The End of Alternative Currency?

Years ago, I set up a Google alert for Liberty Dollar (and NORFED. Norfed was the name of the company that started Liberty Dollar Silver) because I wanted to keep track of what was being said about the currency in the mainstream media. Not a lot, until recently.

A week ago today, I got a note from Bernard Von Nothaus, founder of the Liberty Dollar, stating that he had been convicted of various crimes relating to the creation and running of the silver barter currency, and was appealing the conviction.

Dear Liberty Dollar Supporters,

I sincerely regret to inform you that I was found guilty on all four counts regarding the Liberty Dollar in less than an hour on Friday, March 18. The only explanation is that a strong, anti-liberty person took control of a weak-willed jury and pushed the verdict through in record time in spite of well worded Jury Instructions. A government forfeiture hearing immediately followed the conviction. PLEASE NOTE: Your property is at risk so please continue to read these emails and take action so the government does not steal your property. An appeal is planned but that will take years. More news to follow. An unofficial, but most interesting account of the trial is available via Heather’s blog at:
http://www.liberty4free.com/Liberty%20D … 0Trial.htm
God help you and our country as American descends into a hellish hyperinflationary future without the benefits of the Liberty Dollar.
I am very sorry our efforts to return America to value failed.

Thank you so much for your support.

Bernard von NotHaus
Monetary Architect

Ever since then I’ve gotten a slew of articles. Got notice for one in Mother Jones referring to Bernard as a Pot Priest. I think that was the funniest I’ve seen. The scariest I’ve seen was this one.

Here’s a novel of an expansion of the federal government’s use of the word “terrorism,” from the triumphant statement of a North Carolina U.S. Attorney, Anne Tompkins, who just won a conviction against a man who minted his own currency:

Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism, U.S. Attorney Tompkins said in announcing the verdict.

While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as insidious and represent a clear and present danger to the economic stability of this country,” she added. “We are determined to meet these threats through infiltration, disruption and dismantling of organizations which seek to challenge the legitimacy of our democratic form of government.

The convict, Bernard Von NotHaus, who runs the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve and Internal Revenue Code, and now faces 15 years in prison.

Politico – U.S. Attorney calls currency minting ‘terrorism’

Minting barterable rounds, rather than commemorative rounds, is a terrorist act? Oh really? What do you call a US currency that contravenes all US law relating to the value of our currency? If you doubt the veracity of this claim, simply reference the wiki on the subject. The constitution specifies that gold and silver are legal tender. Where is the amendment changing this? How is bartering with gold and silver not in the realm of constitutional behavior, but using a visa card funded with digital federal money based on nothing is constitutional?

I get it, the guys with guns say it’s so, so it is. It’s a lot like tax law. Still, I’d really like an explanation beyond the “because I said so” that bad parents offer up as an excuse to their children.

I stopped participating in the LD community when the Feds declared the practice illegal. I traded a good number of rounds for goods and services over the years prior to that. Any merchant that came to me and wanted deposit-able federal dollars (the banks refused to take gold and silver and insisted on fake money. Riddle me that one) I gladly traded them paper for silver. To this day, I search my change for the increasingly rare pre-80’s piece of federal money that has silver content in it, so that I can set it aside to get its real value assayed. I’d still take real silver and gold over fake paper, anyday.

…and I wonder at governments that accuse honest businessmen of fraud, while conducting a fraud on their own.


If you had Liberty Dollars in the warehouse, your property is about to be forfeited.

URGENT ACTION: Bad News for your Property!

Dear Liberty Dollar Supporters:

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the 100s of replies. The two most common words re my conviction were “sorry” and “sad.” I wholeheartedly agree and am sorry I can’t reply to every email. URGENT we have no time to lose to protect your property from gov theft!

Please do NOT let the government steal your property!!!

I have just learned that the government will aggressively defend against any claims once the judge decides on April 4th whether or not the property in whole or in part is subject to forfeiture. This means that the government may steal your property i.e. the silver that backs the paper or digital Liberty Dollar Warehouse Receipts ‘without just compensation’ i.e. fair market value! Please stand up for your Fifth Amendment!

URGENT ACTION IS REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY!!!

Unless you are identified as an “interested party” on the official record prior to the April 4th Forfeiture Hearing on Monday morning, you may not have standing with the court to redeem your Liberty Dollar warehouse receipts or the gov process may be so encumbered that the government prevails and steals your property.

