New Private Currency Uses Bills Filled With Real Gold

[Swordsmyth]

Modern currencies such as Bitcoin expect to find success in a more technological world, but a new currency known as Goldbacks might corner the post-apocalyptic currency market.

In 2019, Goldback president Jeremy Cordon said he had a dream in which he saw people paying for groceries using golden bills. Cordon had previously worked for years trying to make gold into functional money, but the dream gave him a new idea: What if a bill small enough to buy groceries could include a tiny percentage of gold?

“This felt like an epiphany because I saw people using gold as a regular money,” he said. “This fit into the vision that anyone anywhere could use gold as their currency of choice.”

For thousands of years, anyone who wanted to buy goods with gold faced “the small coin problem,” Cordon told The Epoch Times. A 1-ounce gold coin, worth about $2,000, is far too expensive for everyday use, but a cheap gold coin is impractically small.

“Gold is the best money, but it can’t buy a loaf of bread,” he said.

To solve this problem, Cordon used new technology to create a bill that sandwiches a particle-thin gold layer between two layers of polymer—the Goldback. The result can be worth as little as $3.80.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/new-private-currency-uses-bills-filled-real-gold

 

[dannno]

How difficult is it to extract the gold back out, if needed?

 

[Swordsmyth]

How difficult is it to extract the gold back out, if needed?

I don't know.
But it should be as simple as burning the note and heating it up until the gold melts.

 

[Working Poor]

I wonder what my Great Uncle [MENTION=27246]oyarde[/MENTION] would say about it.

 

[oyarde]

I wonder what my Great Uncle [MENTION=27246]oyarde[/MENTION] would say about it.

I think it is well past time for competing money in the US . Problem is the govt and fed will not share that view because unlike the avg Joe they know how worthless FRN's really are and any competing money with gold , silver etc will become the preference .

 

[Working Poor]

I think it is well past time for competing money in the US . Problem is the govt and fed will not share that view because unlike the avg Joe they know how worthless FRN's really are and any competing money with gold , silver etc will become the preference .

Do you think it is a good idea to have some of this new currency?

 

[oyarde]

Do you think it is a good idea to have some of this new currency?

Might in the future . Right now I think youd be better served with existing coins.

 

[pmbug]

 

[ClaytonB]

Congress should purchase this business, shutter the Fed, open the market to private currency competition and start issuing 100% gold and silver US dollars. We should also ban all forms of central banking, fractional-reserve banking and unbacked paper instruments (including paper money) by constitutional amendment.

One US dollar was, at one time, about 1 ounce of silver. Today it's on its way to being 1/50th an ounce of silver. The legal-physical definition of the US dollar should be in silver (only!) and its (pure) legal definition for gold should be set by an act of Congress periodically. This will avoid bimetallism, while allowing the market to have sound money issued by the highest quality mint. Let one US dollar be defined as 1/50th an ounce of pure silver (.9999 fine or better) and let the weight of $500, $1000, $2000, etc. gold coins be set by act of Congress, based on a market valuation of the gold:silver price-ratio, and let the physical weight be stamped on the gold coin along with its legal value (to aid in assaying or melt). It is understood that the government can garner seignioriage on its gold coinage by setting the face-value above its melt-value.

The reason for valuating in silver is that silver has always been the "common man's money". Using silver ensures that the definition of the dollar will be stable long into the future -- by the time silver is too worthless to care about, defining money will be the least of our cares. In the meantime, lashing the US dollar to silver will protect the working man and avoid bimetallism which causes metal-flight. Gold dollars can be valuated as Congress sees fit and the market will not be harmed since they can always trade at melt-value if that exceeds their face-value.

 

[acptulsa]

Let one US dollar be defined as 1/50th an ounce of pure silver (.9999 fine or better) and let the weight of $500, $1000, $2000, etc. gold coins be set by act of Congress, based on a market valuation of the gold:silver price-ratio, and let the physical weight be stamped on the gold coin along with its legal value (to aid in assaying or melt).

Or, we could deflate prices and go back to the old definition, so all the 1964-and-prior coins work just as well as the new ones.

And that includes 10% nickel content to harden it up so it doesn't dissolve with pocket wear.

Is that too simple?

 

[Madison320]

Congress should purchase this business, shutter the Fed, open the market to private currency competition and start issuing 100% gold and silver US dollars. We should also ban all forms of central banking, fractional-reserve banking and unbacked paper instruments (including paper money) by constitutional amendment.

