"Well," said Ralph, "all monetary systems of the past or present are based on one principle--the exchange of one thing for another. At first it was simply a bartering or swapping of such things as a goat for a pig, or a string of beads for a piece of cloth. Only much later did money evolve. Before we had coins, certain rare shells were used as tokens. Still later, precious metal was exchanged for goods, using the weight of the metal as a basis. Later on, coins were developed, and still later on, paper money replaced part of the coins. Where the shells, the precious metals, and, later the metal coins, had intrinsic value, the paper money had no such value. The public accepted with faith and confidence a piece of paper across which was printed the guarantee that the bearer of it would receive so many metal dollars in exchange for the piece of paper. The paper money was built upon confidence that the people had in the government issuing the paper money. "Very few people ever thought of going to a bank or to the government's treasury to exchange the paper money for gold or silver coins. Instead, they freely circulated this paper money among themselves, and after people became accustomed to it, they accepted the paper money to the practical exclusion of gold and silver. Particularly in the former United States did this system reach a high development, more so than in old Europe, where paper money was used in conjunction with gold or silver coins. "In the United States, however, nothing but paper money was eventually used, even to the exclusion of the smallest coins. Whereas up to a certain period the dollar bill was the smallest paper money unit used, this was later split into the former coins of fifty cents, twenty-five cents, ten cents, five cents, and one cent. It was found that small paper bills the size of former postage stamps were not very practical when issued in separate pieces, so the printed tape coins, which we have today, came into extensive use. "The small metal box you carry, and from which you unroll your printed perforated tape, still represents the old paper money. When you, therefore, make a purchase today and you unroll fifty cents in ten cent denominations on your perforated roll, you are using a portion of the old system. "But the real monetary system is built upon confidence. It could not be otherwise today because we have no more precious metals. When, about 95 years ago, the Frenchman P865 + finished the transmutation of all the precious metals, the death-knell of the old monetary system was sounded. Everybody could make gold and silver for less than iron used to cost in the old days. Consequently, if you had a one hundred dollar bill that said on its face that you could exchange it for one hundred dollars' worth of gold, you could have gone to the treasury and received five twenty dollar gold pieces, which, however, were not worth more, perhaps, than one or two cents. So of what use was the one hundred dollar bill?[6]