You are thinking as if the conditions of today (2014) have always existed.

There were Treasury bonds back in 1895 (but hardly in the unlimited quantities of the present day), I suppose, but part of the economic panic(s) between 1893 and 1898 resulted from weakness and distrust of the finances of the rather small and limited Federal Government. I am thinking that the London bankers loved to hold Grover Cleveland's feet to the fire, and That J.P. Morgan had to do extraordinary things to maintain the credit of the Federal Government in the 1890s.

Additionally, there was a preference for hard money in the Western part of the U.S.A. until much much later, lingering even into say the 1950s. Old LaVerne Redfield would not have been considered an eccentric by many people in America during the time he was actively hoarding silver dollars.

As for why somebody would not use his money to make more money, that is a matter of personal preference, one's age, one's health and whether or not one had any children or grandchildren or close relatives that he gave a damn about.

I went to look at a coin collection recently, possibly to purchase it or to help sell it. It consisted of mostly 90% silver coins that had been withdrawn from circulation before 1970. I estimated the collection at $15,000. The gentleman representing the family said "Hell, if we keep these coins, Mom will never be destitute, will she?". I had to agree and I can readily concur with that way of thinking.

Not everybody is trying to make a killing. Ofttimes, people who keep trying for "more and more and more" suffer huge financial reverses.

This Apple tablet keeps correcting my grammar and spelling from right to wrong, sorry!

Oly