Posted on 12/01/2019 3:22:12 AM PST by Openurmind
A bill filed in advance of the next legislative session would make gold and silver legal tender again in the state of South Carolina.
State Representative Stewart O. Jones submitted legislation that would restore gold and silver to their status as legal tender in his state.
In an op-ed written in October, Representative Jones set out the sound economic principles that support his proposed statute:
To understand the full extent of the debt and the destruction of the dollar, it’s essential to realize that paper money has a history of being printed as bills of credit to finance runaway government. In 1775, the founders attempted to use paper money without gold or silver backing, and they found that the inflation robbed them of any value. In 1788, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “Paper is poverty. It is only the ghost of money, and not money itself.”
The Coinage Act of 1792 then set specific ratios for gold and silver coinage, placing gold and silver in control rather than a central bank. This lasted until the passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which allowed for the formation of the Federal Reserve System just two decades before Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt started to come after private ownership of gold and silver in the 1930s. In 1944, the Bretton Woods system made the US dollar the reserve currency of the world, when it was still partially backed by gold and silver.
Finally, in 1971, the Nixon Administration suspended wages, issued price controls, and canceled dollar-to-gold convertibility, completing the final step in ending the “gold standard.” This gave the central government planners — and the federal reserve — the power to print money without restraint. This is how the national debt has been able to reach the levels that it has. The only thing backing the US dollar today is public debt.
Now here is where the legalities could get complicated, and I am not sure how it would work, but I think loopholes could be found that puts the government at a disadvantage because of their own laws. First you do not pay sales tax on wholesale goods or the value of wholesale goods for resale. And since the government only recognizes face value then only face value was “actually” collected for tax reporting purposes. Could the balance over one dollar actually then even be claimed as a loss on taxes because the government only legally recognizes the face value portion and not the true purchase value? It would be poetic justice for the scam they are pulling. :)
It is an interesting situation that warrants deeper investigation. Because if we were on a gold/silver standard that one dollar would be still only be buying one face dollar worth of goods, just a lot more fairer non-inflation exchange of goods for that dollar as it should be.
Right, but we have already established that American Eagle gold coins struck in 1986 or later ARE legal tender in payment of debts.
In a barter economy a U.S. silver cartwheel would be worth at least $20 over face value, so it’s not unreasonable to keep a few in the safe. Twenty bucks is a normal amount for trade.
What I don’t understand is hoarding gold these days. How do you turn it into something spendable? Now, during the German hyperinflation holders of gold would hop a train to Switzerland and exchange gold for Swiss francs to spend in Germany (which only made the Reichsmark worth even less).
I mean, will merchants keep scales on the counter for customers who show up with a poke of gold dust like Yukon prospectors? Will they accept fox & beaver pelts in trade?
;^)
My privilege...
Hey, it’s Sunday, something to wake this place up and get some participation started is better than “not much on Sunday”. Gold and silver is “always” interesting to most. I haven’t met anyone yet who doesn’t have the fever. :)
:^) I've got to consider doing something about the "white gold" that fell in the night.
I once bought a new Polaris 500 four wheeler, for two Krugerrands. It seemed like money to the dealer, I guess.
I know, which is puzzling as to what effect this State proclamation intends to have.
Sure it was, he waited for the spot price to go up and made even more off the exchange. Or he is holding on to them because they hold their value. Better than putting money in the bank. :)
”How do you turn it into something spendable?”
You don’t. The minute the merchant knows you’ve got it, you’re a dead man.
”Until and if Jones’s South Carolina Sound Money Bill is signed Into law, the laws of the Palmetto State require that all debts be paid in Federal Reserve notes or in coins issued by the government of the United States. ”
American gold eagles ARE legal tender coins issued by the government of the United States.
I know, I guess they are expanding the law to include any and all gold or silver and not just US minted gold and silver coins?
>>A gold eagle is US currency as is a silver dollar.<<
Face value?
Yes, Congress has the authority to "coin money and regulate the value thereof", so American Eagle gold and silver coins are legal tender at face value.
Face value of a gold eagle is minted by the US Treasury as a $10 coin. But its a half oz of gold so worth the price of spot gold.
As coined by the US mint a gold eagle has a face value of $10 but is a half oz of gold so worth the price of spot gold.
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