Utah "Legal Tender Act of 2011"

[LPC]

I haven't yet found a copy of the bill, but the NY Times reports that Utah has made gold and silver coins "legal tender" based on the value of the metal in the coins rather than the face amount.

Mr. Jurkowsky [a spokesman for the U.S. Mint] said the new law “is of no real consequence,” and is purely symbolic, but supporters say it is more than political pocket change. They say that it is just a beginning, that one day soon Utah might mint its own coins, that retailers could have scales for weighing precious metals and that a state defense force could be formed to guard warehouses where the new money would be made and stored.

Before Utah (or anyone else) starts to "mint its own coins," they might want to read the *entire* Constitution, and not just the parts they like, as well as the provisions of 18 USC 486 (the "uttering" statute that von Nuthouse was convicted of violating).

The law also eliminates any state income tax on gains from the sale of gold or silver. (I would assume that it would also eliminate any deduction for any loss from those same sales.)

[fortinbras]

They say that it is just a beginning, that one day soon Utah might mint its own coins....

And from the US Constitution, Article I, section 10, clause 1:

No State shall ... coin money.....

I'm just saying.

[notorial dissent]

I wasn't aware that the states had suddenly acquired the authority to set the value of money. Seems to me I remember that being solely a Fed prerogative. And while they can make gold and silver coins legal tender, the Feds get to set the value of them, so I don't think their legislation will fly on constitutional grounds let alone practical. I can just see the regulatory commissions and licensing they would have to set up to license the weighing scales that merchants would have to use to check the coins to make sure they were getting what they supposed to be, and that they weren't cheating their customers with a "friendly" scale, and giving change could become a real joy.