By Janelle Ericsson
KJCT-8
Phillip Smith says he considers himself to be a “think tank”. While many people take information at face value, he spends time thinking about the ‘why’ behind it. And that’s led him to reach out to President Obama about reducing the national debt.
Smith believes if the government would take all of the gold coins out of circulation and melt them into bars, the U.S. would be able to pay off the national debt. He says the gold coins are not doing anybody good just sitting around so the government should take action.
“One troy ounce–depending on who you sell it to–goes for $600 to $800. And our government is sitting on billions of those gold coins,” he said. “Why don’t you have our government melt it down?”
Smith says he just hopes the American people don’t flood the market before the government can melt the coins. That would mean less money per ounce of gold for each coin, and he says he believes it is more important for the government to reduce our deficit than for people to get a little extra cash off old jewelry.
Smith says he sent a letter to President Obama asking him to look into this, but he is still waiting to hear back.