The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 51, December 4, 2005, Article 12

THE "LIBERTY DOLLAR"

Speaking of "Legal Tender", Andrew W. Pollock III
writes: "I found this website that you may be interested
in telling your readers about. It seems sort of like the
Lesher dollar idea c. 1900-1901.  My guess is that the
feds will probably shut them down pretty promptly because
the inscriptions and denomination values appear to be
similar to actual coins. Have you heard about them before?"

Full Story

[No, this was a new one on me.  Readers?  To me, it looked
like a new wrinkle in marketing overpriced pseudo-coins.
Here are some amusing excerpts from the web page:

"My name is Bernard von NotHaus and I was so concerned about
what is happening to our money that I designed and developed
the Liberty Dollar. For 25 years, I was the Mintmaster at the
Royal Hawaiian Mint and have devoted my life work to the study
of money, why it is valuable, and how we use it to fulfill
our dreams. Like you, I am paying a lot higher gas prices,
but I am also saving a lot of money because of a simple
change I have made to my money."

"While I was the Mintmaster in Hawaii I harbored a secret
project. For over 23 years I worked on developing a value
backed paper currency to complement the Mint's commemorative
coin business. Not satisfied with just copying the paper
money from the Kingdom of Hawaii of the 1800's, I wanted to
create a totally new free market currency that met the
demands of the current free market in precious metals and
would represent real gold and silver stored in an
independent warehouse."

"Here's what people who use the Liberty Dollar are saying:

"I now pay for my lunch in real money."
V. Callaway, Tacoma WA

"I simply hand them the currency and 95% of the
businesses accept it."
C. Athanas, Austin TX"

A web search found a number of references to this
operation, including this:

"The Militia Watchdog has learned of a new organization
which, as described, carries considerable potential for
fraud or misuse. The Militia Watchdog urges all law enforcement
officers, journalists, activists and others to scrutinize
this organization and its activities carefully."

"In the early 1980s tax protester Tupper Saussy created
a stir with his "Public Office Money Certificates," which
were a sort of bogus promissory note. In the late 1980s,
various conmen created illegitimate "sight drafts" that
were alleged to be as valid as federal reserve notes. And
in the mid-1990s a host of groups including USA First,
Family Farm Preservation, the Republic of Texas and, most
famously, the Montana Freemen, created billions of dollars
worth of bogus money orders and checks. This last resurgence
resulted in scores of successful prosecutions around the
country."

"American Liberty Currency." This consists of "silver
certificates" in $1, $5, and $10 amounts. The $10 certificate
is allegedly backed by one ounce of .999 pure Troy silver,
and the other certificates backed proportionately. However,
the silver itself is kept in a "warehouse" run by
"Sunshine Minting."

The current price of silver is only about $5.10 per
troy ounce."

"NORFED is an abbreviation for a group calling itself the National
Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act."
[and run by "Hawaiian Mintmaster" NotHaus.  www.norfed.org is
synonymous with www.libertydollar.org]

"NORFED is also engaged in the creation of "a National Network
of Redemption Centers." The function of these centers is "to
exchange Federal Reserve Notes for American Liberty Currency
(warehouse receipts)." In other words, to take people's
dollars and give them this new "currency." Redemption Centers
can buy certificates from NORFED at a 10% discount, then
provide them to others. Ostensibly, these centers will also
exchange silver certificates for silver coins. The centers
are also urged to recruit "members" and will get a portion
of the membership fee."

Full Story
-Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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