13 States May Use Gold, Silver as Currency

A growing number of people are looking for an alternative to the failing U.S. dollar, and that has prompted a number of lawmakers to push for their respective states to allow gold and silver coins to be used as legal tender.

While the U.S. Constitution forbids the printing of paper money or the establishment of a currency by individual states, it does allow for the use of gold and silver coins for use as money, based upon the value of the content of the precious metal. Essentially it's not the creation of currency, but using the content of the metal as a means of exchange.

Utah, which has already approved of the idea, is experimenting with a system which will likely be close to what most states that approve the measure will adopt. The Utah Gold & Silver Depository, order that people won't have to carry around gold and silver coins in their pockets, will produce a system which will link the gold and silver coins they own with a debit card held by the owner of the metal coins. Once the spend money from the debit card, they will then have it removed from their accounts, just like regular currency would be.

Since the accounts would be based upon the value of the content of the coins, that means they would fluctuate in value on a daily basis, and even throughout the day, depending upon how the accounts are set up.

This is a good idea for an alternative currency, but my thought is most people that understand what this is, if they were to allow gold and silver-based accounts, would probably hold it rather than spend it as they would regular money.

Others that may not understand the implications and reasoning behind alternative currencies that are valued by the silver and gold content inherent in them, may choose to use the accounts as a checking account, rather than a store of value.

Either way, offering options currency options is a great way to allow people to choose for themselves the direction they want to go with their money.

More than likely a lot more states will embrace gold and silver coins as currency as more get on board with the idea, and demand grows for it in light of a U.S. dollar that continues to lose its value.