We take paper "money" for granted, even to the point where we prefer to NOT use cash, but plastic. Back in the late 19th century, paper was never considered to be money. Money came in ONE form, that was precious metal.
If it isn't a precious metal, it isn't money. Period. No matter how much society changes, technology changes, economy changes, this simple truth never changes. If it isn't a precious metal, it isn't money.
Again, if it isn't a precious metal, it isn't money.
You could call the paper a "certificate" or "currency" or a "note", tradable for goods and services as the market would bear. If people trade with this paper, then it's fine for commerce.
But it's still not money.
To convince people to use paper in place of silver or gold, the United States issued "Silver Certificates" which represented silver dollars that have been deposited in the United States Treasury.
THIS CERTIFIES THAT THERE HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES, FIVE SILVER DOLLARS, PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND.
In case the holder doubted the legitimacy of this claim, there is an image of FIVE silver dollars on the greenback of the certificate. Yes, at any time the holder of this certificate could be paid five silver dollars on demand in exchange for this note.
In order to assure holders that this paper is just as valuable as the claim, very fancy script and language is used to ADVERTISE the authenticity of the certificate.
THIS CERTIFIES THAT THERE HAS BEEN DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ONE SILVER DOLLAR, PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND.
As time moves on to the great "new society" movement, the design and verbage of the "silver certificate" begins to change. It still reads:
THIS CERTIFIES THAT THERE HAS BEEN DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ONE SILVER DOLLAR, PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND.
But something new was added...
THIS CERTIFICATE IS RECEIVABLE FOR ALL PUBLIC DUES AND WHEN SO RECEIVED MAY BE REISSUED.
This is where the scam began.
You can't reissue a certificate after the bearer has received their due!!!
The way a certificate is supposed to work is when the bearer demands payment (one silver dollar) and receives payment (one silver dollar), the certificate must be DESTROYED. Because it is not money, but a certificate for money (one silver dollar) that is in the US treasury. Once the money is removed from the tresury, paid to the bearer, the certificate has no backing and must be DESTROYED.
The certificate itself is NOT money (one silver dollar), but the bearer will be paid in money (one silver dollar).
This silver dollar is money, the paper certificate is NOT money, but grants payment in money.
A "Silver Certificate" cannot be "Reissued" unless ANOTHER silver dollar is deposited in the US Treasury to back it. But the statement doesn't say that another silver dollar has been added to the Treasury of the United States to cover the reissued certificate. It simply says "THIS CERTIFICATE... MAY BE REISSUED."
That would be like the electric company receiving payment from an electric bill, then the electric company reissuing their electric bill again expecting payment for the same bill... again!
It's like writing a good check, then duplicating the check over and over receiving payment for each one, when there is only enough money to cover the first check. As long as none of the check holders actually CASH the check, they all assume each one is "good as gold".
In the same way, as long as nobody actually DEMANDS Payment of their Silver Dollar(s), everyone assumes it's worth what it says it's worth!
Today, we have Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) in the form of silver and gold, allegedly at a 1:1 ratio to physical silver stored in a vault somewhere.
Somewhere, trust us. Very secure. Very real.
Sometimes we get a low quality photo of pallets of silver bars... trust us. See? All backed with real silver.
(Like US elections)
It's a widely known secret that the amount of ETF ounces outnumber physical silver many times over. Similar to the scam elections in the US, just as there are more votes than registered voters, there are more ETF's than known physical silver in the world. And just like scam elections in the US, rarely (until now) has there ever been an audit of the physical silver in the vaults. Because we are simply supposed to trust people in positions of authority.
Once "Silver Certificates" may be "Reissued", it allowed a single certificate to be payable multiple times without any new silver dollar deposits. Yes, ONE SILVER DOLLAR could be claimed an unlimited number of times. How can this work? The only way it works is if people do NOT demand payment in silver. Otherwise... it can't.
How does the banking system prevent people from demanding payment in silver? Remove silver from the minds of the people as a valuable asset.
Make the paper more desirable. (Just like Electronic Funds are more desirable today)
So to discourage bearers from actually demanding payment in the form of ONE SILVER DOLLAR, the images and language change yet again.
Now the dollar is looking like a dollar... sort of.
THIS CERTIFIES THAT THERE IS ON DEPOSIT IN THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ONE DOLLAR IN SILVER PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND.
They added a nice loophole: no longer a SILVER DOLLAR coin, but ONE DOLLAR "in silver". That means that if the bearer demanded payment in silver, pellets would be weighed in equivalent to "one dollar" and given to the bearer.
