A Silver Dime Worth a Day's Wage
                        Fact or Fiction?
                                                                                                         
                                                                                                       David Zurbuchen

Conversion Factors, all of which I have made use of in my calculations below:

    1 troy ounce = 480 grains
    1 troy ounce = 31.1 grams (grams not grains)
    1 dollar (the original at least) = 371.25 grains pure silver*----
    Meaning $1 was equivalent to both 0.77 troy ounces and 23.9 grams
    *Coinage Act of 1792 Sec. 9

It is perfectly understandable that those who read that a mere dime use to be
equivalent to a day's wage are skeptical of the claim.  I certainly was, and that is
why I have set out to prove the assertion that I made in a previous essay of mine
either right, wrong, or somewhere in between.  

I readily admit that I had a bias when I began this article, but I inevitably had to
compromise and submit to historical data rather than the hearsay that I had
previously relied upon.  My conclusion is not necessarily the true truth, but it is what
must be admitted after a careful analysis of the historical data.  

What follows are 4 sources of information, all of which present slightly different
wage rates for a skilled workman in or around the year 1900.  I have included all
the links so that you can easily verify the information, together with my calculations.


First Source(s):


           Both sources confirm that the average wage in 1900 was about $.
    22/hour,  or in other words, about $2/day.

Second Source:

From: http://www.wsharvey.dial.pipex.com/leadandlabour/chapter4.htm

    "The market recovered a decade later and a report of wage levels at
    Wanlockhead in 1844 indicated that some miners had 12/- (60p) a week and
    the smelters about 14/- (70p). In the second half of the century average
    wages rose to a nominal 20/- (£1) per week, and stayed around this figure
    into the 1900s."

    Conversions:
    p = pence
    /- = shilling
    12 pence = 1 shilling
    20 shillings = 1 pound

            1 British Pound was equivalent to about $4.50 US at the time.  Dividing
    4.5 by 6 (workdays) equals $0.75, or about 7 dimes/day in 1900.  Keep in
    mind that this was an average wage.  Women, young men, and unskilled  
    workers, for instance, made much less in comparison.

Third Source:


    "In the second half of the century average wages rose to a nominal 20/- (£1)
    per week, and stayed around this figure into the 1900s.".  

           Dividing 18 pence by 240 (the number of pence in one pound) = 0.075
    pounds/day.  Multiply 0.075 by 4.5 (rate of exchange between pounds and
    dollars) to get $0.33/day.

Fourth Source, which to me appears the most comprehensive:

    http://www.economics.ox.ac.uk/Members/robert.allen/WagesFiles/wagesnew

    Look at the charts on pages 36-37 and the graphs on pages 44-50.

    My own summary of the data:

    Average wage paid building craftsmen from 1850-1899=24 grams silver
    Average wage paid to laborers from 1850-1899=13.8 grams silver
    Average wage paid Building craftsmen from 1900-1913=63.9 grams silver
    Average wage paid to laborers from 1900-1913=39.5 grams silver

            The calculations above are based upon the wage rates (in grams of
    silver/day) of the following cities in the years between 1850-1913:  Antwerp,
    London, Milan, Naples, Venice, Amsterdam, Florence, Valencia, Madrid,
    Paris, Vienna, Warsaw, Leipzig, Stockholm, Hamburg, and several
    others.       

            The combined average equals 35.3 grams of silver/day which is
    equivalent to about 1.5 troy ounces, or about 1.5 silver dollars.  Though this is
    certainly greater than 1 silver dime, it is a mean, not an absolute
    measurement.  Many of the workers in certain cities of the world made much
    less than 39.5 grams of silver a day, just take a look at the data if you are
    curious.

                                          Challenges

It must be understood that calculating an average daily wage 100 years ago is
quite difficult because of the fundamental changes that our modern economy has
undergone.  We no longer operate on a Gold or Silver Standard.  Our coins have
been debased.  Our paper bills are essentially worthless.  Debt is expected.  
Saving is  discouraged.  The financial world has been turned upside down.  It
has been dunked in a carnival dunk tank, and it has yet to bring its head above the
water.  

Furthermore, just think about the tremendous difference today between a minimum
wage worker making about $5/hr and the lawyer or doctor who earn upwards of
$150/hr.  Even greater still is the gap between that same doctor or lawyer and the
CEO, movie star, or professional athlete who all make upwards of $1,000/hr.  
Needless to say, such comparisons are relative.  Though they do not seem to be
so unbalanced when compared to their near equivalents, the entire situation
changes when the whole lot is represented.  Now I certainly do not mean to say that
there is anything wrong with this tremendous difference in pay rates.  My point,
rather, is that this task of imagined simplicity, that of determining an average wage
one hundred years ago, is really quite difficult. Nevertheless, the numbers I
discovered indicate that an average wage consisted of between 3-15 dimes/day
around 1900.  

