of us are familiar with some aspects with the

problems with the Dollar, I thought is was

important enough to add to the lists.

Ralph

===========

Please Define the Dollar

Monetary Realists, knowing not so much what

they've been taught, but what they've learned

with their eyes open and ears tuned, see things

clearly, without peering through a haze of

misinformation masquerading as knowledge. Like

the boy in The Emperor's New Clothes, they make

observations which seem to cause frustration and

annoyance to those public figures to which they

are directed. A case in point is the word

"dollar," the definition of which has been sought

by Monetary Realists for decades.

Some years ago Paul Volcker, of the Federal

Reserve, was lecturing in St. Louis. A Monetary

Realist ( not your author ) was in attendance. At

the conclusion of Mr. Volcker's remarks,

questions were invited, and the Monetary Realist

asked, "Mr. Volcker, in your remarks you used the

word "dollar" twenty-six ( or whatever ) times.

Can you tell me what a dollar is?" There was a

remarkable silence. Volcker said nothing. The

silence grew protracted; it was embarrassing.

"Well, sir, can you tell me what the yen is, or

the mark? You mentioned them as well." The

silence continued. Eventually, the host made some

excuse and hustled Mr. Volcker from the stage.

Over twenty years ago I wrote a letter to the

head of the St. Louis Federal Reserve and asked

another simple question: is our money tangible?

If so, I asked, what are its physical

characteristics? If not, how can you tell if

you've got it? A brief note was received in

reply, stating, in effect, that due to the

"technical nature" of my question, the president

( of the bank ) was unable to answer at this

time. He hasn't answered since.

On discovering the ease with which federal

officials can be reached via the internet, I

recently decided to try again, and on September

6, 1998, sent this message to the Treasury

Department: "How is the word "dollar" defined in

U.S. Law? Can you give me the citation? Thanks."

The answer received was from "Customer

Assistance," and read, "Thank you for your recent

inquiry. The Office of the Comptroller of the

Currency ( OCC ) examines national banks to

assure their safe and sound financial condition

and to ensure their compliance with federal

banking laws, rules, and regulations. The dollar

is defined as a currency bill and monetary unit

of the United States, equal to 100 cents. This

Office does not have information on the specific

cite in the federal regulations. You may try

contacting the Federal Reserve Bank at

202-874-4700. We trust this is responsive to your

inquiry."

Well, not quite. I replied, on September 14:

"Dear Customer Assistance: Thank you for your

letter. You write that the dollar is a currency

bill. Does that mean it is an IOU? An IOU for

what? You also say it is a monetary unit. A unit

is a standardized amount used in measuring. What

does the dollar measure? Of what is it a unit?

Thank you." This time I received a response from

an actual person with a name, Angela Willis, a

Customer Assistance Specialist. ( Customer

Assistance@CAG@COC ) "Thank you for your recent

inquiry. Please contact the Federal Reserve Bank

for any other questions you may have. Thank you."

I responded: "I would like an answer from the

government. Isn't the Federal reserve a private

bank?" Ms. Willis replied: "Thank you for your

recent inquiry. The Federal Reserve Bank is the

central bank of the United States Government. It

was founded by Congress in 1913 to provide the

nation with a safer, more flexible, and more

stable monetary and financial system. We trust

this is responsive to your inquiry."

Wow! Talk about pulling teeth. I tried again:

"I'm sorry, but your answer is NOT responsive.

The question was, and is, "what is a dollar?"

Don't refer me to a private banking cartel for

the answer to what surely must be defined in U.S.

Law. After all, if there is no definition of the

dollar, how can a person measure his income in

dollars and swear to the government that the

answer is "true, correct, and complete?" Congress

is given authority to regulate the value of the

dollar. What is its value? Don't tell me it's 100

cents, and then define the cent as 1/100th of a

dollar. Please try again. It's a simple question,

isn't it? Thanks."

Ms. Willis, was, I fear, losing patience with me.

"Thank you for your recent inquiry. We have tried

to direct you to the agency that could be most

responsive to your inquiry. The Office of the

Comptroller of the Currency regulates national

banks. This agency does not have regulatory

authority over actual currency, although our name

may make you think otherwise. If you have issues

dealing with the national banking system, please

feel free to request our assistance. We will not

respond to any other inquiries regarding the

definition of a dollar."

In other words, the U.S. Treasury either doesn't

know, or won't tell, what a "dollar" is.

Moreover, in taking this evasive stand, it tries

to distract the questioner with irrelevant

references to the Comptroller of the Currency,

and a disingenuous disclaimer that it ( the

Treasury ) has no "regulatory authority over

actual currency."

Back in 70s I asked the dollar question to the

Internal Revenue Service. After all, you must

swear to the value of your income in "dollars,"

testifying that your evaluation is "true,

correct, and complete," under penalty of perjury,

although, having taken no oath, you couldn't have

committed that crime. Surely, therefore, the IRS

would know what a dollar is. How else could it

determine the accuracy of the return? The reply

from the IRS was remarkably straightforward: "The

term "dollar" is not defined in the Internal

Revenue Code." I wrote back, requesting a

definition from any portion of the United States

Code, and am still awaiting the reply.

About the same time I wrote a letter to the

president of my bank, and asked him what a dollar

was. He sent me a very nice, rather rambling

letter, in which he concluded that he really

couldn't tell me, but if I found out what it was,

would I let him know?

