Silver Eagles, Are They Coins?

I don't take your word or Wikipedia How about an opinion from the Tressury department?



Legal Tender: A Definition
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31 USC § 5103. Legal Tender

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. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.

However, there is no Federal statute which mandates that private businesses must accept cash as a form of payment. 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.

http://www.bep.treas.gov/document.cfm/18/110

That should be the final word on it, but to make it simple: if a store does not want to take your cash, then you take your business elsewhere!

If it is a debt, then they have to take your cash or they will lose claim to that debt (unless you agreed beforehand to pay them some other way; a contract is still a contract).

Absolutely correct! However, if the business does accept U.S. coins and currency as payment, then they will have to take your American Silver Eagle, $2 bill, Eisenhower dollar, etc. etc.

Since 7-11 accepts legal tender of $20 or less as payment, they have to accept any and all legal tender of $20 and below, including the example A.S.E. (which is $1 in legal tender value).
So what I said about 7-11 is still correct, but yes if a business does not accept cash at all, and the goods or services have not already been provided before payment (causing a debt, legally speaking), they can refuse the A.S.E.

More specifically, almost all 'retail' businesses accept $20 Notes as payment for goods and services. Therefore, this obligates them to accept any legal tender in denominations of $20 or less. They cannot claim "invitation to treat" to refuse a denomination size that's smaller than one that they accept!

If Conder101 or anyone else is aware of any brick-and-mortar retail businesses (where a human being tenders your transaction) that completely refuse to accept cash as payment, please post here about them! I'm sure that in a country as big as the United States, that there would be a few such businesses to be found....

When you pay cash for every purchase, you become more aware of the implications of 'legal tender'. Last month, a cashier at a computer store did not want to take my Presidential dollar and called the manager. Of course, the manager made him take it, saying "it is legal tender". The real reason why they had to take it as payment is stated above. This store accepts cash (including $100 bills, in their case), therefore they have to take any legal tender U.S. coins and currency in denominations of $100 and below.

My favorite take-out pizza place has a sign posted that they do not take $100 Bills. Since you do not get the pizza until after you pay for it, if all you have is a $100 bill, no pizza for you! (until you drive to the nearby grocery store and have them change your bill for five $20's) However, they have had people pay for pizzas entirely with 26.5mm Dollar coins and clad JFK Half-Dollars, at which point they're glad to see "DNA" come in because they know that he'll gladly take those as change... ...and NO, I don't pay for pizza with those....

ASE's are government-issued silver "rounds" who's bullion value has no bearing on the stamped denomination. An NCLT - meaning not intended for circulation.

The legal tender value of American Eagle coins is the government's guarantee to the purchaser that the coin will be worth at least its face value as U.S. legal tender, even if the precious metal it is made out of became worth less than the face value. Non-legal-tender silver rounds have no minimum guarantee of value other than the metal that they are made out of. The coin has a government-guaranteed legal tender value, and the round does not. (That's the difference between a bullion coin and a bullion round, stated right there in 14 words)

Suppose some brilliant scientist invents a way to fabricate silver from low cost materials for 25¢ a troy ounce? Then, all the standard non-legal tender one ounce silver rounds in the world would be worth 25¢, and legal tender one-ounce silver bullion coins would still be worth their face value in their country of origin.

As I stated on another post a while ago, if this ever happened, cash drawers across the U.S. would be breaking from the weight of the sudden influx of spent A.S.E.'s, and a similar situation in Canada with the Maple Leafs, etc.

You might dismiss the idea of low-cost fabricated gold and silver as being 'impossible' (the alchemists' dream for the past 2000 years), but 100 years ago many people would have thought that the underlying technology that we use to communicate on this very forum was 'impossible'!



You could say the exact same thing about pre-1965 90% silver Dimes, Quarters, Half-Dollars and Dollars. They are frequently sold as "junk silver" bullion!

Since there is no law mandating its acceptance the business could made such a decision on a case by case basis. The fact that they had accepted cash previously has no bearing on the matter UNLESS they have a sign posted that they accept cash or legal tender.

As for being owed a debt and then refusing legal tender, that does not wipe out the debt, you still owe it, but since you have made what is in the eyes of the law a legal attempt to settle the debt, they can not sue you for non-payment or add on interest or penalties.

A coin is a coin is a coin. What should the goverment change the ASE coin to? Medal, Token? It's already a coin so I don't see why to argue about it.

Accepted cash doesn't have anything to do with it being a coin.

Legal tender doesn't have anything to do with it being a coin.

A coin is a coin!

I worded it that way because such a sign could say "We accept Cash" or it could say "We accept legal tender". And they would then have to accept it. I did not mean to imply a sign that said "We accept cash or legal tender". My fault for not being clear.