Legal Tender

Officially minted coins which may be submitted as ‘legal tender’ as a medium of exchange for any payment for their face value. Under the gold standard a coin such as the Sovereign was legal tender payment for £1, its face value, or a US Double Eagle for $20. On modern legal tender coins the declared face value is normally less than their gold content; the US Eagle one-ounce bullion coin has a face value of $50 but it contains more than six times that value in gold so it is not likely to be used in payment for a $50 charge. By contrast, the Japanese Hirohito coin has 100,000 yen face value (which it cost to buy) but contained only 40,000 yen in gold. It could be used for 100,000 yen payment.