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$1.00 Coin Controversy

On December 22, 2005, Congress enacted Public Law 109-145, the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 (the "Presidential Coin Act").  Title I of the Presidential Coin Act amends 31 U.S.C. Section 5112 to add a new subsection (n), and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one dollar coins that bear designs that "are emblematic of the Presidents of the United States." Presidential Coin Act, Sec. 102; 31 U.S.C. Section 5112(c). The Presidential Coin Act further directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins until each President has been honored.

By letter dated March 20, 2008, Mr. Klos sent a letter to Defendant, demanding that one dollar coins be issued commemorating the Presidents:

The Honorable Henry M. Paulson, Jr.

Secretary of the Treasury

Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220                                                                     March 20, 2008

Dear Secretary Paulson,

I am writing to you, sir, concerning Public Bill 109–145 109th Congress

“An Act To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of each of the Nation’s past Presidents and their spouses, respectively, to improve circulation of the $1 coin, to create a new bullion coin, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.” [xi]

Clearly, you complied with the Bill that required the minting $1.00 coins beginning with George Washington, the 1st President under the Constitution of 1787 in 2007. The Bill, however, also requires, in Section 5112 of title 31, in the United States Code, that a coin be minted for each of the Presidents of the United States. This would include the presidents who served before 1789:

“Redesign and Issuance of Circulating $1 Coins Honoring Each of The Presidents of the United States” [xii]

Additionally, the Bill also requires that the coins are to be minted for the First Ladies in SEC. 103. FIRST SPOUSE BULLION COIN PROGRAM.

‘ “(o) First Spouse Bullion Coin Program

(1) IN GENERAL.—During the same period described in subsection (n), the Secretary shall issue bullion coins under this subsection that are emblematic of the spouse of each such President.” [xiii]

Under the express terms of the Bill, minting of the coins does not terminate until “each President has been so honored” which includes the Presidents of the United States under the Constitution of 1777, the Articles of Confederation. Specifically the Bill amends Section 5112 of title 31, United States Code, stating:

“(8) Termination Of Program — The issuance of coins under this subsection shall terminate when each President has been so honored, subject to paragraph (2)(E), and may not be resumed except by an Act of Congress.” [xiv]

In the Bill Congress also writes:

“(1) There are sectors of the United States economy, including public transportation, parking meters, vending machines, and low-dollar value transactions, in which the use of a $1 coin is both useful and desirable for keeping costs and prices down.

(2) For a variety of reasons, the new $1 coin introduced in 2000 has not been widely sought-after by the public, leading to higher costs for merchants and thus higher prices for consumers.

(8) Many people cannot name all of the Presidents, and fewer can name the spouses, nor can many people accurately place each President in the proper time period of American history.

(9) First Spouses have not generally been recognized on American coinage.” [xv]

It is fortitudinous that Congress and the President of the United States have placed this Bill’s execution, honoring each of the U.S. Presidents, in the capable hands of your office for three important reasons:

First, only the U.S. Post Office and the Department of the Treasury honor Pre-1789 Constitutional firsts being, respectively, that of U.S. Postmaster in Benjamin Franklin and U.S. Treasurer in Michael Hillegas. Conversely, The White House ignores the service of all the Pre-1789 U.S. Presidents recognizing the service of men only under the Second Constitution of 1787.

U.S. Department of the Treasury Website [xvi]

United States of America Post Office Website [xvii]

Second, Elias Boudinot, the Director of the U.S. Mint under George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, was actually their presidential predecessor serving as the Fourth President of the United States of America under the Constitution of 1777, the Articles of Confederation. President Boudinot, to many people’s astonishment, actually signed the Preliminary Articles of Peace with Great Britain on September 25, 1783 under Great Seal as the President of the United States. [xviii]

[xix]

 President was transmitted by the U. S. Treasury Office on March 12, 1781 with these opening words: “The Board of Treasury to whom was referred the Letter from the Honorable the Minister of France to his Excellency the President of the United States in Congress A

Third, the first recorded official correspondence from a federal institution to a President of the United States in Congress Assembled …” [xx]

This law requiring you, “the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of each of the Nation’s past Presidents and their spouses, respectively, to improve circulation of the $1 coin” can do more then Congress and President Bush ever envisioned. With the stroke of a pen you can order $1.00 Coins to be minted honoring the Presidents of the United States who served under the Constitution of 1777 after the Constitution of 1787’s Presidential list is exhausted. No Federal Court in this land will ever find these men NOT TO BE Presidents of the United States of America in Congress Assembled as the office existed long before Washington’s Inauguration.

Mr. Secretary, by issuing the order to include the founding Presidents, your esteemed office will

· Awaken the People of the United States to the reality that Presidents served their country before George Washington under the Constitution of 1777 which, formed the Perpetual Union of the United States and,

· By ordering the striking of these Pre-1789 Presidential coins your office initiates a “positive public debate” that may capture the media’s fancy which would only enhance the ethos of the United States. Such an order will surely catalyze interest in the coins fulfilling the directive of Sec. 104. Removal Of Barriers to Circulation number (2): “Publicity — The Director of the United States Mint, shall work closely with consumer groups, media outlets, and schools to ensure an adequate amount of news coverage, and other means of increasing public awareness, of the inauguration of the Presidential $1 Coin Program established in subsection.”

Mr. Secretary, you are in the enviable position to resuscitate the reputation of the founding Presidents of the United States who forged a nation out of Rebels, who, with a treasury steeped in debt won a seemingly insurmountable war and our Independence. History, as you well know Sir, is the Crystal Ball to the Future and this period in the American journey is peppered with many lessons vital to 21^st Century citizen education. These Presidents’ deeds, actions and laws circle high around us like majestic eagles and if you sign and then point your pen up, a national spotlight will shine on these patriots illuminating events and deeds vitally important to the citizens of the United States.

Mr. Secretary, sign the order and acknowledge these men for what they are, Presidents of the United States of America.

Stanley L. Klos

PS: On March 20, 1781, a National Proclamation was issued under the newly ratified Constitution of 1777 entitled “A Day Of Humiliation, Fasting And Prayer” [xxi] Signed, Samuel Huntington, President of the United States in Congress Assembled. The content is most interesting.”

On April 1, 2008, the Department of Treasury responded to Mr. Klos' letter, and advised Plaintiff that coins would not be issued for the Constitution of 1777 Presidents because although the Constitution of 1777 Presidents are admittedly “Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled” their “role was not as chief executive in the way the Presidents of the United States from George Washington to the present have been.”

The Treasurer's wrongful refusal to issue coins bearing the images of the Constitution of 1777 Presidents  perpetuates the commonly held misconception that the Constitution of 1777 Presidents were not "Presidents of the United States" and misleads all students in America, including Mr. Klos' minor children, concerning the existence and identity of the earliest founders and Presidents of the United States. 

Klos States: 

"Queen Elizabeth II of England is merely a shadow of the imperial power wielded by  her predecessor, Elizabeth I. Despite this, Elizabeth II is Queen. It is my hope that the spotlight of the Republican National Convention will shine brightly on this exhibit demonstrating that the men who served as Presidents were indeed Presidents of the United States."

Click Here For 2000 GOP EXHIBIT