There will not be a platinum trillion dollar coin minted to pay the national debt and avoid a showdown in Washington over the debt ceiling. The Treasury Department and the White House have both stated today, Jan. 12, 2013, that they will not pursue this course of action deemed silly by most but actually a serious theory to many.
The Treasury Department made the following firm statement, according to the Washington Post:
The Treasury Department will not mint a trillion-dollar platinum coin to get around the debt ceiling. If they did, the Federal Reserve would not accept it.
Many people think of the ill-fated Susan B. Anthony dollar when they hear about this platinum trillion dollar coin possibly being minted. This was an option put forth by many who wanted to thwart the ability of the Republicans in Congress from holding the economy hostage over the debt ceiling. Yahoo! News had this explanation of the theory:
The idea follows that should Congress fail to extend the debt limit, Treasury could begin minting trillion dollar coins (in a process explained mostly seriously by Jim Pethokoukis on his American Enterprise Institute blog), a number of which could then be put toward fulfilling debt obligations in the event new legislation stalls in Congress. The Federal Reserve would hold the hefty currency until it was time to pay the bills.
Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary, announced today that the President did not intend to mint a trillion dollar platinum coin. Yahoo! reports:
In a written statement released today, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says there are only "two options" to deal with the looming need for the U.S. government to pay creditors for federal funding it has already spent. Minting the proposed currency to pay it off and avoid an impending battle with Capitol Hill is not one of them.
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