As it stands, even if the average day's wage is assumed to be closer to one dollar
than one dime, it is nevertheless indicative of a silver price that is undervalued
by a factor of about 30 times since 1900, and by a factor of 100-300 times in
all centuries prior for well over 2,000 years of recorded history.  

It appears  that the Comstock discovery in 1850 was what caused the sharp
inflationary effect in the silver market in the latter half of the 19th century.   This in
turn, would have eventually caused wages to rise beyond their previously stable
level.  This would then explain, at least in part, why a silver dime was no longer the
'standard' by the turn of the 20th century.  That being the case, I apologize for what
now appears to be an exaggeration, that one dime equalled one day of labor just
one hundred years ago.  For now I'll revise my previous assertion and take a more
conservative stance, maintaining that an average day's wage 100 years ago was
closer to $1.

Note: My purpose in this article was not to prove that a silver dime was a day's
wage in the Ancient Mesopotamian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantium empires.  This
is assumed to be readily accepted, as it is easily proven.  For Further study of this
issue see:

        
Example of a calculation using the above source:

           A carpenter in Egypt in 709AD made 16 nomismata annually.  1
    nomismata = 1 dinar, which =  4.25g gold, which = 64 grams of silver (using
    1:15 ratio), which = $2.60 in American silver coins.  

            Multiply this number by 16 (number of nomismata/year), and one finds
    that an annual salary was equivalent to about $43 silver dollars, or about
    $0.17/day (using 250 workdays/year).  This is well within the range of an
    average 1 dime/day wage.

                                                 The Conclusion

Regardless of whether it was 100 or 200 years ago that a dime paid a worker for a
day's worth of labor, it certainly is amazing that now, when silver is more
important to the world than ever before, it remains depressed at a
historically low price.  The opportunity presented to each one of us is almost too
good to be true.  Do you believe it, or will choose instead to wait until the whole
world catches on before you take advantage of what is today staring you in the
face?

Recently, talks of the possible formation of the silver ETF (Exchange Traded Fund)
have reinvigorated the already robust market, as the SUA (Silver Users
Association) have petitioned the SEC to deny its formation for the simply reason
that there is inadequate supply to support such a venture.  Heaven forbid that
the silver users would have to pay a higher price for their precious silver.  Never
mind that Gold already has several Exchange Traded Funds, and that the
American financial markets are supposed to be free.  

Also, just a minor side note: Silver just hit an 18 year high!  

The good news just won't seem to let up.  You better not wait, or tomorrow will turn
into tomorrow will turn into tomorrow.  Look skyward.  The dawn is already here,
and a new age is upon us.  It is the age of Silver, and it comes bearing gifts to all
those who are kind enough to welcome it back to earth.

** Corrections to Previous Article "Silver: A Rare Opportunity" **

    1. I mistakenly said that the US stockpile was 6 billion in 1930, when it should
    have been 5.9 Billion ounces in 1942 pg.2 (paragraph 4)

    2. With regards to the last statement I made about tax responsibility, I spoke
    a little too hastily, and would like to qualify what I said with the following:

    *Keep in mind that this reasoning should only be applied to cash
    transactions, and even then the legality of such a matter must be considered
    by the individual investor. I simply make the point because I consider silver to
    be the monetary standard set forth by both the Constitution and the Coinage
    Act of 1792.  And since no one is required to pay taxes if they hoard cash
    and the dollar goes up in value, then neither should they be required to pay
    capital gains taxes on silver, since technically speaking, silver is the
    definition of a dollar.  But each one still needs to use his own judgment  since
    the dollar is no longer defined in the United States Code (http://www.gold-
    eagle.com/gold_digest_02/hein111302.html).  I myself will probably play it
    safe and pay Uncle Sam his dues.

If you happen to be like me, and enjoy the added volatility and leverage that
silver mining stocks have to offer, I invite you to subscribe to the Free Silver
Stock Newsletter.  

Just Visit www.silverinscripture.com
and Subscribe Today.

David Zurbuchen

Disclaimer:

*This material is not copyrighted, and I encourage its reproduction as long as my name and website are
mentioned.  I own stock in Metalline Mining Co., but they have not compensated me in any way to write
this report.  Make sure you do your own due diligence before investing in any stock or commodity.  I am
not a financial advisor.  


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