by Mike Maharrey
Money Metals Exchange
I ran across a 2021 meme the other day that vividly illustrates just how quickly the government is destroying your money.
The meme points out that in 1964, the minimum wage was $1.25, or five quarters. That sounds really low, but keep in mind that before 1965, quarters were 90 percent silver. In 2021, the melt value of those five quarters was $23.34.
In other words, the five quarters a minimum wage worker earned in an hour in 1964 had $23.34 in purchasing power in 2021. There’s your “living wage.”
That’s pretty staggering in and of itself, but now fast forward a few years. As of today, the melt value of those five quarters is $34.45.
In other words, the value (purchasing power) of those five quarters has increased by another 47.6 percent in just three and a half years!
This reflects the relentless devaluation of U.S. money.