Congress' Responsibility to Regulate the Value of Coin
{"Image DocumentName": "Congress\u2019 Responsibility to Regulate the Value of Coin", "Image ImageDescription": "Key: 1 troy oz = 480 grains 1 troy oz = grams 1 troy oz = oz. 1 Cent (46.3 grains of Copper) X 100 = (4,630 grains of Copper) 1 Dollar ( grains Silver) 10 Dollar (247.5 grains Gold) 1 Dollar ( grains Silver) X 10 = (3,712.5 grains of Silver) By empowering Congress To coin Money, [and] regulate the Value thereof , Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States, guarantees a national system of coinage with uniform intrinsic value. By explicitly referring to dollars , in Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 and the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, fixed the silver minted dollar coin as the monetary-unit by which Congress must regulate the Value of all other coinage too. On their face, the monetary powers and disabilities set out in the Constitution are eminently suitable for these goals: By denying the States any power to emit Bills of Credit or coin Money , Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 eradicates the fallacious Medium of regional paper currencies and eliminates multiple systems of coinage throughout the country. The Clause also limits the States\u2019 legal-tender power to gold and silver Coin , thereby establishing specie as the sole constitutional medium for governmentally enforced Payment of Debts . By empowering Congress To coin Money, [and] regulate the Value thereof , Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 creates a national system of coinage with uniform intrinsic value. By explicitly referring to dollars , Article I, Section 9, Clause 1 and the Seventh Amendment fix the silver Spanish milled dollar as the money-unit by which Congress should regulate the Value of all other coinage. By not including the language emit bills that the Articles of Confederation contained, Article I, Section 8, Clause 2 disables Congress from issuing any paper currency. And by limiting Congress\u2019s power to punish counterfeiting to Securities and current Coin , Article I, Section 8, Clause 6 confirms that Congress may coin Money itself, or raise Money by borrow[ing] , but not emit , issue , create , make , or declare what shall be Money in any other way. Thus, the word dollar[s] by its use in the Constitution of the United States has a fixed meaning that can only be changed by Constitutional Amendment. And that meaning is a minted coin containing at least 371 \u00bc grains of .99 fine silver. Congress\u2019s responsibility is to regulate the value of coins made of other metals, such as a penny made with copper or a nickel made of nickel, relative to the weight of the one-dollar silver coin. Congress has the responsibility to regulate the value of all minted coins to the fixed pure metal Dollar standard. 157.", "Image XResolution": "37", "Image YResolution": "37", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "SlidePlayer", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}