Last Updated on January 21, 2026
A middle-class family today can’t afford what their parents could on the same inflation-adjusted income. Two incomes barely cover what one income used to. Housing, healthcare and quality education are all increasingly out of reach. It’s not laziness or bad luck. It’s a result of currency debasement. And most families never realize it until it’s too late.
You can’t change government monetary policy. But you can protect your family.
I created Hard Money History to help families understand what’s happening and to demonstrate what 2,000+ years of monetary history shows they can do about it. Understanding historical patterns gives you options most people don’t see. That’s what this site is here to provide.
Who I Am
My name is Thomas. I’ve been a high school history teacher for more than ten years, with a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Master’s in Education. After a decade in the classroom, I’ve seen how most people graduate without any understanding of how money works or why currencies fail. It’s just not in the curriculum.
That educational gap has real world consequences. When fiat systems collapse, as they have dozens of times throughout recorded history, families who don’t understand the pattern lose everything.
In 2007, I started studying monetary history because I was watching something that didn’t make sense: the US government was responding to a financial crisis by massively expanding the money supply. Something fundamental was changing in the monetary system, although I didn’t fully understand it back then.
So I started reading. Austrian economics. Monetary history. Ancient currency collapses. Gold. Bitcoin when I discovered it in 2013. Everything I could find about what happens when governments debase currency and what ordinary families can do about it.
Teaching history for years doesn’t just give you knowledge. It trains you to see patterns across time. Here is a pattern that I see:
- Government runs chronic deficits
- Government expands money supply to cover the gap
- Currency loses purchasing power
- Middle class gets quietly destroyed
- People holding hard assets (land, gold, productive capital) preserve wealth
- People holding only cash lose everything
That pattern is 2,000+ years old. And it’s happening again.
As a teacher, I can’t change government policy. But I can help families understand what happened before—so they can make informed decisions about what’s happening now.
I’m not a financial professional, and I’m not trying to be one. I’m a history enthusiast who spent years studying how money has failed because I care about ordinary families maintaining a solid middle-class life, something which is becoming increasingly difficult due to poor monetary policy.
What I Bring to This Topic
Pattern recognition from teaching history. When you teach history year after year, you develop an eye for the structural patterns. I’m not predicting the future but I’m showing you what happened every other time governments did what they’re doing now.
Personal skin in the game. I’m not a financial advisor managing other people’s money. I’m a middle-class father protecting my own family’s purchasing power. Everything I write about, I’m thinking through for my own decisions.
Lived experience through multiple cycles. I’ve been studying this since 2007. I lived through the financial crisis, QE1-QE3, the taper tantrum and COVID monetary expansion. I bought my first gold in 2011 and my first Bitcoin in 2014. I’ve watched these markets for years—not as a trader, but as a long-term hodler.
Non-ideological approach. I hold both Bitcoin and gold. I respect Bitcoin’s structural advantages and gold’s 5,000-year track record. I’m informed by Austrian economics but I’m not a libertarian. I critique policy failures without partisan blame. I’m interested in what works for families, not in proving an ideology right.
Teaching skills applied to complex topics. I know how to take complicated historical and economic concepts and make them accessible without dumbing them down. That’s what teaching history to teenagers trains you to do.
Why I Started Hard Money History in 2021
By 2021, I’d been studying monetary history for 14 years. I’d accumulated thousands of hours of research. I’d made my own allocation decisions. And I was watching the 2020-2021 monetary expansion – the largest peacetime expansion in US history – unfold in real time.
I kept having the same conversation with family, friends and colleagues. Smart, responsible people who worked hard and saved money. People being quietly crushed by forces they didn’t understand and couldn’t control.
They’d ask: “Why can’t I afford a house like my parents could? Why does retirement feel impossible? Why do I work harder than my dad did and have less to show for it?”
The answer is currency debasement. But most people have never been taught that monetary history even exists. They think it’s their fault for not working hard enough or making smart enough choices.
I started Hard Money History to teach what schools don’t: that governments have been debasing currency for 2,000+ years, that middle-class families always pay the price, and that there are historical patterns you can study to protect yourself.
Not because I have all the answers. But because I’m a teacher who sees the patterns and has empathy for families being crushed, because I’m one of them.
What You Should Know Before Reading
I’m not a financial advisor. I don’t have any financial certifications. I’m a history teacher and long-term investor sharing educational content based on historical research and personal perspective. You should always do your own research before making financial decisions.
I may hold positions in the assets discussed. I own both gold and Bitcoin, and other assets discussed on this site. My views are shaped by my own allocation decisions—I have skin in the game.
I use partial anonymity for privacy. I write under my first name only and use an avatar. I’m transparent about my background and experience, but I maintain appropriate boundaries between my online and offline work.
This site is educational, not prescriptive. I teach historical patterns and offer frameworks for thinking. What you do with that information is your responsibility. My goal is to help families think clearly about monetary risk—not to give specific investment recommendations.
Start Wherever Makes Sense for You
If you’re new to monetary history, start with Why Money Fails to understand the recurring patterns of currency collapse.
If you’re already convinced the system is broken and want to know what to do, explore the sections on Gold, Bitcoin, and Wealth Protection.
If you want to stay informed without the noise, subscribe to the newsletter. I send historical context and market insights about once per week.
Important Disclaimer
This website is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
The author may hold positions in the assets discussed. Any discussion on jurisdiction, exchanges or custody providers reflect the author’s personal views and experiences and is not a personal recommendation. Always do your own research and seek professional guidance before making investment or custody decisions.