The Biden administration can mint a $1 trillion coin at the last minute if Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen should decide to use that option to safeguard the nation's debt as the clocks ticks toward default.
Yellen called the coin a 'gimmick' in an interview with CNBC.
But Congress has been unable to come to an agreement on a way to raise the coutry's debt limit. And time is running out toward October 18, the date the Treasury Department said it would run out of money.
A trillion-dollar coin could serve as a temporary stop-gap measure if the Treasury needs a way to keep the government from going into default - something the government has never done in modern history. The US Mint would only need a few days notice from Yellen to produce one.
Philip Diehl, the director of the US Mint from 1994 to 2000, told Axios there is no shortage of platinum blanks to mint the coin - the law requires it to be made of that material.
The mint already produces a platinum eagle coin. Printing a trillion-version of it would merely require the denomination to be changed to a 1 with 12 zeros.
'This could be quickly executed on the existing plaster mold of the Platinum Eagle,' Diehl said.
The mint already produces a platinum ealge coin (left) and printing a trillion-version of it would merely require the denomination to be changed (right)
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called a trillion coin a 'gimmick' but it could serve as a temporary stop gap while Congress works to raise the debt ceiling
The coin would be produced at the US Mint in West Point, New York, then flown by helicopter to the Federal Reserve branch in New York City.
It would have to be deposited because the Treasury can't introduce new currency into circulation - only the Fed can do that.
But if the coin sits in the bank, its value would be added to the Treasury's general account and can be used for the nation's bills.
Yellen has made her opposition clear.
'I'm opposed to it, and I don't believe we should consider it seriously. It's really a gimmick, and what's necessary is for Congress to show the world can count on America paying its debts,' she told CNBC.
But senators are no closer to a deal to raise the debt limit. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has teed up another vote on the matter Wednesday afternoon but it's destined to fail due to a lack of Republican support.
Options are getting more limited as October 18 approaches.
Is a trillion-dollar coin legal?
Legally, the Treasury secretary can produce coins of any denomination without congressional approval as long as they're platinum.
The US Code
