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<p>[QUOTE="kaparthy, post: 12653, member: 57463"](1) In the context of the present Federal government under the current Constitution, considering "modern" times, the answer is based on routine. The Mint makes coins. Congress authorizes what they do. In the case of a new coin, such as the 20-cent or the Susan B. Anthony Dollar, Congress passes a law to create the coin and the Mint makes the dies and strikes the coins and sells them to banks, etc. If the Mint is in the process of creating current coins and Congress passes a law stopping the coin, the some have been created already and already exist. That was the case with the 1933 Double Eagles. It happened also with certain other issues.</p><p><br /></p><p>(2) In the case of the 1913 Liberty 5-cent Nickel coins, the expected order of events was to create the 1913 "Buffalo" Nickel but someone (Brown, we assume), went in an made the 1913 Liberties. That had happened before. Most of the so-called 1804 Dollars were made long after the event for special friends by authorities at the Mint with access to the tools. In both cases, the Secret Service turned (and turns) a blind eye to the problem for several reasons. Why bother with five coins totaling 25 cents in face value? Also -- perhaps more to the point -- the people who own these "novodels" were and are highly placed, wealthy people with friends in the right places. About 1890 or so, the Mint and Treasury and therefore the Secret Service, took a dim view of all the patterns and such out there among collectors and made some noise or even (perhaps; we do not know) took some action, but the process stopped and things went back to normal.</p><p><br /></p><p>(3) As for the Large Cents, the matter is somewhat complicated. You have to understand what "legal tender" means. You can find it on the Bureau of Engraving and Printing website. See "Legal Tender" <a href="http://www.moneyfactory.com/document.cfm/18/110" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.moneyfactory.com/document.cfm/18/110" rel="nofollow">http://www.moneyfactory.com/document.cfm/18/110</a> It so happens that in Canada and most other nations today, coins not legal tender. Only paper money, the banknotes of the central bank, are legal tender. In the USA, all coins and banknotes are legal tender. It was not always so. If I remember correctly, even Large Cents, 3-cent, etc., were legal tender up to some small value, perhaps only one dollar. The 3-cent coins was created to facilitate public use of the Post Office. In some cases, the coins were created by Congress, but in the enabling legislation, the "legal tender" paragraph was missing. So, they were not legal tender. No one wanted to be paid 1000 half-cent coins for a $5 debt -- certainly the government did not want to accept 10s of thousands of small coins in bags for, say, import duties. All import duties had to be paid in gold coin back then. Andrew Jackson's Treasury issued the "Specie Circular" which required payment of all taxes in gold coin. It worked wonders for the Treasury and the Budget, but really irked a lot of people, as you can imagine.</p><p><br /></p><p>(3a) In the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was also a situation with the gold-to-silver price ratio in the marketplace. Initially, one (silver) dollar was equal to one (gold) dollar. That became untenable as silver and gold fluctuated in price. We had huge rushes and strikes of both metals here. When the major nations of the world went to the Gold Standard (Britain first; Germany among the last), the price of silver plummeted. Silver coins became only tokens for gold coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>(3b) Only recently -- when gold was relegalized in 1973, I think -- did Congress pass a law making all US coins "legal tender."</p><p><br /></p><p>Understanding the hows and whys is complicated because the authorities did not understand. Your nearest large library probably has a dozen or more books from the 1800s "explaining" bi-metallism. The Congressional Record from that era (especially 1873-1890) is heavy with speeches on the subject, few of which actually contain any economic truths.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you want to understand "the way it's supposed to be" I recommend</p><p>HUMAN ACTION by Ludwig von Mises -- a huge book that explains market economies from a true freemarket, capitalist point of view.</p><p><br /></p><p>FRACTIONAL MONEY by Neil Carothers -- a doctoral thesis from the early 20th century, reprinted by Bowers and Merena. It provides a good history of the problems of "bi-metallism."</p><p><br /></p><p>THE US MINT AND COINAGE by Don Taxay -- a standard work for all numismatists interested in US Coinage. This is a basic history of the Mint.</p><p><br /></p><p>ENCYCLOPEDIA OF US AND COLONIAL COINAGE by Walter Breen -- _the_ standard reference for US coin numismatics. Breen, however, had his own political views and often interjected them into the text.