4T? What 4T?

[Mikebert]

[Kinser]That being said, one has to recognize that there hasn't been silver coinage in this country since 1964.  I find it interesting though that if one takes the minimum wage from 1964 ($1.25 per hour) or 5 silver quarters, one would come out with just slightly less than a troy ounce of silver (all silver coinage is debased with some content of copper for wear purposes).  Furthermore that this would be in the 15 dollar range, the very wage so many seem to be demanding for minimum wage workers.
 
[Mike]What would a wage of 1.25 silver dollars look like over the 1970-2015 period based on current silver prices adjusted to today’s dollars. Obviously no employer in 1980 was going to pay the equivalent today of $46 wages to unskilled workers.  Clearly the minimum wage would have to be abolished or reduced.  Suppose it was lowered to 0.30 silver dollars per hour ($11.2 in today’s money) and then kept there.  After 1989 wages would fluctuate between $1.60 and $4.70 in today’s money. Can you see how the huge volatility of the silver market makes this untenable?
 
1964   $9.54
1970      10.4
1975      19.4
1980      46.5→11.2
1985      3.1
1990      2.6
1995      1.9
2000      1.6
2005      2.0
2010      4.7
2015      3.7