Legal Tender Status

Legal Tender Status








I
thought that United States currency was legal tender for all debts.
Some businesses or governmental agencies say that they will only accept
checks, money orders or credit cards as payment, and others will only
accept currency notes in denominations of $20 or smaller. Isn't this
illegal?


The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965,
specifically Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," which
states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve
notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks)
are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."

This statute means that all United States money as identified above
are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a
creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private
business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as
for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to
develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there
is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may
prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie
theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept
large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of
policy.

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What are Federal Reserve notes and how are they different from United States notes?


Federal Reserve notes are legal tender currency notes. The twelve
Federal Reserve Banks issue them into circulation pursuant to the
Federal Reserve Act of 1913. A commercial bank belonging to the Federal
Reserve System can obtain Federal Reserve notes from the Federal Reserve
Bank in its district whenever it wishes. It must pay for them in full,
dollar for dollar, by drawing down its account with its district Federal
Reserve Bank.

Federal Reserve Banks obtain the notes from our Bureau of Engraving and Printing
(BEP). It pays the BEP for the cost of producing the notes, which then
become liabilities of the Federal Reserve Banks, and obligations of the
United States Government.

Congress has specified that a Federal Reserve Bank must hold
collateral equal in value to the Federal Reserve notes that the Bank
receives. This collateral is chiefly gold certificates and United States
securities. This provides backing for the note issue. The idea was that
if the Congress dissolved the Federal Reserve System, the United States
would take over the notes (liabilities). This would meet the
requirements of Section 411, but the government would also take over the
assets, which would be of equal value. Federal Reserve notes represent a
first lien on all the assets of the Federal Reserve Banks, and on the
collateral specifically held against them.

Federal Reserve notes are not redeemable in gold, silver or any other
commodity, and receive no backing by anything This has been the case
since 1933. The notes have no value for themselves, but for what they
will buy. In another sense, because they are legal tender, Federal
Reserve notes are "backed" by all the goods and services in the economy.

---

What are United States Notes and how are they different from Federal Reserve notes?


United States Notes (characterized by a red seal and serial number) were the first national currency, authorized by the Legal Tender Act of 1862
and began circulating during the Civil War. The Treasury Department
issued these notes directly into circulation, and they are obligations
of the United States Government. The issuance of United States Notes is
subject to limitations established by Congress. It established a
statutory limitation of $300 million on the amount of United States
Notes authorized to be outstanding and in circulation. While this was a
significant figure in Civil War days, it is now a very small fraction of
the total currency in circulation in the United States.

Both United States Notes and Federal Reserve Notes are parts of our
national currency and both are legal tender. They circulate as money in
the same way. However, the issuing authority for them comes from
different statutes. United States Notes were redeemable in gold until
1933, when the United States abandoned the gold standard.
Since then, both currencies have served essentially the same purpose,
and have had the same value. Because United States Notes serve no
function that is not already adequately served by Federal Reserve Notes,
their issuance was discontinued, and none have been placed in to
circulation since January 21, 1971.

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 authorized the production and circulation of Federal Reserve notes. Although the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
(BEP) prints these notes, they move into circulation through the
Federal Reserve System. They are obligations of both the Federal Reserve
System and the United States Government. On Federal Reserve notes, the
seals and serial numbers appear in green.

United States notes serve no function that is not already adequately
served by Federal Reserve notes. As a result, the Treasury Department
stopped issuing United States notes, and none have been placed into
circulation since January 21, 1971.

http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/currency/pages/legal-tender.aspx

Private individuals and businesses are not the only ones who can refuse payment in "legal tender currency." My mom used to work for the Phoenix court system. One day a guy came in to pay a fine with a bunch of $1 bills stapled to a big piece of poster board as a protest. They refused to accept them. They also refused to accept payment in pennies. I am pretty sure that the tax assessor collector offices here in San Antonio do likewise.

Amazing isn't and bet many didn't even know this... ;)

It's interesting because I always thought that the statement on the currency, "This note is legal tender for all debts public and priveate" meant that you had to accept it as payment. Apparently not. What it really means is that the government has decreed that it is money and so it is acceptable payment for any debt within the United States. It does not mean that you have to accept it. Which means of course that should hyper inflation occur (or some other scenario) and the dollar becomes, as it was put during the Revolutionary War, "Not worth a continental damn", that people would not be required to accept it.

I guess that even the government itself could refuse to accept it - certainly there is precedent at the local level, as the City of Phoenix proved, and perhaps at the State level as well, since the Tax Assessor Collectors collect, among other things, property taxes which I think are remitted to the State of Texas, at least in part. (could be wrong on that one - I am making an assumption, and a large part of the property taxes go to the ISDs, which are local).

Of course, if the Federal Government refused to accept its own currency for payment of things, such as income taxes for example, that would be the last nail in the coffin for the dollar. If the government issuing the currency won't even accept it, why should anyone else?

There are some situations that need common sense,but some take them a little to far,remember Larry Flint's fine,the owner of Hustler.

ron-man wrote:There are some situations that need common sense,but some take them a little to far,remember Larry Flint's fine,the owner of Hustler.

Why the GOV hate rich folks that fight back, they can cause they can afford it. Larry was no different, even tho he got nutty at times, it was all to manipulate the manipulated Judicial System of who is who...

Neno I agree.