# Republicans think you need $1 trillion worth of platinum in a $1 trillion face value platinum coin **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 9, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642 "2013-01-09T16:52:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/81 "2013-01-11T03:33:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Still image](https://twitter.com/dceiver/status/289478968166477824/photo/1/large) of that graphic. And in addition to not understanding seigniorage, they also have a problem with math. 17 million tons is vastly more than 93 blue whales or a submarine would weigh. Its 17 thousand, not million. So their math is correctish, even if their economics is poor. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/82 "2013-01-11T03:52:30Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > Fox News gets in on the game, pointing out that a trillion-dollar platinum coin would weigh 17,773.995 tons (I appreciate their precision), equivalent to 83 blue whales or one ballistic missile sub ([cite](http://core.talkingpointsmemo.com/tv/videos/fox-trillion-dollar-coin-would-equal-weight-of?ref=fpblg) from Talking Points Memo). They scroll these figures across the screen without comment during an apparently serious business show. The \*business show \*doesn’t understand how currency works. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > [Still image](https://twitter.com/dceiver/status/289478968166477824/photo/1/large) of that graphic. And in addition to not understanding seigniorage, they also have a problem with math. 17 million tons is vastly more than 93 blue whales or a submarine would weigh. > [@Simplicio](#): > > Its 17 thousand, not million. So their math is correctish, even if their economics is poor. To be more specific, it’s ten pounds shy of 17,774 tons (using the definition of _ton_ I learned as a child: 2000 pounds). ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/83 "2013-01-11T04:04:00Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I realize that this isn’t a serious discussion, but the NRCC’s tweet presumably draws upon Kevin Drum’s [observation](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/can-treasury-department-create-platinum-t-bill) in Mother Jones that the text of the law actually only permits the Treasury to issue a platinum “bullion coin” and thus does appear to contemplate that the coin comprise its face value in precious metal. > > Maybe the OP can explain why Drum is so evidently wrong? [The former director of the Mint, who co-wrote the relevant law, explains.](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/08/1177211/-Co-author-of-platinum-coin-law-weighs-in-on-trillion-dollar-coin#) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/84 "2013-01-11T05:42:41Z")
“Bullion” just means that the coin must in fact contain the weight and purity of metal indicated. Legal-tender face value is an independent inscription. The Supreme Court has said “the quality of legal tender of coin is an attribute of law aside from its bullion value.” ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/85 "2013-01-11T05:54:14Z")
The funniest joke I’ve heard about this is that with a $1 trillion coin, you could finally afford to shop at Whole Foods. Aside from the part where this… scheme… does not technically circumvent the authority of Congress wrt their stupid debt ceiling maneuvers, it is pretty silly. I think it would be better if the President simply invoked the 14th Amendment and told the pubbies to get in line, behind Boehner, and blow him serially. Because the debt cannot be _questioned_, you anti-Constitutional GOP quacks. The 14th Amendment seems a much more elegant and formal solution to me (aside from the blowing part), whereas this coin business comes across as some kind of James Bond fraternity prank. Just my 2 (trillion) cents… Oh yeah, Obama coin sinks Titanic… I bet they are just eating that one up in the old Confederacy. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/86 "2013-01-11T15:21:21Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Of _course_ I never considered it. I don’t stay up nights reading obscure sections of the U.S. Code. Of course. But somehow that didn’t stop you from commenting pretty forcefully about an obscure section of the U.S. Code, something you admit you know nothing about. > [@](#): > > But the part about the longstanding divorce between the face value and the intrinsic value of a U.S. coin is true. It’s even got a name: seigniorage. And it’s an accepted fact of life that the U.S. Mint reduces the deficit to some slight degree through seigniorage. That’s true. Potato chips also have a name. What of it? But the claim being made here is that the specific law that allows platinum coins requires “bullion”. The fact that there are also coins that are not bullion is irrelevant. > [@](#): > > He did. He said that other parts of the statute don’t undo the plain meaning of the part that says that platinum coins of any denomination can be minted. IANAL. But Laurence Tribe is a lawyer, and one with a pretty high reputation. He addressed whether a trillion dollar coin is a loophole and whether the government can increase the money supply by an unlimited amount through minting these coins. He did not address whether the “bullion” language in this particular law required that the metal be worth the assigned value. > [@](#): > > OTOH, I have yet to see or hear the anti-coin folks produce \*any \*lawyer, of reputation high, low, or nonexistent, to demolish the pro-coin arguments. Did you even read the Mother Jones cite that you so casually waved away? It says: > [@](#): > > Remember that its authorization comes in a sentence devoted to the minting of bullion coins. But as a **lawyer** friend emailed to me this morning, “bullion coins are generally understood by other statutes within the US Code to be coins with a value effectively equal to the market value of the precious metal bullion in them. The trillion dollar coin is not that.” > [@](#): > > So how about if you kindly STFU until such time as you’ve got something meaningful to say? That’s good advice, if unnecessary in my case. For you, I would suggest that before gleefully running off to mock your ideological opponents, you might educate yourself a bit on the issues at hand, so as to avoid acting like an ignorant fool. