Sept 28, 2012

ATLANTA - When the governor of Utah signed a bill that made gold bullion and silver bullion legal tender in the state last March, he had no idea of the groundswell he was going to start.

The Utah Sound Money Act outright flies in the face of the fiat money system, which is the printed money used today; backed by nothing but the promises of politicians. While U.S. states cannot create their own currency under the Constitution, they are allowed to use gold bullion and silver bullion as legal tender. More and more states are now exercising that right.

Complete Copy of Utah Money Act: http://connorboyack.com/drop/SoundMoneyAct.pdf

Lawmakers in Utah, when they studied history, found that every single instance of money printing and massive increases in a country’s debt always led to the destruction of the currency and a depression among the citizens that lived through it.

They were concerned about the Fed’s money printing and massive government debt accumulation and thus signed into law the Utah Sound Money Act, which recognized gold bullion and silver bullion as currency. They felt that the U.S. dollar would continue to lose its value, while gold bullion and silver bullion would continue to maintain their value, because they are sound currencies with no debts attached to them.

The Utah law states that the gold bullion and silver bullion coins issued by the U.S. Mint can be used as payment with any merchant in the State of Utah for the purchase of all goods and services.

It is not practical for people to carry around heavy gold bullion or silver bullion coins, so the Utah Gold & Silver Depository was created. People can deposit their gold bullion and silver bullion coins there and receive a debit card to make transactions with—just like depositing money at a bank. The prices of gold bullion and silver bullion are based on the closing prices of both precious metals in U.S. dollars in London on each business day, creating the exchange rate used on the debit card.

Missouri and South Carolina in 2012 are the closest to enacting very similar legislation and creating a gold bullion and silver bullion depository, just like Utah. (Source: CNN Money, February 3, 2012.) Both states echo the same sentiments as Utah and this is evident by the names chosen for the bills. For example, in Missouri, the legislation put forth is called the Missouri Sound Money Act of 2012.

Other states considering legislation to make gold bullion and silver bullion legal tender are Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, New Hampshire, Georgia, Washington, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Virginia.

This may seem strange, dear reader, but cultures in Asia would not be surprised, considering that gold bullion and silver bullion have been considered money for 5,000 years there. Also, people forget that, until 1971, the U.S. dollar was backed by gold bullion.

The distrust of the money printing being enacted by the Federal Reserve and the unprecedented debts being accumulated by the U.S. government, which are increasing by at least $1.0 trillion per year, are being questioned.

States are fighting back with what they believe are sound money policies: gold bullion and silver bullion. We should heed their example as a warning of what’s to come.

http://gwinnettdailyonline.com/GDP/archive/article7CD4AA60A92246B7B...

RELATED STORY:

2012 Australian One Ton Gold Kangaroo Coin Named "ROO" - 
Officially making the coin:

"The Largest - Most Valuable Coin In the World" (Guinness Book) 

Perth Mint
Staff of Perth Mint celebrating after their one metric ton 2012 gold coin featuring a 
bounding red Kangaroo won the title of the world's largest by the Guinness World Records.

2012 Australian One Ton Gold Kangaroo Named Largest - Most Valuable Coin In the World

PERTH - Gold coins sales at The Perth Mint may have fallen in the past three months as investors remain wary amid continued market volatility but staff at Australia's oldest producer of precious metal coins have reason to be upbeat: 

Their one metric ton 2012 gold coin featuring a bounding red Kangaroo just won the title of the world's largest by the Guinness World Records.

Ed Harbuz, CEO of The Perth Mint, stands beside the 
massive 1 Tonne Australian Gold Kangaroo Coin

"We faced an incredible challenge to produce a coin of this scale, so this is a wonderful endorsement of the talent and expertise of those involved," said Ed Harbuz, Perth Mint Chief Executive Officer.

Cast from 99.99 percent pure gold extracted from Australian mines, the coin weighs a total of 1,012 kilograms and measures 80 centimeters wide and 13 centimeters deep. The coin was made earlier this year in the presence of experts from the fields of metal assaying, numismatics — or coin collecting — quality assurance, and scale calibration and weighing, who verified the specifications of the coin.

And with its colossal currency, The Perth Mint knocks out reigning title holder, the Royal Canadian Mint, who held the record for the past five years with its Maple Leaf 100-kilogram gold bullion coin.

Australia's iconic national animal, "was a natural choice" for the giant coin as the marsupial has been a consistent feature of the Australian Kangaroo Gold Bullion Coin Series 1 kilo release for 25 years, Harbuz said.

The record-breaking coin's smaller and more affordable brethren, however, have been having a tough time due to adverse market conditions. Gold, perceived as a store of value since Biblical times, has been swept up in a broader 'risk-off' selling as the debt crisis in the euro zone deepens. (Related: Who Has the Most Gold?)

The precious metal has erased its gains for this year and has fallen 5.6 percent this quarter, on track for its biggest decline since 2004. Inversely-correlated to the U.S. dollar, bullion has also been hit by the rising greenback as the Federal Reserve held off from announcing further debt purchases.

Dip In Sales

"Due to the ongoing uncertainty in Europe, investors are becoming more cautious, which is affecting precious metal sales," said a Perth Mint spokesperson. "As a result, The Perth Mint has seen a dip in gold coin sales in the past three months compared to sales generated in the same period last year."

Gold coin sales (bullion and collectible) from The Perth Mint totaled 32,094 ounces in May, down from 35,900 during the same month last year. April's sales fell to 18,915 ounces, their lowest since the 10,645 ounces recorded in August 2010. March sales hit 38,109 ounces, down 9.6 percent from the comparable month last year.

The gold bulls, it seems, have hung up their horns while the market volatility plays out. The record-breaking golden kangaroo coin is currently on display at The Perth Mint's Gold Exhibition but that doesn't necessarily mean it will remain a museum piece.

"The Perth Mint would consider selling it to an interested party at the right price," a Perth Mint spokesperson told CNBC. "This would include the spot price of the metal value, plus a significant premium for production. Terms would obviously need to be negotiated."

For the record, the coin is worth more than $51 million at current prices — no chump change but possibly a bargain, relatively speaking, for a gold bug with money to spare.

http://gwinnettdailyonline.com/GDP/archive/article7CD4AA60A92246B7B9805C775851D0C4.asp