These bills have no value in themselves; they are just so much printed
paper, and if we tried to sell them for the value of the paper they are
made of, we would get about ten cents for a pound of them.

The reason why they are of value to us, and we can exchange them for the
amount printed on their faces, is that for every one of these notes that
is issued, the Government deposits as many dollars in the Treasury as it
represents.

If you look on the face of the last issue of dollar bills, you will see
printed across it:

"This certifies that there has been deposited in the Treasury of the
United States one silver dollar, payable to the bearer on demand.

"G. Fount Tillman, Register of the Treasury.
"D.N. Morgan, Treasurer of the United States."

The bills that we use are really silver certificates, which give us the
right to go to the nearest Treasury and demand as many silver dollars as
we have notes for, whenever we are minded to do so.

The millions of dollars that are lying in the Sub-Treasury in New York
represent, therefore, millions of dollars in bills, or silver
certificates, that are in use and for which the Treasurer must be able
to give solid money at any time he is asked.

A country becomes bankrupt when it cannot redeem its paper money in
coin.