Gold, silver coins to be legal currency in Utah

[NoStateofMind]

Gold, silver coins to be legal currency in Utah

Some excerpts:

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah legislators want to see the dollar regain its former glory, back to the days when one could literally bank on it being "as good as gold."
To make that point, they've turned it around, and made gold as good as cash. Utah became the first state in the country this month to legalize gold and silver coins as currency. The law also will exempt the sale of the coins from state capital gains taxes. Craig Franco hopes to cash in on it with his Utah Gold and Silver Depository, and he thinks others will soon follow.

The idea is simple: Store your gold and silver coins in a vault, and Franco issues a debit-like card to make purchases backed by your holdings.

He plans to open for business June 1, likely the first of its kind in the country.

"Because we're dealing with something so forward thinking, I expect a wait-and-see attitude," Franco said. "Once the depository is executed and transactions can occur, then I think people will move into the marketplace."

His idea isn't to return to the gold standard, when the dollar was backed by gold instead of government goodwill. Instead, he just wanted to create options for consumers.

"We're too far down the road to go back to the gold standard," Galvez said. "This will move us toward an alternative currency."

"Making gold and silver coins legal tender sends a strong signal to Congress and the Federal Reserve that their monetary policy is failing," said Ralph Danker, project director for economics at the Washington, D.C.-based American Principles in Action, which helped shape Utah's law. "The dollar should be backed by gold and silver, so we have hard money."

Opponents of the law warn such a policy shift nationwide could increase the prospect of inflation and could destabilize international markets by removing the government's flexibility to quickly adjust currency prices.

"We'd be going backward in financial development," said Carlos Sanchez, director of Commodities Management for The CPM Group in New York. "What backs currency is confidence in a government's ability to pay debt, its government system and its economy."

I wonder if Congress will step in? The Feds? The last guy who tried this is in jail right now IIRC.

 

[Dissipate]

"What backs currency is confidence in a government's ability to pay debt, its government system and its economy."

Yeah, let's see how that works out for you...

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Sounds kind of stupid to me, but as in all things the devil is in the details.

"Making gold and silver coins legal tender" means nothing without some defining context. US coins are and always have been legal tender at face value, if you are stupid enough to spend a $5 gold piece for $5 value or spend a silver dollar for $1 value.

If he is talking about valuing precious metal coins at the going market price by weight then hes probably setting Utah up to take a pounding. If this is the case I will be heading to Utah to deposit all my gold and silver then transfer the value back to my home state bank.

 

[OutHouse]

i dont get it....

 

[IceBergSLiM]

this is and was always legal

 

[dullard]

this is and was always legal

Exactly. US constitution, Article 1, section 10.

Section 10 - Powers prohibited of States
No State shall ... coin Money; ... ; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts...

Utah doesn't seem to be coining money nor is it making anything non-gold or non-silver into money. So it is perfectly legal in Utah, and all 49 states. Has been done since the US constitution was ratified. This isn't anything new. That said, it'll do nothing as the whole issue is a red herring. Gold and silver have nothing to do with the value of US currency.

 

[Anarchist420]

this is and was always legal

Exactly. US constitution, Article 1, section 10.

Section 10 - Powers prohibited of States
No State shall ... coin Money; ... ; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts...

Utah doesn't seem to be coining money nor is it making anything non-gold or non-silver into money. So it is perfectly legal in Utah, and all 49 states. Has been done since the US constitution was ratified. This isn't anything new. That said, it'll do nothing as the whole issue is a red herring. Gold and silver have nothing to do with the value of US currency.

That's true, but my Con Law professor says he expects the USSC to overturn it.

They'll just use the supremacy clause and cite whatever law makes the FRNs legal tender "for all debts public and private", you know how quasiprogressives like Alito and Scalia are.

 

[dmcowen674]

Gold, silver coins to be legal currency in Utah

The idea was spawned by Republican state Rep. Brad Galvez, who sponsored the bill largely to serve as a protest against Federal Reserve monetary policy. Galvez says Americans are losing faith in the dollar.

Earlier this month, Minnesota took a step closer to joining Utah in making gold and silver legal tender. A Republican lawmaker there introduced a bill that sets up a special committee to explore the option. North Carolina, Idaho and at least nine other states also have similar bills drafted.

