5 Nevada Goldback - Beautifully Made Currency Containing 1/200th Oz .9999 Fine Gold The Goldback is the world's first voluntary currency to be made of a spendable, beautiful, small denomination, physical gold. When the Utah Legal Tender Act passed in 2011, the state became the first in recent times to recognize certain forms of gold as legal tender. Gold once again established a level of official recognition as money. Since then the technology for minting physical gold into a spendable form for small transactions has developed. The makers use cutting-edge vacuum deposition technology to layer each bill with .9999 fine gold in exacting quantities. Goldback bills carry a precise amount of pure gold between layers of polyester which makes them resilient and durable. The bill features a beautiful image of Sophia, the Virtue Wisdom. Goldbacks can be, and are, used for barter transactions with anyone who recognizes the value of gold. The Virtue Sophia, or Wisdom, makes her first appearance here depicted as the Greek goddess of wisdom - Athena. Sophia represents divine inspiration and progress and is found surrounded by numerous Nevada-specific symbols, inventions, technologies, and bastions of wisdom. These include several libraries and university buildings from the University of Las Vegas and the University of Nevada, the quartz mill from the State Seal, an antique Hoover Dam hard helmet, various books and scrolls, a wagon wheel, pen and ink, some books by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), a silver mine car, the State's No. 40 Locomotive, and many others. Sophia is clothed in battle gear with her traditional raised helm, arm guards, and breastplate, and is armed with her shield and spear. The viewer will also find the traditional symbol of the owl shown on the gorget worn around her neck. Additionally, she is shown holding a pick axe, representative of the mining that was so influential in the development of the State. Particularly of note is an open scroll depicting words from the 15th Amendment, significant because Nevada was the first state to adopt it, allowing equal rights to vote in the state, regardless of skin color. Each Nevada Goldback Design contains a pillar, and Sophia can be found standing atop an open book supported by this design's pillar bearing the motto of the Great Seal of Nevada, "All for Our Country." Also present are Nevada's Mountain Bluebird, and the White Pine, a nod to mountainous and rural White Pine County along the central, eastern boundary of the State.
