Anyone use a local currency?

[CatherineID]

I saw an article in our newspaper about this progam ...

http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/local_currencies.html

Anybody use a local currency like this?

[mtwildflower]

Couldn't get the link to work.

But, I know what happened when the mayor in a town not too far from here tried to cash in on funds, supposedly backed by the Freemen...he went to jail.

If you can find a link that works. I'd be interested in reading.

[fnfredux]

maybe they could avoid being "criminals" by describing the script as "coupons" redeemable for cash?

[gwhilikerz]

I use local currency, the currency of the United States of America. Although I do have a hugh stash of monoploy money if anybody has anything they want to sell.

[gregabob]

Check out American Open Currency Standard. Also Free Lakota Bank. The currency is 1 Troy Oz. .999 silver coins used as a 'barter' currency. Another source is Liberty Dollars. Since theses coins are pure silver, the value will never be zero, as our phony paper 'fiat' money is close to being now. Paper Federal Reserve Notes have lost 95% of their value since 1913. 1 Oz. of gold or silver will still buy the same amount of goods it did 1000, 500, 100,10 years ago for the most part. Silver and gold coins are the only money authorized by our Constitution. Paper FRNs are a monumental fraud-but that's a subject for another thread....

[gwhilikerz]

I have a question about gold and silver currency. Have any of you actually tried to buy anything with gold or silver (except U.S. coins)? I would imagine it would be a very hard thing to convince somebody you weren't trying to rip them off.

[gregabob]

All the AOCS coins are stamped '.999 Silver' as are Silver bullion bars. Gold is usually .9999 pure. The weight is stamped on the coin or bar. They are quite heavy for their size too. On the AOCS website they have a list of merchants who accept the coins. The only thing is you can't use them for is to pay taxes or deposit in a Federal Reserve System bank. The Free Lakota Bank only takes AOCS coins on deposit. I haven't tried to buy anything with my silver yet-I'm saving it for now. I'll eventually see if I can trade some land for gold.

[ryanmercer]

I think the local/micro-currency thing is just a joke. A big joke.

[gregabob]

No, the joke is on us,roping us into believing bits of cloth with someone's picture on it has intrinsic value. Constitutional money is the only thing with value-not this fraud we've been subjected to. Inflation of the money supply by the Fed has robbed us of better than 95% of the 'value' of the currency since 1913. Fiat currencies always fail, sooner or later. Ours is no different-it will fail. Then those with no real money will suffer. We prepare ourselves for uncertain futures by stockpiling supplies and becoming more self-sufficient. Keeping a stash of Constitutional money is a way of prepping too. Trading coins or bullion now with people, even as a novelty, paves the way for the time in the future when rampant inflation has made those dollar bills more worthless than they are now. If you choose to hold onto your wealth by converting it to paper, that's certainly your choice. I simply prefer to convert my labor to gold and silver.

[otterbob]

I'll eventually see if I can trade some land for gold.

Hope you are not in Colorado !
All real estate transfers/sales must be in "Good Funds" !
Even cash is not considered "good funds"
The only thing closing companys will accept is wire transfers, and cashiers checks deposited to escrow.

Otter Bob

[otterbob]

I have a question about gold and silver currency. Have any of you actually tried to buy anything with gold or silver (except U.S. coins)? I would imagine it would be a very hard thing to convince somebody you weren't trying to rip them off.

I have found it fairly easy to "Barter" with gold and silver, but you do need an assortment of sizes.
One of my "buys" was a Servel propane fridge in the late nintys for a 2 1/2 peso gold piece.
Another was dental work for a few one oz silver "rounds" .

Otter Bob

[cubcadet]

Gold or silver may not impress a local merchant when the balloon goes up. I know that if I have some chickens to trade, I will not trade gold and silver bullion that is offered to me in exchange. I`m not familiar with the assaying of such metals. I will take a good fist full of pre-1965 dimes, quarters or half or whole dollars ( I am good at judging these coins just by their jingle), a box of shotgun shells, a sack of beans or corn, a gallon of gasoline or diesel or kerosene, a bunch of carrots or beets, a round trip ride to a place I want to go, or, something else I can use or trade for something else.

