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“If a US coin is clearly marked as worth $1 or $50 and I accept it as pay for a job my employer and I agree is worth, say, $200/wk where is the crime? Did I force the treasury to mismark their coins? Did I cheat my employer?”
In your scenario there might be a crime in avoiding the minimum wage, but I agree that the IRS might be overstepping it's authority on this one. However, I would like to know where the guy is getting gold coins for face value? Likely the case involves a form of money laundering. It would be interesting to know the details of the case because I could make a similar claim that the government is forcing my employer to pay me in fiat currency that is worthless, therefore they own me.

...where is the crime?

If both parties know the $1 coin is worth $200, then the IRS is right and the parties are guilty of tax evasion. What if the payment was made with a piece of antique furniture with $200 but bearing a $1 price tag? Pretty clear in that case.

But, since the coin is legal tender, the situation is not so clear. I would like to hear a legal opinion on that.

I like the idea of reporting my income on the basis of the real value of the fiat currency. Also, I would like to know where to get some of those gold coins at face value.