Method And System For Commodity-Based Currency For Payment of Accounts

Abstract

A system and method for permitting gold or other commodities to circulate as currency requires a network of system users that participate in financial transactions where payment is made in units of gold. The gold is kept in secure storage at a deposit site for the benefit of the users. The payments in gold are effected through a computer system having data storage and transaction processing programs that credit or debit the units of account of gold held for the account of each system user.

1 . An electronic commodity based system for conducting payment transactions, comprising:
 at least one deposit site having secure facilities for storage of a commodity;   an inventory of a valuable commodity stored in said secure facilities at a said deposit site, said inventory including a quantity of units of said valuable commodity held at said deposit site for a depository account of at least one identified person;   a computer payment system for processing data for conducting payment transactions denominated in said units of said commodity, having   (a) an account data storage device for recording data comprising an identification of persons and a quantity of units of said commodity credited to said account of each of said persons and an identification of said deposit site where said units of commodity are held,   (b) a transaction data storage device for receiving records of payment transactions denominated in units of said commodity from a said person identified as having a quantity of said units of said commodity credited to said account of said person, said records of payment transactions including at least an identification of a person who will receive a debit, a person who will receive a credit, an amount of a debit of a quantity of said units of said commodity held at a deposit site, an amount of a credit of a quantity of said units of said commodity held at a deposit site, and an identification of the deposit site where said quantity of said units of said commodity are held,   (c) a transaction posting device for posting said records of payment transactions to said account data storage device to update said data comprising an identification of persons and a quantity of units of said commodity credited to said account of said persons at an identified deposit site;   a remote terminal located at said deposit site for receiving and sending data to said computer system, said data identifying a person and a quantity of units of said commodity held at said deposit site for an account of said person;   the quantity of units of said commodity credited to said accounts of each of said persons recorded to said account data storage device always being equal to the inventory of said commodity being stored in said secure facilities, and   said electronic commodity based system permitting persons to conduct payment transactions and providing immediate direct payment transactions by an immediate transfer of units of said commodity from said person who receives a debit to said person who receives a credit, without reliance on national currencies in conducting said payment transactions and wherein obligations, of a person receiving a said debit of said units of said commodity held at a deposit site, to another person receiving a said credit of said units of said commodity held at a said deposit site, are extinguished upon posting of said records of payment transactions;   said electronic commodity based system eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         2 . A system in accordance with  claim 1  wherein said commodity comprises a precious metal. 
     
     
         3 . A system in accordance with  claim 2  wherein said precious metal comprises gold. 
     
     
         4 . A system in accordance with  claim 2  wherein said precious metal comprises silver. 
     
     
         5 . A system in accordance with  claim 3  wherein said gold is specified to a selected purity. 
     
     
         6 . A system in accordance with  claim 2  further comprising means for remote access to submit records of transactions to instantly debit and credit a person's accounts. 
     
     
         7 . A system in accordance with  claim 6  further comprising verification means for verifying the identity of said person obtaining access to said computer system and for confirming that said person is authorized to submit records of transactions to said transaction storage device. 
     
     
         8 . A system in accordance with  claim 2  wherein said units of said commodity are designated as a payment for a futures contract of a different commodity. 
     
