Most people are completely shocked to learn that there have been at least 590 different paper currencies which have gone extinct. Kaput. Finito.
In fact, the average lifespan of a paper money currency, is 35 years.
The US Dollar has been around since 1792, so 231 years. Effectively, the US dollar is 7x the age of the average currency lifespan, overdue for expiry in terms of the average. If the US Dollar was a human, it would be around 560 years old (80 years life expectancy multiplied by 7), long past its expected lifespan.
But even still, contrast the US Dollar’s remarkable 231 years with gold, which has been used as currency for at least 2731 years (700 BC when Lydian merchants used it as coinage).
That means the greatest currency of our time – the world’s reserve currency – the venerable US Dollar, has been money for 8% of the time that gold has been true money. In other words, Gold has a 1200% advantage over the US dollar in terms of standing the test of time as a real form of money.
Taking a look at the long list of dead paper money, it’s clear that many governments desired to have the power associated with being able to mint money.
Of the 594 dead paper money types we analyzed, at least 146 were directly due to over inflation or “hyperinflation” (equal to 25% of all worthless currencies).
120 different fiat monies died due to WWI (25) and WWII (95), such as the Hungarian Red Army Pengoe or the Yugoslav Serbian Dinar.
Then you have the 26 currencies which died due to the US Civil War (12) and the War of Independence (14). You know, trusted paper money like the Alabama Confederate Dollar or the Georgia Colonial Shilling.
