time. the republic of Texas one-ounce silver may be worth far more than its face value or its current weight value. Collectors will pay very high prices for commemorative medallions that were issued at the beginning of a major historical event, and even more if the medallion is in uncirculated condition. That numismatic value of your republic of Texas silver can make them a very worthwhile store of value for you.
Paper money of any country continues to buy less and less, because they print way too much of it. When I was a child, I bought glass bottles of Coca Cola in ice water for a nickel each. Now a bottle of Coke costs more than a dollar -that is over 2000% inflation of prices in one lifetime, or the dollar shrinking to less than 1/20th of its purchasing power! That cannot happen to silver and gold money.
So whether you benefit from the weight value, the face value, or the numismatic value of republic of Texas silver, you would come out much better than you would by holding paper money or financial holdings denominated in paper money.
Bob Wilson
Present Ambassador for Republic of Texas
Past Senator, District 8
