“Money isn’t funny!”

U.S. money has changed a great deal since first defined in 1792.  The Constitution only gave Congress the power to coin money, not print it!

“The Congress shall have Power . . . ‘To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures’”.  (Art. I, Sec. 8 §5).  Simple language but it required enabling legislation to fulfill.

Thus, in 1792, the U.s. Congress passed just such a law.  US money was defined as “dollars or units”, the word “dollar” coming directly from the Spanish milled “dollar” commonly known as a “piece of eight”.  A standard dollar contained 371-4/16^th parts of a grain of pure silver.  The gold “Eagles” were equivalent in value to 10 silver dollars and contained 257-4/8ths of a grain of pure gold (equal to 3,712-1/2 grains of fine silver).

According to the Constitution, “No State shall . . . make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts  . . .”  (Art. 1, Sec. 10, §1)

That definition of the dollar has never been changed!

Because the colonies had “printed” money during the Revolution and immediately thereafter in order to finance the war, such paper became more a “promissory note” than a medium of exchange and their value sunk disastrously.  The devastating inflation that existed at that time influenced the founders to the point they wanted nothing to do with “paper money”.  Thus, the establishment of the gold and silver standard as the foundation for US currency.  This standard has never been repealed!

The Founding Fathers intended that there be uniform standards for the currency and the weights and measures to be used in commerce.  That way, all citizens regardless of where they lived  could rely on the fact that a foot or a dollar always had the same value in every state, east or west, wherever encountered or employed.

Ever since Lyndon Johnson’s administration, the coinage minted has been bi-metallic and thus should really be called counterfeit.  They violate the Constitution and law establishing the content and value of a “dollar”.  From 1913 with the creation of the Federal Reserve System, there has been a steady movement to eliminate all references to actual money from the paper currency issued by that system.  Please look at any paper money you have in your wallets or purses.  The heading is Federal Reserve Note.  You can search every corner and never find that it is “redeemable” in anything, other than more worthless paper!

In 1913, the Federal Reserve issued paper money (certificates) which were fully redeemable in gold (until 1934) or silver (until 1968).  These were known as Silver or Gold Certificates and stated that there was on deposit in the Treasury of the United States the equivalent amount of the metal stated which could be delivered to the “bearer on demand”.

Ultimately in 1963, the notation printed on the Federal Reserve Notes (no longer called “certificates”) was changed to read: “Legal tender for all debts, public or private.”  No longer redeemable in anything.

The banner which now reads, “Federal Reserve Note”! must be recognized, in legal parlance, to mean it is a promise to pay.  It is not money in the true sense since it is not “convertible” into cash!  Try taking any Federal Reserve Note into a bank and asking for the equivalent amount in silver for it.

This is why many now say we only have “funny (fiat) money”!  The move from silver and gold to printing press money has left every citizen with nothing solid or tangible.  But it isn’t funny.  It’s tragic!

That’s my view.  What’s yours?  Reach me at constitutionviews@gmail.com

©Copyright 2012  Hillard W. Welch