You do not have to identify the total value of your paper or digital Warehouse Receipts that you are holding to qualify as an “Interested Party.” So, even if you are holding just one $1 Liberty Dollar silver certificate, you are qualified as an “Interested Party” and encouraged to register – IMMEDIATELY.

Registering is easy, fast and free: Simply email the statement below to Assistant US Attorney Thomas R. Ascik <thomas.ascik@usdoj.gov>, the government attorney who is trying to steal your property. And send a CC to me <Bernard@LibertyDollar.org> and I will send all the emails to the attorney who will represent you after you sign an attorney/client agreement. Your CC to me is very important! Please do NOT forget to CC me so you will be on the list to have your property or its fair market value returned to you.

EMAIL THE STATEMENT BELOW to Thomas Ascik with a CC to me. Be sure to include your name and address:

I hereby certify that I am the bearer of Liberty Dollar warehouse receipt(s) and an interested party in any forfeiture action regarding my property. I demand the return of my property or its fair market value in a timely manner and to be informed with sufficient time to reply to any and all actions until my property is returned.
INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS

Please note that you will need to sign an attorney/client agreement and agree to pay a contingency fee prior to any legal services. NO FEE is required at this time.

But that may not be enough! If you are holding a serious amount of paper or digital Warehouse Receipts, I strongly encourage you to attend this Forfeiture Hearing on April 4, 2011 at the Federal Courthouse, 200 W Broad St. in Statesville, NC. I know the time is short, the distance is great and the cost is dear; but that is the best suggestion I can make at this time for anyone with a serious amount of paper or digital Warehouse Receipts. If you do appear, you will be called as a witness and officially recognized as an interested party in the court record.
NOTICE: There is a small chance that the Hearing may be continued (postponed) so please email me for the latest info for the Hearing.

Please do NOT let the government steal your property!! At the very least, email Thomas Ascik and send a CC to me to protect your silver. Stand up for your property and continue to be a part of the Liberty Dollar effort by demanding the gov return your silver or its fair market value.

Now Anybody can be a “Unique Terrorist” Please read this open letter to America calling for your cry out about my conviction.

Click HERE for a list of recent articles regarding the BVNH conviction.
Please get your article published and contribute to this public outcry or encourage someone to do so.


The US government has gone after all the alternate currencies that I ever heard of, and they’ve been successful in shutting them all down. The only remaining e-Metal investment firm that I know of is Goldmoney.com, and they wisely got themselves associated with British banking interests as soon they saw that the US government was taking an interest in e-Metal alternative currencies.

Liberty Dollars isn’t the only group working out asset return strategies with the government. e-Gold is also in that process; a process that is now entering it’s third year. So don’t hold your breath on getting your money back, let alone soon.

Douglas Jackson, the founder and director of the online payment service e-Gold and its parent company Gold & Silver Reserve, has ended a two-and-a-half-year battle with the Justice Department and pleaded guilty to charges pertaining to money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. He faces up to 20 years in prison on the money-laundering charge and up to 5 years in prison on the licensing charge.

wired.com

Ultimately, criminal abuse of e-gold reached the point where the US Department of Justice intervened, bringing criminal charges against e-gold Ltd., Gold & Silver Reserve., Inc., (the Operator of e-gold and also of the online exchange service OmniPay), myself, and the other directors for violations of 18 USC 1960 [Operation of an unlicensed Money Transmitting Business] and 18 USC 1956 [Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering]. The criminal case has been resolved. The resolution of the criminal case however provides for a second chance, an opportunity to address the flaws embedded in the e-gold system and to transform the “e-gold Operation” into the institutions I, the other directors, and our longsuffering employees and contractors have always envisioned, one that serves to advance the material welfare of mankind.

blog.e-gold.com

August 19, 2015

Despite the 2011 conviction of Liberty Dollar creator Bernard von NotHaus on charges related to the manufacture and distribution of Liberty Dollars, U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Voorhees ruled in late 2014 that seized property not deemed as contraband should be returned pursuant to ownership claims.

Von NotHaus, who faced 22 years in prison for his  2011 conviction, was sentenced Dec. 2, 2014, by Judge Voorhees to three years of probation and six months under house arrest.

coinworld.com

Bernard Von Nothaus Jailed

I reformatted this in his usual style. The block text transmission that I got earlier today was a pain to read, and not the way that I know Bernard likes his communications to look.

