There is an economic law called Gresham's law. It says in a scenario where there are two coins with different intrinisic values, the coin with the higher intrin

There is an economic law called Gresham's law. It says in a scenario where there are two coins with different intrinisic values, the coin with the higher intrinsic value will disappear from circulation. http://chestofbooks.com/finance/banking/Banking-And-Currency/Chapter-III-Gresham-s-Law.html http://chestofbooks.com/finance/banking/Banking-And-Currency... As an example, pennies used to be made of solid copper. When they introduced the zinc filled coins, the solid ones all but disappeared. You can still find some if you look carefully. The reason is because the value of the copper in a full copper penny was actually worth more than one penny, so people collected them, melted them down, and sold the copper. Of course this is illegal, but the laws of nature are stronger than laws of man.