Wyoming
Hedge Against Inflation? Alternative Currency “Goldbacks” Catching On In Wyoming
T-Joe’s Steakhouse and Saloon owner Sherry Lyle collects about $1,000 a month in a type of currency that at first looks like it must come from a foreign country or a board game.
The flashy golden bills capture attention around the dining room whenever they come out, but were actually designed and developed specifically around Wyoming.
They’re called Wyoming goldbacks, and they are offered in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 online at wyominggoldbacks.com. Each denomination is decorated with art that showcases the Cowboy State while also highlighting a different virtue — liberty, loyalty, respect, and so on.
But what’s really unique about these bills is that they’re made of pure gold that has been laid down inside a protective polymer using the latest, cutting-edge technology.
The smallest denomination — a 1 — is 1/1000th of a troy ounce of gold. That bill has Devils Tower as a backdrop, with a buffalo, an eagle and sunflowers framing a Shoshone woman named Reverentia (Latin for “respect”).
The caption below her translates that idea to “revere what is sacred.”
The Art Of Business
It’s a work of art, and the beauty is part of the reason Lyle started accepting goldbacks at her restaurant. She likes collecting different kinds of currency.
She also likes that these bills were designed specifically for Wyoming.
“They’re unique to Wyoming and a couple of other states,” she said. “And it kind of shows our independent spirit.”
Lyle estimates that she has a party wanting to pay a check or tip a server in goldbacks about every other week.
Sometimes, the transaction confuses those who are watching.
“One of our servers was like, ‘Oh, we can tip our bussers in pesos?” Lyle recalled, laughing. “That was kind of funny, but like, ‘No, you can’t.’”
Because the currency contains real gold, the bills can gain or lose value over time with the value of gold. And like the commodity, gold mostly goes up in value.
Over time, Lyle has watched the value of her goldbacks rise, and now she actually has some from every state with a series — Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah, the latter being where the series first began.
“It doesn’t go up a ton,” she said. “But it’s just been a neat thing, and it’s nice to support the businesses that sell these. We will use them eventually, but we’ll always keep a couple just for, you know, the collector value.”
Apocalypse Not
T-Joes isn’t the only Wyoming business accepting goldbacks.
Adam Mathes, owner of A-1 Tire in Casper, started taking them about a month ago after one of his customers showed him a few of the bills.
He wasn’t looking at it from any sort of apocalyptic perspective. He just sees goldbacks as another option to differentiate his store from corporate chains.
“It looks like we’re the only tire store that will accept something like that around here,” Mathes told Cowboy State Daily. “Being a locally owned small business, I don’t know if some of the corporations would even consider that. So, it’s another way for people to see our business and to be able to have a different form of payment.”
Tyler McCann, owner of Cowboy Cuts in Pavillion, thinks goldbacks might serve as a great hedge against inflation, in case there are any more price surges.
“I think gold is more stable,” he said. “Even though it’s going up and down, I just see so much inflation that I would like to have that available for our customers.”
So far, neither of them have had any takers, but McCann was particularly keen.
“I think they are fascinating,” he said. “You can feel the difference in the weight between different denominations. You can almost immediately tell the difference when you hold them in your hand.”
In all, about 160 Wyoming businesses now accept goldbacks in an incredible range — pet stores, restaurants, barber shops, carpenters, auto parts and more.
It Came From A dream
Goldbacks arose from a dream that the company’s founder, Jeremy Cordon, had about some sort of an apocalypse or emergency.
“There was some sort of national emergency,” Goldback Chief Operating Officer Kevan Mills told Cowboy State Daily. “He didn’t know what it was, whether it was a war, or an earthquake, or what. But he was at a grocery store trying to buy groceries and everyone in the store was trying to pay with credit cards and dollars.”
The store owner wasn’t having it.
“We don’t take that here, it’s no good anymore,” the dream grocery store owner said.
Someone else came up to the owner with an impossibly thin, rectangular piece of gold, and offered that to the owner instead.
“Would you take this?” the customer asked.
“Gold?” the owner replied. “Absolutely I’ll take gold.”
It was then Cordon woke up and immediately called his business partner to tell him about the dream.
“We have to do this,” Cordon told him. “It’s incredibly important.”
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Jaquie Georgio, a waitress at T-Joe’s Steakhouse and Saloon, looks at a collection of goldbacks from various states. She has yet to receive a tip in them, but said they are cool looking and she would love to get one. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily) -
Laura Hoch, from left, watches as her husband Chris sorts through their goldbacks while across the table, Caroline Walter watches and her husband, Dan Walter, checks exchange rates using the Goldback Company’s app. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily) -
Jason “Junior” Lyle holds up a collection of goldbacks traded at T-Joe’s Steakhouse and Saloon for meals. The restaurant is one of 160 stores in Wyoming that are willing to accept goldbacks in exchange for services. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Making Gold More Practical
While the idea for goldbacks may have come from a dream, the bills do solve a practical, real-world problem for those who’d like to use gold for transactions.
A single gold coin weighing an ounce is worth just over $2,000 — a bit hard for most grocery stores, restaurants, beauty shops and the like to break down.
But a single goldback with a thousandth of an ounce of gold — worth about $4.66, according to Tuesday’s exchange rate — is a much easier denomination to work with.
“For perspective, a thousandth of an ounce, if you took a BB from a BB gun and cut it into 12 pieces, one of the pieces of that BB would be 1,000th of an ounce,” Mills told cowboy State Daily. “So how do you carry that around? If you’re going to carry that little teeny — I mean it’s not much bigger than few grains of sand.”
But gold is highly malleable, so a small amount of it can be spread very thinly.
“A 50-cent piece of gold, hammered to as thin as you can possibly make it would cover an entire football field,” Mills said. “That’s how thin you can make gold.”
Then, it’s just a matter of something to protect the integrity of such a thin sheet of gold, keeping it all intact so that every bill has exactly what it says it has regardless of trades.
That’s where the polymer comes into play. It both protects the thin layer of gold and makes it easy to carry around.
“Now you can put it in your wallet and carry it safely,” Mills said.
Goldbacks are also what’s called “fungible,” which means they are available in readily interchangeable denominations. Five 1s, for example, can be traded for a 5 goldback, which is 1/200th of a troy ounce, or 10 ones could be traded for a 10 goldback, which is 1/100th of a troy ounce. Denominations of 25 and 50 are also available, which are 1/40th and 1/20th of a troy ounce respectively.
At First Utah Was It
Although goldbacks can be used anywhere that a business is willing to trade in gold, the bills started out initially as strictly a Utah series. There was never any intention of doing goldbacks that highlighted other states, Mills told Cowboy State Daily.
But once the Utah goldback series started circulating, they almost instantly attracted interest from investors who wanted to see their states highlighted with a goldback series.
Soon, there were even sponsors willing to help front the cost of that.
Wyoming was actually the fourth state to get its own series, and the sponsor was Natrona County state Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper.
Ide was not a state senator at the time he sponsored the development of the Wyoming goldback, just someone who Mills said was interested in seeing it happen.
Wyoming may have been the fourth state to get its own series, but it’s been tops when it comes to embracing goldbacks, according to investor Abram Taylor.
“Whenever I check Google trend reports, Wyoming is usually the top one or two every day of people looking them up,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “And whenever we have gone up to Jackson Hole to, you know, have lunch and get out of town, I always tip with goldbacks and they’re always very well received. The waitresses are always like, ‘Oh my, what is this? This is cool.’”
Taylor even recalls buying his wife an expensive fur coat in Wyoming, and was pleasantly surprised when the shop’s owner was willing to take goldbacks for the purchase.
Not only that, the shop owner seemed really eager to get them.
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A range of goldbacks from different states in the collection of bills T-Joe’s Steakhouse and Saloon in Cheyenne has collected so far. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily) -
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A 1 Wyoming goldback contains 1/1000th of a troy ounce of gold laid down in a polymer that protects the gold and the artistic design. (Renée Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
The Midas touch
Goldbacks have had something of a Midas touch so far, trading in all 50 states and on every continent in the world except Antarctica.
Everyone who touches them seems to fall in love with them.
“So, our first year in business we did $250,000 in goldbacks,” Mills told Cowboy State Daily. “Our second year, we did $1 million dollars in goldbacks. Our third year, we did $6 million and our fourth year, we did $12 million. Last year, we did $34 million.”