Just passing this along.


June 2010 email: (sent August 1, 2010)
Bernard is Jailed – Part I

Table of Contents:
  1. Two Exciting Newscasts Regarding Money
  2. Kevin the Beautiful
  3. Liberty Dollar Site Is Closed Thank you for your inquiry…
Bernard is Jailed – Part I

First, please note the format changes to this email reply to your inquiry about the me and your property that was confiscated during the ongoing legal battles regarding the Liberty Dollar. It would appear that the once great First Amendment and the concept of innocent until proven guilty do not apply to anyone who is out on an Appearance Bond.

Second, I apologize for this relayed email regarding June development and that now I can’t write my usual monthly “Newsletter.” While I have been late a few times with the chronicle of the Liberty Dollar since October 1998, I have never missed a month. I trust being in jail, defending the Liberty Dollar is a good reason.

Third, I hereby confirm the rumors that I was jailed, but not re-arrested. I was incarcerated when I appeared to answer charges that I violated the terms of my Appearance Bond before Magistrate Judge Cayer, Federal District Count in Charlotte, North Carolina on Wednesday, July 14. There is much to disclose about that hearing and my next five plus days and five nights in Mecklenburg County and Catawba County Jails but I don’t have the time right now. But stay tune. I promise to tell all in my next email for July.

Contained in this email are links for two excellent video newscasts Part I and Part II that aired while I was in jail that features Dave Gillie and Jeff Kotchounian using a value based currency. Most importantly is the quote from the US Treasury website that merchants can use anything they want for money. And equally noteworthy is one of Kevin’s letters that was recently posted on the mailfromjail.com site and forwarded to me.

PLEASE read this letter and marvel at the exulted space that Kevin occupies while standing firm for the Liberty Dollar after 14 MONTHS behind bars. Like Kevin, we have an extremely strong, winnable case and the government is going to lose dearly for this shortsighted misadventure.

Item #1: Two Exciting Newscasts Regarding Money

These two video newscasts speak for themselves. I neither indorse nor support these two brave American patriot’s efforts. I fact, I was surprised when the URLs were sent to me. But I was not surprised by the US Treasury site that proves ‘a private business, a person or an organization…are free to develop their own policies…’ for money. In part the government site says:

“There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept [US] currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise.”

The complete quote for the very first question on the US Treasury’s FAQ site is found here: http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/currency/legal-tender.shtml Now watch these two newscasts and decide who is going to win this case: Part I: http://www.connectmidmichigan.com/news/story.aspx?id=481793 Part II: http://www.connectmidmichigan.com/news/story.aspx?id=482130.

Item #2: Kevin the Beautiful

I know you are busy and you may not even know Kevin but I hope you will take a moment to ravel in Kevin’s amazing jailhouse consciousness and hopefully send him a note of support and/or a few dollars, as he can’t eat the slop that passed as food in jail. And I know that all too well!

From Kevin to a supporter – July 2010:

I continue to consider my time here as an opportunity for some intense independent training so that I can be more effective at helping society when I get out, helps me redirect my thoughts. From all of the wonderful experiences I am missing out on by being here, back to the hear-and-now and my self-imposed tasks. “The Now” is truly all that I can experience “in Technicolor” – all else is just a hazy “black and white” dream.

By being true to what I know to be right and honest I can more easily infuse the present with the enthusiasm and with the awareness that Gold is right here with me. Bliss, God and the Now are One. Standing firm in my convictions and my truth is fundamental to my evolving success, not only spiritually, but also in a worldly sense.

In contrast, there is nowhere I can go for relief if I am in conflict with myself. Yes, this has already taken a very long time and I might only be part-way through it but thinking in terms of time only increases the suffering. When we are One with the timeless inner Self there is really nothing to fear. The more we can connect our light with that wonderful Light that is also in others, especially among those who remind us of this, like you and I, the more we can warm to each other’s glowing.

It is great to hear you are drawing loving people to you. How can they resist?

Please write to Kevin:

William K. Innes
2351 Morganton Blvd. SW
Lenoir, NC 28645

Please send Money to Kevin:

C/O Julia Gaunt
16 Norman Austin Dr.
Asheville, NC 28804

Item #3: Liberty Dollar site is now closed due to court action.

And last but not least, the Liberty Dollar site is now down. Hope you got a copy before all that great info was taken down or know how to find it. I will explain this regretful development in my email to you for July.

