Does Utah Have a Gold Depository?
Gold can be extracted from two main deposits, lode deposits and placer gold. Lode mining involves digging large holes to extract gold deposits with diesel-powered equipment while placer gold mining uses water-powered trommels and jig plants.
Utah’s Legal Tender Act has opened the door for alternative currencies like Goldbacks to be accepted at various businesses across Utah. These unique notes serve as a reminder of when money was backed by actual precious metals.
Mining
Utah is well known for its mining history. Utah ranked sixth out of all states for gold production until 1960; however, most gold was produced as a byproduct from base metal mining operations; most nonferrous metal production comes from Bingham, Park City Tintic Ophir districts in Utah.
Utah produces not only gold but also copper, molybdenum and silver metals – metals widely used in electronic devices like computer motherboards as well as automobiles, airplanes and batteries production.
Though most of us cannot own our own mine, gold investing remains accessible. Coins, bars and rounds containing precious metals are tax-exempt in Utah which provides collectors and investors a way to preserve bullion as an insurance against inflation; central banks have even begun purchasing more gold to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar.
Legal tender law
Utah recently passed a law legalizing gold as legal tender, exempting coins from state capital gains taxes, providing people with an alternative to the Federal Reserve’s fiat dollar that keeps being devalued over time. Many consider this step towards creating an actual money alternative.
Utah Republican legislators aligned with Tea Party groups pushed this legislation through, fearing that the Federal Reserve had permanently damaged purchasing power of US currency. Furthermore, individuals can take advantage of hard money storage to avoid high credit card interest rates and reduce debt through keeping assets as hard currency assets.
United Precious Metals Association (UPMA) has responded to this legislation with Goldbacks, an innovative product allowing members of their depository to store precious metals securely before using a debit-like card to make small in-person transactions with precious metals.
Goldbacks
Goldbacks are an innovative form of local currency that’s becoming increasingly popular with investors looking to diversify their portfolios. Issued privately and backed by precious metals, these coins provide a secure storage option. However, some considerations must be kept in mind before placing your precious metals with any depository service provider.
Goldbacks differ from traditional currencies in that they’re designed to circulate and be interchangeable, featuring fractional amounts of 24-karat gold with intricate designs, making them suitable both as regular currency and collector’s items.
Utah series currency is already making waves among the public, despite being relatively new. Utah became the first state to issue Goldbacks, technically known as “specie legal tender.” Conceived by Lawrence Hilton who spearheaded Utah’s Specie Legal Tender Act in 2011, Lawrence Hilton’s creation opened up markets for gold-backed alternatives to fiat money while simultaneously encouraging economic self-reliance.
Storage
Utah has made strides toward eliminating taxes on precious metals. Backed by the Sound Money Defense League and Money Metals Exchange, this move would enable people to protect their retirement accounts with gold and silver coins as an effective hedge against inflation, debt default risks and stock market declines.
Utah is also home to the United States Bullion Depository, an armored vault building used to store much of the US government’s official gold reserves as well as bullion from foreign governments, individuals, and institutions.
Utah does not impose sales taxes on coins that qualify as legal tender, such as bullion bars and rounds as well as coins containing gold, silver or other precious metals. This makes investing in precious metals an excellent way to diversify your portfolio because these assets do not correlate directly with bonds, stocks and other forms of paper assets.
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