Mills credits the exponential growth in part to the way gold can work as a hedge against inflation.
“In the two years since we released the Wyoming goldback in September 2022, the value of goldbacks has gone up by 28%,” Mills said. “So, if someone bought gold two years ago and then sold them to Alpine Gold for 5% under the daily rate today, they would have made 23%.”
Inflation rates from October 2021 to October 2022, by comparison, were 7.7%, according to the Consumer Price Index, making Goldbacks a clear winner for that particular time frame.
Mills said one important distinction to make with goldback bills is that they’re not meant to replace the U.S. dollar. They are what is called a local currency, of which there are about 3,000 in the United States.
“The federal government issues all the currency and there’s actually in the Constitution it’s written that states cannot produce their own currency and that nothing shall be used as money unless it be gold or silver,” he said. “So that’s what we do. We’re just giving people an alternative currency.”
Renée Jean can be reached at Renee@CowboyStateDaily.com.
Chance of rain for much of western and central Wyoming on Monday, sunny in parts of eastern Wyoming. Highs from the upper 40s to near 70. Lows from the 20s to the 40s.
Central:
Casper: There’s a slight chance of rain after 5 p.m. today and a chance of rain overnight. Otherwise, expect it to be sunny and breezy today with a high near 63 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph. Overnight it should be mostly cloudy and breezy with a low near 40 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph.
Riverton: Look for it to be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 66 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph. It should be partly cloudy and windy overnight with a low near 34 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph.
Jeffrey City: There’s a slight chance of rain after 5 p.m. today and a chance of rain then snow overnight. Otherwise, look for it to be mostly sunny and windy today with a high near 58 and wind gusts as high as 41 mph. It should be windy and gradually become mostly clear overnight with a low near 31 and wind gusts as high as 44 mph.
Southwest:
Evanston: There’s a slight chance of rain after 3 p.m. today and a chance of rain tonight, mixing with snow after 9 p.m. then gradually ending. Otherwise, look for it to be mostly sunny and breezy with a high near 55 and wind gusts as high as 39 mph. It should be breezy and gradually become mostly clear overnight with a low near 25 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph.
Rock Springs: There’s a chance of rain after 4 p.m. today and rain and snow are likely overnight. Otherwise, expect it to be breezy with increasing clouds today, a high near 59 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Overnight it should be mostly cloudy and breezy with a low near 29 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph.
Lyman: There’s a slight chance of rain after 3 p.m. today and a chance of rain before midnight tonight. Otherwise, it should be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 61 and wind gusts as high as 38 mph. It should be mostly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 28 and wind gusts as high as 45 mph.
Western Wyoming:
Pinedale: There’s a chance of rain today and a chance of rain and snow before 11 p.m. tonight followed by a slight chance of snow until midnight. Otherwise, it should be partly sunny and breezy today with a high near 51 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph. Overnight it should be partly cloudy and windy with a low near 23 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph.
Alpine: Rain is likely today and rain and snow are likely before 11 p.m. tonight, followed by a chance of snow until 1 a.m. Otherwise, look for it to be partly sunny and breezy today with a high near 50 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. It should be mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 27 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Big Piney: There’s a slight chance of rain after 1 p.m. today and a chance of rain, possibly mixing with snow after 9 p.m. then gradually ending. Otherwise, expect it to be mostly sunny and windy today with a high near 55 and wind gusts as high as 44 mph. Overnight it should be mostly clear and windy with a low near 22 and wind gusts as high as 44 mph.
Northwest:
Dubois: There’s a chance of rain today and rain and snow are likely overnight. Otherwise, expect it to be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 51 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. Overnight it should be partly cloudy and windy with a low near 25 and wind gusts as high as 38 mph.
Jackson: Rain is likely today and rain and snow are likely overnight. Otherwise, it should be partly sunny and breezy today with a high near 48 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Overnight it should be partly cloudy with a low near 23 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park: Rain and snow are likely today and possible overnight, becoming all snow after 7 p.m. Otherwise, look for it to be breezy today with a high near 43 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph. It should be mostly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 17 and wind gusts as high as 34 mph.
Bighorn Basin:
Thermopolis: There’s a slight chance of rain after 5 p.m. today and a chance of rain, then rain and snow overnight. Otherwise, it should be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 65 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph. It should be partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 36 and wind gusts as high as 33 mph.