[rivahmom]

I owned a few liberty dollars a while back. There was a gas station that took them in Petersburg, VA. They had companies that excepted silver payments listed on their website at one time. My hubby will also do electrical work for silver and gold. I have looked into the Lakota currency but I have found it to be a bit too pricey and I'm nowhere near Lakota territory. I would rather purchase silver at spot or as close to spot value as I can.

[otterbob]

I have looked into the Lakota currency but I have found it to be a bit too pricey and I'm nowhere near Lakota territory. I would rather purchase silver at spot or as close to spot value as I can.

You may like this link :
http://www.ajpm.com

Over the years I have purchased near 200 oz's of silver and near 15 oz's of gold from them. and never a problem !

Otter Bob

[rivahmom]

Thanks for the link. They seem more affordable than our local coin shop.

[cubcadet]

It may not be possible now but, about 15 years ago, I befriended a local coin and jewelery dealer. One day he called me to tell me he just got ahold of a big coffee can with $200 worth of junk silver. He said he would take $600. At that time, spot was 4 to 1. I jumped on it. That was a good grab for me.

[gregabob]

You may like this link :
http://www.ajpm.com

Over the years I have purchased near 200 oz's of silver and near 15 oz's of gold from them. and never a problem !

Otter Bob
Thanks for the link Otterbob! My local coin shop is out of silver right now. :-/

[gregabob]

Hope you are not in Colorado !
All real estate transfers/sales must be in "Good Funds" !
Even cash is not considered "good funds"
The only thing closing companys will accept is wire transfers, and cashiers checks deposited to escrow.

Otter Bob
Naw, Colorado's rainwater collection restriction made the state a non-starter for me. I'm looking at Wyoming now.

[ryanmercer]

No, the joke is on us,roping us into believing bits of cloth with someone's picture on it has intrinsic value. Constitutional money is the only thing with value-not this fraud we've been subjected to. Inflation of the money supply by the Fed has robbed us of better than 95% of the 'value' of the currency since 1913. Fiat currencies always fail, sooner or later. Ours is no different-it will fail. Then those with no real money will suffer. We prepare ourselves for uncertain futures by stockpiling supplies and becoming more self-sufficient. Keeping a stash of Constitutional money is a way of prepping too. Trading coins or bullion now with people, even as a novelty, paves the way for the time in the future when rampant inflation has made those dollar bills more worthless than they are now. If you choose to hold onto your wealth by converting it to paper, that's certainly your choice. I simply prefer to convert my labor to gold and silver.

And what is worse than a government backed fiat currency... a jim-bob backed fiat currency.

[gregabob]

Ryan, maybe I didn't make myself clear. 'Local' currencies are not something cobbled up in a homemade forge from melted down scrap. They are coins with a known purity from private and/or gov't mints, like Canadian Maple Leafs. They all have intrinsic value simply due to the precious metal content. Only Gov'ts can make fiat currency-it's also the currency that suffers from inflation due to gov't and central bank meddling in the supply. Gold and silver have had very little fluctuation in their buying power for centuries. 1 troy oz. of gold will buy the same thing today as it did 2000 yrs ago-a very nice suit of clothes, for example.
Paper fiat money always fails eventually-the dollar will fail too. If that day comes in my lifetime, I'll be prepared. If not, my neices and nephews will get some cool gold and silver coins to help them when the time comes.

[ryanmercer]

Ryan, maybe I didn't make myself clear. 'Local' currencies are not something cobbled up in a homemade forge from melted down scrap. They are coins with a known purity from private and/or gov't mints, like Canadian Maple Leafs. They all have intrinsic value simply due to the precious metal content. Only Gov'ts can make fiat currency-it's also the currency that suffers from inflation due to gov't and central bank meddling in the supply. Gold and silver have had very little fluctuation in their buying power for centuries. 1 troy oz. of gold will buy the same thing today as it did 2000 yrs ago-a very nice suit of clothes, for example.
Paper fiat money always fails eventually-the dollar will fail too. If that day comes in my lifetime, I'll be prepared. If not, my neices and nephews will get some cool gold and silver coins to help them when the time comes.

I know what they are, and after having dealt with buying selling and trading silver most of my life... I know how people can respond to bullion from a mint they've never heard of, a lot of times they won't want to have anything to do with it as they aren't certain of it's purity unless it's one of the big names. It's nice if someone tells me it has such and such precious metal, but me believing it is an entirely different thing, especially in a situation where u.s. currency is worthless and I'm depending on these obscurely minted coins.