Re: Not. [Was Re: Federal Reserve Bank is ILLEGAL?]

At 11:57 PM 11/11/96 -0500, Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law wrote:
>On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Doug Renner wrote:
>
>> article nearly head-on.  However is it true that what you are saying is 
>> that two fundamental premises in the article you refer to as "rabid" are 
>> incorrect?  Namely:
>> 
>> "ARTICLE 1, SECTION 8 OF THE CONSTITUTION STATES THAT CONGRESS SHALL HAVE
>> THE POWER TO COIN (CREATE) MONEY AND REGULATE THE VALUE THEREOF.
>
>The above is a true statement.  Note however that "congress" cannot
>operate the mint.  It must -- **MUST** -- delegate this duty to the
>executive branch (or someone outside the legislative branch, cf. Chadha
>v. U.S.) if it wants it done. Congress is free to select the type
>of agent it wants to do this.  Indeed, if Congress chose to license
>private mints, that would, IMHO be legal.  The point here is that the
>states don't have the power to coin money.

But, apparently, during the 1800's states (?) and individual banks did 
indeed print their own currency.

The way I see it, a positive statement in the Constitution that the Feds 
have the power to coin money does not necessarily exclude other 
people/banks/states/foreign countries from doing likewise.


Jim Bell
jimbell@pacifier.com

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On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, jim bell wrote:

> The way I see it, a positive statement in the Constitution that the Feds 
> have the power to coin money does not necessarily exclude other 
> people/banks/states/foreign countries from doing likewise.

Some localities in the U.S. are indeed minting their own currency.  Ithica is
one such example, I believe.  I don't know if these currencies are considered
"legal tender", but the Feds don't seem to be stopping it.

Mark
- -- 
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On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, jim bell wrote:

> At 11:57 PM 11/11/96 -0500, Michael Froomkin - U.Miami School of Law wrote:
> >On Tue, 12 Nov 1996, Doug Renner wrote:
> >
> >> article nearly head-on.  However is it true that what you are saying is 
> >> that two fundamental premises in the article you refer to as "rabid" are 
> >> incorrect?  Namely:
> >> 
> >> "ARTICLE 1, SECTION 8 OF THE CONSTITUTION STATES THAT CONGRESS SHALL HAVE
> >> THE POWER TO COIN (CREATE) MONEY AND REGULATE THE VALUE THEREOF.
> >
> >The above is a true statement.  Note however that "congress" cannot
> >operate the mint.  It must -- **MUST** -- delegate this duty to the
> >executive branch (or someone outside the legislative branch, cf. Chadha
> >v. U.S.) if it wants it done. Congress is free to select the type
> >of agent it wants to do this.  Indeed, if Congress chose to license
> >private mints, that would, IMHO be legal.  The point here is that the
> >states don't have the power to coin money.
> 
> But, apparently, during the 1800's states (?) and individual banks did 
> indeed print their own currency.
> 
> The way I see it, a positive statement in the Constitution that the Feds 
> have the power to coin money does not necessarily exclude other 
> people/banks/states/foreign countries from doing likewise.
> 

Hrmm.. One might point out that the only thing required for someone to
"mint" (and I use this term loosely) money is for popular belief that the
money is worth something.  What do you think a cashier's check is?  Other
notable versions are (and I'm sure somebody is going to say "but its
represintative of the US Dollar", even though its all dealing with money
that really isn't there) is AmEx, MasterCard, Visa, etc.

> 
> Jim Bell
> jimbell@pacifier.com
> 

 --Deviant
        "Evil does seek to maintain power by suppressing the truth."
        "Or by misleading the innocent."
                -- Spock and McCoy, "And The Children Shall Lead",
                   stardate 5029.5.