Cody: There’s a chance of rain mainly after 5 p.m. today and a chance of rain before midnight tonight followed by a chance of rain and snow overnight. Otherwise, expect it to be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 60 and wind gusts as high as 37 mph. It should be partly cloudy and windy overnight with a low near 33 and wind gusts as high as 40 mph.
Lovell: There’s a slight chance of rain after 5 p.m. today and a chance of rain tonight, possibly mixing with snow after 3 a.m. then gradually ending. Otherwise, look for it to be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 65 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph. Overnight it should be mostly cloudy and windy with a low near 36 and wind gusts as high as 41 mph.
North Central:
Buffalo: There’s a slight chance of rain after 5 p.m. today and a slight chance of rain overnight before 4 a.m. then rain and snow are possible. Otherwise, it should be mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 61 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Overnight it should be partly cloudy and breezy with a low near 36 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph.
Sheridan: Look for it to be mostly sunny today with a high near 67 and mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly before midnight, a low near 34 and wind from 17-22 mph after midnight.
Story: There’s a slight chance of rain after noon today and a chance of rain before 3 a.m. overnight followed by a chance of rain and snow. Otherwise, expect it to be mostly sunny today with a high near 62 and mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 31 and wind from 17-22 mph after midnight.
Northeast:
Gillette: It should be mostly sunny today with a high near 67 and winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Overnight it should be mostly cloudy and breezy with a chance of rain before midnight, a low near 36 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph.
Sundance: There’s a slight chance of rain after noon today and overnight. Otherwise, expect it to be mostly sunny today with a high near 62 and mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 35 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph.
Moorcroft: Look for it to be mostly sunny today with a high near 68 and mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain, a low near 37 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Eastern Plains:
Torrington: Expect it to be sunny today with a high near 71 and mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 43.
Wheatland: It should be sunny and breezy today with a high near 68 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Overnight it should be mostly cloudy with a slight chance of rain after midnight and a low near 45.
Kaycee: Look for it to be sunny and breezy today with a high near 65 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. It should be partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a slight chance of rain, a low near 36 and wind gusts as high as 31 mph.
Southeast:
Cheyenne: Look for it to be sunny and breezy today with a high near 64 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. It should be partly cloudy overnight with a low near 39.
Laramie: Expect it to be sunny and breezy today with a high near 58 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. It should be partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a slight chance of rain after 1 a.m., a low near 34 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.
Chugwater: It should be sunny and breezy today with a high near 66 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Overnight it should be partly cloudy and breezy with a low near 42 and wind from 10-20 mph.
South Central:
Rawlins: Watch for increasing clouds and breezy conditions today with a high near 60 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Overnight it should be mostly cloudy and breezy with a chance of rain before 2 a.m. then rain and snow. The low should be near 32 and winds could gust as high as 35 mph.
Encampment: Look for it to be sunny and breezy today with a high near 57 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Overnight it should be breezy, clouds should increase and there’s a chance of rain before 3 a.m. followed by a chance of rain and snow. The low should be near 32 and winds could gust as high as 30 mph.
Hanna: Watch for increasing clouds and breezy conditions today with a high near 59 and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. Overnight it should be breezy with a chance of rain before 3 a.m. followed by a chance for rain and snow. The low should be near 32 and winds could gust as high as 35 mph.
Wyoming’s wildlife is always in the spotlight, but that doesn’t mean it can be spotlighted. That’s illegal.
Spotlighting is the practice of using bright lights to hunt or observe wildlife at night. The concept is inherently simple: All that’s needed is a bright light and a dark night.
Wildlife spotlighting is an increasingly common practice across Africa, where vehicles carrying tourists might have a mounted spotlight for nighttime wildlife tours or to increase visibility for photography.
But simple concepts have a penchant for being abused. Poachers often use spotlighting to stun animals, making them easier to hunt.
Year after year, wildlife tourism has contributed to record-breaking attendance in Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere around Wyoming. With larger herds of people flocking to see those wild herds, there could be a growing interest and demand for wildlife spotlighting.
The good news for Yellowstone purists is that the question of spotlighting has already been asked and answered — nope, can’t do it — and it’s unlikely to change, as long as Wyomingites ensure it doesn’t.
