Idaho introduced a bill to make gold and silver coins legal tender in the state…
Wisconsin cancelled its sales tax on gold…
And Louisiana is considering a bill that would give citizens access to gold-backed debit cards.
These pieces of 2024 legislations are part of a national sound money movement that blossomed in 2011, when Utah became the first state in 80 years to reestablish precious metals as constitutional money in the state.
Since then, the sound money movement has gained significant traction:
- In 2013, Kansas, Indiana and South Carolina followed Utah’s precedent and declared US-minted coins tax-exempt and legal tender…
- In 2014, Oklahoma followed suit…
- In 2018, Wyoming also made gold and silver coins legal tender…
- In 2019, West Virginia ended taxes on metal bullion and coin sales. Utah introduced a local medium of exchange called Goldbacks and declared gold transactions state exempt.
- In 2020, Idaho cancelled all taxes, including state capital gains tax, on gold and silver specie coins…
- In 2021, Ohio and Arkansas cancelled gold taxes…
- In 2022, Tennessee also cancelled gold taxes, and Utah quietly recognized their paper Goldbacks as a legitimate circulating currency.
- In 2023, Mississippi enacted a sales tax exemption for coins, currency and bullion…
To date, 44 US states have cancelled their state taxes on the purchase of gold and silver. Five have made gold and silver legal tender within their state.
And if this sound money legislation trend continues across the US…
Some analysts believe it may be a first step toward ending the Fed’s monopoly on currency.
In his paper for the Mises Institute, constitutional tender expert Professor William Green wrote:
“…as residents of the state use both Federal Reserve notes and silver and gold coins, the fact that the coins hold their value more than Federal Reserve notes do will lead to a ’reverse Gresham’s Law’ effect, where good money (gold and silver coins) will drive out bad money (Federal Reserve notes).”
“As this happens,” Green says, “a cascade of events can begin to occur, including the flow of real wealth toward the state’s treasury, an influx of banking business from outside of the state – as people in other states carry out their desire to bank with sound money – and an eventual outcry against the use of Federal Reserve notes for any transactions.”
In other words…
The financial relationship between states and the federal government may be shifting.
And their policy changes reflect a growing public interest in establishing a fairer monetary system where the federal government can’t print and inflate a currency into oblivion.
While a full federal repeal of all gold taxes and restrictions may not happen anytime soon, every new piece of sound money legislation passed by the states affirms the nation’s growing preference for precious metals as a medium of exchange.
And with so much economic and geopolitical turmoil sweeping the nation right now… easier, lower-cost access to gold is excellent news for sound money advocates everywhere.
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