5 ms·

The value obviously has nothing to do with the material choice, so why don't they just print it out of PLA?

gnicholas 5y ago
The law specifically refers to a coin of any denomination, minted in platinum. It apparently said "bullion" prior to 2000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion-dollar_coin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion-dollar_coin
h2odragon 5y ago
Legal technicalities about what values can be put on what type of coin. The sovereign citizens and anti- Federal Reserve folks had fun with the idea in the 90s too.
- da_big_ghey 5y ago
  And we were told these ideas were rediculous, look now what we are seeing though.
verall 5y ago
Because the law says that platinum coins may be minted with an arbitrary value and says nothing about coins made of PLA. Sorry, was your question rhetorical?
- bananabiscuit 5y ago
  Probably not rhetorical, I don’t think most people know about what obscure laws that make these kinds of loopholes work. I’m actually surprised you thought it was common enough knowledge that you suspected the question was rhetorical.
  - detaro 5y ago
    It's mentioned in the article.
  - verall 5y ago
    It is the subject of the article. My best faith reading of the original comment was that it decries the arbitrary nature of platinum - if we are calling it a $trillion, why not make it out of anything? But the debt ceiling is itself a legal construction. People call it a "loophole" because of episodes of The Simpsons or whatever but the Treasury is explicitly given permission to issue coins of arbitrary value. The debt ceiling is itself a legal construction.
dreadlordbone 5y ago
31 U.S.C. 5112(k) as originally enacted by Public Law 104-208 in 1996: The Secretary may mint and issue bullion and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary's discretion, may prescribe from time to time.

The law specifically refers to a coin of any denomination, minted in platinum. It apparently said "bullion" prior to 2000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion-dollar_coin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion-dollar_coin

h2odragon 5y ago

Legal technicalities about what values can be put on what type of coin. The sovereign citizens and anti- Federal Reserve folks had fun with the idea in the 90s too.

da_big_ghey 5y ago
And we were told these ideas were rediculous, look now what we are seeing though.

verall 5y ago

Because the law says that platinum coins may be minted with an arbitrary value and says nothing about coins made of PLA. Sorry, was your question rhetorical?

bananabiscuit 5y ago
Probably not rhetorical, I don’t think most people know about what obscure laws that make these kinds of loopholes work. I’m actually surprised you thought it was common enough knowledge that you suspected the question was rhetorical.
- detaro 5y ago
  It's mentioned in the article.
- verall 5y ago
  It is the subject of the article. My best faith reading of the original comment was that it decries the arbitrary nature of platinum - if we are calling it a $trillion, why not make it out of anything? But the debt ceiling is itself a legal construction. People call it a "loophole" because of episodes of The Simpsons or whatever but the Treasury is explicitly given permission to issue coins of arbitrary value. The debt ceiling is itself a legal construction.

dreadlordbone 5y ago

31 U.S.C. 5112(k) as originally enacted by Public Law 104-208 in 1996: The Secretary may mint and issue bullion and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary's discretion, may prescribe from time to time.