     
         9 . An electronic gold based system for conducting financial transactions, comprising:
 at least one deposit site having a protected vault;   an inventory of gold stored in said protected vault at a said deposit site, said inventory including a quantity of units of gold held at said deposit site for a depository account of at least one identified person;   a computer payment system for processing data for conducting payment transactions denominated in units of gold, having   (a) an inventory data storage device for recording data identifying an amount of gold stored at a said deposit site,   (b) an account data storage device for recording data comprising an identification of a person and a quantity of said units of gold stored at said deposit site credited to an account of said person,   (c) a verification means for verifying the identity of a person obtaining access to said computer system and for confirming that such person is authorized to submit records of transactions,   (d) a transaction data storage means for receiving, from a person obtaining access to said computer system, records of payment transactions denominated in said units of gold, said records of payment transactions including at least an identification of a person who will receive a debit, a person who will receive a credit, an amount of said debit in said units of gold, an amount of said credit in said units of gold, and an identification of the deposit site where said units of gold are located,   (e) a transaction posting means for posting said records of payment transactions to said account data storage device to update said data comprising an identification of a person and of a number of units of said gold held at a said deposit site for the account of the person;   a remote terminal located at said deposit site for receiving and sending data to said computer system, said data identifying a person and a quantity of units of gold held at said deposit site for an account of said person;   the quantity of units of said gold credited to said accounts of each of said persons recorded to said account data storage device always being equal to the inventory of said gold being stored in said secure facilities, and   said electronic gold based system permitting persons to conduct payment transactions and providing immediate direct payment transactions by an immediate transfer of units of said commodity from said person who receives a debit to said person who receives a credit, without reliance on national currencies in conducting said payment transactions and wherein obligations, of a person receiving a said debit of said units of said commodity held at a deposit site, to another person receiving a said credit of said units of said commodity held at a said deposit site, are extinguished upon posting of said records of payment transactions;   said electronic gold based system eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         10 . A system in accordance with  claim 9  further comprising means for remote access to said computer system to submit and store records of transactions. 
     
     
         11 . A system in accordance with  claim 10  wherein said gold is of a selected purity. 
     
     
         12 . A system in accordance with  claim 9  wherein said gold units of account are designated as a required payment in a futures contract for a commodity other than gold. 
     
     
         13 . An electronic commodity based system for conducting financial transactions, comprising:
 at least one deposit site having secure facilities for storage of a valuable commodity;   an inventory of a valuable commodity stored in said secure facilities at a said deposit site, said inventory including a quantity of units of said valuable commodity held at said deposit site for at least one identified account;   a computer system for processing data for accounting transactions denominated in said units of said valuable commodity, said computer system having at least one data storage device and data processing software that records a balance of units of valuable commodity credited to each said account; said software being operable to receive records of transactions transferring an interest in units of said valuable commodity from one account to another identified account; said records of transactions including at least an identification of a first account that will receive a debit, and a second account that will receive a credit, an amount of the interest in said units of said valuable commodity which is being credited to said second account, said records of transactions thereby updating data regarding the balance of units of valuable commodity credited to each said account; said electronic commodity based system permitting persons to conduct financial transactions without reliance on national currencies in conducting said financial transactions, whereby obligations, of a person receiving a said debit of said units of said valuable commodity of the person's account, to an other person receiving a said credit of said units of said valuable commodity to the other person's account, are extinguished upon posting of said records of transactions, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         14 . A system in accordance with  claim 13  wherein said valuable commodity comprises a precious metal. 
     
     
         15 . A system in accordance with  claim 14  wherein said precious metal comprises gold. 
     
     
         16 . A system in accordance with  claim 14  wherein said precious metal comprises silver. 
     
     
         17 . A system in accordance with  claim 15  wherein said gold is specified to a selected purity. 
     
     
         18 . A system in accordance with  claim 14  further comprising means for remote access to submit records of transactions to instantly debit and credit a person's accounts. 
     
     
         19 . A system in accordance with  claim 18  further comprising verification means for verifying the identity of said person obtaining access to said computer system and for confirming that said person is authorized to submit records of transactions to said transaction storage device. 
     
     
         20 . An electronic gold based system for conducting financial transactions, comprising:
 at least one deposit site having a protected vault;   an inventory of gold stored in said protected vault at a said deposit site, said inventory including a quantity of units of gold held at said deposit site for an account of at least one identified account;   a computer system for processing data for conducting transactions denominated in said units of gold, said computer system having at least one data storage device and data processing software that records a balance of units of gold credited to each said account; said software being operable to receive records of transactions transferring an interest in units of gold from one account to another identified account; said records of transactions including at least an identification of a first account that will receive a debit, and a second account that will receive a credit, an amount of the interest in said units of gold which is being credited to said second account, said records of transactions thereby updating data regarding the balance of units of gold credited to each said account; said electronic gold based system permitting persons to conduct financial transactions without reliance on national currencies in conducting said financial transactions, whereby obligations, of a person receiving a said debit of said units of gold of the person's account, to an other person receiving a said credit of said units of gold to the other person's account, are extinguished upon posting of said records of transactions, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         21 . A system in accordance with  claim 20  further comprising means for remote access to said computer system to submit and store records of transactions. 
     
