The Constitution requires gold and silver money.
Last checked ·
What the record says
Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 forbids a state from coining money, emitting bills of credit, or making anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts. Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 separately gives Congress power to coin money and regulate the value of United States and foreign coin. The cited text restricts what states may make legal tender; it does not impose a general gold-and-silver-only rule on Congress or require every form of money in the United States to be gold or silver.
Why it matters
A state-level legal-tender restriction is often sold as a complete constitutional guarantee of hard money. It is not. Treating it as one can replace the difficult work of defending people's monetary choice with a slogan the primary text does not carry.
Common misstatements2
“The Constitution says all United States money must be backed by gold or silver.”
The text says nothing about a backing ratio and the gold-and-silver tender restriction is addressed to states.
“Congress is constitutionally forbidden to create anything except gold and silver coin as money.”
The reviewed clauses give Congress a coinage power and separately restrain state legal-tender action; they do not state that federal prohibition.
Sources
Contradicts · Published
Constitution of the United States: Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 and Section 10, Clause 1 ↗Article I, Section 10, Clause 1; restriction addressed to states
Qualifies · Published
Constitution of the United States: Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 and Section 10, Clause 1 ↗Article I, Section 8, Clause 5; power granted to Congress
Opposing account
None of the five primary records on file on 26 Aug 2026 reads Article I, Section 10 as binding Congress rather than the states. This verdict is limited to what the cited clauses expressly require and does not resolve every constitutional argument about federal monetary powers.
Verdict history
- False
Unchanged since publication.