by Craig Hemke, Sprott Money:

Though tyrants and despots have for generations attempted to create money from nothing via currency devaluation schemes, the result is always the same. A collapse of confidence in the government-issued script leads to a renewed demand for gold- and silver-backed sound money.

History is replete with examples of this phenomenon. In fact, the first known case of currency devaluation dates back to the reign of Dionysius the Elder (or Dionysius I), a Greek tyrant who reigned over Sicily in the fourth century B.C. To fund his wars, Dionysius called in all of the existing currency and then simply reissued a new currency with twice as much supply. An effective devaluation of 50%! And with this, the script was set for governments to follow over the next 25 centuries.