     
         22 . A system in accordance with  claim 20  wherein said gold is of a selected purity. 
     
     
         23 . A method of payment, using a valuable commodity as a deposit currency, implemented by a computer system, comprising the steps of:
 creating a deposit account data file for each of a plurality of persons, each said deposit account data file identifying a person, and a number of units of valuable commodity stored at a deposit site for the benefit of the person;   entering records of transactions denominated in units of said valuable commodity, said records of transactions including at least an identification of a person who will receive a debit, a person who will receive a credit, the amount of such debit in units of said valuable commodity, the amount of such credit in units of said valuable commodity;   posting said records of transactions to debit and credit the deposit account data files of said persons to update said data identifying a number of units of said valuable commodity held for the account of each said person;   the quantity of units of said commodity credited to said deposit account data files not exceeding a retained inventory of said commodity;   said method permitting persons to conduct financial transactions without reliance on national currencies in conducting said financial transactions whereby obligations, of a person receiving a said debit of said units of said valuable commodity, to another person receiving a said credit of said units of said valuable commodity, are extinguished upon posting of said records of transactions, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         24 . A method in accordance with  claim 23  wherein said valuable commodity comprises a precious metal. 
     
     
         25 . A method in accordance with  claim 24  wherein said precious metal comprises gold. 
     
     
         26 . A method in accordance with  claim 24  wherein said precious metal comprises silver. 
     
     
         27 . A method of payment, using an electronic valuable commodity-based payment system which does not permit fractional banking, comprising the steps of:
 using a user computer operably connected to a communications network to obtain access to the electronic valuable commodity-based payment system;   entering one or more of an account number and a password to obtain access to a user account;   entering instructions on said user computer to be transmitted to said electronic commodity-based payment system, said instructions including a specification of a number of units of a valuable commodity to be transferred from said user account and an identification of a recipient to receive payment of a number of units of the valuable commodity;   the quantity of units of said commodity credited to said deposit account data files not exceeding a retained inventory of said commodity;   said method permitting a user to make a payment without reliance on national currencies in conducting said financial transactions, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         28 . A method in accordance with  claim 27  wherein said valuable commodity comprises a precious metal. 
     
     
         29 . A method in accordance with  claim 28  wherein said precious metal comprises gold. 
     
     
         30 . A method for facilitating financial transactions, comprising:
 recording in memory of a computer system a first balance for a first account, said first balance representing a first quantity of a valuable commodity stored at one or more secure deposit sites;   recording in memory of said computer system a second balance for a second account, said second balance representing a second quantity of the valuable commodity stored at said one or more secure deposit sites;   receiving a payment instruction at said computer system via a communications network, the payment instruction specifying a quantity of the valuable commodity, an account to be debited, and an account to be credited, wherein the account to be debited is the first account and the account to be credited is the second account;   in response to receipt of said payment instruction:   debiting by the computer system the first account; and   crediting by the computer system the second account;   the quantity of units of said commodity credited to said accounts not exceeding a retained inventory of said commodity;   said method permitting persons to conduct said financial transactions without using national currencies, whereby an obligation of the first person to the second person is extinguished when said second account is credited, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the valuable commodity is gold. 
     
