FAQ

Who is the Target Reader for the book?

Everyone! Although some purchase this book for their grand parents or dad, I have received very good reviews from a wide range of people including house wives who get captivated in the imagery and short stories about the note. Ideally this book could be used by students.

What is the difference between Vol 1, Vol 2 and Vol 3?

Vol 1 is a global book that focuses on World Paper Money.

Vol 2 focuses on German notgeld. The images on this notgeld shows historical events such as past wars, Catholic history, Protestant Reformation, anti-Semitism, etc.

Vol 3 will focus on Paper Money that is Christian themed.

Do I need to be a collector to purchase this book?

Absolutely not! This book is for those that enjoy art, history, and learning about world cultures. This book is a fun read and meant to be placed on a coffee table for all to see.

Could this book be used by those that home school?

This book will show history in a new and exciting way. It is highly recommended although the reader is caused that this book shows images that are not politically correct.

Explain what you mean about the book not being politically correct?

World history can be harsh! This book shows paper money that shows the following images:

-Slaves in the US and in other countries

-Anti-Semitism

-Propaganda notes

The reader has to have an open mind and realized that history is important even if it is "ugly."

Bitcoin, Inflation and Fiat Currency

Bitcoin vs Fiat Currencies (12/16/17)

Is the fact that bitcoin is rapidly increasing in value a sign that people have doubts about fiat currencies such as the US dollar and the euro? Some people realize that the US dollar and the euro is not backed by gold or silver. The book Paper Money Messages shows a chronology of how the certificates and guarantees that were once on money have been removed through the years. Few people now seem to notice or care, however, it is obvious that the certificates on past dollars were carefully scrutinized. It was not so easy in the past to convince the public that the value of "paper" was the same as gold or silver. For 40 years it was illegal to own gold and the price was fixed by the government. It was not until 1974 that people could own gold. This was 3 years after President Nixon changed the policy such that the US dollar could no longer be directly converted to gold. Therefore, the US dollar is now a fiat currency, which means it’s value is derived by government regulation or law. There are central banks and a lot of government policy that impacts the value of currency. Virtually all currencies in the world are fiat currencies. Paper Money Messages shows examples of where 20 countries fiat currencies were impacted by hyper-inflation and ultimately disappeared or were renamed. Bitcoin value is based on what people think that it is worth, and they have voted that it’s value is increasing compared to fiat currencies, gold or silver.

Value of Water-German's Hyper-Inflation Lesson (12/14/17)

The book Paper Money Messages discusses the hyper-inflation period during the 1920’s in Germany. An understanding of this history helps one to also understand the impact to the economy from the perceived value of bitcoin or paper money. After World War I, Germans saw the cost of products greatly increase. Many notgeld (emergency money) documented this cost increase. An example is the cost of water. In July 1914, one liter of water cost 0.0002 Marks. However, in 1923 the price greatly increased as follows: Oct. (98,000 marks), Nov. (40 million marks), Dec. (250 million marks). Imagine the impact to the present-day economy if we experience inflation as shown above. Everyone’s life savings would vanish! However, those that owned gold and silver would still have a commodity that has value. It is interesting that many people look at Bitcoin as being the new safe haven that gold and silver used to be.

Bitcoin, Inflation, and Pricing Confusion (12/14/17)

The impact of the value of money (whether bitcoin or paper money) can get very confusing. For example, let’s assume that you want to purchase a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and the cost is $20K. In this example you can purchase the motorcycle with US dollars or bitcoin. In the past, a bitcoin was worth $1 so it would have taken 20,000 bitcoins to purchase the motorcycle. Today’s price of a bitcoin is $16,500; therefore, to purchase the motorcycle it would now cost you only 1.2 bitcoins. However, you are hoping that the price of bitcoin will increase 20% tomorrow like it did one-day last week. Therefore, you wait to purchase. This turns out to be a good decision because now bitcoin is worth 20K and it only takes one bitcoin to purchase. You could purchase, but you may decide to wait because your perceived cost of the motorcycle keeps decreasing. In this example, the US dollar price of the motorcycle did not change. However, ultimately the seller would most likely adjust the cost of the motorcycle due to the value of money.

