US Treasury says there will be no trillion-dollar coin

The trillion-dollar coin idea to get around the debt impasse has been nixed, according to a US Treasury official.

Anthoney Coley told Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein that the platinum coin wouldn’t be legal.

“Neither the Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve believes that the law can or should be used to facilitate the production of platinum coins for the purpose of avoiding an increase in the debt limit,” Coley told Klein.

The trillion-dollar platinum coin was devised to avert default if lawmakers failed to raise the debt ceiling. As Business Insider’s Joe Weisenthal notes, “. . . now the stakes are high, as The White House has refused to negotiate with the GOP on a debt ceiling hike. What bargaining chips does The White House hold? Unclear.”

Macro image of ten dollar bill by Gamma Man