     
         32 . A computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium and comprising code that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the following steps:
 receive payment instructions denominated in units of electronic gold, said payment instructions including at least an identification of a person who will receive a debit, a person who will receive a credit, and an amount of units of said electronic gold;   posting said payment instructions to debit and credit account data files of said persons to update data identifying a number of units of said electronic gold held for each said person;   whereby said persons may make and receive a payment without reliance on national currencies in conducting said financial transactions, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         33 . An electronic commodity-based system for conducting financial transactions, comprising:
 at least one deposit site having secure facilities for storage of a valuable commodity;   an inventory of a valuable commodity stored in said secure facilities at said deposit site, said inventory including a quantity of units of said valuable commodity held at said deposit site for at least one identified account;   a computer system for processing data for conducting transactions denominated in said units of said valuable commodity, said computer system having at least one data storage device and data processing software that records a balance of units of said valuable commodity credited to each said account;   said software being operable to receive payment instructions transferring an interest in units of said valuable commodity from one account to another account;   said payment instructions including at least an identification of a first account that will receive a debit, and a second account that will receive a credit, an amount of units of said valuable commodity, said payment instructions thereby being used to update data regarding the balance of units of said valuable commodity credited to each said account;   said electronic commodity-based system permitting persons to conduct financial transactions without reliance on national currencies in conducting said financial transactions, whereby obligations of a person whose account receives said debit of said valuable commodity to another person whose account receives said credit of said valuable commodity, are extinguished upon posting of said payment instructions, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         34 . An electronic commodity-based system in accordance with  claim 33 , wherein the valuable commodity is gold. 
     
     
         35 . An electronic commodity-based system for conducting financial transactions, comprising:
 one or more secure deposit sites for storage of a valuable commodity;   an inventory of the valuable commodity stored in said one or more secure deposit sites;   a computer system for processing data associated with transactions denominated in units of said valuable commodity, said computer system being adapted to:   maintain a plurality of accounts, each account having a balance representing a quantity of the valuable commodity stored at said one or more secure deposit sites, wherein said accounts include a first account associated with a first person and a second account associated with a second person;   receive a payment instruction via a communication network, the payment instruction specifying a quantity of the valuable commodity, an account to be debited, and an account to be credited, wherein the account to be debited is the first account and the account to be credited is the second account;   in response to receipt of said payment instruction:   debit the first account; and   credit the second account; and   said electronic commodity-based system permitting persons to conduct said financial transactions without using national currencies, whereby an obligation of the first person to the second person is extinguished when said second account is credited, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         36 . An electronic commodity-based system in accordance with  claim 35 , wherein the valuable commodity is gold. 
     
     
         37 . An electronic commodity-based system for conducting financial transactions, comprising:
 one or more secure deposit sites for storage of a valuable commodity;   an inventory of the valuable commodity stored in said one or more secure deposit sites;   a computer system for processing data associated with transactions denominated in units of said valuable commodity, said computer system being adapted to:   
       maintain a plurality of accounts, each account having a balance representing a quantity of the valuable commodity stored at said one or more secure deposit sites, wherein said accounts include a first account associated with a first person and a second account associated with a second person;
 receive a payment instruction via the Internet, the payment instruction specifying a quantity of the valuable commodity, an account to be debited, and an account to be credited, wherein the account to be debited is the first account and the account to be credited is the second account; 
 in response to receipt of said payment instruction: 
 debit the first account; and 
 credit the second account; and 
 said electronic commodity-based system permitting persons to conduct said financial transactions without using national currencies, whereby an obligation of the first person to the second person is extinguished when said second account is credited, thereby eliminating payment risk. 
 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37  wherein the valuable commodity is gold. 
     
     
         39 . A method of payment, using an electronic gold based payment system which does not permit fractional banking, comprising the steps of:
 using a user computer operably connected to a communications network to obtain access an electronic gold based payment system;   entering one or more of an account number and a password to obtain access to a user account;   entering instructions on said user computer to be transmitted to said electronic gold based payment system, said instructions including a specification of a number of units of electronic gold to be transferred from said user account and an identification of a recipient to receive said payment of a number of units of electronic gold;   said method permitting a user to make a payment without reliance on national currencies in conducting said financial transactions, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         40 . A method in accordance with  claim 39  wherein said identification of a recipient is an identification of a recipient account number. 
     
     
         41 . An electronic gold based payment system which does not permit fractional banking, comprising:
 a user computer operably connected to a communications network;   means for entering one or more of an account number and a password to said user computer to obtain access to a user account;   means for entering instructions on said user computer, said instructions including a specification of a number of units of electronic gold to be transferred from said user account and an identification of a recipient to receive said payment of a number of units of electronic gold;   said system permitting a user to make a payment without reliance on national currencies in conducting said financial transactions, thereby eliminating payment risk.   
     
     
         42 . A method in accordance with  claim 41  wherein said identification of a recipient is an identification of a recipient account number.