One US dollar was, at one time, about 1 ounce of silver. Today it's on its way to being 1/50th an ounce of silver. The legal-physical definition of the US dollar should be in silver (only!) and its (pure) legal definition for gold should be set by an act of Congress periodically. This will avoid bimetallism, while allowing the market to have sound money issued by the highest quality mint. Let one US dollar be defined as 1/50th an ounce of pure silver (.9999 fine or better) and let the weight of $500, $1000, $2000, etc. gold coins be set by act of Congress, based on a market valuation of the gold:silver price-ratio, and let the physical weight be stamped on the gold coin along with its legal value (to aid in assaying or melt). It is understood that the government can garner seignioriage on its gold coinage by setting the face-value above its melt-value.

The reason for valuating in silver is that silver has always been the "common man's money". Using silver ensures that the definition of the dollar will be stable long into the future -- by the time silver is too worthless to care about, defining money will be the least of our cares. In the meantime, lashing the US dollar to silver will protect the working man and avoid bimetallism which causes metal-flight. Gold dollars can be valuated as Congress sees fit and the market will not be harmed since they can always trade at melt-value if that exceeds their face-value.

Why have that extra level of pricing something in a fiat currency and then defining the value of that currency? That makes it so easy to devalue by simply changing the definition. The simplest solution is to have everything priced in gold or silver. So a cup of coffee would be like 50 mgs of gold. Paper currency would be like a 10mg bill or 100mg bill or whatever. Bank accounts also would be in weights of gold/silver.

 

[ClaytonB]

Why have that extra level of pricing something in a fiat currency and then defining the value of that currency? That makes it so easy to devalue by simply changing the definition. The simplest solution is to have everything priced in gold or silver. So a cup of coffee would be like 50 mgs of gold. Paper currency would be like a 10mg bill or 100mg bill or whatever. Bank accounts also would be in weights of gold/silver.

Note: I would fully support fixing the USD by Amendment to protect it against the pilfering of Congress by legislative de-valuation.

The original intent of the framers was that the United States dollar would be a fixed weight of silver or gold, which is why authority to regulate the dollar is placed in the same clause as the authority to regulate weights and measures. If USD just means "1/50th ounce of silver", then that is a fixed, physical unit of weight no different than ounces or pounds. Once that value is fixed, the US mint should be permitted to emit coins in other metals such as gold, and Congress is not acting unconstitutionally, illegally or immorally to fix a legal value onto that coinage. The difference above melt is really just seigniorage. And if it is too far above melt, people won't buy/trade with it, but that's fine because (a) there are still non-US gold coins (which can be used as money) and (b) the fixed value of the USD based on silver remains unchanged.

The problem with "real gold" currency notes is that they are too subject to wear and/or they cannot be readily assayed (because sealed/protected). Part of the security of a coin is that you can physically touch the surface of the coin, ring it, etc. Fraud schemes are rampant in the small gold bar market, but practically non-existent in the gold coin market... fake coins are readily detected by anybody who knows what real gold looks/feels like. Of course, if money producers think that there will be demand for such notes, I don't think they should be illegal (as long as they are not fraudulent, i.e. the notes actually contain what they say they contain) but I think that scamming/fraud will always destroy these schemes.

Silver and copper are far superior to gold for hand-to-hand trade for most daily goods... when do you ever need to purchase more than 10 silver coins' worth of anything from a market? But gold is simply too scarce/valuable for such common transactions... I don't want to be fiddling with bits of gold dust in my pocket, nor running the risk of falling for yet another currency scam with underweight, fake goldback bills. Good, old-fashioned silver and gold coins are the time-tested solution. And the value-add of the US dollar is that it has universal acceptance within the US, and is widely recognized, and it has a dedicated investigation/police agency (Secret Service) tracking down any counterfeiters/scammers. Not saying the market can't compete, just saying that the USD has the reputation/cachet to remain the premier world currency if the US government ever wakes up from its stupor and destroys the Fed before the Fed destroys all of us...

 

[Madison320]

Note: I would fully support fixing the USD by Amendment to protect it against the pilfering of Congress by legislative de-valuation.

The original intent of the framers was that the United States dollar would be a fixed weight of silver or gold, which is why authority to regulate the dollar is placed in the same clause as the authority to regulate weights and measures. If USD just means "1/50th ounce of silver", then that is a fixed, physical unit of weight no different than ounces or pounds. Once that value is fixed, the US mint should be permitted to emit coins in other metals such as gold, and Congress is not acting unconstitutionally, illegally or immorally to fix a legal value onto that coinage. The difference above melt is really just seigniorage. And if it is too far above melt, people won't buy/trade with it, but that's fine because (a) there are still non-US gold coins (which can be used as money) and (b) the fixed value of the USD based on silver remains unchanged.

