Today, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill establishing the nation's first state-level gold depository, an important first step towards gold and silver as commonly-used legal tender in the state.

Introduced by State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R- Southlake) and four co-sponsors on Feb. 12, House Bill 483 (HB483) will create what some pundits are calling the Texas "Fort Knox." State officials told the Houston Chronicle that "No other state has its own state bullion depository."

More importantly, though, the bill creates a means for transactions to occur in these metals. The bill reads, in part:

a depository account holder may transfer any portion of the balance of the holder's depository account by check, draft, or digital electronic instruction to another depository account holder or to a person who at the time the transfer is initiated is not a depository account holder.