The United States Constitution states, in Article I, Section 10, “No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.”

When was the last time your state followed this? For most living humans – never. In recent years, though, a number of states have seen Constitutional Tender Acts introduced with the goal of righting this wrong. Passage would nullify federal legal tender laws that prevent states from abiding by Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution.

In the 2011 legislative session, Georgia will consider House Bill 3 (HB3), which states, in part:

The General Assembly finds that, as mandated by Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution, the state shall not “make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” Federal Reserve Accounting Unit Dollars, having no redeeming value in gold or silver coin, shall not be made a tender in payment of debts by the state.

and further:

silver coins, silver eagles, and gold eagles shall be the exclusive medium which the state shall use to make any payments whatsoever to any person or entity, whether private or governmental. Such coins shall be the exclusive medium which the state shall accept from any person or entity as payment of any obligation to the state including, without limitation, the payment of taxes; provided, however, that such coins and other forms of currency may be used in all other transactions within the state upon mutual consent of the parties of any such transaction

The result? Bill Greene sums it up best in a recent Tenth Amendment Center op-ed:

Over time, as residents of the State use both Federal Reserve Notes and silver and gold coins, the fact that the coins hold their value more than Federal Reserve Notes do will lead to a “reverse Gresham’s Law” effect, where good money (gold and silver coins) will drive out bad money (Federal Reserve Notes). As this happens, a cascade of events can begin to occur, including the flow of real wealth toward the State’s treasury, an influx of banking business from outside of the State (as citizens residing in other States carry out their desire to bank with sound money), and an eventual outcry against the use of Federal Reserve Notes for any transactions.

You can download the Constitutional Tender Act template here:

http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/legislation/constitutional-tender/

Track Constitutional Tender legislation in the states at this link:

http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/nullification/constitutional-tender/

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“The Central Bank is an institution of the most deadly hostility existing against the Principles and form of our Constitution. I am an enemy to all banks discounting bills or notes for anything but coin. If the American people allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation the banks and corporations that grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property, until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered.”

-–Thomas Jefferson