Sierra Madre Precious Metals

In the beginning…

As an outpost of Great Britain, colonial America of course used British pounds, pence, and shillings as its money.

Great Britain was officially on a silver standard, with the shilling defined as equal to 86 pure Troy grains of silver, and with silver as so-defined legal tender for all debts (that is, creditors were compelled to accept silver at that rate). However, Britain also coined gold and maintained a bimetallic standard by fixing the gold guinea, weighing 129.4 grains of gold, as equal in value to a certain weight of silver. In that way, gold became, in effect, legal tender as well. Continue reading →

Something a bit unusual for this site and what follows will describe said image in detail. You will note that a blown up version of this work of art is currently displayed as the background image for Sierra Madre Precious Metals. Do not misunderstand… I am not a fan nor supporter of Stock Exchanges, but I am a lover of history and art, and as my Grandfather was also a noted architect and renowned designer of furniture and lighting fixtures (for the Stiffel Lamp Company of Chicago) – I grew up in this world.

The first image referenced above and described below will be presented in the upcoming October 2020 auction by Heritage Auctions. The estimated value – $50,000 to $70,000. ~ Ed.

Louis H. Sullivan (American, 1856-1924)
Important Stencil from the Face of the Main Trusses of the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room, 1893-1894, Adler & Sullivan
Executed by Healy and Millet, Oil on canvas
57-1/4 x 99-1/4 x 2 inches (145.4 x 252.1 x 5.1 cm)
Provenance: The Art Institute of Chicago; Acquired directly from same

~ The Artist’s Story ~
Louis Sullivan holds a unique position in the history American architecture, not only for his accomplishments as a builder, but also for casting a long shadow of influence over many of the leading proponents of modernism, many through the figure of Frank Lloyd Wright whom he mentored early in his career. Heritage is pleased to present a collection of rare works by Louis Sullivan, one of American’s most important architects, in the upcoming October 13 Design Auction. Continue reading →

Up until recently I had never given much thought to the subject of economics. I never took an economics class in school and my understanding of the subject could be best explained by, “Don’t spend more than you earn.” However, the more I’ve learned about our system of government, and the men who created it, the more I’ve realized that I’ll never understand the extent of what they did unless I gain some insight into money; how it is created, how it is controlled, and how people profit from its exchange.

If I were to ask you to find a single word to describe government, what would that word be? For the longest time if someone had asked me that I’d have said something like tyrannical, or oppressive. Now that I’ve undertaken an effort to learn more about economics I’m inclined to change my opinion; replacing tyrannical with parasitical – our government is a parasite that sucks both the liberty and wealth from those it governs. Continue reading →

Lysander Spooner

All the usurpation, and tyranny, and extortion, and robbery, and fraud, that are involved in the monopoly of money are practised, and attempted to be justified, under the pretence of maintaining the standard of value. This pretence is intrinsically a false one throughout. And the whole motive for it is to afford some color of justification for such a monopoly of money as will enable the few holders of gold and silver coins (or of such other money as may be specially licensed and substituted for them) to extort, in exchange for them, more of other men s property than the coins (or their substitutes) are naturally and truly worth. That such is the fact, it is the purpose of this article to prove. Continue reading →

~ “Nova Roma” ~
March 2012 ~ Rome in the days of the Republic was a city-state, not an empire. Their army was comprised of citizen-soldiers, called to duty in times of peril. The afterglow of their system of government can be seen incorporated into the founding documents of the United States such as the Constitution, particularly the checks and balances. The Romans biggest fear was a dictator, although they ironically allowed for one when there was extreme danger. Continue reading →