Local Communities Retuning To Silver As Money
Mark Herpel
June 07, 2008
Can the local community do anything to strengthen the economy by supplementing their local economy with a commodity money such as silver?
Can silver money help bring back strength and build a stronger economy?
Many people are starting to say yes to these questions and are taking a closer look at the paper money in their pocket. They are questioning why their notes buy less each day and what they can do about fixing this problem.
Many are looking at the leadership in America not only on the political front, but also on the corporate level. Scandals are daily news, the dollar has come under attack, and "money" has disappeared from many investor portfolios. As important as money is to the lifeblood of a modern society, it appears to me that something more important has been lost. Integrity and honesty are in extremely short supply today. As I have stated before, when you can lie about money, you can lie about anything.*http://www.financialsense.com David Morgan July 12, 2002
Americans Returning To Silver As A Medium Of Exchange
Indeed, silver“s monetary role has been so universally recognized throughout history that the very word for silver is money in many languages. In Italian, Spanish and French the words for 'money' and 'silver' can be interchanged. In Hebrew, the word kesepph means both silver and money.*http://www.coinresource.com
When national currency, which is backed by nothing tangible, drastically loses value, smart investors move their funds into commodities such as oil, wheat, gold and silver. Hedge funds across the country are pouring dollars into commodities in order to avoid losing the remaining value in their dollar accounts.
Some consumers and local communities have also recognized this problem are are adding value back into their local money using silver. Local communities are recognizing the tangible value of silver as a means of exchange. These communities are finding out, as the buying power of the US Dollar is now falling, the real value of their silver money has been increasing. People are quickly discovering they do not have to lose buying power if they use silver as a currency.
Over the past fifty years, as the official mints of all the countries in the world have moved national currencies away from gold, and then abandoned even the silver standard, official currencies have become more fluid, and less stable. Now, with worldwide trade in international commodities including gold and silver, dollars and yen, carried on by keystroke around the world in milliseconds, the value of any currency can fluctuate wildly in a single trading day. This makes it harder and harder to believe in the intrinsic value of the dollar, and more difficult to find a safe haven for any assets you may have accumulated. *http://www.lqmint.com
Liberty Dollar - http://www.libertydollar.org
In years past, we have seen several popular versions of “silver money“. Phoenix Dollars are physical 1oz disks that are used for barter transactions between private parties who wish to trade physical silver for products and services offline. The Phoenix Dollars are weight denominated and fluctuate based on the market rate of silver. It“s possible that in the future, the Phoenix Dollar could also be introducing a 7 denomination paper warehouse receipts called SilverBacks® which will be backed by physical silver bullion. *(please see disclaimer after article)
The Liberty Dollar is real, private currency that you can use instead of your familiar US dollars. You can spend your Liberty Dollars at any Merchant in your community who voluntarily accepts. It is a friendly and neighborly way to strengthen your local community“s economy, protect small businesses, and reduce our dependence on debt. *(please see disclaimer after article)
These versions targeted national and even global users. While there were specific pockets of activity popular with local users, the Liberty Dollar and the Phoenix dollar did not specifically target an exclusive local market or region of common users.
Phoenix Silver - http://www.phoenixdollar.com
Spreading their use even further around the globe, each of these silver bullion products also has an electronic version for international Internet commerce. Digital silver accounts which can be used for online exchange are available from each of these two companies. The Phoenix Dollar does an especially good job of offering a software platform which encourages silver to be used in e-commerce.
Digital silver accounts are also available from Crowne-Gold.com and GoldMoney.com however, these are recognized and used for convenient digital bullion ownership (savings) and not online commerce.
A number of local communities in North America are making a renewed effort to strengthen their local economies and have created alternative silver currencies. Two area are already minting local silver alternative barter “money“.
Mattole Self-Sufficiency Project - http://www.mattoleselfhelp.org
The Mattole Valley is located in northwestern California, southwest of Eureka, in a region known as the "Lost Coast," so named because the terrain is very rugged and the California coastal highway turns inland, by-passing about 80 miles of coastline. As a geographically isolated region, the people living in the Mattole have developed a strong sense of community and a culture of independence and self-sufficiency. The Mattole Self-Sufficiency Project initiates, promotes, and/or encourages projects designed to promote a sustainable society here in the Mattole Valley. -Ken Young
The first Mattole money denominated in silver “Petols“ became available in July of 2007. This is a local currency made of pure silver and there are no paper notes just the silver pieces. The ten Petols silver piece weighs one ounce. The exchange rate of Petols to US Dollars will depend on the daily price of silver.
As a means of local commerce, Ken Young, the creator of Mattole money, offers this easy to use chart.
The “petol“ was named after the native tribe that inhabited the Mattole Valley before being settled by white pioneers. Ken explains the beautiful designs.
