I've solved the Lawful Money Riddle

[Jaro]

Shikamaru, that's a LIE. Here's the REAL definition of lawful money by Investopedia and it DOES NOT include fiat money:


"Definition of 'Lawful Money'
Any form of currency issued by the United States Treasury and not the Federal Reserve System, including gold and silver coins, Treasury notes, and Treasury bonds. Lawful money stands in contrast to fiat money, to which the government assigns value although it has no intrinsic value of its own and is not backed by reserves. Fiat money includes legal tender such as paper money, checks, drafts and bank notes.

Also known as "specie", which means "in actual form." Investopedia explains 'Lawful Money'
Oddly enough, the dollar bills that we carry around in our wallets are not considered lawful money. The notation on the bottom of a U.S. dollar bill reads "Legal Tender for All Debts, Public and Private", and is issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve, not the U.S. Treasury. Legal tender can be exchanged for an equivalent amount of lawful money, but effects such as inflation can change the value of fiat money. Lawful money is said to be the most direct form of ownership, but for purposes of practicality it has little use in direct transactions between parties anymore.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/...#ixzz1k4M2Kks6

Don't forget that treasury notes and bonds are lawful money as well.

Lawful money is any form of currency issued by the U.S. Treasury (according to Investopedia).
Lawful money can be just as fiat as legal tender depending on its form.

I've heard that money orders are lawful money, but have not sought to substantiate that.

Also keep in mind that the specie of today is clad coinage.

[shikamaru]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=#4b0082]Shikamaru, that's a LIE. Here's the REAL definition of lawful money by Investopedia and it DOES NOT include fiat money:

Is that lie as in I lied or Investopedia? Could you also point out in any post of mine where I state "lawful money includes fiat money"?

I think you need to re-read my post again. You have clearly taken several sentences out of context.

You post the definition of lawful money from Investopedia reiterating what I already stated. I did link it in my post as well.

"Definition of 'Lawful Money'
Any form of currency issued by the United States Treasury and not the Federal Reserve System, including gold and silver coins, Treasury notes, and Treasury bonds. Lawful money stands in contrast to fiat money, to which the government assigns value although it has no intrinsic value of its own and is not backed by reserves. Fiat money includes legal tender such as paper money, checks, drafts and bank notes.

Also known as "specie", which means "in actual form." Investopedia explains 'Lawful Money'
Oddly enough, the dollar bills that we carry around in our wallets are not considered lawful money. The notation on the bottom of a U.S. dollar bill reads "Legal Tender for All Debts, Public and Private", and is issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve, not the U.S. Treasury. Legal tender can be exchanged for an equivalent amount of lawful money, but effects such as inflation can change the value of fiat money. Lawful money is said to be the most direct form of ownership, but for purposes of practicality it has little use in direct transactions between parties anymore.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/...#ixzz1k4M2Kks6

You do realize by posting this, you've contradicted your initial post/definition on currency?

It would seem from the definition what makes a given currency lawful or legal is who the issuer is rather than its form.

Given the definition you have linked, US gold and silver certificates are lawful money.

Aren't treasury notes, treasury bonds, US gold and silver certificates, and USNs all paper?
Aren't FRNs, FRBNs, and banknotes paper as well?

What is to prevent the issuer of paper lawful money from producing more paper than there is reserve currency to back them?
What is to prevent the issuer from suspending redeemibility of that paper lawful money?