Accept $1 Coins? Call Supervisor!

Well, now they know.

Pertinax,

Actually, from what I've been told, no it is not. A store may choose what they want to accept as payment. Most places don't care as long as they're making money though.

Contrary to urban myth. Cash presented in whatever form, a $100 bill or cents does not HAVE to be accepted for payment. It is just LEGAL tender. A proprietor of a business can refuse any form of cash as payment. I know this because I researched into a dispute a disgruntled person had with a business owner I was friends with. The customer insisted he take payment for a $100 item in pennies...yes $100 worth of pennies and the customer angrily said that he HAD to take the coins as payment. He refused and the customer intoned he would sue him as he violated law. In consult with legal council the attorney determined the business owner has the legal right to refuse payment in any form they deem unreasonable. Is it legal tender yes, do you HAVE to take it, no

You don't have to accept it, true. However, such policies are supposed to be stated up front depending on the type of business, otherwise the business *can* be held liable in some circumstances.

I've only been looked at funny for dollar coins *once* and when I went over the math (of how a $1 bill costs $2 to keep in circulation the same amount of time a $1 coin does -- which is manufactured for about 20¢ -- and that the coins are recyclable where bills are pulped and thrown in landfills) they became a *lot* more accepting of them in general.

Education is key.

"Legal tender" traditionally in the United States' definition of the term means you can pay taxes to the government with it. In fact, the first "legal tender" notes issued during the Civil War specifically said you could use them to pay all taxes and duties EXCEPT for import/export duties, which had to be in specie payments.


Now, there's an interesting exception with FRNs: they are legal tender for all DEBTS, public and private. So a business would have to take legal tender as payment for a debt (in other words, an obligation from a previous contracted good or service, or a loan), but NOT for upfront payment. This creates an arguably interesting situation where McDonalds does not have to take your cents and nickels for 5 big mac that you buy before eating them, but a "sit down" restaurant WOULD have to take $50 worth of cents for a steak dinner they served you before you tendered payment.


SO: can I pay my taxes at the IRS office with 600,000 unrolled pennies? Probably. Can I pay the local Ford dealer in nickels for a $20,000 car? Nope.

Of course the real world is not so tidy.

Kevin.

This reminds me of Watters World on Bill O'Reilly. Regardless if you like O'Reilly or not it's sad to see the answers some people have for what I feel should have been learned in high school, or from watching the news once in a blue moon.

Jay Leno used to do a similar bit. But keep in mind it is edited for entertainment and they certainly make sure to show you the worst answers only. There was a bit they did on Jon Stewart where they tried to do the opposite and it actually took them a while to find someone who didn't know the answers. Of course that may have been edited too.

Next time, bring in $2 notes. I absolutely LOVE spending them, it's a conversation piece every single time. They really great for restaurant tips, the servers really think they got some special!