Who wants silver pellets? Can't use that at the grocery store!
(Because we said so.)
In addition to the new language, we have another little message added to the certificate:
THIS CERTIFICATE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
Ut oh. At the point that these "silver" certificates were used as "legal tender for debts" it became unconstitutional. Just because a certificate could be payed in silver (not even coin) on demand, does not mean it actually IS silver!
US Constitution: Article I Section 10 Clause 1
No State shall... make anything but (except) gold and SILVER COIN a (legal) Tender in Payment of Debts.
You don't have to be a constitutional lawyer to understand that this piece of paper "certificate" is something other than silver coin. Doesn't matter if it can be payable in silver on demand - only (gold and) silver coin are legal tender in payment of debts... according to the constitution of the United States of America.
But whatever. Let's start printing toilet paper and call it "money", saying it's redeemable in "lawful money". Hmmm. This certificate is legal.
Then there was the attempt at creating a "national currency" fake money.
Once "silver certificates" became acceptable in trade as if it were "money", banks began issuing a new layer of distance: National Currency. This "currency" is secured with dollars. It reads:
NATIONAL CURRENCY SECURED BY UNITED STATES BONDS DEPOSITED WITH THE TREASURER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE [BANK NAME HERE] WILL PAY TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND FIVE DOLLARS.
This is nothing more than a promissory note, that this fake money can be used to demand five dollars of "lawful money".
REDEEMABLE IN LAWFUL MONEY OF THE UNITED STATES AT UNITED STATES TREASURY OR AT THE BANK OF ISSUE
So it is not explicitly stated what "FIVE DOLLARS" actually is, except payment will be made in "lawful money". Constitutionally speaking, lawful money can only be gold and silver coin. Anything else is not lawful money.
But, laws come and go. When going into the toilet paper business, you begin by printing paper (National Currency) that allows the bearer to be paid on demand in paper (Silver Certificates), which then would allow the bearer to be paid in silver pellets... which is still not silver coin. We are already three steps away from actual money.
All this hassle, demanding a money (silver) payment from paper, or from paper to paper. Silver Certificate are already generally accepted as Legal Tender... but does it really HAVE to be a certificate? Or United States Currency?
Maybe something new... like a NOTE? A FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE. Like a memo.
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL PAY TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND FIVE DOLLARS
So the "Federal Reserve" Act of 1913 authorized this new form of "money" called a "FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE". No clear explanation of how this NOTE functions. It's not a certificate. It's not National Currency. It's a Federal Reserve Note.
We have to read the fine print, all caps, crammed at the bottom of the back of the NOTE. Who bothers to read this stuff? We do. Here we go.
THIS NOTE IS RECEIVABLE BY ALL NATIONAL AND MEMBER BANKS AND FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS AND FOR ALL TAXES CUSTOMS AND OTHER PUBLIC DUES, IT IS REDEEMABLE IN GOLD ON DEMAND AT THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OR IN GOLD OR LAWFUL MONEY AT ANY FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.
Wow, are we looking at a gold standard here? Well.... no not really. The only way to sell the Federal Reserve Act is to state that the Federal Reserve Notes are redeemable for something, why not gold? Fort Knox was full at the time, and who is going to take their horses all the way to the District of Columbia and knock on the door of the Federal Reserve Bank? Who exactly do you talk to to demand your gold?
It's not like they have convenient bank tellers there.
Redeemable for gold was simply a selling point, banksters tricking the public and government that their "NOTE" is redeemable for GOLD (read "lawful money"). But these are not Gold Certificates, they were IOU's.
Pieces of paper (a NOTE) that say, "we owe you $1 in gold". Good luck trying to actually aquire the gold... might as well just trust us and believe this is actual money worth $1.
It wasn't long before the wording was conveniently modified and "gold" was removed, leaving only "REDEEMABLE IN LAWFUL MONEY" which could be left up to interpretation. If you could redeem FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES for "lawful money", doesn't that mean FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES are NOT "lawful money"?
We have been tricked into believing that this NOTE is "money", lawful or otherwise. Anything accepted by business as payment, could be considered "money" or "legal tender".
