A lot of us invest in gold and silver (coins, jewelry, or Objet d’art in precious metals) but until a financial catastrophe (read: really bad times) falls on us we never really do much about these precious objects except turn it into family heirloom and pass it on. Is it the wisest decision to keep your money invested in something that won’t be used for generations? Would you believe me if I said you could actually use this gold effectively and practically, even if it means using the gold you own to buy lemonade? Enter Goldback, the world’s first voluntary, complementary currency to be made of a spendable, beautiful, small denomination, physical gold. The Goldback is meant to be the best physical complementary currency for retaining value so if you aim to buy a home or a lipstick you will be able to pay for both using the Goldback. Entrepreneur Jeremy Cordon originated this new gold-based currency to make gold into more functional money. It does sound like a solid idea as it is impossible to buy groceries from the $1500 gold coin saved for harder days. Goldbacks come in a series of denominations like 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 all of which hold actual, visible, particles of gold. Don’t confuse this with monopoly or game money, Goldbacks are actual gold products, legal to spend and use anywhere in the United States. In fact, Goldbacks may be used almost anywhere in the world for barter transactions so long as both parties involved agree that the paper is worth something.
The bills are intricately designed, replacing monuments, dead presidents, and emblems with lady virtues. The bills are enhanced with artistic feminine embodiments of prudence, temperance, justice, etc. The Goldback bills are differently-sized according to denomination which will make them recognizable to even those who are visually impaired, a sensible practice that most countries have adopted. The larger Goldback bills may not fit in a standard-sized wallet which is why they’ve already designed a custom Goldbacks wallet that accommodates the unfolded bills. Money has been around for centuries now, useful but unchanged and reinvention was certainly overdue. Will Goldbacks be accepted like dollar bills is something only time will tell!