I'm sure that by now, most E-Sylum readers have heard about the Trillion-Dollar coin. I first heard of the idea in 2011.

The theory goes that while there are laws in place to regulate how much paper, gold, silver or copper currency can be circulated by the government, there is nothing so clearly stated when it comes to platinum coins. That door open, the Treasury could have the U.S. Mint produce a Trillion-Dollar platinum coin (or more than one), then ship the goods over to the Federal Reserve who could use them to service the US Debt. As absurd as it sounds, many believe it is technically possible within current laws. One member of Congress has already proposed a law to stop such a coin from being minted!

Although I don't think it will happen, I like the prospect. I have long collected high denomination coins and paper money. Remember the German Notgelt from the early 1920s? I have a nice collection of those collected when I was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany in the early 1970s.

And I have, in my collection, many of the German coins of the same era, from 10 Marks to 50 million Marks, all of the same design.

And, you probably remember the recent hyper-inflation in Zimbabwe when they issued a legal tender 100 Trillion Dollar note:

I guess that now they only have to agree to a design for the new coin. Here are three recommended designs I found. Others recommend a Reagan design.