Useless facts

Amail · 05-07-2009, 01:43 PM

So, while trying to answer a grandson's question about the weight of a million dollars of pennies, I discovered two interesting, albeit useless, facts...

1) $1,000,000 weighs the same, whether in dimes, quarters, or half dollars
2) $1,000,000 in those denominations weighs almost exactly 25 tons - 50,000.84 lbs. Actually, I think it's a rounding error.

I found those to be intersting coincidences.

Dantilla · 05-07-2009, 01:49 PM

What weighs more: A ton of bricks, or a ton of feathers?

Amail · 05-07-2009, 01:55 PM

I suspect a ton of feathers costs more than a ton of bricks, so if you add the weight in coins to the equation, a ton of feathers weighs more.

sammyg2 · 05-07-2009, 04:34 PM

What's a henway?

Bill Douglas · 05-07-2009, 04:41 PM

About the same as a piecost?

djmcmath · 05-07-2009, 05:08 PM

Are you entirely certain that's useless? What if someone handed you 25 tons of hard cold cash, and said, "If you can tell me within $5 how much is here, you can have all of it!"?

Then, it wouldn't be useless at all.

Dan

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amail

So, while trying to answer a grandson's question about the weight of a million dollars of pennies, I discovered two interesting, albeit useless, facts...

1) $1,000,000 weighs the same, whether in dimes, quarters, or half dollars
2) $1,000,000 in those denominations weighs almost exactly 25 tons - 50,000.84 lbs. Actually, I think it's a rounding error.

I found those to be intersting coincidences.

That is no coincidence. 90% silver was used for coinage until we went off the standard. The weight of a dime HAD to be 1/10th that of a dollar coin. A $5 gold coin was 1/10th the weight of $50 gold coin. Weight were set by law.

And that is still codified...a real US Treasury dollar is still .7736 troy ounces of Silver (Actual weight in Std ounces is 0.9431, 90% silver 10% copper). And the US still mints $50 gold coins which are one ounce.

on2wheels52 · on2wheels52's Garage

"And the US still mints $50 gold coins which are one ounce."
I'd like to know where I could buy some for $50.
Jim

masraum · 05-08-2009, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by on2wheels52

"And the US still mints $50 gold coins which are one ounce."
I'd like to know where I could buy some for $50.
Jim

Yeah, no shtick. I've got a little money I could throw at that.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Well, this is one of those conspiracy things.

The Federal reserve produces the currency today, which is backed by words. It has value because we think it has value. The US Government still produces gold coins which are still denominated as set by laws that are still in effect.

So, which is the real money? You would have a tough time using a $50 gold coin in a transaction today, since they are not a fixed value vs. the Federal Reserve notes.