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Legal Tender == Government Issued Money in Jurisdiction Legal Tender != Money

by nickff 11y ago

Turing_Machine 11y ago
"Legal Tender == Government Issued Money in Jurisdiction" No. Legal Tender == "Anything that the government requires to be accepted in payment of debts" There's a lot of overlap between that and money issued by that specific government, but they are not the same thing. For instance, Spanish milled dollars ("pieces of eight") were legal tender in the United States until 1857. Your definition of "money" appears to be "anything of value" but that makes the term "money" meaningless. Money is stuff that accepted by everyone (or almost everyone) as payment for goods, services, and debts. Bitcoin is far from that.
- nickff 11y ago
  >"There's a lot of overlap between that and money issued by that specific government, but they are not the same thing. For instance, Spanish milled dollars ("pieces of eight") were legal tender in the United States until 1857." You might notice that I am addressing current phenomena. gold and silver were once legal tender, as were clay tablets in various jurisdictions. For all practical purposes, governments currently only use money they control and issue as legal tender (though there are exceptions suchas Zimbabwe). >"Your definition of "money" appears to be "anything of value" but that makes the term "money" meaningless." This is not true. You can see the comments above and below where I specifically stated the criteria for a thing being money are that it is a "medium of exchange". I would not describe steel as a medium of exchange, but bitcoin definitely seems to be. >"Money is stuff that accepted by everyone (or almost everyone) as payment for goods, services, and debts." If this is your requirement, then why are currencies used in foreign countries by very small populations considered currency in the USA? There are probably more people using bitcoin in the USA (or the world for that matter) than there are people using Cuban, Chilean, Kazakhstan, or Israeli-issued currency.
protomyth 11y ago
For the purpose of a government ruling, the definition of money and legal tender are the same.
- icebraining 11y ago
  Well, no, because foreign currency is considered money but not legal tender (eg. EUR in the US).
- DanBC 11y ago
  Legal tender is what you're allowed to use to pay a debt. If you offer legal tender and they decline it you can consider the debt paid. In the United States all coins and notes of federal reserve banks are legal tender. In the UK some coins are only legal tender for small amounts. http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/... http://www.royalmint.com/help/help/legal-tender-amounts http://www.royalmint.com/help/help/legal-tender-amounts http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/policies-and-guidelines/legal-tender-guidelines http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/policies-and-guidelines/leg... Scottish bank notes are currency but are not legal tender anywhere in the UK, even in Scotland.

Legal Tender == Government Issued Money in Jurisdiction Legal Tender != Money

by nickff 11y ago

Legal Tender == Government Issued Money in Jurisdiction Legal Tender != Money

"Legal Tender == Government Issued Money in Jurisdiction" No. Legal Tender == "Anything that the government requires to be accepted in payment of debts" There's a lot of overlap between that and money issued by that specific government, but they are not the same thing. For instance, Spanish milled dollars ("pieces of eight") were legal tender in the United States until 1857. Your definition of "money" appears to be "anything of value" but that makes the term "money" meaningless. Money is stuff that accepted by everyone (or almost everyone) as payment for goods, services, and debts. Bitcoin is far from that.

nickff 11y ago
>"There's a lot of overlap between that and money issued by that specific government, but they are not the same thing. For instance, Spanish milled dollars ("pieces of eight") were legal tender in the United States until 1857." You might notice that I am addressing current phenomena. gold and silver were once legal tender, as were clay tablets in various jurisdictions. For all practical purposes, governments currently only use money they control and issue as legal tender (though there are exceptions suchas Zimbabwe). >"Your definition of "money" appears to be "anything of value" but that makes the term "money" meaningless." This is not true. You can see the comments above and below where I specifically stated the criteria for a thing being money are that it is a "medium of exchange". I would not describe steel as a medium of exchange, but bitcoin definitely seems to be. >"Money is stuff that accepted by everyone (or almost everyone) as payment for goods, services, and debts." If this is your requirement, then why are currencies used in foreign countries by very small populations considered currency in the USA? There are probably more people using bitcoin in the USA (or the world for that matter) than there are people using Cuban, Chilean, Kazakhstan, or Israeli-issued currency.

protomyth 11y ago

For the purpose of a government ruling, the definition of money and legal tender are the same.

icebraining 11y ago
Well, no, because foreign currency is considered money but not legal tender (eg. EUR in the US).
DanBC 11y ago
Legal tender is what you're allowed to use to pay a debt. If you offer legal tender and they decline it you can consider the debt paid. In the United States all coins and notes of federal reserve banks are legal tender. In the UK some coins are only legal tender for small amounts. http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/... http://www.royalmint.com/help/help/legal-tender-amounts http://www.royalmint.com/help/help/legal-tender-amounts http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/policies-and-guidelines/legal-tender-guidelines http://www.royalmint.com/aboutus/policies-and-guidelines/leg... Scottish bank notes are currency but are not legal tender anywhere in the UK, even in Scotland.