When gold turns to paper

Coin collectors find that it is fun being a cheerleader for the price of gold and silver bullion.

This reflex kicked in last week among more than just coin collectors when it was reported that a South Carolina state representative introduced legislation that if adopted would ban “the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold,” within the state.

It seemed like a shot across the bow of politicians and big government in Washington, D.C., where there seems to be no say by the public over the issuance of trillions of dollars of currency and debt.

The legislator, Mike Pitts, seems to be looking at his legislation as a hedge against the economic collapse of the country.

A collapse may or may not occur, but if push came to shove in a financial emergency, South Carolina would probably find itself as short of gold or silver as states (and before them colonies) did throughout much of our history.

The result would likely be that any money issued by South Carolina would itself quickly turn into to paper.

On the bright side, collectors of this new paper money would have something new to collect.