We use the terms money and currency interchangeably in daily life. But these two are quite dissimilar. The crisp ₹100 bill in your pocket represents currency. The majority of people spend their entire lives pursuing this currency in order to become wealthy.
Wealth, money, and currency
Money is a broader term that encompasses any widely accepted medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account. It can take various forms, including physical currency like coins and banknotes, as well as digital transactions. Currency, on the other hand, refers specifically to the money system used within a particular jurisdiction. It is the official medium of exchange recognized and regulated by the government, typically taking the form of specific banknotes and coins. - [ChatGPT]
Your true wealth can be thought of as your time and freedom. Money is a tool for trading your time, acting as a medium to store your economic energy. Most people don’t trade time for money but for currency.
This series of short blogs, heavily inspired by the “Hidden Secrets of Money” series by Mike Maloney, hope to educate you on how the global financial system is deceitfully coning you out of your most valuable assets: your time and freedom.
History of the Indian Rupee
The origins of the rupee date back to the 6th century BCE. India was among the first nations to issue coins.
Chanakya (340–290 BCE) describes the various types of coins used in the maurya empire, including silver coins (rūpyarūpa), gold coins (suvarṇarūpa), copper coins (tamrarūpa), and lead coins (sīsarūpa).
Throughout the majority of Indian history, these coins were predominantly struck from precious metals such as gold and silver. To stop the outflow of silver from Britain, the British began paying merchants with India Council (paper) Bills instead of silver coins at the end of the 19th century.
Post-independence coins were struck from copper, nickel, and brass, thus having little intrinsic value.
Definition
Both currency and money are a medium of exchange, which is portable, durable, divisible, and fungible. What differentiates the two is the fact that money is also a store of value.
A ₹100 in your pocket satisfies all the above conditions but the last one. Any commodity like gold or silver does not back it, and thus governments can just print more and more of it, diluting the supply, it cannot act as a store of value. By printing more and more of it, the government can transfer the wealth from your pocket into theirs. Gold and silver are a store of value because they are limited in quantity.
Over the last thousands of years, only gold and silver have retained their value. All other fiat currencies have perished. These currencies are not a store of value. Over time, they lose value, and thus by owning them, they leech away your time and freedom.
Rupee in Circulation
From just 1 Trillion Rupees in circulation, we went to 35 Trillion rupees in circulation in just 20-25 years. This is what creates inflation. This punishes the most productive people of the society. These are the people who save more than they consume and save the rest. They essentially save this money in the form of their country’s fiat currency which is just a useless piece of paper slowly eroding away.
Takeaway
True wealth is your time and freedom; money is a trading tool used to store your economic energy that is your time and freedom, whereas currency erode away. Fiat currencies, that work on trust, will eventually lose value and become completely worthless
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