legal tender

noun

Definition of legal tender

: money that is legally valid for the payment of debts and that must be accepted for that purpose when offered

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Examples of legal tender in a Sentence

Soon after France adopted the euro, the French franc ceased to be legal tender. coins and bills are considered legal tender, but postage stamps are not

Recent Examples on the Web

Although the notes have obvious markings that aren’t typical of legal tender, the bills are the same size as the real thing and might pass for the real thing at a glance if folded or stacked with other bills. — Julia Sclafani, sacbee, "Despite Chinese markings, fake $100 bills cause a scene at El Dorado Hills intersection," 9 July 2018 Montenegro, a candidate to join the European Union, has adopted the euro as its sole legal tender, facilitating investments and helping to control inflation in recent years. — Isobel Lee, WSJ, "Business-Friendly Government Boosts Resort Business in Montenegro," 5 June 2018 Intended only as a collector’s item, the digital coins won’t be issued with a view to entering into circulation and can’t be used as legal tender, the bank said. — Fortune, "Cryptocurrency Fans Will Soon Be Able to Buy a Digital Collector's Coin," 6 Mar. 2018 These electronic deposits—which aren’t legal tender in the way notes and coins are—would be converted into central bank money issued by the SNB. — Brian Blackstone, WSJ, "Swiss Central Bank Denounces Proposal to Ban Money Creation by Banks," 3 May 2018 India’s finance minister, Arun Jaitley, said in February that the country doesn’t recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender. — Corinne Abrams, WSJ, "Millions’ Worth of Bitcoin Goes Missing at an Indian Exchange. Whodunnit?," 13 Apr. 2018 These large denomination bills are still considered a legal tender, though one hasn't been printed since 1945. — Marlena Scott, Teen Vogue, "The Complete History of Money in America, From Pelts to Pennies," 13 Apr. 2018 In this bill, virtual currencies exempted are defined as those that are a digital representation of value and used as a store of value or medium of exchange that are not recognized as legal tender by the U.S. government. — Gary Miller, Newsweek, "Blockchain Valley: Wyoming Is Poised To Become the Cryptocurrency Capital of America," 2 Mar. 2018 Many cannot be converted directly into dollars or other legal tender. — Kathleen Pender, San Francisco Chronicle, "Bitcoin taxes: plenty of questions, no easy answers," 10 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'legal tender.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.