CONCORD, N.H. (Jan. 27, 2025) – A bill filed in the New Hampshire House would officially recognize gold and silver as legal tender in the state, further building the foundation for the people themselves to undermine the Federal Reserve monopoly through competition in the monetary system.
Rep. Juliet Harvey-Bolia and four cosponsors filed House Bill 721 (HB721). The legislation would recognize “gold or silver in coin or bar form legal tender for all transactions public and private” in New Hampshire. Under the proposed law, state and local agencies would be required to take gold and silver as a form of payment.
The passage of HB721 would make New Hampshire the sixth state to recognize gold and silver as legal tender, as they always should have been doing. Utah led the way, reestablishing constitutional money in 2011. Wyoming, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana have since joined.
IN PRACTICE
New Hampshire already has a thriving gold and silver economy. Despite the lack of official recognition as legal tender, thousands of residents actively use precious metals in private transactions as money. The absence of state tax barriers on gold and silver, coupled with a population that values sound money, has established New Hampshire as a model for other states to follow.
Officially recognizing gold and silver as legal tender would build on this foundation, encouraging more residents to use them as a medium of exchange. By moving beyond their role as mere investment assets, sound money would likely play a more active role in day-to-day transactions.
Passage of HB721 would also strike a blow against the fiat-based Federal Reserve system by promoting monetary competition at the state and local levels. This competition challenges the Fed’s monopoly and empowers people to shift towards real money.
The effect has been dramatic in Utah where the Specie Legal Tender Act opened the door for the development of a robust gold and silver economy in the state. With some legal hurdles cleared away by the state’s legal tender law, the United Precious Metal Association (UPMA) in partnership with Alpine Gold Exchange set up the state’s first “gold bank.”
The Act has also led to the creation of the Goldback, a local, voluntary medium of exchange. Goldbacks are notes made from fractions of an ounce of physical gold. The company created a process that turns pure gold into a spendable physical form for small transactions.
BACKGROUND
The United States Constitution states in Article I, Section 10, “No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” Currently, all debts and taxes in most states are either paid with Federal Reserve Notes (dollars) which were authorized as legal tender by Congress, or with coins issued by the U.S. Treasury – very few of which have gold or silver in them.
The Federal Reserve destroys this constitutional monetary system by creating a monopoly based on its fiat paper currency. Without the backing of gold or silver, the central bank can easily create money out of thin air.
This not only devalues your purchasing power over time; it also allows the federal government to borrow and spend far beyond what would be possible in a sound money system. Without the Fed, the U.S. government wouldn’t be able to maintain all of its unconstitutional wars and programs. The Federal Reserve is the engine that drives the most powerful government in the history of the world.
State bills that facilitate and encourage the use of sound money create a playing field where people can push back against the Fed’s monetary malfeasance. Ultimately, it could create a scenario where people can drive out the “bad” fiat money with “good” sound money.
WHAT’S NEXT
HB721 was referred to the House Committee on Commerce and Consumer Affairs where it will need to receive a hearing. An “ought to pass” recommendation in committee would increase its chances for passage on the House floor.
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