The constitutional text

Article I · Section 10

Select any highlighted phrase to understand what it means.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Source: National Constitution Center edition. Original wording is preserved; commentary explains historical and superseded provisions.

Go at your own pace

You don’t have to understand everything at once. One connection is a good beginning.

LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER

Article I, Section 10, Clause 1c

No independent state coinage

Current text
coin Money;

What it means

States may not coin money. The clause reserves the creation of sovereign coinage to the national constitutional system rather than allowing competing state monetary authorities.

Historical setting

The Articles contemplated state coinage under national regulation of value. The Constitution goes further, pairing Congress’s coinage power with an express prohibition directed at states.

What it does

States still collect revenue, spend public money, and enter lawful financial transactions. The restriction concerns issuing money through the prohibited sovereign function, not ordinary state budgeting.

Debate & interpretation

Uniform money facilitates exchange and reduces monetary conflict among states. It also means state disagreement with federal monetary choices does not create a constitutional right to establish a separate official coinage.

A common misreading

A state’s power to tax and spend does not include a general power to issue its own sovereign coins.

Think it through

How would interstate commerce change if each state could alter the metallic content or value of its own legal coins?

Follow the connection

Sources & further reading

Original Madison Center commentary. Explanations distinguish the text, historical context, and interpretive disagreements.

Sign in to save