[net.consumers] Legal Tender and the U.S. Government {Consitutionality of}

ix21@sdccs6.UUCP (David Whiteman) (07/08/84)

ihopa!drr claims that the constitution says that only gold or silver
coin is legal tender.  Well I just happen to have a copy of the 
U.S. Consitution sitting around and it says in Article 1, Section 10:

	No State shall ... coin Money; emit Bills of Credit;
	make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in 
	Payment of Debts;

(Caps. originally in the Consitution, I guess that at time it was
proper form to capitalize all nouns not just proper nouns.)

Note that this section explicitly applies to states not the United
States; if the United States wanted to coin money or make something
else besides gold and silver coin legal tender that is not
prohibited in this section.

Lets look elsewhere.  In Article 1,, Section 8 we find:

	The Congress shall have Power ... To coin Money, regulate
	the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard
	of Weights and Measures;

So congress has the power to coin money and is not restricted as to
how or what it uses by the consitution.