Closing Remarks:

That’s it short and sweet. I promise to disclose all regarding my jail experiences and the latest on the Liberty Dollar Four in my next email for July. There are amazing develops with Liberty Dollar Four case, so please stay tune for all the details and an exciting trial! I remain convinced and dedicated to the ideals of the Liberty Dollar and that the only way for us to have a free society is by banding together and adopting a free and independent currency that provides us with “just weights and measures” to throw off the yoke of a manipulated monetary/tax system. Thank you for your inquiry and efforts to return America to value – one dollar at a time!

Bernard von NotHaus
Monetary Architect/Editor
Editor@LibertyDollar.org


Afterword

This LIBERTY DOLLAR NEWS is not in the archive on LibertyDollar.org. I spent quite a bit of time reformatting this when I got it as an email message. I remember I wanted it to look just so. Again, I was so concerned for Bernard. I find it amusing in hindsight.

File Your Liberty Dollar Claim

It looks like ALD will indeed move up on March 23rd. $50 an ounce after that date, from $20 an ounce at current prices. I only wish I was in a better financial position so that I could carry more silver across the Move Up.

Ten years ago when silver was $5 per ounce, the Liberty Dollar was introduced at the $10 Silver Base. Of course some idiots argued that the Liberty Dollar was a rip off at “twice the price of silver!” Those same one ounce 1998 Silver Libertys are now selling for up to $700 on eBay!

Now, silver is flirting with $25 ounce and the Liberty Dollar is Moving Up to the $50 Silver Base… sure enough the same idiot intelligentsia still don’t have a clue. God help us!

This is your last notice to get the Liberty Dollar at the $20 Silver Base. Please do what is right for yourself and our country. Please support the Liberty Dollar. Get some today! Deadline is Midnight, Saturday, March 22, 2008.

libertydollar.org

My letter requesting a restoration of the property that was seized by the FBI in the raid is heading out as I post this.


The motion has been filed. This is good news if you had Liberty Silver on account at Sunshine Mint when it was raided.

I am very pleased to inform you that a representative group of twelve victims (hereinafter Plaintiffs) having not received a reply to their Demand Letter have filed a Rule 41(g) Motion in Federal District Court in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for the return of their property that was represented by either paper and/or digital warehouse receipts. They are proud to proclaim, “We are not going to let the G-boys steal our gold and silver.” In fact, while I have been unusually quiet for over a month, I have actually been diligently working with the plaintiff on Rule 41(g) Motion that was filed on June 17, 2008. Let the fun begin!! Please click HERE for the Demand Letter, the Rule 41(g) Motion and all the Exhibits.

libertydollar.org

Unfortunately, out of the blue… the US government aka the DOJ lobbed a bomb (in the form of a Complaint) against the Liberty Dollar’s seized property last Thursday, June 29. The civil forfeiture complaint, filed in the US District Court in Asheville NC, definitely moves your gold and silver closer to auction and the outright theft of your legal property. Fortunately, in a bizarre move, it was stayed for six months pending the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI. Go figure.

Please click HERE to read the whole 52 page Complaint and TAKE ACTION BELOW!

libertydollar.org
Postscript

I compiled several commentaries into one historical reference here. I remember breathlessly watching as all of these events played out wondering what would happen to Bernard and the ALD. I don’t know why because the events he’s documenting really aren’t that surprising and yet I was outraged constantly about these developments. Here is the archive at Liberty Dollar that contains all the legal documents in the case, just in case you want to read all that stuff.

Liberty Dollar Doubling Again

Got an alert in the inbox today from Bernard. Looks like my silver rounds will soon be worth a good bit more, again. I held eLD and ALD through the last move up, and it proved to be quite profitable. I’ll be holding ALD through this one as well. The eLD went missing with the FBI raid and hasn’t come back.

Liberty Dollar will Move Up on Easter Sunday, March 23 if the 30DMA for silver stays over $16 for 45 consecutive calendar days. Behold a new monetary system arises just as the US dollar descends into a pit of debt. Serendipity may strike again!

libertydollar.org

As long as the spot price of silver stays above $16 an ounce, the daily moving average (DMA) will also stay above $16. (Kitco chart link) Considering the upward trend of silver of late, I’m inclined to think that the move up will occur the first time that Silver’s DMA reached $16, this time.