It is experiences such as these which give

Monetary Realists, and others, I am sure, grounds

for the gravest cynicism about economic matters.

The silly platitudes mouthed by President Clinton

about the Russian economy, for example, deserve

nothing but contempt. When a people work for

"money" which is so ephemeral as to defy

description, measured out in units which cannot

be defined by the country's monetary authorities,

the problem transcends political parties or

economic policies. The rot is in the roots, not

the branches.

In the days of tangible money, or sound money, or

even just plain money, as opposed to "credit,"

the dollar was easy to define: 412.5 grains of

standard ( 90% pure ) silver in coin form. The

412.5 grain figure was an average; the coin

weighed 416 when minted. When, through wear and

tear, its weight fell below 409 grains, it was no

longer a dollar, but could be used in trade for a

value in proportion to its weight. In general,

banks culled out the worn coins and returned them

to the mint to be recast. What a simple system! A

bank official, asked to define "dollar," could do

so in a sentence, without reference to the

Comptroller of the Currency, or bank regulations,

or "authority over actual ( sic! ) currency."

Moreover, he could do so without making a fool of

himself by attempts to mislead, confuse, or

deceive. He wouldn't even have to piously

reiterate "Thank you for your inquiry" every time

he gave a long-winded response that had nothing

to do with the inquiry.

Money is one of the basics of society. Is it

extreme to suggest that without sound money there

cannot be a sound society? And if the money is

inherently dishonest, what does that say of the

people who issue it, or even of the people who

accept it?

Dr. Paul Hein

November 14, 2002

Monday, December 18th 2006 -

<mailto:christopher@independentamerican.org>Christopher

Hansen

In the on going quest for truth, justice and the

American Way I have been doing research on taxes,

money, dollars, liberty dollars, etc. Since the

Secretary of State of Nevada, The Deputy Nevada

Attorney General that represents Dean Heller and

Senator John Ensign could not define what a

"dollar" is in a legally binding sense and since

three employees at three different branches of

the Federal Reserve Bank have given three

different meanings or non-meanings to what a

dollar is I thought I should do some additional

research.

I contacted the Treasury Department to find out

how I can redeem federal reserve notes into

"lawful money" as per

<http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/12C3.txt>12

USC Sec. 411 and I was only transferred once

before I found a very nice lady named Claudia

Dickens and the Bureau of Printing and Engraving.

She was not sure about what lawful money was but

said she would check and get back to me. She

called me back in just a few minutes and informed

me that she was checking with "legal" since she

was not sure if the legal definition was the same

as it was in "2003."

She was concerned about the time difference

between Washington D.C. and Nevada and said if

she did not get back to me today (since it was

close to quitting time) she would get back to me

tomorrow. I asked her if I could just send her

and Email because I was in and out all the time

and did not want to miss her call. She was sweet

enough to give me her Email address (no I am not

giving it out to anyone because she did not say I

could) and she said she would answer by Email.

I would suggest that you take the time to write

your Congressmen or Congresswomen and ask them

the same questions.

You may also wish to contact Treasury directly by

phone(and I highly recommend you call them and

ask if you can send them an email)writing them

(due to the PATRIOT ACT a letter takes months to

get to them) or faxing them your questions.

I would try to find a different contact than I

have found so we can get different responses from

different people.

The following is what I sent and I will post the

"legal" answer when I receive it.

Hello Claudia Dickens,

Thank you so much for speaking to me today. And

say hello to "Pete" over at "Public Debt" that

gave me your number. He obviously thought highly

of you.

My name is Christopher Hansen, I am the State

Chairman of the Independent American Party of

Nevada. We have 44,000 registered members and are

the third largest political party in Nevada. I am

also the editor and researcher for the

Independent American Press which is the Newspaper

for the Party.

I have been asked a question by several party

members and they asked me to write an article on

the subject. They wanted to know what "Lawful

money" is as per USC 12 Sec. 411. (See below)

They also wanted to know the legal definition of

a "dollar" since the Gold Commission, in

testimony before Congress, criticized the

Treasury Department for failing to define the

term "dollar." During testimony they stated "The

word "dollar" quite literally, is legally

meaningless, and it has been meaningless for the

past decade. Federal Reserve notes are not

"dollars;" they are notes denominated in

"dollars." But what a "dollar" is, no one knows."

It would be hard to believe that the Gold

Commission was correct or that if they were

correct that Congress has not rectified the

situation since 1982AD and defined "dollar."

So what is the legal definition of "dollar" so

when we see it in the laws and statutes we can

know what it means. And what is "lawful money"

and how do we "redeem" "federal reserve notes"

into "lawful money"?

Thank you,

Christopher Hansen

USC Sec. 411 01/03/05

-EXPCITE-

TITLE 12 - BANKS AND BANKING

CHAPTER 3 - FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

SUBCHAPTER XII - FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES

-HEAD-

Sec. 411. Issuance to reserve banks; nature of obligation;

redemption

-STATUTE-

Federal reserve notes, to be issued at the discretion of the

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the purpose of

making advances to Federal reserve banks through the Federal

reserve agents as hereinafter set forth and for no other purpose,

are authorized. The said notes shall be obligations of the United

States and shall be receivable by all national and member banks and

Federal reserve banks and for all taxes, customs, and other public

dues. 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.

Design