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/87 "2013-01-11T15:35:36Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Of course. But somehow that didn’t stop you from commenting pretty forcefully about an obscure section of the U.S. Code, something you admit you know nothing about. There’s a process by which one goes from having never considered something previously, to knowing enough about it to comment. It involves reading, thinking, and whatnot. I can understand your lack of familiarity with this process. > [@](#): > > That’s true. Potato chips also have a name. What of it? Things that don’t exist generally don’t have names. Like potato chips, seigniorage exists. > [@](#): > > But the claim being made here is that the specific law that allows platinum coins requires “bullion”. The fact that there are also coins that are not bullion is irrelevant. > > He addressed whether a trillion dollar coin is a loophole and whether the government can increase the money supply by an unlimited amount through minting these coins. He did not address whether the “bullion” language in this particular law required that the metal be worth the assigned value. He may not have addressed it by name. But he said he read the rest of the law, and found nothing that would contravene the plain meaning of the section that allows unlimited denominations of platinum coins. > [@](#): > > Did you even read the Mother Jones cite that you so casually waved away? It says: Yes. So we’ve got a secondhand opinion from an anonymous lawyer, versus Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School. > [@](#): > > For you, I would suggest that before gleefully running off to mock your ideological opponents, you might educate yourself a bit on the issues at hand, so as to avoid acting like an ignorant fool. Don’t worry - I won’t poach on your territory. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/88 "2013-01-11T16:08:26Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > There’s a process by which one goes from having never considered something previously, to knowing enough about it to comment. It involves reading, thinking, and whatnot. That’s true. And it’s clear that at the time you posted your OP, you had not done any of that, and thus posted out of ignorance. And it’s also clear that when confronted with this fact, in the form of evidence that what you had mocked actually had some reasonable basis, you were not honest about it. Instead, you first tried to vaguely wave it away by an ad hominem dismissal of the source, along with some handwaving about coins, and then tried to hide behind the implied authority of Lawrence Tribe. > [@](#): > > Things that don’t exist generally don’t have names. Like potato chips, seigniorage exists. Good point. Now try to follow along here for the next step. Even though both potato chips and seigniorage exist, the existence of neither of them necessarily carries the implication that under the specific law authorizing platinum coins the coins don’t need to contain their value in metal. IOW you don’t get by just by tossing out a long word that you looked up. You actually have to make your case. > [@](#): > > He may not have addressed it by name. But he said he read the rest of the law, and found nothing that would contravene the plain meaning of the section that allows unlimited denominations of platinum coins. He didn’t address it at all. It’s very possible that he would say that you don’t need that amount of metal. But it’s also possible that he didn’t think of this particular issue, which is not what he was asked. > [@](#): > > Yes. So we’ve got a secondhand opinion from an anonymous lawyer, versus Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School. Of course. Laurence Tribe is one of the leading legal scholars in this country, and this other lawyer’s opinion carries no weight by comparison. I’ve noted above that LT did not actually address this issue. But my point here was something else. What you said was: > [@RTFirefly](#): > > OTOH, I have yet to see or hear the anti-coin folks produce _any_ lawyer, of reputation high, low, or nonexistent, to demolish the pro-coin arguments. And you had ostensibly read this Mother Jones article. You were responding to it. And the article said clearly that a lawyer was the one putting out this argument. From which we can learn two things: [ol] [li]Your reading comprehension is very poor.[/li][li]When confronted with the fact that you’ve made an incorrect statement, you do not forthrightly admit it. Instead, you try to confuse the issue by pretending that your point was something other than what you actually said.