Is it legal to make your own currency?

corwynwulfhund

Ever heard of Disney money? Monopoly money? You can make it, just so long as it doesn't resemble official money from any country. That doesn't mean that it will be accepted because it is not legal tender. You can try using your whatchamacallit, or an apple, or a dirt clod, or a bar of gold. That doesn't mean that they will accept it (they may take the bar of gold...lol).

The value of anything is what it can be traded for. This includes legal tender, though that tends to be a bit more standardized.

ruth

I don' t have a link to solid answer, but I am supposing that in US, since the Fed has pre-empted the issue by issuing its own currency, I would suggest that you would only be able to issue your own "non-legal tender," such as businesses might use as coupons, etc.

Oh, and there has not been actual gold or silver backing US money for quite a few years now (it's the literal cause of inflation).

Thanks, Pam, but don't forget, folks, bartering is still to be considered as income for tax purposes!

aflownes

well okay this is kinda tricky. Yes you can make your own currency, but you have to have in place people who will accept it, kinda like the pepsi or coke caps you redeem to get a free coke some will take it others wont.

Jack S

Yeah you can. But the only reason why USD is worth anything is because the US Gov. says it is. If one were to make money more than likely its not going to be worth much b/c other ppl wouldnt care what you say its worth.

Tom W

Everyone thinks this means making U.S. Currency but the question is can you make a currency that has value and can be used to buy goods? Yeah, coupons are like currency in that you can use them to purchase items. Precious metals are like currency in that you can trade them in for U.S. or any other country. Coal mines used to pay in company currency that could only be used at company stores and it was a way of controlling the work force and keep them in debt. I don't think you can make a standard currency and distribute it to everyone to use in place of regular money. No one would take it anyhow.

Pam

The constitution:

Article I, Section 8, Clause 5. The Congress shall have Powerâ€¦To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures.

You are certainly free to barter your goods for other services. If you're a mechanic, you can fix someone's car if they install your toilet for you, for example. Bartaring is legal.

cherox

Yes you can make your own currency provided you do not pass it of as the regular currency. In your example, you are using your currency instead of the dollar. That is within the purview of counterfeiting.

Instead of buying with it, make a deal or barter or exchange. You can use anything for exchange or barter.

crossstitchkelly

The key words are, "if they accept it." If they realize that it's not legal tender (put out by the government), but they accept it in change, it would be the same as bartering--I'll take this in exchange for that.

chris42050

No Purlce you are wrong. The United States along with most of the world WAS on the Gold Standard. We have since dissolved the gold standard. Money is no longer associated with gold in that way. Look it up.

Love always, Kortnei

You can make your own currency as long as ur not duplicating legal tender...but I doubt many people would accept your currency

bluffmike

Your watchumacallit has to be redeemable for goods and services. The last time I heard of people making their own script was to get around some IRS bartering laws.

dukalink6000

Trick question.

You obviously cannot print your own currency that looks like US money.

If you wish to engage in a barter system, or make your own money, as long as they are willing to agree to it, it is OK.

ther was a man who made his money as artwork and used it as barter, but it was a tough sell. (I saw this on TV, but I can't remeember where)

2eighty8

You probably can, but it won't be worth any more than the piece of paper it's printed on.

d2pain

I dont know for sure but if you try to use it, you'll see a boat load of secret service agents at your door

boykin0308

It is legal but you have to pay taxes on it.

kapute2

it's called counterfeiting, the reason the secret service exists is to arrest those guys

nbr660

Keep dreamin'

Heather

hmm..I've not heard of this....doesn't seem quite right to me, otherwise I think someone would have done it b4 now...

purelce

I just had this discussion with my boyfriend.

No, you can't make your own currency because the american currency has gold behind every penny, nickel, dime, quarter and dollar.

If anybody could make their own money, don't you think we'd all do it? If we could do that we wouldn't have anybody poor, and everyone would be richer then crap.

You have to have something behind a currency to create it. That's why the US is so rich, because we were the land of gold. Gold is the standard currency, but we print money instead of using the gold.

Sammmy

Well as far as currency used in stores, I work for a major department store chain (the largest) and as rewards they give out their in store currency that we can use to purchase items in the store. Each one is worth 1 US Dollar. Legal or not, I dont know but we do it.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: