How The Roman Empire Secretly Debased Their Silver Coins. Is the Federal Reserve Repeating History?(VIDEO)

Nero was in trouble.

The Emperor was intent on building a grand city for himself. He only had one problem. The Emperor did not have the silver to fund the building of his dream city. So the Emperor had devised a solution that was completely unprecedented in the history of the Roman Empire. Nero intimidated the mint to debase the Denarius by removing silver content. In a sense, Nero was stealing silver from every nobleman and subject of the Roman Empire. If word of this event had ever gotten out, Nero would have been immediately executed by his most loyal inner circle.

You see, Rome was in tough times. People were starving on the streets because the Empire was falling on hard times. But Nero's thirst for more opulence and wealth was unquenched. He needed more money. And Nero could not steal tax any more from the Empire. Nor did Nero have the resources to wage a costly war and conquer more spoils of war. The idea of stealing silver from the Roman currency was simply too underhanded and potentially unstable for anyone to consider before Nero.

Compare that situation in Rome to what's going on today. People are losing their jobs. Much of America's budget is spent on fighting two wars, operating bases in 100 countries and finding entitles. Meanwhile, large banks and corporate bond holders are being bailed out so they can continue to build their large "cites of wealth."

When money meant something

Look at the currancy you use today. You have dollar bills. You have credit cards. And people accept these pieces of paper and pieces of plastic because people trust that they can exchange these pieces of paper for food, gas and TV sets. But in of itself, a dollar is simply a piece of paper with ink. A piece of paper that can be printed without limited. But trusted to hold its value to buy things.

The Denarius, on the other hand, was a piece of silver. It was a rare and sought after piece of metal that was only in limited supply. You knew that if you held a Denarius. You held a piece of silver. And it didn't matter if you were Roman or a Barbarian or Persian or a member of a non-Roman tribe, you knew this coin had value.

Nero's debasement destroyed any trust that was built up by the Denarius. Now when people see a Denarius, they couldn't be sure if they were holding silver or copper or a less worthy piece of metal. Nero's simple act had the potential to destroy the entire economy of Rome.

The Federal Reserve: America's Nero

Today we have a Federal Reserve that prints money without any oversight. Think about this. The money you work heard to own can be printed in half a second without any effort. Is that fair? The $500 in your bank account probably took anywhere from a day to a week to earn. And the Federal Reserve can make no effort to print that same $500. While the U.S. Dollar has the complete confidence of the world, the confidence can go away if enough of the world realizes how easily the Federal Reserve prints money.

What the Federal Reserve Can't Print

While the Federal Reserve can print and debase money, they can not print nor debase gold or silver. Even if you are not interested in investing nor speculating in gold or silver, you should consider having 10% of your wealth in gold and silver coins. So for instance, if you have $100,000 in wealth you can allocate $10,000 in gold and silver coins. If the dollar becomes worthless, you $90,000 won't buy a roll of toilet paper. However, the value of your $10,000 of gold and silver will have $100,000 worth of buying power. By hedging yourself against America's Nero, you can ensure you won't get singed when Rome burns.