The problem with "real gold" currency notes is that they are too subject to wear and/or they cannot be readily assayed (because sealed/protected). Part of the security of a coin is that you can physically touch the surface of the coin, ring it, etc. Fraud schemes are rampant in the small gold bar market, but practically non-existent in the gold coin market... fake coins are readily detected by anybody who knows what real gold looks/feels like. Of course, if money producers think that there will be demand for such notes, I don't think they should be illegal (as long as they are not fraudulent, i.e. the notes actually contain what they say they contain) but I think that scamming/fraud will always destroy these schemes.

Silver and copper are far superior to gold for hand-to-hand trade for most daily goods... when do you ever need to purchase more than 10 silver coins' worth of anything from a market? But gold is simply too scarce/valuable for such common transactions... I don't want to be fiddling with bits of gold dust in my pocket, nor running the risk of falling for yet another currency scam with underweight, fake goldback bills. Good, old-fashioned silver and gold coins are the time-tested solution. And the value-add of the US dollar is that it has universal acceptance within the US, and is widely recognized, and it has a dedicated investigation/police agency (Secret Service) tracking down any counterfeiters/scammers. Not saying the market can't compete, just saying that the USD has the reputation/cachet to remain the premier world currency if the US government ever wakes up from its stupor and destroys the Fed before the Fed destroys all of us...

I agree with all of the above.

My point is it would be even better to directly price things in silver or gold vs pricing them in dollars.

 

[ClaytonB]

I agree with all of the above.

My point is it would be even better to directly price things in silver or gold vs pricing them in dollars.

If USD is truly fixed to silver, then it would be the same. The issue is the US government's addiction to financial fraud and bribery. And for whatever reason, people-in-general don't "get" certain market abilities, such as the market's ability to produce money, security (police) services, judicial services and even defense (military) services. It's some weird psychological hangup in people's brains. So, if we have to call 1/50th ounce of silver "One Dollar" in order to make WTP "get it", so be it. As long as that definition is encoded in law as a physical unit of account (not merely a legal/abstract one which can be "updated" at a later time), then it's all the same to me.

 

[Madison320]

If USD is truly fixed to silver, then it would be the same. The issue is the US government's addiction to financial fraud and bribery. And for whatever reason, people-in-general don't "get" certain market abilities, such as the market's ability to produce money, security (police) services, judicial services and even defense (military) services. It's some weird psychological hangup in people's brains. So, if we have to call 1/50th ounce of silver "One Dollar" in order to make WTP "get it", so be it. As long as that definition is encoded in law as a physical unit of account (not merely a legal/abstract one which can be "updated" at a later time), then it's all the same to me.

I agree that if the definition of a currency never changes then it would be the same as pricing in silver/gold, but has that ever happened?

If you price things in silver/gold you make it impossible to devalue because then the currency IS silver/gold.

 

[pmbug]

Ron Paul's competing currencies idea was to let gold and silver be money in parallel to the Fed's dollar at market rates:

Gold As Unpegged Legal Tender

Gold As Unpegged Legal Tender We need to level the currency playing field to enforce a practical, market based boundary on irresponsible monetary and fiscal policy. Poor System Design Our Founding Fathers understood the problems with fiat money and monetary debasement. They attempted to...

www.pmbug.com

 

[ClaytonB]

I agree that if the definition of a currency never changes then it would be the same as pricing in silver/gold, but has that ever happened?

If you price things in silver/gold you make it impossible to devalue because then the currency IS silver/gold.

I absolutely agree -- I'm just trying to ratio-match between the MAGA-meatheads (there are more of them than seems plausible) and plain, common-sense. Common-sense in money does not make sense to people, broadly. For the broad mass of the public, money is a government-function, period, this is obvious to them. We can ratio-match this problem by fixing the government money to a fixed weight of silver (or gold would also work, but I think silver is better because more commonly used by ordinary people). I realize that it's a "pinky-promise" definition but if we fix it in an Amendment, then Congress can't fiddle with it and, while it is theoretically possible it could be redefined, it would probably require a long political campaign to pass another Amendment to change the definition... and I don't think MAGA-meatheads would understand that. In other words, I think that "Let's fix the USD to a physical quantity of silver (or gold) by an Amendment" is something that you could get MAGA to back, but I don't think you could get them to back a redefinition Amendment. So, it would act as a political latch... once latched, I don't think there would ever be any politically feasible way to unlatch it. Of course, that's only a bet, but then, so is everything when it comes to politics...