Our American Money (Educational Video)

Our American Money - This free educational video presents the monetary history of the United States from its colonial beginnings to the present day through the use of original documents, historical images, and traditional American music. Suggestions for further study and recommended courses of action are presented at the end of the video. FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY. View or download the high-resolution version (78,614KB) from the above link.

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To convert amounts between Federal Reserve Dollars and United States Silver Dollars, enter the market price of silver in Federal Reserve Dollars per Troy Ounce in the top box and the amount in Dollars that you wish to convert in the next box. Click on the [Ag$] button to convert Federal Reserve Dollars to United States Silver Dollars or on the [FR$] button to convert United States Silver Dollars to Federal Reserve Dollars. The corresponding amounts will appear in the two lower boxes.

Copyright 2008 Thomas H. Paine - Want to put this calculator on your website? Download the code for free here. Flag background courtesy of Stock.XCHNG.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Idaho House of Representatives Passes Silver Money Bill

Following up on a post I made a few days ago, there is an article at LocalNews8.com stating that a bill moving through the Idaho legislature would establish a silver currency for the state.  According to the article:

The Idaho state treasurer would have to accept a state-made silver medallion or bar for the payment of fees and taxes, if a bill that's cleared the House becomes law.

While this is a step in the right direction as far as the return to sound money is concerned, the Idaho measure would seem to run afoul of Article I Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution inasmuch as the medallion is "state-made."  The relevant constitutional clause reads:


No State shall...coin Money;....

Read the full article at the link here.


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Have you seen Our American Money?  Please do.  And share the link.
Posted by Thomas H. Paine at 3:18 PM

2 comments:

  1. This has been my main concern with this bill. They use Article I, Section 10, to claim the right of Idaho to mint "silver medallions" that the State can then "make a tender in payment of debts," specifically, that residents of Idaho can use to pay State taxes.

    But then they turn around and use the same A1 S10 to say they'll make that "silver coin a tender in payment of debt". So is it a coin that can be used in payment of debt? If so, Idaho can't mint it. Or is it a medallion that's not a coin? If so, Idaho can't make it a tender in payment of debt. Catch-22.

    Maybe if another state mints a medallion, then Idaho declares it to be a coin for tender?

    BG

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  2. BG -- Thanks for the comment. I would have replied sooner but I had a "corrupted widget" in my blog HTML that I finally got fixed.

    Yes, I think the constitutional prohibition against Idaho coining their own money applies whether they call them coins or medallions or whatever. But I see no restriction on their using already existing silver coins for their purposes. Pre-1965 U.S. silver coins, silver bullion rounds like those from Idaho's own Sunshine Mine, and even foreign silver coins should be perfectly legal. Also, a new or current business could undertake the minting of silver pieces that Idaho could adapt to this use. There is really no need for them to coin their own money.

    Tom

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