The obverse design represents the Mattole, basically, the icons that exemplify our watershed. We have an extensive restoration project with two different (co-operating) groups working to restore the salmon runs to a level last seen 40-50 years ago. There are a number of local traditions associated with the "opening" of the river after the first rains in the autumn and the return of the salmon to their spawning grounds. Trees are a major part of life here as most people rely on wood-burning stoves to heat their homes and many people have portable mills and mill their own lumber. Trees do grow like weeds due to our wet and mild climate. The river represents the Mattole River which of course, is what created our valley and provides sustenance. The rising sun represents the new paradigm of sustainable living. A sustainable society produces the great majority of its own food thru gardening, ranching, and gathering. The reverse design on each coin represents a different theme of sustainable living. The ecology-economy-culture are the three pillars of a sustainable society. All three need to be in balance. Culture is the way people think, the values they hold, and their goals. Modern technological society has a "growth" culture wherein "bigger is better" rules. In my view, it is this type of culture that produces many of the problems we see in the world today (global warming, wars, peak oil, pollution, inflation, etc).
Please visit their web site to learn out more about Mattole Money (http://www.mattoleselfhelp.org) just remember, local Petols currency is not recognized beyond their California community. Once outside the area, Mattole money“s real value is determined by the one ounce of pure silver and not the Petols face value.
Salt Spring Dollars - http://www.saltspringdollars.com
Recognizing the long standing history of currencies backed by precious metals, we felt this was a natural progression for a local currency. *http://www.saltspringdollars.com
The paper notes representing the Salt Spring local community currency ($$ for short), have been in operation since September, 2001. The $$50 silver coin was issued just before Christmas 2006, and is dated 2007.
Salt Spring Island is located off the coast of British Columbia in the Strait of Georgia. Permanently living on the island are about 10,000 residents. Over 90% of all local businesses (200 businesses) accept Salt Spring Dollars and only about 6 do not! The currency has enjoyed enormous local success. Mr. Bob McGinn, President of the Salt Springs International Monetary Fund said, "We issued a precious metal unit because we like the idea of money with inherent value. The .999 fine silver $$50 Coin represents our continuing commitment to the return to real money, and as well is another way of backing the circulating paper money besides the gold we keep in reserve."
Bob also said that "The price of silver and gold being so high it is likely that their use in our coinage will never translate to them being in circulation on any kind of large scale but they remind everyone that Salt Spring Dollars are backed by more than (trust?)." The $$50 face value of the coin represents a total amount of costs to produce the item. This includes design, dies, silver bullion and minting fees plus a bit of profit built in for the SSIMF. Due to the success of this bullion product, other denominations of silver and gold coins are on the drawing board for the coming years.
The Sustainable Salt Spring Island Coalition developed Salt Spring Dollars to keep money from flowing out of the island economy. Its members researched several alternative currencies, and formed the not-for-profit Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation (SSIMF) in July of 2001. Their goal was to structure a currency for Salt Spring Island. *Salt Spring Dollars are in circulation as paper currency at this time. Legally, Salt Spring Island Dollars are considered "gift certificates," as they meet all four of Revenue Canada“s requirements. Please note: (The traditions of numismatics and the laws of Canada decree that fine metal bullion coins may be issued and sold free of any tax, provided that the purity of the metal, the weight of each coin and a maker“s trademark are shown on each coin“s face. * http://www.lqmint.com )
Clearly, many people today are worried about the value of their savings and money.
Silver is one good way to ease the pain of inflation. Whether you are using real silver money or holding silver as a hedge against rising prices and inflation, the price of silver has done very well in the past few years. To learn more about local currency and using silver as real money in today“s world, please make sure to read the DGC Magazine Special Local Currency issue due out in late July.
*LEGAL NOTICE: Phoenix Dollars are NOT "legal tender" and NOT "current money" nor endorsed by any sovereign government, country, city or state. Our silver bullion designs are very unique to the market so as not to confuse people who could potentially mistake our silver for legal tender. We take great care to ensure no such confusion is possible. Further we encourage all customers to not attempt to "utter" our silver as "legal tender" as that is a crime. Please be advised that the Phoenix Dollar has nothing to do with the city of Phoenix. It is merely in reference to the mythical bird depicted in the logo and on the silver itself. We recommend that you stick to the barter market and use them with people who you know to already be interested in silver bullion. When bartering silver, we ask you to also inform all parties of this legal notice in its entirety so there are no misunderstandings in the market place. Ultimately this responsibility is yours alone. If you break the law, you could face various penalties. Use at your own risk.
LEGAL NOTICE: Liberty Dollar states it is a private voluntary barter currency in circulation to help users protect their your purchasing power. Their web site states that it does not violate Section 486 as it is not intended to be used as "Legal Tender", "Current Money" or "Coin".
Print
Email
