Dick Stoner’s decision to refuse to accept cash at his Coldwater Road novelty store has turned him into a celebrity of sorts.

One could probably call Stoner a celebrity already. He performs magic tricks at conventions all over the country, and he’s well known in the magic business and as a speaker.

But the holdup at his store this month and his decision to ward off robberies by accepting only credit cards, debit cards or checks have made his little shop, which sells itching powder, whoopee cushions and other practical jokes, the topic of conversation around the country.

National newscasts have told his story, and newspapers all over have run stories on his new no-cash policy.

Meanwhile, Stoner’s customers are adjusting well to the change. A few have come up with cash in hand, and when they see the sign that says no cash, they just pull out a credit card, Stoner said. Everyone has one.

But the policy generated a few comments and questions from some readers.

One man from Huntington questioned whether it was legal to refuse to accept U.S. currency. The reader said he’d once spoken to the county treasurer when a company refused to take cash, and the treasurer said that was against the law. Told that, the man said, the company relented and took his cash.

It is an interesting question.

Those of you who still have a dollar bill in your pocket will notice that it says “This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.”

When I was a kid I used to wonder exactly what that “public or private” phrase meant. Oh, I decided, public debt must be like taxes, or fines for smoking K2 and that.

I also recall a friend telling me that if a store refuses to take U.S. currency, you could take whatever you wanted for free. I wouldn’t suggest trying that.

As to the legality of the policy, Stoner isn’t refusing to accept U.S. currency. When you use a credit card or debit card or write a check in the U.S., you’re paying in U.S. currency. You’re just using a different method of giving your money to someone else. In the end, your money is gone just the same.

Another question came up about whether Stoner was the only business in Fort Wayne that had gone to a no-cash policy.

One caller said he had run into another outfit with the same policy – a federal government office, no less.

That was particularly ironic to the caller. The federal government won’t take its own currency, the stuff that says it’s good “for all debts, public and private.” What’s the problem? he asked. Don’t they trust their own currency, or don’t they trust the government employees, or maybe both?

Good question.

Come to think of it, the government seems to have started this whole trend. If you have ever owed taxes, you know that your IRS return prominently tells you, “Do not send cash.” It takes only checks, money orders or credit card payments. The state is the same way.

So I guess Stoner’s policy isn’t so revolutionary after all.