Quote Originally Posted by mikecz View Post
Ok,

With this I take issue.

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/28/137394...t-nobody-wants


United States currency notes...
(1) may not be more than $300,000,000; and
(2) may not be held or used for a reserve.

I'm thinking now United States currency notes are indeed lawful money, but, there are other types of lawful money. Coin being one of them. Now, the law doesn't state you can only have 300,000,000 in lawful money, its only 300,000,000 in United States currency notes. Therefore, I'm finding it difficult to connect lawful money as being inelastic. In the article above, "they say" there is 1 billion in coin, which is well above the inelastic 300,000,000 number. Could it be construed that these 1 dollar coins aren't in circulation?

Thanks
The amount is for paper money (called then US Bank Notes) the "coins" in questions were not only 1 dollar coins, but all the gold coins in circulation from the US Mint in the 1800s up till 1933.

The Federal statute from above is specific to "United States currency Notes" which never were Federal Reserve notes. The clad coins today are only lawful money in that they are:

1. Issued by the US Treasury and contain some material that is consideration.

2. Valued at face value.

3. Coined by the power granted to congress in the Constitution and to set the value there of.

US Notes (paper currency) have always been BACKED by actual gold or silver reserves and sometimes redeemable directly for that gold or silver at face value. The US has suspended the direct redeem-ability of US Notes in any form in times of emergency. Such is the case since 1933.

The US Notes are still backed by lawful money (in fact, the exact same Coins are backing them, I believe) but the notes are not being directly redeemed for those coins. This is why the recorded Demand for lawful money per 12-USC 411
 is so powerful.

That demand puts the US government in very dangerous position of NOT obeying its own law (12 USC 411 "shall be redeemed on demand). And it puts the one demanding the redemption in the position of the Creditor and the US in the position of the DEBTOR and the one with the obligation to pay.


You have to be careful to watch the words being used, because not all rules on lawful money or currency apply both coins and/or paper.