A. Mitchell Innes: Dollar Not Concrete
on Thursday, March 19, 2015A. Mitchell Innes Money Quotation saying the cash construct requires a belief in imaginary elements that make up a dollar bill and any debt it can pay is satisfied by that fantasy. A. Mitchell Innes said:
“The eye has never seen, nor the hand touched a dollar. All that we can touch or see is a promise to pay or satisfy a debt due for an amount called a dollar” — A. Mitchell Innes
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This quote from A. Mitchell Innes suggests that physical currency itself does not intrinsically represent value, but rather is a physical representation of a monetary system based on credit and debt. Some key points in interpreting his perspective:
- Innes implies that a dollar bill is not money itself, but rather a tangible token that serves as evidence of a promissory agreement or “debt due” within the financial system.
- He portrays currency as essentially an IOU note or placeholder for obligations between parties, with its worth coming from the credit system that gives it context rather than any intrinsic property of the note itself.
- Innes’ perspective reflects the view that modern fiat currencies derive their purchasing power not from commodity backing but from their use in economic transactions and acceptance as a means of payment to settle debts.
- His observation conveys that at their core, even cash-based economies operate on credit mechanisms rather than physical assets, with currency serving as a record and transfer of credit between participants.
Overall, the quote captures Innes’ perspective that money is a social and legal agreement underlying economic exchange, not an end in itself. This reflects the reality that all monetary systems, whether commodity-backed or fiat, function based on mutual trust and debt relationships between transacting parties.
Birthday: June 30, 1864 – Death: February 13, 1950
