American Open Currency Standard (AOCS)

The AOCS is a new organization created in 2008 with the goal of grouping together like minded individuals who desire to further the use of 'real money' instead and in addition to fiat national currency[paper]. Their web site points out to readers some of the most important issues & flaws with the U.S. Dollar and encourages visitors to 'take up' the use of silver AOCS approved Private Voluntary Barter Currency for retail merchant trade and barter transactions.Let's face it: since the beginning of time, every paper FIAT currency has failed. The Federal Reserve Note, once regarded as the world's "reserve" currency, is dying. While on it's death bed, it robs We The People of our wealth through inflation. No one is going to fix this for you: it's time for you to do something about it. http://www.opencurrency.com/The first line of defense in areas around the United States, or perhaps it should be called AOCS offense, is made up of "Currency Officers". These members help facilitate trade and exchange the AOCS approved currencies with merchants. Today, it seems there are about two dozen of these officers located in just over a dozen different U.S. States. Here is more information on the AOCS from their web site.

AOCS Mission

The AOCS exists to expedite the implementation of silver as money. We actively prospect, train, and support the 3 groups that comprise the AOCS: Merchants that accept AOCS Approved Currencies, Currency Issuers that conceptualize & requisition new minted pieces, and Currency Officers that exchange the Currencies with the general public. The AOCS promotes local enterprise, rebuilds local community wealth and creates a profit for you!

Currency

Whether you're bringing new silver to the market or turning your existing bullion into minted rounds, the AOCS will help you establish your brand identity. We'll introduce you to the participating approved Mints that will complete your final product. The AOCS will help build marketing material so that you can put your best foot forward as you attract Currency Officers and participating Merchants to your system.To further understand how the silver pieces are valued for daily use please visit their web site. http://www.opencurrency.com/valuation.php

The AOCS currently offers its enthusiastic participants a variety of similar custom AOCS approved silver pieces. All of the round silver medallions featured are privately-minted .999 fine silver currency weighing one Troy ounce. There are currently 7 approved silver medallions on the AOCS web site including the existing Liberty Dollar and the new Free Lakota Bank medallion. Here are the web site links to these silver pieces.

http://www.theneocoins.com

http://www.thefreedommint.com

http://www.freelakotabank.com

http://www.dixiedollar.org

http://libertydollar.org

http://www.librecoins.com

http://www.communitydollar.net

Former Liberty Dollar Regional Currency Officer Mr. Rob Grey is the National Currency Director associated with the AOCS web site. He is also linked to several other new 'Sound Money' active ventures which do business with or through AOCS. (Rob Gray, National Currency Director, rgray@opencurrency.com)

One of the ventures is The Silver Buyer's Club, http://www.freemarketmetals.com This is a helpful operation for individual silver buyers and a simple way to aggregate multiple small silver purchases for better value. This type of silver buyers club is very common with coin collectors, gold bugs and precious metal enthusiasts. It is a helpful way to save money on regular purchases of bulk silver U.S coins or or privately minted medallions. As with Costco and Sam's Club, buying in bulk can reduce the per unit price of just about anything and precious metal is no exception. Using the club's buying power, orders for AOCS silver rounds are placed direct with the mints and refineries.

How ordering works?

A Bulk Order for AOCS silver rounds is initiated by a Currency Officer. The Currency Officer is responsible for setting the terms, and premiums along with the closing order date. That same officer determines which pieces will be available in the bulk order and it is his full responsibility to manage and provide services to the participants awaiting delivery of their finished metal pieces. While pricing on bulk order is generally cheaper than a single coin purchase, the prices will vary based on the market and the total size of the order. The per unit closing price for a bulk order is not determined until the very last moment before the order is placed. Funding for an order may be accomplished through a variety of convenient methods such as PayPal or even cash. If you are interested in learning more or participating in the bulk order process please be sure to check out the terms and details on their web site.

Another venture associated with Rob Grey and AOCS is the Lakota Free Bank. http://www.freelakotabank.com/ While the silver pieces that are produced and marketed with this venture are really beautiful, there seems to be some real confusion if the web site and business are legally associated with or even linked to the Republic of Lakotah. We have written Rob Grey and asked for clarification on these matters but received no response.

Is it a licensed bank and what does the Free Lakota Bank actually do?

Their web site boasts a new standard of value for money and a new system of banking. It is hailed as the "world's first non-reserve, non-fractional bank". They claim to only accept silver and gold for deposit. Here is some additional text from the web site.