The $20 move up DMA level was $7.50, and silver flirted with that price at least 3 times before finally staying above it for the required period. I’m betting that a repeat of this will not occur.

Considering the current weakness of the dollar, I’m beginning to wonder if the time to the next move up ($100 base, Bernard?) will be measured in years, or months?


Editor’s note. I was so concerned for Bernard’s health through this period. In reflection, I can’t imagine why.

Liberty Dollars Vs. Postage Stamps

A nameless friend of mine posted this privately a while back. I found it intriguing enough to ask if I could post it here.


Basically, it seems that people get all bent out of shape when their assumptions about money are violated. Seeing as you two have mentioned Liberty Dollars, I thought I’d mention the micro-economic perspective. It hinges on a theory about the relationship between currency and wealth, which I will now spend two skippable paragraphs on.

There are dollars, and there are dollar bills. One bill in a million is fake, which means that a dollar bill is actually worth 99.9999 cents. (Actually, the fake bills are generally larger denominations, but that’s the idea.) But if all funny money were instantly recognizable by all and torn up tomorrow, a few people would take a loss but the bills would again be worth exactly one dollar. That is, the remaining bills would have slightly more buying power in accordance with the change in scarcity. The effect is more pronounced the greater is the local circulation of counterfeit bills.

The underlying problem with counterfeit is that it devalues the currency. People don’t want their currency devalued, so they arrange to reject and seize counterfeit bills at key points in the cash cycle such as banks. As a result, anyone who accepts funny money will ultimately take an economic loss unless they successfully recirculate it. (This can happen by accident.) This arrangement causes anyone who creates and passes a fake bill to be stealing buying power from the last person to accept the bill before it reaches a currency validation checkpoint. There is also a great sense of unfairness that some private party can create money without corresponding wealth. For both reasons, the penalty for counterfeit is harsh.

Liberty Dollars (and things like them) are a subtle issue. Clearly, they are not counterfeit, because they make no attempt to masquerade as standard currency. However, there is still that same appearance (in some minds) that someone is creating money without wealth, and furthermore, as zealots promote the widespread acceptability of these alternative currencies, the notes take on an economic effect similar to that of counterfeit. They increase the cash supply artificially, The banks dishonor them for obvious reasons, and merchants don’t generally have wherewithal to make the conversion to standard funds.

In truth, the only difference between baseball cards and counterfeit currency is that nobody tries to buy beer with them. They have almost no intrinsic value and plenty of speculative value, but most importantly, they have no face value.

If you really want to muck with the system, see if you can pay for things using postage stamps. Once you buy your stamp, the postal service has the use of your original cash. But if you can extract gains from trade using those stamps as a medium of exchange, then you retain your use of the face value of the stamps for as long as you have them. In short, you’ve duplicated money until someone slaps that bad boy on an envelope, which is the inherent economic value backing the stamp. Get more than a few people doing this, and you might spawn an investigation. or at least some serious head-scratching in high places.


His observations do coincide with some of my experiences trading in ALD. There’s always someone on the sidelines who’s just certain there’s a scam going on here somewhere.

It’s also interesting to note that the US government would have to crack down on stamp usage as current money if they were consistent in their interpretation of law. This would put the government in the interesting situation of having to crack down on exchanges of a federal document (stamps) because it cuts into the value of another federal document (dollars).

…Which is just as logical and consistent as outlawing tobacco usage while funding it’s production at the agricultural level. Your federal government at work.


Editor’s note. The scam is not that the silver is fake, what counterfeiting coins would amount to. The scam is in putting a dollar value on the currency (and it is currency for all intents and purposes) and then getting everyone to pay for reminting the coins as the value of the copper/silver/gold in them goes up or down. The scam is in the electronic silver system that could (and probably does) involve having less silver backing the Liberty Dollars than there are promissory notes and Electronic Liberty Dollars in circulation.

The fact that the issuer profits from transactions done in their currency because their currency then gains real value, is the scam. It is similar to the scam that goldsmiths engaged in when they invented fractional reserve banking back at the dawn of recorded history, and handed out more notes than they had in real gold in their vaults. Bernard Von Nothaus knows this. He knows that the silver he holds in the names of his customers gains in value for each ounce he pulls away from uses that require silver. That is the desired impact of the system itself. To push the cost of silver higher and to profit from that price increase. It has taken a decade later looking back on these events to bring clarity to my mind on this subject.