[/li][/ol] Of course, both of these things are things that can be seen from your other posts in this thread, as well as in other threads. Nothing new about this. But worth noting, nonetheless. And one other point: There is a reason you were so emphatic in saying that no other lawyer had put forth such an argument. Because your OP was not that the Republicans are wrong about some “obscure section of the U.S. Code”, having been contradicted by Laurence Tribe. Your point was that the Republicans are complete and utter fools, to the point that they don’t understand the basic concept of coins. If it should turn out that a reasonable lawyer might arrive at the conclusion that for this particular law you actually do need metal content of the assigned value, then your OP is revealed to be the ignorant bombast that it is. So you need for no lawyer of any sort to maintain that position, in order for you to retain some veneer of respectibility here. And that seems to be lost in any event. Laurence Tribe can’t help you with this. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/89 "2013-01-11T16:36:37Z")
BTW, here’s some commentary from [The Volokh Conspiracy](http://www.volokh.com/2013/01/10/is-the-platinum-coin-ploy-legal/) on whether a trillion dollar platinum coin would need to contain a trillion dollars of platinum. Again, I myself have no position on which side is correct here. But it does seem that it’s not so clear cut, and the idea that it does need to is not a ridiculous one. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/90 "2013-01-11T16:37:14Z")
Worth reading the comment thread too, which does a pretty good job of rebutting the original post. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/91 "2013-01-11T16:59:48Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Well, one might be tempted to classify him as a “backbencher” if one’s first thought upon reading your post was _“WTF is a Regional Whip?”_ > > Sounds like a minor functionary in the [del]Knights of Columbus[/del] Kiwanis Club (in the KofC he’d probably be called _Bearer of the Minor Plenary Seal_, or something similarly quasi-feudal). The regional whip reports directly to the whip, the second-highest ranking person; the regional whip is the third highest rank in the system. Now that you know this, do you still believe it’s correct to call him a “backbencher?” ETA: this attitude, on a board supposedly interested in fighting ignorance, amazes me. “How dare you compare party leaders to a no-account backbencher?” “Um… that guy wasn’t a backbencher – he was a regional whip.” “Well, that sounds like a minor position to me!” Oh, OK. Since it sounds to you like a minor position, that ought to end the inquiry right there. No need to actually investigate your intuition or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/92 "2013-01-11T17:10:27Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The regional whip reports directly to the whip, the second-highest ranking person; the regional whip is the third highest rank in the system. > > Now that you know this, do you still believe it’s correct to call him a “backbencher?” > > ETA: this attitude, on a board supposedly interested in fighting ignorance, amazes me. > > “How dare you compare party leaders to a no-account backbencher?” > > “Um… that guy wasn’t a backbencher – he was a regional whip.” > > “Well, that sounds like a minor position to me!” > > Oh, OK. Since it sounds to you like a minor position, that ought to end the inquiry right there. No need to actually investigate your intuition or anything. We’re talking about the actions of people at the top of the RNC and you’re talking about a lower level officer. Also, you don’t know that the Regional Whip actually was speaking literally. It might be a metaphor. You know who else used metaphors? Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/93 "2013-01-11T17:11:27Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Worth reading the comment thread too, which does a pretty good job of rebutting the original post. There are also a couple of updates to the article. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/94 "2013-01-11T17:15:26Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The regional whip reports directly to the whip, the second-highest ranking person; the regional whip is the third highest rank in the system. Cite? New Region VIII whip Alan Grayson describes the awesome responsibility [thus](http://graysonforcongress.com/news/grayson-grabs-leadership-post-representative-elect-will-serve-regional-whip): > [@](#): > > As a Regional Whip for Region VIII, Grayson will be responsible for consolidating support among the\*\* fifteen \*\*Democratic members from Florida and Georgia for Democratic initiatives. > > **The Regional Whip post is considered to be a first step to a higher leadership position**. Grayson’s election is a clear expression of his popularity among fellow Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. > > \ > > Among Grayson’s other responsibilities as Regional Whip will be \*\*relaying information and concerns about legislation from Members \*\*within Region VIII to the Democratic Leadership Team. Also, Grayson may often be asked by House leadership to participate in floor debates about pending legislation. (my bold) There are two regional whips in a region with 15 members, making the whip the point-of-contact for a whopping 6-8 members. Part of the whip’s role is acting as a messenger between members and leadership. As I posted earlier, there are a shit-ton of whips. He looks like a party leader in the same way an assistant shift manager at Taco Bell is “company management”. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/95 "2013-01-11T17:18:51Z")
