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A few slices short of a loaf.
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Famous artists are comissioned to design small engraved plates with a diameter of ~ 1 cm, made of some durable material such as tungsten carbide.
The plates are embedded in metal coins and covered with a protective sapphire glass window. Each design is only printed in one batch of about 10,000-100,000
coins and may not be re-printed. Each individual plate is unique and has a serial number; its laser specle fingerprint is recorded and stored in a digital catalogue so that it can be authenticated in future.
The advantages of this currency:
a) Compared to fiat currencies: The coins themselves have a tangible value and are more immune to economic crises than a promise written on a piece of paper. Laser specle fingerprinting makes them impossible to counterfeit.
b) Compared to precious metals: The number of coins is fixed and no additional coins are printed, unless a new work of art is commissioned. However, these will be distict from a previous series and will not affect its scarcity. Gold currencies have the weakness that their value may fluctuate when more gold is mined or the demand for gold in non-currency uses (electronics, jewellery) decreases.
c) Compared to collectible art: Each batch can be traded like a commodity (cheap transaction costs), and the value of each coin is small enough to be useful as a currency.
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The only problem I see is that it would probably be too difficult to mass produce. |
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Currency is supposed to be fungible. That is, you can easily substitute one for another. One dollar is worth the same as another dollar. An ounce of gold is worth the same as another ounce of gold of the same purity. |
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This is not true of art. The value of art is entirely in the eye of the beholder meaning one coin will be worth more than another of the same face value. |
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Also, art still fluctuates in value. So this currency would itself fluctuate in value. It's value would be a lot harder to control, since fiat currencies and gold respond to the laws of economics, while art responds to peoples emotions. |
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>>The value of art is entirely in the eye of the beholder<< |
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Same is true for gold. Few people buy gold to do something *useful* with it. Most just buy it because of its perceived rarity or because they like looking at it or as an investment - just like art. |
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>>meaning one coin will be worth more than another of the same face value. << |
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Why would they have different values if all coins from a batch are virtually identical (except for the serial number)? |
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>>gold respond to the laws of economics, while art responds to peoples emotions.<< |
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Gold also responds to peoples emotions. Only a tiny proportion of the world gold production is used for practical purposes such as electronics. |
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//Why would they have different values if all coins from a batch are virtually identical (except for the serial number)?// |
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Identical coins of the same design might be worth the same. But different designs would be worth different amounts even if their face value was the same. Some designs would be appreciated, others wouldn't. |
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Also, with 300 million americans getting say ten coins, is 3 billion. If you do 100k batches, thats 30,000 designs. Not only is that a lot of designing to pay for, but it's enough to be sure that almost no-one will know the art value of a coin they've been given. |
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