Utah Makes Gold and Silver Legal Currency; Minnesota, North Carolina and Others May Follow
The Associated Press Reported —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.
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. If you’re mad about government debt, ditch the cash. Spend your gold and silver, he says.
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.”
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.
What’s Legal and Illegal in the 21st Century United States Gets Stranger and Stranger!
Power Line’s Scott Johnson writes: Our friend Seth Lipsky wasn’t able to make it to the [Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke] press conference, but he took to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to pose four questions for Bernanke. Here is the third of the four questions Seth served up:
Mr. Chairman, last month a federal jury in North Carolina convicted a man named Bernard von NotHaus of counterfeiting U.S. coins. His medallions, which he called “Liberty Dollars,” were made of silver. When he sold them he was getting about $20 for a medallion containing an ounce of silver, and now the coin is worth nearly twice that amount in U.S. dollars.
Yet the dollars you issued back when Mr. von NotHaus was in business have plunged in value to but a fraction of the silver or gold they were worth when you issued them. Mr. von NotHaus may be going to jail for years, and yet here you are. I don’t mean to suggest in any way that you broke any law, but how do you feel about this situation?
How do you, dear reader, feel about the situation?
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