Yes, a minted gold coin is legal tender.
Not by any definition of that term that I have ever heard. Even an American gold Eagle isn't legal tender because of the gold content of the coin, but because of the face value stamped into the side of it.
Boy we're getting technical here!
Yes, that is what I meant. I live in Canada. In Canada, our mint sells "$100", "$200", "$500" gold coins... etc... they are 24k gold. They are worth a shit load more than $500 each. And they are legal tender. Meaning you can spend them anywhere - because technically they are worth $500 at a bank - (ie. for a car, which was my original argument) but you would be a fool to do so. They're generally collectors items.
Sorry I didn't explain myself better the first time around my southern friend!
Haha, yeah. That's like spending old American coins (like war dimes) that were made with silver. You can still slot them into vending machines, even. But you're slotting away something worth far more than 10 cents.
It's more accurate to say that government-mandated coins are legal tender, and some of them
happen to be made with precious metal!