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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Conder101, post: 609462, member: 66&quot;]Legal money, coins made by the government for use as money.&nbsp; They meet the weight, size, alloy, and design as specified by law.</p><p><br /></p><p>Legal tender on the other hand is a much slipperier thing.&nbsp; In the 19th century and at least the first half of the 20th century it was considered to be a legal obligation to be REQUIRED to accept the offered money in payment&nbsp; Since the 1950&#039;s Legal tender has come to mean a legally recognized means of paying a debt.&nbsp; This means that when legal tender has been offered it does NOT have to be accepted, but the law will recognize that a legal attempt has been made to make payment.&nbsp; The refusal does not cancel the obligation, you still owe the debt, but the person you owe may not add interest, penalties, or sue and the grounds of non-payment.&nbsp; (Legally this was probably also the case before the 1950&#039;s as well.)</p><p><br /></p><p>So until 1864 cents were legal money.&nbsp; Made by the government and meeting all the legal definitions, weights, alloys, designs etc.&nbsp; But the were NOT legal tender they could be refused&nbsp; and you had no recourse. In 1864 cents were given limited legal tender status up to the amount of ten cents.&nbsp; If you tried to pay a fifty cent debt in cents they could be refused and the law would only recognize that you had tried to pay ten cents and they could charge late fees on the balance.&nbsp; Later the legal tender status of cents was raised to 25 cents and with the Coinage act of 1965 they were given unlimited legal tender status.&nbsp; As I mentioned half cents were legal money from the time they were first issued in 1793, but were NEVER legal tender until 1965.&nbsp; Likewise the other minor coins also had limited legal tender status as well. (two cent pieces to 20 cents, three cent pieces to 30 cents, nickels to 60 cents.)&nbsp; The silver coinage started out with unlimited legal tender status but after 1853 the silver coins less than a dollar had their legal tender status reduced to no more than $5 per transaction.&nbsp; Later in the 1870&#039;s that was raised to $10 where it remaned until 1965.&nbsp; So when offered in amounts about their statutory limits the coins would still be legal money, but would no longer be legal tender.&nbsp; Odd to think about isn&#039;t it?</p><p><br /></p><p>The belief that you MUST accept legal tender probably comes from the 186&#039;s as well when the Union introduced the greenback or legal tender notes in 1862.&nbsp; This was paper money with no precious metal backing, just a promise of the government to pay.&nbsp; Naturally this paper would not be accepted if coins or gold or silver certifcates were available so the government did either try, or did require its acceptance during the war years.&nbsp; Oh you might have been able to fight it in court, but government could make things very uncomfortable for you if you tried.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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