12 U.S.C. § 411
Section 411 · Issuance to reserve banks; nature of obligation; redemption
This is § 16 of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 23 court decisions — leading case Sanders v. Freeman (2000)
Most recently applied in United States v. Wells Fargo (November 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Federal reserve notes, to be issued at the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the purpose of making advances to Federal reserve banks through the Federal reserve agents as hereinafter set forth and for no other purpose, are authorized. The said notes shall be obligations of the United States and shall be receivable by all national and member banks and Federal reserve banks and for all taxes, customs, and other public dues. They shall be redeemed in lawful money on demand at the Treasury Department of the United States, in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, or at any Federal Reserve bank.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
Phrase “hereinafter set forth” is from section 16 of the Federal Reserve Act, act Dec. 23, 1913. Reference probably means as set forth in sections 17 et seq. of the Federal Reserve Act. For classification of these sections to the Code, see Tables.
Codification
Section is comprised of first par. of section 16 of act Dec. 23, 1913. Pars. 2 to 4, 5, and 6, 7, 8 to 11, 13 and 14 of section 16, and pars. 15 to 18 of section 16 as added June 21, 1917, ch. 32, §8, 40 Stat. 238, are classified to sections 412 to 414, 415, 416, 418 to 421, 360, 248–1, and 467, respectively, of this title.
Par. 12 of section 16, formerly classified to section 422 of this title, was repealed by act June 26, 1934, ch. 756, §1, 48 Stat. 1225.
Amendments
1934—Act Jan. 30, 1934, struck out from last sentence provision permitting redemption in gold.
Change of Name
Section 203(a) of act Aug. 23, 1935, changed name of Federal Reserve Board to Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Cross References
Gold coinage discontinued, see section 5112 of Title 31, Money and Finance.