"No, that's not its intrinsic value, that's the current market value of the material."
If you ignore the fact that it's a piece of currency and think of it just as a lump of metal, then the price you can sell it for if you melt it down *is* the intrinsic value.
It's the value of what it is, not what it represents.
Anything else is face value, transactional value, collector value, et cetera.
If you ignore the fact that it's a piece of currency and think of it just as a lump of metal, then the price you can sell it for if you melt it down *is* the intrinsic value.
And if you ignore the fact that melting it down is illegal...
But that's only going to hold true until there's no longer a government of the United States to enforce that law (or stand behind the face value of the coin, for that matter).
In our bleak, distant, post-apocalyptic future, the intrinsic value of the coin will remain whatever you can sell it for as a melted chunk of metal.
The only law that enforces intrinsic value is the law of supply and demand.
Which means that the basis of the intrinsic value remains unchanged, but what you can get for it can vary over time.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2014, @07:11PM
No, that's not its intrinsic value, that's the current market value of the material.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by unitron on Wednesday February 26 2014, @09:34AM
"No, that's not its intrinsic value, that's the current market value of the material."
If you ignore the fact that it's a piece of currency and think of it just as a lump of metal, then the price you can sell it for if you melt it down *is* the intrinsic value.
It's the value of what it is, not what it represents.
Anything else is face value, transactional value, collector value, et cetera.
something something Slashcott something something Beta something something
(Score: 1) by Taibhsear on Wednesday February 26 2014, @02:42PM
And if you ignore the fact that melting it down is illegal...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by unitron on Wednesday February 26 2014, @02:58PM
But that's only going to hold true until there's no longer a government of the United States to enforce that law (or stand behind the face value of the coin, for that matter).
In our bleak, distant, post-apocalyptic future, the intrinsic value of the coin will remain whatever you can sell it for as a melted chunk of metal.
The only law that enforces intrinsic value is the law of supply and demand.
Which means that the basis of the intrinsic value remains unchanged, but what you can get for it can vary over time.
something something Slashcott something something Beta something something