There are five Goldback denominations: 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50. These “notes” (actually, they are thin, flexible, rectangular gold coins) contain, respectively, .001, .005, .010, .025, and .050 troy ounces of gold. In fractional notation, that is 1/1000th, 1/200th, 1/100th, 1/40th, and 1/20th of a troy ounce of gold. The 1 denomination Goldback is the smallest fractional gold coin on the market.
Precious metal weights are traditionally given in “troy” ounces. Troy ounces are slightly heavier than “regular” (“avoirdupois”) ounces. Avoirdupois ounces are typically used to weigh common commodities, such as foodstuffs, e.g. an “eight ounce” steak or 10 ounces of rice. To add to the confusion, there are also “fluid” ounces, which measure volume, not weight, e.g. “eight (fluid) ounces of coffee” weighs about 8.33 (avoirdupois) ounces. There are also archaic weight units such as “pennyweights” or “grains” but these are rarely used nowadays except perhaps to confuse the customer. Nowadays, gold weights are usually specified in troy ounces or in the metric units of grams, milligrams, or kilograms.
One troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams. One avoirdupois ounce equals 28.3485 grams. So 1 troy ounce = 1.0972 avoirdupois ounces. A troy ounce is 9.72% heavier than an avoirdupois ounce. If you buy “ounces” of gold, make sure they are troy ounces, not “regular” (avoirdupois) ounces.
The market value of a Goldback in trade is more than the “spot” price of the gold it contains, because it costs money to fabricate the Goldback, and because of the added utility gained by forming the gold into an easily recognized monetary unit. A coin (or any other manufactured item), when used for its intended purpose, is always worth more than the value of the materials it is made of, both because it costs money to form the item, and because the item, once formed, is more useful to the user than the mere commodity it is made of. A loaf of bread costs more than the wheat it is made of, a gallon of gasoline is worth more than a gallon of crude oil, a gold ring is worth more than the gold it is made of, and so on. The oft-quoted “spot” price of gold is actually the “bulk commodity” price of gold. If you are buying a 400 ounce bar of gold, you can expect to pay the spot price (plus shipping, of course). But, spending a 400 ounce bar is not very practical.
Increasingly, yes, especially in their respective states, and by small businesses. See this article in Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/with-inflation-gold-notes-and-cards-find-idUSKCN2MJ0S7
Also see this map: https://goldback.com/featured-businesses-1
Take the price in dollars and divide it by the dollar value of 1 Goldback, which is always available on the home page of Goldback, Inc.: https://goldback.com
You will usually end up with a non-integer number of Goldbacks. This difference can be expressed in dollars by multiplying the “remainder” fraction of a Goldback by the dollar value of 1 Goldback, to get dollar change. For example: If something costs $12.99, and 1 Goldback is worth $3.89, take $12.99/$3.89 = 3.339 Goldbacks. The “change” in dollars is 0.339 Goldbacks x $3.89 = $1.32. So instead of paying $12.99, you can pay 3 Gb plus an additional $1.32. Or, you could pay 4 Gb and receive $2.57 in change.
There is a convenient online calculator to figure this out for any dollar price and any Goldback exchange rate: https://goldback.com/calc
Yes, except for the 50 Gb, which is a bit larger than US paper currency. Goldbacks kept in a billfold wallet may be a bit creased on one edge though. I sell a wallet that stores Goldbacks flat, and have kept all denominations in this wallet in my back pocket for months without any creasing. This wallet also holds other items such as bank cards and driver license and paper currency.
Goldbacks are bendable but if you put a sharp fold in a Goldback, it will retain the crease, the same as with paper currency notes. We recommend not putting creases in your Goldbacks.
Yes. Unlike paper, Goldbacks are not porous, and the ink in the image is embedded in the plastic film. If you soak them in household bleach diluted tenfold (from 5% concentration to 0.5% concentration) the smooth plastic surface will be disinfected. Any gross dirt should be washed off first.
This has actually been done. The Goldback was crumpled but survived the abuse.
Yes. Goldbacks are a privately issued, local currency. There are many such currencies that have been introduced and are circulating in communities across the United States. The special thing about Goldbacks, is that they are made of gold, instead of paper.
Currency is a medium of exchange used for payment in commerce. A coin is a metal object with a recognized mint mark that has value as currency. If a coin is made of gold or silver, it is money. A bill or a note is a piece of paper that represents indebtedness. When we were on the “gold standard” or “silver standard”, the paper bills and notes that circulated as currency could be redeemed for money. That is, a paper currency bill or note was a claim check for money, which was (and still is) coins made of silver or gold. The notes were called “gold certificates” or “silver certificates”. You could take the paper notes to a bank and turn them in and receive gold or silver coins. This act of turning in your paper note for gold or silver coins, is called “redemption”. Today, we have been conditioned to use these words sloppily and think of paper “bills” or “notes” as “money”. Actually, none of the paper notes or bills that currently represent national fiat currencies, are money, because none of them can be redeemed for gold or silver coins. Even though Goldbacks are actually coins, their physical form resembles that of paper banknotes, so people often call Goldbacks “notes” or “bills”. But really, they are thin, flexible gold coins.
The Goldback exchange rate or price is adjusted only once per day, around 10am Pacific time, except on weekends. The Goldback price generally tracks the “London p.m. fix” price of gold.
As with any currency or coin or any other manufactured object, detecting genuine from counterfeit is a learned skill. How does one tell if a paper banknote is genuine? By knowing what the banknote looks like and feels like. The same applies to Goldbacks.
I ship to domestic addresses using the US mail. Orders valued under $500 are shipped using USPS First Class Retail, tracked and insured. Orders $500 and over are shipped using USPS Priority Mail, tracked and insured, signature required upon receipt.
I sell mainly to US residents. Shipping to foreign addresses is possible, depending on customs and international postal regulations. The US Postal Service does not prohibit shipping gold outside the country, but often, foreign postal regulation prohibit importation of gold and currency. Shipping to foreign addresses will have to be arranged on an individual basis. The recipient will be responsible for paying any customs duties or other taxes and fees, and for security of the shipment once it leaves the United States.
Not yet. But I suspect that crypto tokens or crypto coins that are redeemable in Goldbacks will make their appearance at some point.
The classical gold standard relied on a combination of gold coins circulating in parallel with paper banknotes. The paper banknotes were claim checks for gold coins held in vaults. Holders of the paper currency banknotes could “redeem” their paper claim checks for money (gold coins) by going to a bank and surrendering the paper banknote and receiving gold coin money in exchange. The weakness of this system was that banks and governments could “water down” (inflate) their paper currencies by issuing more paper claim checks for gold than there was gold in their vaults. People accepting the paper banknotes had to trust that there was sufficient gold in the vaults. With Goldbacks, there is no need to trust banks or governments, because the gold is in the Goldbacks, not stored away in vaults. By federal law, there was only $40 in gold coin in circulation, for every $100 in paper currency, so each paper dollar was backed by only 40 cents worth of gold. If I give you a Goldback, I am giving you gold, not just a paper claim check for gold. You do not need to trust that there is gold in a vault somewhere: The gold is in your hand.
The proprietary processes required to manufacture Goldbacks, including creating the imagery embedded in the “notes”, was realized in early 2019.