Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 9, 2010

For as long as governments have issued currency, rulers have debased it.

One common method was coin-clipping ? that is, snipping of pieces from coins that pass through a ruler?s hands, thereby accumulating precious metal that could be minted into more coins, thus inflating the money supply at the expense of the public and to be benefit of the ruler and his cronies.

Another method of debasement is to reduce the precious metal content of coins. Since 1970, U.S. coins have been devoid of precious metal.

As the inflated dollar continues to lose its purchasing power, minting coins from copper and nickel has become cost-ineffective: It costs 1.62 cents to mint a penny, and roughly six cents to mint a nickel.

Accordingly, Congress is preparing to surrender its constitutional authority to coin money to the Treasury Department, which will probably be driven to manufacture coins out of entirely worthless junk metal. Of course, this would be the perfect complement to the government?s intrinsically worthless Federal Reserve Notes.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.