The Greatest Threat to Our Hobby

By Henry Robinette

The Viewpoint commentaries in Numismatic News frequently lament the state of our hobby – how to get younger people to start collecting, the threat counterfeits pose, complaints about the Mint, complaints about dealers, etc. All of these issues are important and worthy of discussion but overlook the major trends that threaten the very existence of not only our hobby but the very coins and currency that we collect. How can our hobby survive if youngsters cannot start collections from their pocket change if there are no circulating coins?

Unless you live a very sheltered life, you have seen the self-service checkouts in supermarkets and big-box retailers. These checkouts take credit cards, not cash. Do you meekly use self-checkout instead of standing in line for a cashier?

Already, we have a few self-service grocery stores that can wirelessly check you out. At least one big-box retailer tested a store with 100 percent self-checkout. (It must not have worked for them, because I have not seen anything of a large scale roll-out of this concept.)

In some states, the vehicle registration clerks will not take cash, nor will the county tax commissioner take cash for your property taxes. Some states have limited the amount of cash that can be used in transactions. And don’t forget about civil asset forfeiture laws; in some jurisdictions if a “large’’ amount of cash is found in your vehicle during a traffic stop, your cash may be confiscated and then you would have to sue to get it back.

About five years ago, there was talk of the need to abolish the U.S. $100 bill to fight crime. In November 2016, India field tested the demonetization of all but the smallest bank notes in circulation. Ostensibly, this was done to fight the black market and other criminal elements. (Sound familiar?) People were compelled to take their bank notes to the banks and convert them into cash cards or bank accounts. Half the people in India at the time had no bank accounts, and 90 percent of all transactions were paid in cash. After days of chaos, the Indian government relented and issued new currency to replace the old.

Now we are told that cash is bad because it helps to spread COVID-19 even though there is scant evidence to prove this. Fear of COVID-19 in 2020 caused fruit stands along a major interstate highway in Florida to refuse cash payments! They feared contracting the disease.

Imagine what it would mean to have no cash or coins. You would have a debit card or an app on your phone to pay for everything you buy. How would you sell personal property at a yard sale? Banks would be able to charge you negative interest on your “money.” They could impose all manner of fees for anything and everything. You want a paper receipt? There’s a fee for that. How would you be able to dispute a bank error if your account is hacked, and all you have is a PDF file on your computer that differs from the bank’s PDF file?

Going cashless is more than an inconvenience to you. It is a threat to your privacy, your freedom and your very survival. It’s all about control. The people in charge want to control every aspect of your life. With a cashless economic system, they control your spending. What’s to stop them from preventing you from buying something they don’t want you to have? Or worse, dis-crediting you by deleting your account entirely? The Apostle John described this system in the Bible as the “Mark of the Beast.” A cashless monetary system is the “Antichrist” monetary system.

These days it seems almost anything is becoming politicized. And I would hate to see our hobby become overly politicized. But, we must be aware of the political trends and tides sweeping through society. If we choose to ignore these trends, we do so at our peril. How long may it be before the mindless minions of the New World Order denounce gold ownership as “racist?” Or numismatics as “white privilege?”

When William McKinley was first elected president in 1896, he won by championing the gold standard over those who wanted to debase the currency by adopting the silver standard. Neither he nor his supporters could imagine that one day gold coins would be removed from circulation. Thirty-seven years later, gold coins were removed from circulation. In the 1950s, nobody suspected that our silver coins would be replaced by clad coins. Yet, since 1970, no more circulating silver coins have been issued. You may think it impossible that cash could be abolished. It’s already happened in Denmark. It will happen here if we, the American people, do not stop it. Until now, those who wish to impose a cashless monetary system have been virtually unopposed. Now is the time to oppose them! It is a fight we cannot afford to lose. I call upon our hobby leaders to step up and lead the fight.

This Viewpoint was written by Henry Robinette of Douglasville, Ga.

To have your opinion considered for Viewpoint, email submissions to numismatics@aimmedia.com.