The idea for the Treasury Department to mint a coin and send it to the Federal Reserve in order to pay off the debt was first popularized by Populist Presidential Candidate Bo Gritz in 1992. As a standard part of his stump speeches, he would hold up a 5" example coin.[9][10] The specific concept was first introduced by Carlos Mucha, a lawyer who commented under the name "beowulf" on various blogs.
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"Beowulf" would later tell Wired magazine that the coin idea came from a December 2009 Wall Street Journal article that talked about how several people were able to generate frequent-flyer miles at no cost by ordering coins from the U.S. Mint with a credit card offering mileage rewards and then depositing the coins at a bank to pay off the credit card debt.[33] He also said that he was inspired by a 2008 book, Web of Debt, by Ellen Brown, which quoted a former Treasury official who said the government could order the printing of large coins to pay off the national debt. "Beowulf" said the trillion dollar coin idea is more rightly attributed to a small discussion group than to an individual, adding that the group was "just in it for the lulz".[34]
