Hooray! Gas for 10 cents a gallon

Great news!

Gas is close to the cheapest it has ever been.  Historically, the price of gas between 1920-1970 was generally between 25-35 cents a gallon.  There were of course fluctuations.  The price rose sharply during and immediately after World War II and it fell as low as 17 cents a gallon during the Great Depression.  But the serious and prolonged rise in gas prices which most of us have perceived, and come to accept as normal, did not begin until the early 1970's when two things occurred.  First the Arabs briefly embargoed oil sales which would have driven up the price of gas in any circumstance, albeit temporarily.  The second was that the United States (quickly followed by everyone else) abandoned real money for paper.  Since then gas has been going up in nominal dollars with no end in sight.

But in real money... gas is actually cheaper now then even during the darkest days of the Depression.  How's that?

Silver topped $47 oz. today and briefly flirted with $50.00 oz.  Which means that a gallon of gas is actually about 10 cents a gallon right now, if you can find a dime minted before 1965.  That's because 1964 was the last year the US Government used real silver in its coinage.

I'd start checking the old change jar.