What is the cost of Liberty?

[NVMojo]

April 12, 2006

Someday you might find one - a strange, shiny silver disc mixed in with the loose change in the bottom of your purse or your pants pocket.

Hold it in your palm. It weighs in your hand like a bullet, heavy and solid.

This is a silver $20 piece called a Liberty.

You can't take it to a bank and exchange it for "regular" money. You can't pay your taxes with it. Try to spend it in a store and - most likely - the cashier won't accept it.

That's because the Liberty Dollar is not money produced by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Instead, it's a privately produced form of currency - backed by silver and gold in an Idaho mint - that some people in Western New York feel passionate about.

"It boils down to honor and ethics," said Karl Reile, an Elma resident who distributes Liberty money in the region. "Gold and silver are universal money."

more...

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060412/1007138.asp

[The Magistrate]

1. This Von NotHaus, Ma'am, Has A Fine Scam Going

There is always a sufficient number of fools for a good grifter to prey upon....

[NVMojo]

2. yep, and interesting. made me think of those who still support the Rebels

in the south!

[Boojatta]

3. If it's backed by silver and gold in an Idaho mint, then why not use paper

instead of silver for the actual currency?

"It weighs in your hand like a bullet, heavy and solid." If it's solid, then that is some evidence that it is actually silver rather than silver-colored playdough. However, how heavy is it and what is the price of silver per ounce?

There's a scam involving a newspaper. A person is apparently quite interested in it and deliberately leaves it behind as unspoken security that tells you the person will come back for it. Then an incomplete deal will be completed. Won't it?

[sendero]

4. Even more to the point..

... why not just possess a silver round, 1 troy oz currently worth about $13?

I'm gonna carry a piece of paper or coin someone "says" is backed by silver? You might as well carry a "Federal Reserve Note". :)

[Boojatta]

5. You might need to weigh the silver and also confirm that it is silver.

According to your price quote, $130 would weigh ten ounces and wouldn't fit into your wallet and you might have trouble in transactions that aren't multiples of $13.

If something affected the silver market, your store of value could lose a lot of value. For example, a cheap substitute for silver in photography might be developed or a huge deposit of silver might be found and mined.

[sendero]

6. Given the risks inherent...

... with trusting any entity where money is concerned, I'll take my chances.