The book Paper Money Messages discusses hyper-inflation and shows a 100 trillion dollar note which was put into circulation in Zimbabwe in 2008. At that time the price of one egg was over 1 billion dollars. Therefore, the denominations on notes were increased to keep up with the increases in the prices.

These examples show the far-reaching impacts to the economy when dual types of money are used to price items. How the markets react to an inflated value of bitcoin will be interesting. If bitcoin crashes in value this can also impact the markets. Either way it will be a very interesting event to watch.

Bitcoin Supply and Demand (12/13/17)

Today Bitcoin increased in value by over 22%! Items are valued by supply and demand. People have chosen Bitcoin to have the greatest value over the 900 other cryptocurrencies that are available on the internet. As of today, Bitcoin Market Cap is 255 Billion, which is more than AT&T (233 Billion), Proctor and Gamble (228 Billion), Intel (202 Billion), and Coca-Cola (192 Billion). These companies have millions of customers all over the world that enable the companies to make revenue. Bitcoin on the other hand is just a currency that somehow becomes more valuable every day. My book "Paper Money Messages" shows hundreds of notes from around the world that were once valuable but now have no value because they have been replaced by a new version of paper money. People that owned the outdated paper money lost everything unless they were able to convert it to another type of currency that had value. Will Bitcoin withstand the test of time?

Bitcoin cross the $15,000 (12/8/17)

Bitcoin crossed the $15,000 mark yesterday. My book "Paper Money Messages," which I released earlier this year discussed the paradox between Bitcoin and paper money. During hyperinflation, the value of the paper money is decreasing so quickly that people want to purchase items as fast as they can. The addition of a little bit of ink on Paper Money such as a stamp or adding zeros to the denomination could make a piece of paper worth billions of times more. This hyperinflation has occurred in over 20 countries, which is shown in the book Paper Money Messages. The largest denomination shown is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 which dwarfs the 100 Trillion Dollar Zimbabwe note. Bitcoin is just the opposite; the value is increasing so quickly that everyone wants to get in on the deal and make money. Now instead of paper, it is binary code text that has value. Bitcoin's market value of more than $256 Billion puts it in the category of the 20 largest stocks in the S&P 500. However, as seen with paper money there is no limit to how much people will value something. If people loose faith in Bitcoin, this value will diminish and those who hold Bitcoin will now feel less wealthy. What will that do to the economy? This is going to be an interesting show to watch!

What is a "short snorter?"

Excerpt from Paper Money Messages Vol 1 (Page 116)

A “short snorter” is a banknote signed by various persons meeting together or made to commemorate a special event (solo flight, trans-oceanic flight, trip crossing equator or international dateline, etc.). The tradition started sometime shortly after WW I and spread with the barnstormers, bush pilots in Alaska in the 1920’s, and balloonists. The Pan American Airlines “Clippers” which flew from the mainland of the US to Hawaii, South America, and points beyond hastened the spread of the tradition which then grew exponentially during World War II.

A short snorter can also be a long chain of snorter notes connected by tape or staples (above image). Sometimes multiple notes from various countries would be taped together so that the holder of the notes had a record of where they have been and who they met. A “Short Snorter” is an individual who has become a member of the short snorter tradition. If you signed a short snorter and that person could not produce it later upon request, they owed you a dollar or a drink, a “short snort” (because aviation and alcohol do not mix!), thus the name “Short Snorter”. It was common for very important people (VIPs) to autograph short snorters during USO trips in WW II.

Learn More

The Short Snorter Project is charitable organization (www.shortsnorter.org)that provides history and documents several notes.

Find out more

Paper Money Messages

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Bitcoin, Inflation, and Fiat Currency (Linkedin)

What is a short snorter?

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