Re: "Stemming gold to make ends meet..."
Lot's of good guesses and speculation, but here is the true scoop.
CUTTING CORNERS. In ancient times there was a practice of "stemming gold". In such days, coins were made of precious metals. It was a known practice for people to trim minuscule portions of gold from the edge of gold coins, collecting those pieces, melting them down and thereby increasing their profit. Eventually, coins came to have "edge ridges" so that such practice could be detected.
I hope that sets the record straight.
JagFred
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