Bad money drives out good

Everyday British coins

Shiny new British coins

Every morning before I leave the house, as I sort the change for my bus fare, I make my own demonstration of Gresham’s law. Have you ever heard of it?
Sir Thomas Gresham (1519 – 1579), was an English financier during the time of the Tudors in England. His law says that bad money drives out good and it’s pretty obvious in a way.
Long ago our everyday coins were made of valuable gold or silver but gradually the coins minted were debased. That means they were made smaller and lighter or diluted with base metal to make the ruler or government richer at the expense of the citizens.
It made sense for people to hoard the truly valuable coins made of gold or silver and spend the poorer-quality ones. Shopkeepers would also hold back the better coins and give customers the rubbish ones in their change. So eventually the bad money would be in circulation and the real treasure would be in jam-jars and piggy-banks.
So what’s that got to do with my sorting the change for my bus fare?
On April 2, 2008, for the first time in 40 years, the Royal Mint revealed new designs for our everyday coins in the UK. They were created by a 26-year-old trainee graphic designer, Matthew Dent, from Bangor in North Wales.
The design breaks up the royal coat of arms like a jigsaw and puts a different piece on six of the coins, bringing it all together on the £1 coin.
There was one criticism, though. The coins don’t have the denomination in figures, only in words, such as “one penny”, making it more difficult for people who don’t speak English to know what they are spending.
Anyway, back to the bus fare…
In my bowl of loose change are a mixture of old coins and shiny new ones. I almost make myself late for the bus every morning by taking out the oldest, grottiest coins to use on the bus and leaving the bright new ones behind.
Doesn’t everyone do this?

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