The U.S. and many other countries largely abandoned gold-backed money during World War II because they needed to print more cash to pay for the war. Later, during the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took steps that essentially prohibited gold and silver as legal currency to prevent hoarding.


In 1971, President Nixon formally abandoned the gold standard.


Fifteen years later, the U.S. Mint began producing the gold and silver American Eagle coins, primarily aimed at investment portfolios and allowing people to trade them at market value but with capital gains taxes on profits.


Utah is now allowing the coins to be used as legal tender while levying no taxes.

This is strictly a Republican state move.

What are they trying to prove or do here?

 

[sandorski]

Sounds kind of stupid to me, but as in all things the devil is in the details.

"Making gold and silver coins legal tender" means nothing without some defining context. US coins are and always have been legal tender at face value, if you are stupid enough to spend a $5 gold piece for $5 value or spend a silver dollar for $1 value.

If he is talking about valuing precious metal coins at the going market price by weight then hes probably setting Utah up to take a pounding. If this is the case I will be heading to Utah to deposit all my gold and silver then transfer the value back to my home state bank.

This.

 

[matt0611]

This is a step in the right direction but the coins should be valued at market value, we also need to get rid of federal capital gains tax on gold and silver.

I think more states will start going in this direction. Good for them.

 

[matt0611]

Sounds kind of stupid to me, but as in all things the devil is in the details.

"Making gold and silver coins legal tender" means nothing without some defining context. US coins are and always have been legal tender at face value, if you are stupid enough to spend a $5 gold piece for $5 value or spend a silver dollar for $1 value.

If he is talking about valuing precious metal coins at the going market price by weight then hes probably setting Utah up to take a pounding. If this is the case I will be heading to Utah to deposit all my gold and silver then transfer the value back to my home state bank.

What do you mean by this? How is that anything different than selling your gold and silver on the market for dollars?

 

[Scotteq]

What do you mean by this? How is that anything different than selling your gold and silver on the market for dollars?

The face value of a US Gold Eagle coin is $50. It is a 1 ounce coin.

Gold is currently trading around $1,500.00 per ounce.


And no - it's no different.

 

[Sinsear]

In other news: Population of Paulbots Triples Overnight in Utah

 

[dullard]

In other news: Population of Paulbots Triples Overnight in Utah

There are three of them now? That means Paul will win the next election by a margin of 450% to -350%!

 

[shira]

If anyone had bothered to actually read the article they'd see that all that's happening is that Utah - by excluding the sale of precious-metal-coins from state capital gains taxes - is making it more attractive to set up precious-metal-coin-backed debit cards.

Craig Franco hopes to cash in on it with his Utah Gold and Silver Depository, and he thinks others will soon follow.

The idea is simple: Store your gold and silver coins in a vault, and Franco issues a debit-like card to make purchases backed by your holdings.

He plans to open for business June 1, likely the first of its kind in the country.

Geesh. If there ever was a non-story, this is it.

 

[Jhhnn]

If anyone had bothered to actually read the article they'd see that all that's happening is that Utah - by excluding the sale of precious-metal-coins from state capital gains taxes - is making it more attractive to set up precious-metal-coin-backed debit cards.

Geesh. If there ever was a non-story, this is it.

Just more anti-gubmint gibberish wrapped in goldbug paranoia.

Why would anybody buy gold to have somebody else hold it so they can pay fees to borrow against it when they can have credit cards requiring no reserve and no fees if they pay the balance monthly?

Or just use their cash via banking & debit cards in the first place, avoiding the transactional fees in buying gold?

Borrowing against a volatile commodity isn't really a smart financial move because of the potential over exposure, either, but I'm sure that the guy will find some chumps...

The financial flimflam artists need something to replace the "borrow 125% of your home's CMV on a low rate 3 year ARM" scam...

 

[halik]

Gold, silver coins to be legal currency in Utah

Some excerpts:









I wonder if Congress will step in? The Feds? The last guy who tried this is in jail right now IIRC.

Lulz, i think the guy needs a lesson in con law.

 

[Zebo]

If you're think the dollar is going to collapse and beccome worthless WTF would you spend your gold and silver??? Spend those fleeting dollars ASAP instead. Besides 100% of bills I pay i doubt they'd take gold. Prolly lol @ me call the paramedics.