Thomas Gresham

Thomas Gresham was a 16th-century English financier and diplomat credited with formulating Gresham's Law. This principle states that "bad money drives out good," meaning if two forms of currency are accepted at the same value but one is of lower quality or intrinsic worth, people will hoard or hide the better money and spend the lower-quality version. Essentially, Gresham's Law explains why inferior coins tend to circulate more freely than better ones, influencing monetary policy and coinage decisions historically and today.