FWIW, ISTM that a regional whip is a backbencher. (OTOH, I don’t think some tweet from the NRCC is that big of a deal either.) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/96 "2013-01-11T17:21:34Z")
How many regions are there? And yes, I see the position as a scaled up version of a lead worker at Taco Bell. Or maybe their burrito specialist. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/97 "2013-01-11T17:27:37Z")
There are 12 regions. See the information I posted earlier: [http://democrats.rules.house.gov/archives/rs20499.pdf](http://democrats.rules.house.gov/archives/rs20499.pdf) Anyway, Johnson is no longer the whip for that region. The current whips for that region appear to be Alan Grayson and Terri Sewell. I say “appear to be” because I can’t find a list of all the whips anywhere, presumably because no one gives a flying fuck who the low-level whips are. I assume Johnson lost his whip-ship because he is the kind of guy who thinks an island might tip over, and the other members of his region voted for someone else. And any-anyway, this has fuck all to do with the trillion dollar coin. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/98 "2013-01-11T17:32:20Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > And any-anyway, this has fuck all to do with the trillion dollar coin. Wouldn’t a coin that big be enough to sink the Titanic? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/99 "2013-01-11T17:32:54Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > That’s true. And it’s clear that at the time you posted your OP, you had not done any of that, That’s certainly easy to say, isn’t it? Give evidence, please. > [@](#): > > and thus posted out of ignorance. You’re right, I was ignorant of objections that, to the best of my knowledge, hadn’t been raised yet. Golly gee. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > And it’s also clear that when confronted with this fact, in the form of evidence that what you had mocked actually had some reasonable basis, you were not honest about it. Instead, you first tried to vaguely wave it away by an ad hominem dismissal of the source, Maybe you don’t understand what ‘ad hominem’ means. Please explain [which variety of the ad hominem fallacy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem#Types) I used. > [@](#): > > along with some handwaving about coins, Seems like a relevant fact to me. Now the actual _purpose_ of the platinum coin law was to raise money for the U.S. treasury by selling commemorative coins. The law would have obviously failed in its purpose if the $50, $100, $500 platinum coins had to have $50, $100, $500 worth of platinum. And I hope you’re not saying that the law says the $500 platinum coin would have had to be ten times as big as the $50 coin. Except it’s what you are saying - or at least saying is a real possibility. > [@](#): > > and then tried to hide behind the implied authority of Lawrence Tribe. Well, he’s a heavy hitter in the legal world. So when he says that an interpretation of a law about coins that appears ridiculous based on everything we know about coins in general, commemorative coins in particular, and the purpose of the law itself really IS ridiculous, I’m inclined to take him at his word. > [@](#): > > Good point. > > Now try to follow along here for the next step. > > Even though both potato chips and seigniorage exist, the existence of neither of them necessarily carries the implication that under the specific law authorizing platinum coins the coins don’t need to contain their value in metal. It does when that’s the whole _point_ of producing commemorative coins. Dumbass. > [@](#): > > He didn’t address it at all. It’s very possible that he would say that you don’t need that amount of metal. But it’s also possible that he didn’t think of this particular issue, which is not what he was asked. You’re right, he wouldn’t have been a smart enough guy to think of what other sections of the law might’ve interacted with that particular section. I’m sure he’s just a detail guy, the sort who’s good when you give him a very narrow, focused problem. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > What you said was: And you had ostensibly read this Mother Jones article. According to whom? You. Now you have proven yourself wrong. > [@](#): > > There is a reason you were so emphatic in saying that no other lawyer had put forth such an argument. Because your OP was not that the Republicans are wrong about some “obscure section of the U.S. Code”, having been contradicted by Laurence Tribe. Your point was that the Republicans are complete and utter fools, to the point that they don’t understand the basic concept of coins. Yeppers. And I don’t see any evidence that either the NRCC or, later, Fox News, was relying on a detailed analysis of the law, but simply being stupid. If they get lucky and there’s some section of the law that says that, for platinum coins, unlike any other conventional or commemorative coins, the face value of the coin has to be approximately the value of the metal in the coin, _it doesn’t make them any smarter._ It’s like guessing the right answer on the math test, rather than working it out. You’re still just as stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642/100 "2013-01-11T17:36:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wouldn’t a coin that big be enough to sink the Titanic? Nah, I don’t think it would float, so it wouldn’t be a menace to navigation like an iceberg. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-think-you-need-1-trillion-worth-of-platinum-in-a-1-trillion-face-value-platinum-coin/646642.md?page=6)