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Money. Neither a solid nor a liquid but a vaporous gas--impossible for rich or poor and even most economists to grasp--money remains an illusion. Ask yourself: why is the printed paper money in your purse or wallet worth so much more than the newsprint in the trash? Is it human faith or a fabulous con job that makes paper money retain the value that all governments give it?

US paper dollars bear the fine print: "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private," but years ago--in addition to this statement--US currency was known as silver certificates, entitling the bearer to "One Dollar in Silver Payable to the Bearer on Demand." Today these silver certificates are only worth what collectors will give for them as curiosities; no bank will redeem them for silver because American banks haven't traded publicly in silver in more than 40 years.

"Until about 1963, silver dollars routinely circulated as legal tender. This was a relatively unpopular coin," said Art Arbutine. "When I collected in the 1950s and 1960s, I would go to banks and ask for silver dollars, and usually got all that I wanted. The banks were glad to get rid of them. I'd scan the coins for better dates, and spend the ones I didn't want."

Before that time, long before FDR confiscated America's gold, US currency carried the weighty guarantee of the gold standard. Paper money was actually backed in gold! One of my favorite memories of working in the cabinet/antique trade ten years ago was seeing--for the first and only time--an actual 50 dollar bill, gold certificate. Seems an old rolltop desk had a secret compartment and when disassembled for repair, a bankbook from a defunct Santa Monica bank was discovered along with a one dollar, silver certificate bank note from1899, a $50 silver certificate, and that aforementioned $50 note.* Ironically, the last entry in the bankbook was 1929, which as most older Americans know, was a very pivotal year. If history really does repeat itself--as shockingly as that seems--we may be witnessing deja vu all over again, regarding American economics.