Voltaire: Paper Currency No Value
on Wednesday, May 25, 2011Voltaire Money Quotation saying coins used to be made of an amount of precious metal roughly equivalent to their value, but paper is nearly worthless. Voltaire said:
“Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value – zero” — Voltaire
Voltaire said paper money returns to its intrinsic value of zero because, unlike coins in his time, paper notes are not backed by a precious metal like gold or silver. Historically, coins were minted from gold or silver and their value directly corresponded to the value of the metal they contained. Paper money, on the other hand, derives its value solely from trust in the issuing authority.
If trust is lost, for example due to hyperinflation, the paper itself has no intrinsic value and would return to zero. Voltaire was pointing out that paper currency is only worth what people agree it’s worth, unlike coins backed by precious metals.
Birthday: November 21, 1694 – Death: May 30, 1778