By now you've probably heard the Treasury say they will not be minting a $1 trillion coin to help the U.S. avoid the debt ceiling.

But the federal government exploiting obscure loopholes under moments of extreme duress is not without precedent.

At the beginning of 1895, the country was facing default after its gold reserves evaporated.

But through some legal archaeology JP Morgan located an obscure, Civil War-era statute that would allow he and some fellow international financiers to replenish the Treasury's gold stocks.

The country was saved.

With the help of Bancroft Prize-winner Jean Strouse's biography "Morgan," we retell the story.

(Thanks to John Steele Gordon for helping us track down the anecdote).