What continues to mystify me is your belief that a country sort of inherently needs to “build” a “monetary system” by virtue of passing laws in aid of such a construction. The “magical time” of U.S. history before the most offensive of the tender laws (you must take government paper) seems to prove to me that such is not the case. What is wrong with the free market in this context?
I guess the government could say "Pay your taxes with whatever coin makes you most comfortable." My guess is that country would be a footnote in the history of North America. If you have a real world example of a country that existed for a substantial amount of time without legal tender, provide the example.
The “magical time” of U.S. history before the most offensive of the tender laws (you must take government paper) seems to prove to me that such is not the case.
Plenty of legal tender paper in colonial times. Perhaps if the Continental Congress had the power to tax to support the military, they wouldn't have inflated the paper money. Whatever the case, there was no time of zero legal tender in the Colonies or the U.S.
What is wrong with the free market in this context?
Nothing. You can have the free market now and you could have it in 1792, whether people want your money is another matter.
Thought you might be interested in the movement to get the States to return to their Constitutional obligation to ONLY use gold and silver coin in their transactions:
http://www.ConstitutionalTender.com/