In case you haven't heard, and you may not have if you've been watching the bloviators on CNN or Faux News, there is a move afoot to mint one trillion dollar coins. You heard me, that's right, one trillion dollars. (But hey, a trillion dollars is chump change compared to the quadrillions of dollars in toxic derivatives right? And by the way, whathappened to all those derivatives anyway? They dropped off the radar faster than a lead 747). Anyway, RT is reporting on this trillion dollar coin:

Obama to pay US debt with trillion-dollar coins?

Now, if you're like me, you may have smelled once again the sulfurous bankster body odor wafting over this story, clinging to it like mothball odor clings to clothes left in a closet. You may be thinking there's a vague resemblance to another story here, but can't quite place your finger on it. Well, permit me to finger the source of the odor:

"As analyst Chris Krueger from Guggenheim Securities’ Washington Research Group explains to the American Enterprise Institute, “There are limits on how much paper money the U.S. can circulate and rules that govern coinage on gold, silver and copper. BUT, the Treasury has broad discretion on coins made from platinum.” "'Although the Treasury can't just create money out of thin air to pay its bills, there is a technicality in the law that says the Treasury has special discretion to create platinum coins of any denomination, and the thinking is that [Secretary of the Treasury] Tim Geithner could make the coin and walk it over to the Federal Reserve and deposit it in the Treasury's bank account,' adds Joe Weisenthal of Business Insider. "Although the idea seems outrageous, it’s been discussed repeatedly in the media since the start of 2013, and has even been brought up by an influential member of Congress. "'It sounds silly but it's absolutely legal,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) tells New York Capital this week. "There is specific statutory authority that says that the Federal Reserve can mint any non-gold or -silver coin in any denomination, so all you do is you tell the Federal Reserve to make a platinum coin for one trillion dollars, and then you deposit it in the Treasury account, and you pay your bills.'"

Gee that's nice... but wait a minute, did I miss something? I thought it was CONGRESS that had the power to make and coin money and regulate the value thereof, and that therefore, such money would be minted under the US Treasury (and hence be debt free), and not the Federal Reserve. That's problem number one.

OK. I freely admit, I'm nitpicking. But problem number two is what intrigues me here. Suppose Congressman Nadler is correct, that there is statutory authority for the Fed to mint such a coin. Would that coin suddenly acquire interest on the short walk from the Fed to drop it into the Federal piggy bank? (Knowing the banksters, of course it would).

But the real problem here - entertaining my penchant for high octane speculation once again - is problem number three. Didn't all those supposedly counterfeit bearer bond scandals involve gold-backed bearer bonds issued not by the US Treasury but by the Federal Reserve? Could there then be a relationship between this story and the facts (1) that several countries are now wanting to audit and/or repatriate their gold from London and New York (think GERMANY and BRAZIL here folks), (2) that it appears that the amounts of gold bullion have been massively obfuscated, (3) that it also appears that whatever bullion DOES exist, has been rehypothecated many times over (4) that many gold bars upon delivery have been filled with tungsten, (5) that the bearer bonds scandals represent a possible reality, rather than being mere counterfeits as the government (and some academics) keep reminding us?

Bottom line: I suspect there's MUCH more going on with this story than meets the eye, but one thing we might conclude from this (crazy) idea: if it's being talked about quietly but openly, then it is possible that a vast system of corruption is close to being exposed.

Keep this little story in mind folks, because it is in my opinion possibly going to return to the news again, albeit in different guises.

See you on the flip side.