</p><p><br /></p><p>Again, however, one of the problems you will face is that the authors themselves even when they record an accurate history from the basic public documents, sometimes (often, perhaps) do not understand the economic theory that explains the problems, which is why I recommended HUMAN ACTION.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="kaparthy, post: 12653, member: 57463"](1) In the context of the present Federal government under the current Constitution, considering "modern" times, the answer is based on routine. The Mint makes coins. Congress authorizes what they do. In the case of a new coin, such as the 20-cent or the Susan B. Anthony Dollar, Congress passes a law to create the coin and the Mint makes the dies and strikes the coins and sells them to banks, etc. If the Mint is in the process of creating current coins and Congress passes a law stopping the coin, the some have been created already and already exist. That was the case with the 1933 Double Eagles. It happened also with certain other issues. (2) In the case of the 1913 Liberty 5-cent Nickel coins, the expected order of events was to create the 1913 "Buffalo" Nickel but someone (Brown, we assume), went in an made the 1913 Liberties. That had happened before. Most of the so-called 1804 Dollars were made long after the event for special friends by authorities at the Mint with access to the tools. In both cases, the Secret Service turned (and turns) a blind eye to the problem for several reasons. Why bother with five coins totaling 25 cents in face value? Also -- perhaps more to the point -- the people who own these "novodels" were and are highly placed, wealthy people with friends in the right places. About 1890 or so, the Mint and Treasury and therefore the Secret Service, took a dim view of all the patterns and such out there among collectors and made some noise or even (perhaps; we do not know) took some action, but the process stopped and things went back to normal. (3) As for the Large Cents, the matter is somewhat complicated. You have to understand what "legal tender" means. You can find it on the Bureau of Engraving and Printing website. See "Legal Tender" [url]http://www.moneyfactory.com/document.cfm/18/110[/url] It so happens that in Canada and most other nations today, coins not legal tender. Only paper money, the banknotes of the central bank, are legal tender. In the USA, all coins and banknotes are legal tender. It was not always so. If I remember correctly, even Large Cents, 3-cent, etc., were legal tender up to some small value, perhaps only one dollar. The 3-cent coins was created to facilitate public use of the Post Office. In some cases, the coins were created by Congress, but in the enabling legislation, the "legal tender" paragraph was missing. So, they were not legal tender. No one wanted to be paid 1000 half-cent coins for a $5 debt -- certainly the government did not want to accept 10s of thousands of small coins in bags for, say, import duties. All import duties had to be paid in gold coin back then. Andrew Jackson's Treasury issued the "Specie Circular" which required payment of all taxes in gold coin. It worked wonders for the Treasury and the Budget, but really irked a lot of people, as you can imagine. (3a) In the 19th and early 20th centuries, there was also a situation with the gold-to-silver price ratio in the marketplace. Initially, one (silver) dollar was equal to one (gold) dollar. That became untenable as silver and gold fluctuated in price. We had huge rushes and strikes of both metals here. When the major nations of the world went to the Gold Standard (Britain first; Germany among the last), the price of silver plummeted. Silver coins became only tokens for gold coins. (3b) Only recently -- when gold was relegalized in 1973, I think -- did Congress pass a law making all US coins "legal tender." Understanding the hows and whys is complicated because the authorities did not understand. Your nearest large library probably has a dozen or more books from the 1800s "explaining" bi-metallism. The Congressional Record from that era (especially 1873-1890) is heavy with speeches on the subject, few of which actually contain any economic truths. If you want to understand "the way it's supposed to be" I recommend HUMAN ACTION by Ludwig von Mises -- a huge book that explains market economies from a true freemarket, capitalist point of view. FRACTIONAL MONEY by Neil Carothers -- a doctoral thesis from the early 20th century, reprinted by Bowers and Merena. It provides a good history of the problems of "bi-metallism." THE US MINT AND COINAGE by Don Taxay -- a standard work for all numismatists interested in US Coinage. This is a basic history of the Mint. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF US AND COLONIAL COINAGE by Walter Breen -- _the_ standard reference for US coin numismatics. Breen, however, had his own political views and often interjected them into the text. Again, however, one of the problems you will face is that the authors themselves even when they record an accurate history from the basic public documents, sometimes (often, perhaps) do not understand the economic theory that explains the problems, which is why I recommended HUMAN ACTION.[/QUOTE]
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