Loading ...I was in college about the same time as you – in the era of dollar silver certificates . The university was in a State with proximity to Las Vegas , so silver dollars were ubiquitous , but I was from the East , so not used to seeing so many in everyday circulation . My first purchase on arrival was a pair of Levi’s ,and my new room mate had tagged along . I picked out my size and paid with a ten dollar bill , so I had several dollars in change due . The sales lady asked ‘silver or paper?’ I was dumbfounded , so my room mate piped up ‘ She is asking if you want silver dollars or paper dollars . Take the paper , because the rough edges and weight of the silver dollars will wear out your pockets !’
I did .If he was in front of me today , I would kick him square in the groin , and when he’d recovered , I would have him kick my backside for the next ten minutes for not taking the silver and saving it .
A couple of years later , silver certificates were withdrawn and replaced by FRN’s ( Federal Reserve Notes ) . Hubert Humphrey came to address a general assembly of the students shortly afterward , and to his credit , took a few questions at the end of his address . One of the questions challenged the wisdom of replacing silver with paper . His response went something like this ‘ Supposed you are at a party , where little piles of different global currencies are on a table , each pile having the same current value , and the lights go out . I guarantee that when the lights come back on , it will be the pile of US dollars that will have been taken by someone .’
That flippant response was not well received by the majority of the ten thousand or so in the assembly .
In the days afterward , I recall many snide references to ‘ Huberty Puberty ‘ and folks saying ‘Can’t you picture that face in a bonnet above a gingham dress in a covered wagon coming West ?’
Not much respect for the VP of the USA at the time , among that student body !