Why doesn't the American public demand to back the dollar with Gold and Silver, as the Constitution mandates?
953241
The Constitution doesn't mandate it and there isn't enough gold and silver in the world to back up the US dollar.
615447
When you are saving, you want the best rate you can get. If, for example, the US has the highest interest rate, everyone would want to save here and the dollar would be in demand, thus, people would be willing to pay more to get it. Is that simple enough?
106430
At "HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 192? June 5, 1933 the Gold and Silver Standard of america was desolved into the federal reserve and the international monetary fund, and made it illegal to pay a debt because the federal reserve uses "notes" and a "note" is a debt, its neither taxable, wages or income... its only a negotiable bill of credit that is totally non redemable         Article 1 Section 10 of the Constitution FOR the united States of America said that: CONGRESS SHALL COIN THE MONEY AND REGULATE THE VALUE THEREOF, it has never been repealled , it has affected my life by showing me the true FRAUD it truely is
210247
1. Because they are a stong alley of the US and don't want to devalue the Dollar. \n2. Because they do not want to lower the value of their own currency.
299782
150 years ago, $10,000 was a considerable amount of money. For example the government was selling land for 50 cents an acre then. There was one catch. They would sell it only for gold. So unless your $10,000 was in gold coin, you would have to convert your money to gold. There were money changers that provided that service for a substantial fee. Paper money back then was not worth a great deal even though the bill might say $1000.  That is probably why the government would not accept it.
748755
Because the US Dollar is more widely held than any other currency in thr world.  The people compilying the currency list know that a large number of people who check the list will only be interested in the Dollar, so they put it first.
336828
First, it's worth it to say that no country uses the gold standard anymore.\n\nA gold standard is a money system in which the paper currency is worth a fixed weight of gold. In the U.S., back when dollars, half-dollars, quarters and dimes were really made of silver, nickels of nickel and pennies of copper (all precious metals), paper bills were actually Gold and Silver Certificates, meaning they were directly exchangeable for equivalent amounts of gold and silver, coins or otherwise.  \n\nEver notice that the edges of traditionally silver and gold coins are ridged?  This was to prevent people from "shaving" the coins, thereby reducing their weight and therefore, their value.  Remember, weight = value in the gold standard system.  A dime was 10 cents worth of gold/silver weight; a quarter, 25 cents worth of gold/silver weight, which accounts for the difference in size.\n\nUsing the gold standard means that there has to be enough gold in reserve to effectually "cash-in" all paper money in the system.  Fort Knox was and still is the United States' primary respository for gold.\n\nWhen a country abandons a hard currency system (i.e., the gold standard), it issues what is called a "fiat" currency.  Our Federal Reserve Notes are an example of a fiat currency.  This means that you can no longer exchange a paper note for gold or silver.  The value of our money is instead guaranteed by the government.  That's why our money states that it is legal tender for all debts public and private. That means that no one can refuse to accept a paper bill in payment for goods or services.  \n\nThat may not sound so ominous nowadays, but even back in the 1950's, I remember people who would adamantly refuse to accept change in fiat paper money (federal reserve notes).  The government really only facilitated the acceptance of federal reserve notes when it outlawed and recalled all Silver certificates in 1964.  All redemption stopped in 1968.  Gold Certificates were forfeit in 1933 and for a long time, except for collector coins, it was illegal for private citizens to hold gold or gold certificates.  \n\nSome currencies, like the U.S. dollar and the British Pound Sterling, because of their government's stability, eventually came to be seen as "hard currencies" in themselves.  Most other nations based or "floated" the value of their own currencies against the value of the U.S. dollar or the British Pound Sterling.\n\nTwo good sites to peruse about money and money systems are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_currency\nand\nhttp://www.ronscurrency.com/
1102521
Absolutely not.  If the government confiscated every ounce of gold in the entire world, gold would be worth $5000 an ounce.  No government today can say that its currency is backed by any such standard, nor has our government been capable of doing so for at least 60 years.
660342
Dollar Diplomacy. Started by President Taft. But the U.S. doesn't/can't just keep printing more money. It doesn't work like that. I wouldn't call it "fooling other countries" though. It's more like investing in what the U.S. wants.
522302
Well, Nevada is correct, but I do not see any reference to this connection in the wikipedia article cited above.\n\nInstead try:\nhttp://www.vcnevada.com/history.htm\n\nBUT it wasn't simply the need of the gold that led Lincoln to rush Nevada to statehood, and one could argue whether the silver was the most IMPORTANT reason to Lincoln's mind.  \n\nAt the time he was also trying to get the 13th amendment passed.  It came up a little short in the House in June of 1864, so clearly it was a struggle.  Lincoln hoped to push it through the next time (and finally succeeded on January 31, 1865), but would still need 3/4 of the states to ratify it.  THAT was a major reason for his wanting an additional state (and note that they were already getting MONEY from Nevada before this --but it couldn't give them those votes except as a STATE!)\n\nAs War Department official Charles A. Dana wrote:\n   "In order thus to amend the Constitution, it was necessary first to have the proposed amendment approved by three-fourths of the States. When that question came to be considered, the issue was seen to be so close that one State more was necessary. The State of Nevada was organized and admitted into the Union to answer that purpose. I have sometimes heard people complain of Nevada as superfluous and petty, not big enough to be a State; but when I hear that complaint, I always hear Abraham Lincoln saying, 'It is easier to admit Nevada than to raise another million of soldiers.'"\nhttp://www.mrlincolnandfreedom.org/inside.asp?ID=56&subjectID=3
219127
its not about gold anymore, countries dont have to back up there money with gold.\nIts all about market and macroeconomics.  Which one people feel more secure and use this countries bank instead, percieved value blah blah and then blah, also blah blah blh, cannot foget about blah blah ...
