McGoon v. Shirk

The question presented by this record is, can a promissory note, payable, in terms, in American gold, be discharged by a tender of United States treasury notes, such promissory note having been executed subsequent to the passage of the act of February 25, 1862, called the legal tender act?

This court had occasion, so far back as 1864, to examine this question. The first case was that of Hull v. Kohlsaat, 36 Ill. 130, which was an action at law on a note of this tenor: “ Six months after date, I promise to pay to Alfred Hull, or order, seventy-five dollars, with ten per cent interest, without…