![]() ![]() With this as an introduction, let us go on to an explanation of Gresham's law and the reason why Congress was constitutionally mandated to make such adjustments in the weight of gold in the gold-dollar coin. The rate of 94.8 cents per pennyweight took that change as well as the alteration in the pure gold content into account, so that payments made in either the old or the new coins became very nearly equivalent in terms of the amounts of pure gold being paid. Old coins could be brought in and reminted for free (after waiting 40 days.) If old coins were not reminted, they were to be accepted as payments "at the rate of ninety-four and eight-tenths of a cent per pennyweight." The weights of the earlier and later eagles were influenced by a change in the standard gold alloy. The reason for the change was that gold had appreciated in market value relative to silver. In the Coinage Act of 1834, Congress adjusted the gold eagle: "Each eagle shall contain two-hundred and thirty-two grains of pure gold." This brought into legal equivalence 3712.5 grains of silver and 232 grains of gold. For example, the Coinage Act of 1792 authorizes "Eagles - each to be of the value of ten dollars or units, and to contain two hundred and forty-seven grains, and four eighths of a grain of pure … gold." Since the dollar contained 371.25 grains of silver, this brought into legal equivalence 3712.5 grains of silver and 247.5 grains of gold. It circulated silver and gold coins as media of exchange by adjusting the content of the gold dollar to a silver-standard dollar. ![]() The United States never was or could be constitutionally on a dual standard or a gold standard. The government did the same for foreign coins up until 1857. It regulated their "value," the weight of gold they contained, in order to bring the meaning of a gold dollar into conformity with the silver standard coin, which contains 371.25 grains of pure silver. The United States has historically minted gold coins as well as silver coins, as the constitution instructed. ![]() The term "dollar bills" obscures the actual and tangible meaning of "dollar" as a specific weight of silver. The United States has a legal and constitutional silver standard, although we would not know it today, since the government has illegally and unconstitutionally removed silver as currency and replaced it with the Federal Reserve notes that we know as dollar bills. "the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars or units … of the value of a Spanish milled dollar as the same is now current, and to contain three hundred and seventy-one grains and four sixteenth parts of a grain of pure … silver. shows beyond any doubt that the constitutional dollar in the United States is an "historically determinate, fixed weight of fine silver." The Coinage Act of 1792 is but one source among many that makes this evident, reading, In his meticulously researched two-volume work, Pieces of Eight, constitutional lawyer Edwin Vieira Jr. That is what this article does in a compact fashion. Sooner or later, if and when the power of the Federal Reserve over money is revoked in a constitutional manner, and if and when constitutional coin comes back into use, these questions will need to be asked, answered, and understood. Are you aware that a Federal Reserve dollar bill is not a constitutional dollar? Perhaps you are, but if so, do you know what a constitutional dollar literally is? Is it gold? Is it silver? Is it both? What is actually meant by a metal standard? Can the United States or any country be on two standards at the same time? Can two metals circulate as coin if there is but one standard? Or does one metal have to drive the other out of circulation? How and why does Gresham's law work when a country uses metal coin for money? In what ways are certain statements of Gresham's law misleading?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |