Technically that isn't true, but the end result is the same thing since businesses can limit the types and amounts of currency they accept.
Pretty much a practical limit of about a few dollars. I know you are a lawyer, and like to win any arguement by trade.
There have been obscure definitions of this, but I see no point in bringing up something from 1879, if I could even find it.
You can't pay your speeding ticket or the IRS in pennies.
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Home --> Business --> Funny Money --> Penny Whys
<center>[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
Penny Whys[/FONT]</center>
[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial][/FONT] [FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
Claim: U.S. law specifies that a creditor does not have to accept more than 100 pennies towards the payment of a debt or obligation.
<noindex> Status: False. </noindex>
Origins: This is one of the pieces of
misinformation that makes me wish web sites like this one had been around when I was a kid so I have could pointed my father toward it and told him to shut up already. I can't recall how many times he solemnly intoned that "Pennies are not legal tender in quantities greater than 100" and therefore merchants were "legally" allowed to refuse any offer of payment that included more than one hundred one-cent coins (and, presumably, could not "legally" refuse payment offered in any other form of legal tender). As with so many other things he was dead wrong (and I knew it even then), but I had no way of proving him wrong. I can now, though.
Title 31 (Money and Finance), Subtitle IV (Money), <nobr>Chapter 51</nobr> (Coins and Currency), <nobr>Subchapter I</nobr> (Monetary System), <nobr>Section 5103</nobr> (Legal Tender) of the United States Code states:
United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts.
What this statute means, in the words of the United States Treasury, is that "[A]ll United States <nobr>money . . .</nobr> is a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal law mandating that a person or organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or <table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="8"><tbody><tr><td> <script type="text/javascript"> <!-- var casaleD=new Date();var casaleR=(casaleD.getTime()%8673806982)+Math.random(); var casaleUU=escape(window.location.href); var casaleHost='.casalemedia.com/'; var casaleWH='" width="300" height="250" '; var casaleFR='marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"'; casaleFR += 'allowtransparency="true">'; document.write('<ifr'+'ame src="http://as'+casaleHost+'s?s=89342&u='+casaleUU); document.write('&f=4&id='+casaleR+casaleWH+casaleFR+'<a hr'+'ef="http://c'); document.write(casaleHost+'c?s=89342&f=4&id='+casaleR+'" target="_blank">'); document.write('<i'+'mg src="http://as'+casaleHost+'s?s=89342&u='+casaleUU); document.write('&f=4&id='+casaleR+'&if=0'+casaleWH+'border="0"><\/a>'); document.write('<\/ifr'+'ame>'); //--> </script><iframe src="http://as.casalemedia.com/s?s=89342&u=http%3A//www.snopes.com/business/money/pennies.asp&f=4&id=5338318315.443397" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="250" scrolling="no" width="300"><a href="http://c.casalemedia.com/c?s=89342&f=4&id=5338318315.443397" target="_blank"><img src="http://as.casalemedia.com/s?s=89342&u=http%3A//www.snopes.com/business/money/pennies.asp&f=4&id=5338318315.443397&if=0" width="300" height="250" border="0"></a></iframe> <noscript> <iframe src="http://as.casalemedia.com/s?s=89342&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsnopes.com&f=4&id=1" width="300" height="250" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true">
</iframe> </noscript> </td></tr></tbody></table> services."
That's it. All this means is that the Federal Reserve System must honor <nobr>U.S. currency</nobr> and coins, not necessarily anyone else. <nobr>U.S. currency</nobr> and coins can be used for making payments, but a debtor does not have to pay in legal tender, nor does a creditor have to accept legal tender. If a shoemaker wants to sell his products for <nobr>8000 jelly</nobr> beans per pair, he's entitled to do so; the buyer cannot demand that he accept the equivalent value in legal tender instead. However, legal tender is the default method of payment assumed in contractual agreements involving payments for goods or services unless otherwise specified. So, for example, if an automobile dealer signs a contract agreeing to sell you a car for $8,000, but when you begin making monthly payments he rejects them and insists he wants to be paid in gold instead, you can go to court and have your debt discharged on the grounds that valid payment was offered and refused.
Up until the late 19th century, pennies and nickels weren't legal tender at all. The Coinage Acts of 1873 and 1879 made them legal tender for debts up to <nobr>25 cents</nobr> only, while the other fractional coins (dimes, quarters, and half dollars) were legal tender for amounts up to $10. This remained the law until the Coinage Act of 1965 specified that all U.S. coins are legal tender in any amount. However, even in cases where legal tender has been agreed to as a form of payment, private businesses are still free to specify which forms of legal tender they will accept. If a restaurant doesn't want to take any currency larger than $20 bills, or they don't want to take pennies at all, or they want to be paid in nothing but dimes, they're entitled to do so (but, as mentioned earlier, they should specify their payment policies before entering into transactions with buyers). Businesses are free to accept or reject pennies as they see fit; no law specifies that pennies cease to be considered legal tender when proffered in quantities over a particular amount.
Additional information: <table cellspacing="10"><tbody><tr> <td>
</td> <td>[FONT=Bookman Old Style,Arial]Designation of legal tender
(United States Code, Title 31)[/FONT]</td> </tr></tbody></table> <table cellspacing="10"><tbody><tr> <td>
</td> <td>[FONT=Bookman Old Style,Arial]What is legal tender?
(United States Treasury FAQ)[/FONT]</td> </tr></tbody></table>
Last updated: 20 February 2007 <!-- 12 November 1999 - original 05 April 2003 - previous format 20 February 2007 - reformatted -->
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[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial][/FONT][/FONT]<hr> [FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
Sources: [/FONT][/FONT]<dl><dt><nobr>[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial] Jones, Rebecca. "Legal, Yes, But Paying IRS Bill in Pennies Is More Pain Than It's Worth."[/FONT][/FONT]</nobr></dt><dd><nobr>[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial] Denver Rocky Mountain News. 12 July 1998.[/FONT][/FONT]</nobr></dd><dt><nobr>[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial] Landers, Ann. "Ann Landers." [/FONT][/FONT]</nobr></dt><dd><nobr>[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial] 29 January 1996 [syndicated column].[/FONT][/FONT]</nobr></dd><dt><nobr>[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial] Viets, Elaine. "A Penny Saved Can Be a Lot of Trouble."[/FONT][/FONT]</nobr></dt><dd><nobr>[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial]
[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Bookman Old Style,Arial] St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 24 April 1994.[/FONT][/FONT]</nobr></dd></dl>
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Hal McCoy of the DAYTON DAILY NEWS has the funny financial report of Griffey giving pitcher Josh Fogg back the $1,500 he owed him in the most inconvenient way possible.
escription rdf:about="http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/ken-giffey-pays-back-1500-dollar-debt-in-pennies-17740" dc:identifier="http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/ken-giffey-pays-back-1500-dollar-debt-in-pennies-17740" dc:title="Griffey Pays Off $1500 Debt w/Pennies From Hell" trackback
ing="http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/ken-giffey-pays-back-1500-dollar-debt-in-pennies-17740/trackback" /></rdf:RDF> -->
