Trillion-dollar platinum coin could be minted at the last minute - Axios

A trillion-dollar platinum coin could be minted "within hours of the Treasury Secretary's decision to do so," Philip Diehl, former director of the United States Mint, tells Axios.

Why it matters: Congressional solutions to the debt-ceiling problem could take weeks to implement, especially if the reconciliation process is used — and time is running out. In case of emergency, a trillion-dollar coin could be deployed to bridge any gap between the money running out and the debt ceiling being raised.

How it works: The U.S. Mint, which Diehl ran from 1994 to 2000, already produces a one-ounce Platinum Eagle and has no shortage of platinum blanks already in stock.

Producing a trillion-dollar Eagle would require only the denomination to be changed. "This could be quickly executed on the existing plaster mold of the Platinum Eagle," says Diehl. Then an automated process would transfer the new design to a plastic resin mold.

Even if Janet Yellen, the Treasury secretary, has no intention of minting such a coin, there is no reason for her not to quietly instruct the Mint director to take those steps a day or two in advance.

At that point, a coin could be struck in minutes at the West Point mint. Even if it then needed to be physically deposited at the New York Fed, that's only a short helicopter ride away.

"Voila, we'd have bought ourselves the equivalent of a trillion-dollar increase in the debt limit, without any impact on inflation," says Diehl.

  • inshallah2 [none/use name]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Biden's official stance is that we won't mint the coin. If he still has plans to mint the coin - I don't care what he says now.

    But my favorite thing about all of this is that Biden might actually be 100% unwilling to mint the coin because like all shitty pols - he's obsessed with how things look and he's even more obsessed with his legacy.

    If we mint the coin - sure, Biden and the US are a global laughing stock for many months. But that soon fades away and foreigners do not give a fuck anymore. And in the future this risible workaround will remain a novelty in American textbooks. But Americans in the future will not give a fuck so Biden's legacy will be just fine. And - more importantly - we won't fucking default.

    If the gridlock persists and the US defaults - not only will economic chaos unfold - Biden will have badly fucked his own legacy. We will have gone into default because of the vanity of a tired, idiotic, old man who wasn't willing to listen to the people in the room saying "Mr. President, we could just mint the coin."

    • GnastyGnuts [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      US Politics: Will our geriatric leadership mint the magic coin or not?

      • inshallah2 [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Biden: "We do not need the coin for I am the most powerful wizard in this world. We have my magic and my powers from other realms! I could fart and set Pittsburg on fire! I didn't say that out loud - did I?"

      • inshallah2 [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        It's my understanding that "risible" likely contains criticism. And the critique might even be biting or cutting. The speaker might be angry or annoyed. "His salary is risible." It's very small and speaker is angry (etc) about it.

          • inshallah2 [none/use name]
            ·
            3 years ago

            My favorite dictionary says "Such as to provoke laughter". Laughable and risible are close to each other. I think risible strongly implies ridiculousness and/or criticism in way laughable does not. This is how I see it...

            Lyrics

            • Laughable lyrics might have been written to be funny

            • Risible lyrics are probably unintentionally funny.

            Hat

            • A funny hat might be part of a funny costume. Or not.

            • A fashion critic or a greatly annoyed fashionista could call a hat risible. They are the High Priests and High Priestess of fashion. A typical person might call the hat silly.