David Merrill,

You have done some fine work. I respectfully disagree with one of your premises regarding 12USC411 and would like to propose the following (admittedly imperfect) treatise for consideration:

My Premise which contradicts yours:

Using Federal Reserve Notes (FRN) does NOT make you a Federal Reserve System (FRS) bank or agent.

Additional Premise:

All FRNs in circulation are redeemed.

Given:

That the US Government has the capacity to create new jurisdictions.

Evidence:

Within the "jurisdiction of the Federal Reserve System" (JoFRS), unredeemed FRNs (UFRN) can be used for only one thing, interbank transfers, and "no other purpose".
Within the JoFRS, UFRNs can be redeemed into Lawful Money which I will call "redeemed FRNs" (RFRN).
It is a legal impossibility for UFRNs to be transferred out of the JoFRS, or used in the capacity of lawful money, as that would constitute "another purpose".

Therefore:

UFRNs must be redeemed by the FRS, which is within their authority, into RFRNs (lawful money) before they can be used for any "other purpose".
Simply by using FRNs for any "other purpose", the FRS would automatically invoke its redemption power, or it would be performing a legal impossibility.
It is a legal impossiblity for UFRNs to reach my hands as I transact in lawful money mostly in the common law jurisdiction.

Similarly:

Federal Reserve Agents (FRA) can legally only transfer UFRNs to other Federal Reserve Agents.
It is a legal impossibility for an FRA to transfer UFRNs to a non-FRA. Again, any attempt to do so would invoke redemption.

Furthermore:

Federal law cannot be repugnant (contradictory).
Federal law apparently establishes FRNs as only interbank transfer certificates.
Federal law apparently establishes FRNs as legal tender for <<<all debts public and private>>>.
These two laws appear to contradict as the second is an "other purpose".

Resolution (of the Furthermore section):

Legal tender laws operate in a different jurisdiction than the JoFRS, which for convenience I will call the Common Law jurisdiction.
There is no authority for the FRS to decide what is or isn't money, so the legal tender laws don't fit in the Federal Reserve Act.
The term "Federal Reserve Note" has a different definition in the two jurisdictions.
Inside the JofRS, FRNs are private interbank transfer certificates.
Outside of the JoFRS, FRNs are Legal Tender and Lawful Money, alloidally owned by the bearer not the FRS.
For the most part UFRNs and RFRNs are legally distinct and mutually exclusive.
And as I have shown, for an FRN to enter the common law jurisdiction, it must be redeemed.

Additionally (possibly off topic):

On FRNs in circulation, the words "Federal Reserve Note" at the top have no meaning except as a historical curiosity.
The words Federal Reserve note must be there only because that is part of the design of us paper money, much like art.
A redeemed note is no longer a note (a promise to pay), it is just a ruined piece of paper.
Circulating FRNs cannot be redeemed, they have already been redeemed.
A circulating FRN is not a debt instrument, it is merely a used piece of paper that we have chosen to use as money.
Remember, the USA can make anthing money, to some degree it doesn't matter what is written on it, and things written on it can be with or without meaning.
According to 12USC412, UFRNs are backed 100% by lawful money.
RFRNs are not legally backed by anything, period. The are redeemed, cashed, non-negotiable, tokens, a medium of exchange, not a store of wealth.

And Finally:

If a court could be made to recognize me as an agent of the federal reserve system, I could argue that I have been an employee of the federal government since the age of four (when a dollar was still worth 25 cents), when I first recall handling a federal reserve note. I would therefore qualify for a pension with 49+ years of service under the federal retirement system.