So many detractors, people I argued with in forums, pointed these facts out to no avail for all the years that I argued with them. Only now are their points sinking home.

Auction of Seized Silver

OK, this is a bad turn of events. The silver that backs the eLD and certificates is already being set up for auction by the FBI. If you have certificates or had eLD at libertydollar.org, then you need to file to demand the return of your property, the silver that backed your electronic and paper Liberty Dollars. Don’t let the theft of your property by the FBI go unpunished. Hold their feet to the fire and demand it’s return.

Now hear this! The government is moving aggressively right now to steal your property!! Please join the Lawsuit to recover the wrongful seizure of your property. If you have not signed up for the Wrongful Seizure Lawsuit (Class Action Lawsuit) do it NOW. It is the only way to get your property back. Please take action immediately! Click HERE to sign up!

libertydollar.org

Editor’s note. I found the archive at libertydollar.org where these later alerts are kept. I will be truncating the ones I find and linking to the archive so as to stop promoting Bernard Von Nothaus’ silver schemes with this blog.

Vanishing Dollar Value

The inflation that I’ve long been expecting has finally reared it’s ugly head. Oh, it’s been around for awhile, but now the average American can’t avoid seeing it:

Is the American dollar no longer a good investment? Consider, first we had a stock market crash between 2000 and 2002. The American stock market lost nearly 38% of its value. Then there was the housing bubble, followed by the housing bust.

The housing bubble began in about 1996, but the balloon really started to inflate at about the same time the stock market was deflating. It certainly looks like money sloshed out of the stock market and into the housing market. It looks like people have been trying to find a safe place to invest their dollars.

But if the stock market and real estate turn out to be unreliable then it stands to reason that some money would then go to things like gold or to other currencies. This would explain the retreat from the dollar, but it doesn’t necessarily account for rising prices for food and other goods.

There is actually one thing that explains all of these phenomena: the size of the money supply.

When the Federal Reserve expands the number of dollars certain sectors get the new Fed money first. Those sectors are . . .

* The government, and those who do the most business with the the government
* The banking system, and those who do the most business with banks

This means that you would expect to first see the impact of an expanded money supply in the Big Business and Big Banking sectors. And what did we in fact see? We saw a stock market bubble (Big Business) followed by a housing bubble (Big Banking).

Eventually the new Fed money has to work its way through the entire economy, raising prices for everything you buy. We might call this the Consumer Bubble. And what are we in fact seeing? We are seeing rising prices for consumer goods like food.

downsizedc.org

The Cox News service reports that food prices are up 37% from a year ago. This isn’t a minor hiccup, this is massive inflation, which is just another word for the government stealing from you by creating a surplus of dollars in the market.

The raid on the Liberty Dollar conducted at the end of last month (and the raids on e-Gold earlier this year) begins to take on new meaning in this light. Can’t have any alternative currencies out there for people to easily exchange their dollars for.

Which brings us to the latest tidbit from Ron Paul:

Congressman Paul has hit upon the easiest way to end inflation, and the booms and busts that follow in its wake. Simply repeal the legal tender monopoly enjoyed by FRNs, and allow monetary competition. Not only would this help to end inflation and recessions, it would also limit the ability of politicians to hide the true cost of government through the inflation tax. But that’s not all . . .

Forcing FRNs to compete with gold would also confer one other benefit. Over time the prices you pay would tend to fall as increases in economic efficiency (for example, technological improvements) lower the cost of production and increase the supply of goods and services. A stable money supply tends to become more valuable over time, unlike an inflationary currency that constantly loses value.

Ron Paul’s Honest Money Act

Which would clear the way for currencies like the Liberty Dollar or eGold to compete in the money marketplace, holding the government’s feet to the fire when it comes to the real costs of government.

It’s time to end the fed’s monopoly. It’s time for real money to re-emerge and take its rightful place. Go here and agitate for Honest Money.

Postscript

What we know, in hindsight, is that the inflation and market instability were signals of the imploding real estate markets. Not the effects of hard money and cryptocurrency efforts to destabilize the US dollar.

When you need the system to collapse in order to confirm your beliefs, any signal you get will be used to confirm the belief whether that is what the signal means or not. The entire Liberty Dollar fiasco is a cautionary tale built around the desire to see the status quo ended. When you desire the destruction of everyone around you, you will lose track of the real harm that the people you love will go through. You will lose track of it until they start collapsing along with everyone else, and you can’t help them because you are strapped into the same mess that they are.

