In ancient Rome, the primary unit of money used was the Denarius. When it was first put into circulation, these coins were 98% silver. The politicians figured out that they could cheat the public by reducing the amount of silver in the coin. So, from 211BC when the coin was introduced until the late empire, the coin was debased until, by the late 3rd century AD, it was only coated with a thin silver wash; almost no silver.
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denarius )
Today we call that “quantitative easing” or Keynesian economics
So, how are we doing today? How much has our currency been debased?
In 1935, the “Peace Dollar” was 90% silver / 10% copper
http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1921-1935-Silver-Peace-Dollar-Value.html
How much silver is in our dollar today? NONE!
Composition of today's US dollar coin:
88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese, 2% nickel
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http://www.coinflation.com/coins/2007-Presidential-Golden-Dollar-Value.html