Yesterday, Nov. 14, federal agents raided the offices of "Liberty Dollar" in Evansville, Indiana, and confiscated all its property and equipment.
The Liberty Dollar is a privately circulating currency backed by gold and silver. There are various forms of Liberty Dollars, but the most popular one is a one-ounce round silver medallion.
Liberty Dollars are produced by the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act and the Internal Revenue Code (NORFED). Led by economist Bernard Nothaus, NORFED has long been a thorn in the side of the federal government.
And now, the feds are getting their revenge.
There is little question that the production, sale, and possession of Liberty Dollars are legal. Indeed, in 1999, the Treasury Department's legal team reviewed the Liberty Dollar. Claudia Dickens, spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, said:
"There's nothing illegal about this. As long as it doesn't say legal tender there's nothing wrong with it."
That, apparently, is the rub. "Legal tender," in essence, means that a particular form of money must be accepted for all debts.
NORFED has never claimed that Liberty Dollars are legal tender. However, in recent years, the company built up a network of "Liberty merchants" who accept Liberty Dollars in exchange for goods and services. And since the U.S. Department of Justice says that federal legal tender laws prohibit the use of privately circulated gold or silver coins intended for use as money, that may have been what led to yesterday's raid on NORFED.
Pursuant to U.S. civil forfeiture laws, the feds seized everything NORFED owns. All their gold. All their silver. All their platinum. All their bank accounts. All their cash. All their computers. Even the dies for minting the coins they produce.
Uncle Sam doesn't want any competition in the money business. All forms of currency deemed legal tender by the feds—Federal Reserve Notes and coins produced by the U.S. Mint—are all totally debased. They're backed only by the American dream, and not by gold, silver, or any other commodity. The 30% decline in the international value of the U.S. dollar in recent years is only the most visible sign of this debasement.
Today's raid will hardly end the hunger of Americans to possess "real money." But it may well spell the end of NORFED.
Fortunately, there are many other ways to purchase gold and silver. U.S. gold and silver eagles, produced by the U.S. mint, are unquestionably legal to buy and sell. If you don't want to take physical possession of precious metals, you can purchase them through organizations such as GoldMoney or the Perth Mint Certificate program.
Just don't make any claim that real money backed by gold or silver is legal tender for any debt. Otherwise, the feds might shut you down, too.
Copyright © 2007 by Mark Nestmann
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