Course 2 · Foundation
The money history that explains today
Ten lessons tracing the dollar from a defined weight of silver to a managed unit — using the statutes and archives, not the folklore.
10 lessons, about 96 minutes
What you will be able to do
- Name the five legal changes that turned the dollar into what it is now.
- Separate what the documents say from what commentary claims they say.
- Explain 1933 and 1971 accurately enough to correct a confident stranger.
Lessons
Lesson 1 · 9 min
Why did the colonies fight about paper money?
The Currency Act restricted colonial paper and tightened the means of payment.
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Lesson 2 · 9 min
When the dollar was a weight of silver
The 1792 Act defined the dollar in grains of fine silver and built the Mint.
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Lesson 3 · 9 min
How a war created paper money
The 1862 Legal Tender Act made unbacked notes legal tender.
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Lesson 4 · 8 min
Gold versus silver: the fight that ended in 1900
The Gold Standard Act settled decades of argument by fixing the gold dollar.
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Lesson 5 · 10 min
Why was the Federal Reserve created?
Repeated bank panics produced a statute promising an elastic currency.
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Lesson 6 · 11 min
What really happened in 1933?
Gold was called in at $20.67, then the dollar was revalued to $35.
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Lesson 7 · 10 min
How the dollar became the world's reserve currency
1944 designed a dollar-centred system with gold convertibility for governments only.
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Lesson 8 · 10 min
The day the anchor was cut
August 15, 1971 suspended convertibility, described as temporary.
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Lesson 9 · 10 min
What 2008 normalised
Emergency lending and asset purchases moved the balance sheet into the trillions.
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Lesson 10 · 10 min
Reading the $40 trillion number honestly
Above $40 trillion total, about a quarter held abroad, long yields published daily.
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Rather ask a person?
A specialist will answer a specific question without a pitch. No account needed, no obligation. Monday – Friday, 7am – 4pm Pacific.