The offices of Liberty Dollar were raided by the FBI yesterday. Apparently they didn’t like the fact that they were selling Silver Ron Paul Dollars! I don’t understand how anyone buying the $20 coin for $25 would mistakenly assume that they were legal tender but I guess someone at the FBI HQ did!Actually, they were also selling Silver certificates, redeemable for actual silver. This can be construed as a currency which is illegal. Only the Federal Reserve has the right to issue pieces of paper (that aren’t backed by anything) to use as barter.
The silver dollars which were available for $25 a few days are currently going on Ebay for $305! Damn, I wish I had bought a few.

How is this different from the local currency of southern Massachusettes, the Berskshire?

“BerkShares are a local currency designed for use in the Southern Berkshire region of Massachusetts with issue by BerkShares, Inc., a non-profit organization working in collaboration with the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, participating local banks, local businesses, and local non-profit organizations.The purpose of a local currency is to function on a local scale the same way that national currencies have functioned on a national scale—building the local economy by maximizing circulation of trade within a defined region.”