Attrition will clear the playing field and leave only the strongest standing. Are you sure you are one of the strongest? Based on what insight?

FBI raids Liberty Dollar

Fox News reports on the FBI raid of Liberty Dollar in Evansville, Indiana.

FOX7 WTVW News Report

… and Bernard’s alerts on the subject, in order. While Bernard pooh poohs the idea that the raid was conveniently timed to snatch the Ron Paul dollars as they came in, I have a hard time dismissing the coincidental delivery of a large volume of minted copper, silver, and gold and the FBI raid at virtually the same time. How hard would it be for an informant at the mint (that also does large volumes of work for the US Mint) to pick up a phone and make a call? Bernard may not want to make that accusation, but I will.

We have no money. We have no products. We have no records to even know what was ordered or what you are owed.We have nothing but the will to push forward and overcome this massive assault on our liberty and our right to have real money as defined by the US Constitution.We should not to be defrauded by the fake government money.

But to make matters worse, all the gold and silver that backs up the paper certificates and digital currency held in the vault at Sunshine Mint has also been confiscated.Even the dies for mint the Gold and Silver Libertys have been taken.

libertydollar.org

I regret to inform you that the Liberty Dollar office is now closed. The government boys took everything except for the desks and chairs. We have no stock, no records, no money. I can’t even change the phone message because they took the phone manuals. Nor can I answer the thousands of email and calls from a national organization that now numbers into the hundreds of thousands. I am the last man standing.

libertydollar.org

Quite simply, there is a lot to be thankful for. When we started the Liberty Dollar we did not get an instruction manual. We did not know how the Liberty Dollar was going to save the country from a monetary crisis. But we vowed not to let our great country falter without trying. We all, even Agent Andy, have a civic duty to our country. We are commanded by the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident… That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. We shall not let this country fail to live up to the ideals upon which it was founded by our Founding Fathers. Let us each vow that our country will not falter on my watch!

Now as I face eminent threat of arrest and possibly many years in prison, you have my sincere thanks for supporting the Liberty Dollar that exemplifies those very ideals. Our Founding Fathers fought and died for them, we shall do nothing less.

Remember it is only by banding together and adopting a free and independent currency that provides us with “just weights and measures” will we be able to throw off the yoke of a manipulated monetary/tax system and generate a peaceful and prosperous society.

libertydollar.org

December 9, 2007 – A little less than a month later, the offices reopen.

In defiance of the brutal raid that confiscated all of our metals, computers and almost everything, except our free independent spirit… The Liberty Dollar has re-opened and lives with the new “Arrest Dollar”! Thanks to the outpouring of support and the rock solid encouragement from the Regional Currency Offices (RCO), I am proud to be a part of such a staunch organization that refuses to bow to this senseless raid by the FBI and Secret Service that did everything possible to close the voice for Sound Money.

libertydollar.org

Editor’s note. He wanted to be a martyr, and they made him a martyr. No one should have been surprised by this development. They were clearly always going to arrest him and were simply closing the net over the course of the several months that this played out. I compiled a few other historical posts that amounted to no more than reposts of Bernard’s alerts, adding their content in the above truncated fashion to this original FBI raid post.

US Mint Closes Liberty Dollar Accounts

Bernard von NotHaus revealed on FMNN’s eRadio last Friday that the US Mint has apparently taken action against NORFED behind the scenes as well as publicly.

To go along with the harassment that the Liberty Dollar and NORFED are enduring in the press, as well as the false accusations posted on the Mint’s website, Bernard revealed on the podcast posted Monday that the US Mint has acted to have bank accounts associated with NORFED and the Liberty Dollar closed, making it extremely hard for the American Liberty Dollar to conduct business.

This ratchets the battle between ALD and the US Mint up another notch.

Where it goes from here is anybodies guess. As Bernard states, CBS’ hatchet job on the subject suggests that it’s a crime even to possess ALD (it categorically is not a crime to own silver or ALD) much less use it. I’m quite certain that if they intended to arrest anyone for using ALD, they would have done so already. Silver is up again today, once again going over 13 dollars an ounce, spot price. My suggestion is, buy silver.

Here’s the issue of Liberty Dollar News that discusses the latest developments. As an aside, the Associate of the month, Jon Roland, is a personal friend of mine. Wander by Constitution.org and check out the volumes of work that Jon has put in on the subject of liberty and the Constitution.