Are Fugio Cents legal tender?
PerryHall
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The Coinage Act of 1965 made all coins that were produced by the United States of America legal tender. This presumably included US gold coins and US Trade Dollars which had lost their legal tender status. Since Fugio Cents were authorized by the United States, are they now legal tender? Of course, since the US didn't have a mint at the time, they had to be produced by a private contractor. Obviously, this is strictly an academic question since Fugio cents are worth far more than their face value.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
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Was there a United States of America in 1787? We’re they struck before or after the Constitution took effect?
The term "United States of American" is used in the Articles of Confederation which was our first constitution adopted in 1777.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I don't think they are. They were authorized by the pre-constitutional congress and were not a product of the governing body that was created in 1787. They were issued before George Washington took office in 1789 which made the Federal Government fully functional.
Furthermore I don't think that the Continental Congress ever accepted them because they were found to be underweight and therefore "coppers" (worth whatever the market would pay for them) and not "Cents."
Edited to say - Continetal Currency, which was authorized by the same governing body, is not legal tender. Therefore Fugio Cents are also not legal tender.
I accept them !
I would say they WERE legal tender, at one time...Not any longer though....The term is defined by the most current law....JMO... Cheers, RickO
I am not sure that they ever were legal tender. The Continental Congress rejected them because they were underweight. The Congress sold them for whatever they could get for them, and the fellow who bought them ended up not being able to pay his bill and was sent to debtors' prison.
@BillJones..... OK... then they were just TENDER....
Cheers, RickO
I think the first use of "Legal Tender" was for the three cent silver coins of 1853 which had an intrinsic value well below the face value at the time of issue. It is a term that the Government uses to assure that a coin gets accepted at face value in a time where the bullion content dictated the value. Fugio cents had a "value me as you please" acceptance. There were all types of foreign coins in circulation at that time.
The mint act of 1965 made all previous coins minted by the United States legal tender. Trade dollars were the only coins previously demonetized that were re-monetized though this Act.
The Fugio cent isn't a cent and therefor not part of the currency system of the U.S. I think the dividing line for U.S. Issues vs Federation and colonial issues is the signing of the Constitution, not the Declaration of Independence.
I'll accept them in payment at face value!
I am sorry I am not a lawyer and its against the law to give legal advise unless authorized.
No.
Try me, gimme 4 zincers and a fugio and I give ya a SHINY Nickel
Steve
Ok I will take guess if I owned some would I try and use them as legal tender? No
Here are a few excerpts from a couple of newspaper articles relating to Fugio cents. There are others, usually with reference to U.S. coins as curiosities, or to a few being found during building demolition. The 1831 article implies these coins were not in common circulation at that time. Notice that the 1871 article calls them both "Franklin" and "Fugio" cents, although "Franklin" is in quotes - likely as the preferred name.
@EagleEye Do you think the Mint Act of 1965 made patterns legal tender?
The Fugio cents were not legal tender when issued nor were minor United States
coins until 1864. The gold and silver coins issued from 1792 were legal tender as
were certain foreign coins until 1857.
It is worth noting that Mint Director R.M. Patterson tried in late 1836 to persuade
Congress to make cents and half cents legal tender for a limited amount but did
not succeed.
The question of the Fugio cent is further muddled by noting that some laws of the
Confederation remained in force under the new Federal government, others did
not. The Fugio coinage being something for which the Confederation was liable
may have meant that the applicable law remained in force, even if technically a
dead letter.
Since I have nothing to add to the discussion, I still think this thread needs pictures to enhance the topic under consideration! Here's mine:
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
A bunch of currency dealers have told me that Colonial currency and Continentals should be redeemable, though I don't know on what basis as the governments behind them didn't seem to want to honor them fully in the late 1770s and 1780s.
Excellent point.
None of this is in dispute. The Coinage Act of 1965 made all coins produced by the United States of America legal tender. The Articles of Confederation was our nations first constitution. All information that I found confirms this fact. The wording in the Articles of Confederation refers to this country as "The United States of America". A simple web search will find this document and you can read it and see that this is true. The government of the United States of America under our first constitution called The Articles of Confederation produced the Fugio Cents using a private contractor. Based on these facts one could reasonably conclude that Fugio Cents became legal tender in 1965 with the passage of the Coinage Act of 1965. Of course this is a purely academic discussion since these coins are worth far more than their face value.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Then you must also agree that George Washington is not the 1st President of the United States.
The USA as a political entity has to date itself from the Constitution not the failed Articles of Confederation. There's also the unfortunate fact that the Articles were in place before Cornwallis surrendered.
George Washington was the first President under the new Constitution. There were other presidents of the United States of America under the Articles of Confederation. This country existed before the 1787 ratification of the new constitution and to say otherwise is just plain wrong.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I think the coin answered the question. It says right on it, "We are one."
OK, and I know some smart aleck is going to come right back and tell me to "Mind your own business."
I have not posted this one for a while. A Club Rays piece.