The Washington herald., 1910-02-14
MONEY THAT'S LEGAL TENDER.
Paying Debts with Certificates.
GFeenbacks and Foreign Coin.


From the Chicago Tribune.
Ofi1cially, there are Just ten kinds Of
money in circulation in the United States.
Do you know which OF those are legal
tender and in what amount? II may be
that 'all money looks alike to YOU" but
there's a difference. and below is the list:
Gold coins, standard silver dollars, sub
sidiary silver. gold certificates, silver GER
tifcates, treasury notes 1880, United
States notes (gTeenbacks). national bank
notes, nickel coins, and bronze coins
Looking upon the formidable classified
ton Of United States money as made
by the Treasury Department. il becomes
more formidable when it is considered
from the highly technical point Of view
as legal tender. Some Of the most i'm
posing of this paper currency is not a
legal tender at all. while as 10 the minor
coins they are legal tender in such small
amounts as 10 startle the average lay
man. II may be well to recall TO this
layman that the term legal tender" owes
its significance 10 the fact that in pay
ment Of debt or obligation Of any kind
1t can be forced upon the creditor in
full Of all demands"
Gold certificates. silver certificates. and
national bank notes. Of which such enor-
nous numbers circulate everywhere. are
not legal tender. II you have plenty OF
money, and If you have forced Jones 10
sue you in order 10 get judgment. Jones
can turn down every one Of these bills
rendered In payment and force you TO dig
up something better.
Should Jones do such a thing. you
might conceive the idea Of fixing him by
unloading a whole lot Of silver coins
upon him. But you want 10 know what
yoE're doing there, too. for he'll take only
$40 worth Of halves, quarters, and dimes.
while as to nickels and copper cents, only
. cents value is legal tender.
But as 10 the standard silver dollar
there's no limit upon your shoyeling them
out to Jones. This old dollar Of our
dads still is the real thing in all bust
ness transactions unless some clause IN
a contract has provided otherwise. Jones
may refuse the silver certificate. but when
you dig up the metal dollar. they 90 un-
questioned al their face value And 1000
Of them weigh 5sg2 pounds
Treasury notes Of the act Of 1890 are
legal tender TO their face value in pay
ment of all debts. public and private. IN
less expressly stipulated in. the contract
Strictly speaking, the United States
notes or greenbacks are legal tender,
with the exception Of duties on imports
and interest on the public debt. Prac-
tically, however, since the resumption Of
specie payment in 1879, greenbacks have
been received freely and without ques-
ton by the government though the law
respecting them hasn't been changed.
While the gold and silver certificates
are not legal tender as between lndi-
viduals, both issues are receivable FOR all
government dues Of whatever kind. in this
respect legally more acceptable than is
the greenback.
National bank notes. while not legal
tender and not receivable for duties on
imports. still may be paid by the govern
ment for salaries and al debts Of the
government except interest dues and in
redemption Of the national currency.
BY special enactment no foreign coin
Of any kind o. denomination shall be a
legal tender in the United States, so that
4 some time the street car conductor
does baik ~ the chance Canadian dime
fshed from your pocket. keep cool and
dig for something that is United States.