Are retailers allowed to refuse cash?

The second volume of the IMFS series on money, currency and finance published by Nomos-Verlag deals with legal tender and its compulsory acceptance. The author of the volume is Benjamin Beck.

In the Eurozone, only banknotes and coins denominated in euro are legal tender. The term legal tender is commonly understood to dictate what means of payment retailers must accept. However, it is unclear under which circumstances a party can be obliged to accept banknotes and coins as a means of payment, especially in private transactions. Due to private autonomy, the parties to a private-law contract are free, for example, to permit cashless payment or to agree to it as exclusive.

In the second volume of the series, author Benjamin Beck analyzes the media used as legal tender and explains the historical development since the founding of the German Reich. In addition, he delineates the terms "legal tender" and "money," examines the legal effects of the compulsory acceptance under monetary law, and addresses special issues such as the acceptance of banknotes with a high nominal value or the acceptance of one- and two-cent coins in larger quantities. The paper is an extended version of the author's master's thesis with Prof. Helmut Siekmann.

The editors of the series on money, currency and finance are Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Helmut Siekmann and Prof. Volker Wieland, Ph.D. In the first volume of the series, Freya Carolin Siekmann explains the legal foundations and the business model of development banks.

Nomos-Verlag
Reihe Geld, Währung und Finanzen
Benjamin Beck
Band 2:
Gesetzliche Zahlungsmittel und Annahmezwang – Eine privatrechtliche Untersuchung unter Berücksichtigung des deutschen und europäischen Rechts

(109 Seiten)