Lights Off
Spotlighting is illegal on public land in Wyoming. The state banned spotlighting in conjunction with hunting, and the federal government prohibits spotlighting for wildlife observation in Yellowstone and throughout the National Park System.
Laws and regulations can change with enough public support or opposition, but there isn’t much demand to allow spotlighting in Yellowstone or Grand Teton national parks.
“We’ve never been asked for that,” said Alvin Heggie with Cody Shuttles, which conducts tours of Yellowstone. “Nobody’s asked us for ways to attract wildlife. They are more focused on what kind of equipment we have for them to use to see wildlife.”
Heggie said people might book a wildlife tour through Cody Shuttles and other wildlife tour companies for various reasons. Most want to get the best experience within the legal and ethical boundaries established throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
“They want to see wildlife in wild country,” he said. “Tourists are looking for the people they feel are going to treat them the best and put them in the best position to see wildlife.”
Making The Market
The only night tours offered in the Greater Yellowstone region are for stargazing in the pristine dark skies over Yellowstone and Grand Teton. If there’s ever a future demand for nighttime tours with wildlife spotlighting, Heggie doesn’t see it starting with tourists.
“It would be more of a pull than a push,” he said. “It’s hard to forecast because it’s not permissible or ethical here now. But I would imagine for that kind of an experience, outfitters and guides would offer that service and create their own interest. It doesn’t feel like that would be very pervasive.”
Even if spotlighting were permitted in Yellowstone, which is extremely unlikely, Heggie wouldn’t promote the practice. He believes many wildlife tour companies would also shun it.
“I’m not a fan of them,” he said. “It diminishes the wildlife experience because you’re not watching wildlife. You’re watching a stunned, kind of manipulated animal, causing them undue stress. It’s an unnecessarily dangerous situation, and I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
The Ethical Status Quo
There’s not much chance that wildlife spotlighting will ever be permitted in Yellowstone National Park. But in the 21st century, the struggle over what is and isn’t allowed in the park is constantly challenged, mainly by the accelerating sophistication and accessibility of new technologies.
For instance, it didn’t take long for commercial drones to be banned throughout the National Park Service after a visitor crashed one into Grand Prismatic Spring in 2014. Often, new gadgets and technologies aren’t banned until they’ve already caused significant incidents.
Regarding wildlife tourism in Yellowstone, Heggie doesn’t necessarily believe in following “the status quo.” His primary considerations are the most ethical practices for the safety of tourists and wildlife.
“Maintaining the status quo is not a goal of mine,” he said. “I think the question is more about ethical practices. If it’s an ethical practice and you can leverage it, I think you should. If not, it should be banned because it’s not good for what we do and the wildlife.”
In Heggie’s perspective, wildlife tourism companies and guides have just as much responsibility as tourists. The best way to prevent literal spotlighting is to focus the metaphorical spotlight on the people and companies providing wildlife experiences within ethical boundaries.
“There’s a stark difference between a guide service that has multiple experienced guides with decades of experience that know the ins and outs of the park and someone who’s using sound or light to attract wildlife,” he said. “I believe the ability to purvey in our market is predicated on our accumulated experience, the experience we create, and how well we communicate that to the consuming public.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
After making the tag at first base, Chase Speicher (2) looks to double up the Lake-Lehman at second base with pitcher Christian Krogulski ducking the throw.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Wyoming Area senior pitcher Colton Krogulski came in the game to relieve starting pitcher Kristian Pugliese. Krogulski pitched four innings giving up one hit and one run.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Wyoming Area’s Chase Speicher gets hit by a pitch in the early innings against Lake-Lehman.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
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Wyoming Area senior pitcher Colton Krogulski came in the game to relieve starting pitcher Kristian Pugliese. Krogulski pitched four innings giving up one hit and one run.
After making the tag at first base, Chase Speicher (2) looks to double up the Lake-Lehman at second base with pitcher Christian Krogulski ducking the throw.
Wyoming Area catcher Jeremy Layland is about to put the tag on Lake-Lehman’s Andrew Mathis before he slides at home.
Wyoming Area’s Chase Speicher gets hit by a pitch in the early innings against Lake-Lehman.
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