Is U.S. currency still backed by gold? Federal Reserve notes are not redeemable in gold, silver, or any other commodity. Federal Reserve notes have not been redeemable in gold since January 30, 1934, when the Congress amended Section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act to read: "The said [Federal Reserve] notes shall be obligations of the United States….They shall be redeemed in lawful money on demand at the Treasury Department of the United States, in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, or at any Federal Reserve bank." Federal Reserve notes have not been redeemable in silver since the 1960s. The Congress has specified that Federal Reserve Banks must hold collateral equal in value to the Federal Reserve notes that the Federal Reserve Bank puts in to circulation. This collateral is chiefly held in the form of U.S. Treasury, federal agency, and government-sponsored enterprise securities. Source
So are they saying that since Federal Reserve Notes are no longer redeemable for gold or any other commodity, the only thing Federal Reserve Notes can be redeemed for is "collateral" held by the Federal Reserve Bank? Is this "collateral" the "lawful money" that is payable to the bearer on demand? How is "collateral" considered "lawful money"? How is that "redeemable"? What is this "collateral"? How do I trade my FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE for it?
THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, AND IS REDEEMABLE IN LAWFUL MONEY AT THE UNITED STATES TREASURY, OR AT ANY FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.
What is "lawful money" again? Oh yeah, Gold and Silver Coin.
US Constitution: Article I Section 10 Clause 1
No State shall… make anything but (except) gold and SILVER COIN a (legal) Tender in Payment of Debts.
Hmmm, being liable to pay the bearer on demand, is sort of inconvenient. But wait, the bankers have and IDEA!!!
Let's scratch all the "redeemable" and "lawful money" junk, and let's just call this NOTE "Legal Tender" and call it a day.
THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
Simply put, we have declared this paper to be worth a dollar. Nothing backing it. No promises. No "Payable to the Bearer on Demand". No more "Redeemable for Lawful Money." By the authority vested in the Federal Reserve Bank by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, it has been declared that this NOTE is legal tender (don't read the constitution) for all debts, public and private.
THIS NOTE. This Federal Reserve Note.
By Fiat Decree.
We have read how the promises of "Silver Certificates". They were extravagant, with elegant script, images of silver dollars, and assurances that the bearer of the certificate would be paid in (physical) SILVER DOLLAR coins (lawful money). The public was assured that a DEPOSIT was made in the Treasury of the United States of America backing THIS (paper) certificate. People visited their local banks and traded their paper "money" for real money: Silver Dollar Coins.
Then came the OVERPROMISE. Yes one initial Silver Dollar deposit was made in the treasury... but then it was allowed for the certificate to be reissued over and over. There is no longer enough silver dollars to cover every certificate. But nevermind that, the bearer of THIS certificate will receive silver dollars (Lawful money) on demand. But not everyone. This is the definition of a Ponzi Scheme.
Then came damage control. Banks began doing everything they could to discourage people from demanding silver dollar payment from their certificates. So they convinced the people that paper is much easier to use in transactions and besides, anyone could demand their silver whenever they wanted. But why bother? This mostly worked as money bags became replaced with paper wallets. This prolonged the Ponzi for years.
Then came an alternative, "National Currency" from local banks, adding one more layer away from the actual "lawful money" of silver dollar coins, but leaving the language more ambiguous for an ignorant population. Each bank would be responsible at a local level to convince the population to trade the "National Currency" instead of demanding payment. Because they didn't have the resources to pay everyone in their ponzi scheme.
Eventually, they had to dismantle and rebuild the ponzi scheme with the Federal Reserve Act and new "Federal Reserve Notes". Initially promising payment in gold, it later became payment in "lawful money" and eventually becoming what we know today, no redemption, no payment, bearers could never demand anything holding these NOTES.
Finally today we see the "war on cash", convincing people to rely on numbers on a computer as their wealth, moving the people even further away from "lawful money" of gold or silver coin. Consumers and businesses prefer plastic over paper and someday something even further removed.
What's funny is that this whole time, we can "buy" lawful money (gold or silver coin) using unlawful NOTES, simply because people are more likely to accept transactions with the unlawful NOTES than the lawful money!
It still doesn't change what actual MONEY is and has always been. Gold and silver by weight.
As people in the United States have become accustom to this current form of "money" the language has gotten less and less until it's nothing but "This Note is Legal..."
That's it. Nothing more. Trust us, it's legal. No lawyers are going to go after you for using it (not yet anyway), it's not an underground trade unit (certainly not after it fulfills it's destiny of being used as toilet paper), it says right on the paper: THIS NOTE IS LEGAL.
I think the back of the $1 FED NOTE tells us everything we need to know.
This was a long one for me, I hope my readers have either learned something new or confirmed all their biases (which is OK as long as their bias is TRUTH).
I enjoy your comments and appreciate an upvote (I normally NEVER ASK) and a re-hive to help spread the word about the PAPER SCAM we deal with every day.
Sadly, the "legal tender" will become tender for our fireplaces once the final correction happen. It's called hyper-inflation and I pray we NEVER experience it.
