DES MOINES, Iowa (Feb. 27, 2025) – An Iowa House subcommittee advanced two bills aimed at supporting and expanding the use of gold and silver as money in the state. One measure would establish a 100% gold and silver-backed transactional currency system, allowing people to conduct business using real money. The other would authorize the state to hold reserves in precious metals.
TRANSACTIONAL CURRENCY
House Bill 325 (HF325) introduced by Rep. Cindy Golding and seven cosponsors, would establish a transactional currency fully backed by gold and silver. Under this bill, the state treasurer would issue gold and silver specie and ensure a system for seamless transactions using sound money.
The bill defines “specie” as gold or silver coins with standardized shape, size, design, purity, and weight – suitable for use as currency or in retail and wholesale transactions.
“Transactional currency” refers to digital representations of actual gold and silver held in a secure depository, allowing for seamless electronic transfers.
Gold and silver fully backing the transactional currency would be securely stored in an approved bullion depository, such as a state-run facility or existing institutions like the Texas Bullion Depository.
The bill mandates that the state treasurer must ensure transactional currency can be used as legal tender for debts and be easily transferred electronically between individuals and states.
With gold and silver-backed transactional currency, people could use debit cards that automatically convert precious metals into dollars at the point of purchase. Individuals and businesses would be able to purchase goods and services using assets held in an approved depository in the same way they use dollars held in a bank today.
If passed, HF325 would enable people to buy, sell, and pay debts using gold and silver just as easily as they use dollars today, a practical alternative to Federal Reserve fiat.
Gold and silver-backed transactional currency would give people a way to shield themselves from the rapid loss of purchasing power inherent in the fiat dollar.
RESERVES
Rep. Taylor Collins filed House Bill 246 (HF246). The legislation would authorize but not require the state treasurer to invest certain state funds in “precious metals” defined as “gold, silver, or platinum, whether in coin, bullion, or another form.”
The treasurer could also allocate up to 5% of these funds to gold, silver, platinum, or certain cryptocurrencies, drawn from the general fund, cash reserve fund, and the Iowa economic emergency fund.
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 laws 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
HF246 and HF325 will now move to the full House State Government Committee where it must pass by a majority vote before moving to the full House.
