In a recent Christmas gift order for my grandchildren, I received a free Arizona Goldback:
As you can see on the scan above, it contains 1/2000th of an ounce of gold.
The scan does not do the color or finish justice. It is gold in color with a very shiny face and matte back. The back is the reverse impression of the face. It is 2.55″ wide and just under 4.4″ long.
Very interesting. This is way to create hard currency in small denominations.
There are also 1/2 & 1 Goldbacks of several states. At the current market, a 1/2 contains about $2.70 , but I checked APMEX and they’re selling them for $4.31 (quite the margin there)
I’ve looked into them before but haven’t bought any.
I’m not a fan of big premiums, but I don’t see a way around them for amounts this small.
I think it is better to use silver or copper for amounts in this scale (it’s what was used for millenia)
Yes, Silver has almost always been ‘current money with the merchant’
The problem with silver today is the limited knowledge base of people who are familiar with pre-64 90% silver coinage and the goobermint never minting fractional ounce silver eagles. With current prices (no pun intended) they could be difficult to use for small value transactions too.
And, since the copper plated zinc penny is being discontinued…….?
Manufacturing cost and premium raise the price. As gold goes up it won’t matter. It still is physical gold and is now recognized as money in several states.
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I have purchased several of them. You can get them at APMEX.com.
GREAT stocking stuffer or way to introduce the little’uns to precious metals. I even told my kids what I paid for them. Then every Christmas we look up the current price. They understand already, and it’s only been a few years.
A silver-coin like an Eagle or Maple in a plastic case isn’t terribly expensive, and makes a great gift…. Kids need to learn early. The Hershey-bar metric is another good way to teach them. Do you like Hershey bars? What did it cost last year? Wow, that’s a big difference. Did the Hershey bar change, or is it the same? Then what changed?
I view the Goldback as one of the few true innovations in money I’ve seen in my lifetime. I love that it addresses three of the longest standing critiques against using gold as “regular” currency in today’s society: convenient small denomination, easy identification of amount and verifiability. (Given an x-ray fluorescence instrument for that last, granted. But they’re not that pricey and not everyone has to have one, just enough around to keep fakes in check. In the meantime standard anti counterfeiting approaches will work with this as well.) Plus it fits in the typical wallet. Yes it will crease, but if you’re using it for currency and not as a collectible, so what?
I hope they succeed. One day I want to visit one of the areas that are supposed to have adopted them.
As Boris says, truly innovative. And a good way to break down the gold as currency barrier.
I think I would have stuck to higher amounts of gold in them though. As right now their asking double gold spot for them. And they will almost never be used as small purchase currency.
That will be silvers place no matter what you do.
Making them in 1/10th’s and up to 1 OZ. seems more cost effective.
But none the less. Good on them! Truly cool!
I remain very suspicious of any crypto currency or coin which has a CEO. For me, the same applies here with these Goldbacks.
These Goldbacks are pretty, and not without an appeal to the collector, but they are incredibly expensive. As I write, Ampex has a 100 Goldback note….containing 1/10 Oz of gold…..for $891. They’re selling 1/10 Oz American Eagle coins for $528. If you’d prefer very small denominations, you can buy gold by the gram.