12/10/2011
Carlton Bowen, a resident of Orem, Utah, wanted to pay his property tax with silver, but the Utah County treasurer did not accept is.
The Utah Legislature has passed earlier this year, a legislation, which states that silver and gold coins can be used as legal tender. This is one issue that is very popular between factions of the Tea Party, who fear that the US dollar would suffer a catastrophic meltdown. The Legislature’s move made a minimal practical impact.
For instance, Bowen said that he already bought different goods from many companies and also paid tithing to his church using precious metals. However, the state treasurer of Utah County did not accept his payment.
A statement given by Utah state treasurer, Utah Ellis, said that, “In my mind there’s still no practical way of making this happen.” He further said that the state is not equipped to receive and accept, as well as authenticate and store precious metals like gold and silver. In fact, he does not see it turn into reality soon.
According to Scott Jenkins, Utah Senate GOP Majority Leader, the concept behind the legislation is powerful but does not allow much. He said that, “Little by little our currency is being devalued. It’s a little pushback on one hand, but on the other, maybe it will make us look at the value of our currency and strengthen it.”
Those who back the hard-money crusade of Utah, along with GOP State Representative Brad Galvez, will be returning the session with whole new big plans which would be aimed at allowing the use of precious metals in commerce.
But with all these, the real players could come in companies that would serve as gold or silver repositories where they would be storing the precious metals in a vault, and would just issue debit cards to customers, which would allow them to draw from their reserves of precious metals. They could then use the cards to buy things they need from a regular burger up to a car or a new home.