425170
If you talk of planes, armies, food, clothes, and tents  for these armies, bullets, fuel, weapons, telecommunications - I doubt if you can talk cents.  It always involves billions of dollars!  This does not include yet the consequences of war - construction contracts for rehabilitation after a war, trade concessions in exchange for peace pacts, oil reserves.... it is ugly business at the expense of lives and sovereignty.
535520
Why does this question keep coming up?\n\nCurrencies have different values because economies have different sizes. The U.S. economy is millions of times the size of that say of Namibia. So the U.S. dollar, backed by prosperity of an industrialized super power has much more value then the currency of a small, impoverished nation with few resources, no industry and little if any fiscal policy.\n\nThe actual value of each currency against others is set my market forces. Supply and demand. Who wants to buy more of what. But the actual buying power of a currency has to do with its stability, the financial strength of the nation that issues it and its worldwide demand.
603150
We have different currencies because countries wish to maintain control of their own finances. The state of the  national currency is an important part of a nation's sovereign power.\n\nHow it works is really simple in principle. Currency is just another commodity for which people have varying needs and for which they are willing to pay varying amounts. Absent currency controls the value of a dollar, euro, yen or whatever is determined by what amount of other currencies people are willing to pay for them.
797029
The Constitution restricted the ablility of the Feds to tax and specifically forbids direct taxes like income tax, social security taxes and other payroll deductions.  It was changed by Constitutional amendment.  The promise was the payroll tax would never be more than 1% and would only apply to the very rich and would go away as soon as the cost of the Spanish American war was paid off.\n\nI guess they changed their minds.
1002190
Our country was founded on Christianity. Our government was not afraid to talk about their belief of God. Money has been this way for YEARS. \n\nIn fact, according to the link at the bottom, In God We Trust is our National Motto: The President approved a Joint Resolution of the 84th Congress on 07/30/56, declaring IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the United States. \n\nThe History of U.S. Paper Money  \nIn the early days of the nation, before and just after the revolution, Americans used English, Spanish, and French money. \n1690 Colonial Notes \nThe Massachusetts Bay Colony issued the first paper money in the colonies which would later form the United States. \n\n1775 Continental Currency \nAmerican colonists issued paper currency for the Continental Congress to finance the Revolutionary War. The notes were backed by the "anticipation" of tax revenues. Without solid backing and easily counterfeited, the notes quickly became devalued, giving rise to the phrase "not worth a Continental." \n\n1781 Nation's First Bank \nAlso to support the Revolutionary War, the continental Congress chartered the Bank of North America in Philadelphia as the nation's first "real" bank. \n\n1785 The Dollar \nThe Continental Congress determined that the official monetary system would be based on the dollar, but the first coin representing the start of this system would not be struck for several years. \n\n1791 First U.S. Bank \nAfter adoption of the Constitution in 1789, Congress chartered the First Bank of the United States untill 1811 and authorized it to issue paper bank notes to eliminate confusion and simplify trade. The bank served as the U.S. Treasury's fiscal agent, thus performing the first central bank functions. \n\n1792 Monetary System \nThe federal monetary system was established with the creation of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. The first American coins were struck in 1793. \n\n1816 Second U.S. Bank \nThe second Bank of the United States was chartered for 20 years until 1836. \n\n1836 State Bank Notes \nWith minimum regulation, a proliferation of 1,600 local state-chartered, private banks now issued paper money. State bank notes, with over 30,000 varieties of color and design, were easily counterfeited. That, along with bank failures, caused confusion and circulation problems. \n\n1861 Civil War \nOn the brink of bankruptcy and pressed to finance the Civil War, Congress authorized the United States Treasury to issue paper money for the first time in the form of non-interest bearing Treasury Notes called Demand Notes. \n\n1862 Greenbacks \nDemand Notes were replaced by United States Notes. Commonly called "Greenbacks," they were last issued in 1971. The Secretary of the Treasury was empowered by Congress to have notes engraved and printed, which was done by private banknote companies. \n\n1863 The Design \nThe design of U.S. currency incorporated a Treasury seal, the fine line engraving necessary for the difficult-to-counterfeit itaglio printing, intricate geometric lathe work patterns, and distinctive linen paper with embedded red and blue fibers. \n\n1865 Gold Certificates \nGold Certificates were issued by the Department of the Treasury against gold coin and buillion deposits and were circulated until 1933. \n\n1865 Secret Service \nThe Department of the Treasury established the United States Secret Service to control counterfeits, at that time amounting to one-third of circulated currency. \n\n1866 National Bank Notes \nNational Bank Notes, backed by U.S. government securities, became predominant. By this time, 75 percent of bank deposits were held by nationally chartered banks. As State Bank Notes were replaced, the value of currency stabilized for a time. \n\n1877 Bureau of Engraving and Printing \nThe Department of the Treasury's bureau of Engraving and Printing started printing all U.S. currency, although other steps were done outside. \n\n1878 Silver Certificates \nT
941288
I oppose removal of the penny. The reason you're even asking this question is because Government policy has caused so much inflation, over the years, that the penny is now almost worthless. In fact, as one poster already mentioned, it is worth more, melted down, than it is worth as currency.\n\nWhat we need, in this country, is not removal of the penny. If we remove the penny, it will be a short time until we remove the nickel, then the dime, then the quarter.\n\nThe dollar has lost about 90% of its value, since the USA went off the gold standard, in the early 70s. The reason for this is that the Government has been printing up money like mad. All this extra money causes prices to go up, meaning that the value in each dollar (and coin) goes down.\n\nDon't give up on the dollar. Don't let it turn into some kind of 3rd-world currency, where it takes $20 or more, to buy a gallon of milk. Keep the penny, and insist that the Government return to sound fiscal policies that will restore value to every denomination of our currency.