A New Standard of value & A New System of Banking

At the Free Lakota Bank, we issue, circulate and accept for deposit only AOCS-Approved silver and gold currencies. Silver & gold are a store of value, an equivalent of wealth produced. Paper is a mortgage on wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are expected to produce it. Since we deal only in real money, we do not participate in any central bank looting schemes.
Money is made possible only by those who produce. Paper is not money, instead merely a promise to pay. We hope that some day the rest of the world will awaken from the American Dream: the dream that a person can sustain life by consuming more than producing. We call it the American Dream because you must be asleep to believe it. Well, that dream now has a silver lining; as people discover the dream is really a nightmare, the only solution is a return to value: value that comes from production and honest trade.

A super sized pr effort put the Free Lakota Bank front and center with a press release dated 11/24/2008:

"In a stunning development, the Free & Independent People of Lakota announced today the introduction of the world's first non-reserve, non-fractional bank that accepts only silver and gold currencies for deposit. ´Today is a great day for us, a day that we begin to exercise our rights as a sovereign people with strength and pride,´ comments Canupa Gluha Mani, Tetuwan Council Judicial Member of the Cante Tenza ´Strong Heart´ Warrior Society. Mani's 2500 member warrior society has contracted to provide private security services for the Free Lakota Bank. ´We invite people of any creed, faith or heritage to unite in an effort to reclaim control of wealth. It is our hope that other tribal nations and American citizens recognize the importance of silver and gold as currency and decide to mirror our system of honest trade.´ Mani, also known as Duane Martin Sr, is a member of the delegation that declared Lakota independence on December 17th, 2007. The launch of the Free Lakota Bank is also an incredible victory for StrikeForce Technologies, the access control experts providing depositor Out-of-Band Authentication. As the Free Lakota Bank does not require a name, photo identification or social security number to transact, StrikeForce's technology met the challenge of limiting fraud without requiring controversial biometric technology. The People of Lakota invite depositors to establish accounts and invest in the Free Lakota Bank's General Investment Fund, the fund it uses to develop profitable free-market enterprise inside Lakota territory. Mani comments that the nation despises donations and charity, and instead insists instead on ´earning our wealth by creating value for those that place their faith and trust in our system.´"However, despite the pr efforts and even as the web site is encouraging visitors that doing business with the FreeLakotaBank will contribute to Lakota Prosperity, we could not find any authentic arrangement between the bank and the actual Republic of Lakotah. In fact it was just the opposite, the freedom loving Lakotah from the Sioux Indian reservations of Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana had this statement on their web site.(http://www.republicoflakotah.com/?p=421)

The Republic of Lakotah is in NO WAY associated with this new "freelakotabank." Caveat Emptor!

The freelakotabank web site offers a lot of general information on sound money banking and other promotional text such as the reasoning why a person with moral integrity and character may deserve a loan from the bank. The text states that 'currency', which is understood to means actual silver or gold rounds, may be shipped directly from the bank or issued by an AOCS Officer. However, other than offering the claim that "...any and all withdraws[withdrawals] from the Free Lakota Bank will be issued in AOCS-Approved currency", no additional detailed information, links or discloses are present which may clarify any relationship between the bank and the AOCS.

Loans, investments, interest and rates of return fund (7.24%) are all explained from their simple web site template. But let's be honest here, this is NOT a licensed bank it is a web site. This is a very unprofessional attempt at giving silver and honest money wider exposure.

We are of the opinion that the overall movement which will bring silver and gold back into mainstream U.S. commerce is much better served by the legal presentation of honest money legislation such as Indiana Bill SB 453 and the Colorado House Bill 09-1206 which is almost a mirror of the Indiana document. Both of these bills are based on details crafted by the well known Constitutional Scholar Dr. Edwin Veira who created the original document back in 2003-2005 entitled the GoldMoneyBill which was presented in New Hampshire. Several other states are following this lead and this Washington State H-1127.1, Missouri House Bill #561, Georgia HB 430 - Constitutional Tender Act, Maryland´s House Joint Resolution 5 HJR5 ) The movement to bring back honest money will start from the ground up on a state or local level.

We are of the opinion, that creating alternative silver & gold products both physical and digital that may at least partially move consumers away from personal borrowing and a life time of debt is an excellent idea. For these actions a certain wide praise should be given to the AOCS and all their participants. However, we can't get on board with any homemade banks so it is our recommendation to add the Lakota Silver medallions to your collection and all of the other fine AOCS silver...but stay away from the LakotaFreeBank.

If you have authentic stories of using gold or silver in daily life we encourage you to send them to us at editor@dgcmagazine.com Our best wishes go out to Mr. Rob Grey on his ventures and we look to the coming years for a chance to interview him and detail his success.

The author has contacted Rob Grey for further information on all these new web businesses and even included a 50 question e-mail interview. However, Mr. Grey did not return the Q&A or respond to the inquiry.

The author of this article is in complete agreement with our friends at Nolan Chart, that the Lakota Nation is legitimate http://www.nolanchart.com/article1122.html We support the Republic of Lakota. http://www.lakotaoyate.org/history.html