Posted by Jimmy Mengel - Monday, May 23rd, 2011

Utah has become the first state in America to legalize gold and silver coins as currency. But don't expect people to be walking around with low-hanging pockets full of precious metals...

In a move designed to undermine the Fed's monerary policy, the new law would allow Utah's citizens to store their gold and silver in a vault and use a "debit-like card" to conduct financial transactions. Since businesses will not be required to accept coins either at face or market value, going through a vault would be way the only way to take advantage of the new law.

The Utah Gold and Silver Depository will be the first such vault in the country, and will open on June 1st.

"Because we're dealing with something so forward thinking, I expect a wait-and-see attitude," Depository owner Craig Franco told the AP. "Once the depository is executed and transactions can occur, then I think people will move into the marketplace."

The bill will also exempt gold and silver from capital gains tax.

"We view this as a dollar-friendly measure," Larry Hilton, an attorney who helped draft the law,told the AP. "It will strengthen the dollar by refocusing policy matters in Washington on what led to the phrase, `the dollar is as good as gold.'"

And that's sure more than we can say about our flagging fiat currency right now...