# How do I start my own currency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 25, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761 "2003-07-25T00:08:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Panzerfaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Panzerfaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panzerfaust)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/1 "2003-07-25T00:08:26Z")
Just that. Preferably non interest-bearing, maybe even depreciating currency. I dream undermining the Fed… ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/2 "2003-07-25T00:59:57Z")
I don’t think there’s anything illegal about it. The only problem is in getting people to accept it. In some communities, gift certificate issues by stores are used as cash. Ditto for food coupons. I recall a story of when the USA had a coin shortage, and people used postage stamps as cash. In the days of the NYC subway token friends would accept them in lieu of cash. Do you need more examples? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/3 "2003-07-25T01:02:03Z")
Get people to accept it. Seriously. If you can get people to accept “PanzerBucks” or whatever as a medium of exchange, you’re most of the way there. What you are going to do to gain that acceptance, and not have your private notes become laughably devalued against government backed money is YOUR problem. Expect, however, that the IRS and other governmental revenue collection agencies would take a dim view of goods and services being paid for with it if they thought taxes were being circumvented. They would consider it “barter”, and want to be certain to collect on the cash equivalent in US dollars. Many promotional or charitable “scrip” schemes have run afoul of tax laws, as have attempts to set up community barter exchanges where people directly traded services with each other. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/4 "2003-07-25T01:21:52Z")
Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution declares that it’s the federal government that gets to do the currency thing. ---
**Author:** ![Panzerfaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Panzerfaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panzerfaust)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/5 "2003-07-25T01:49:37Z")
> [@](#): > > _US Constitution, Article I, Section 8_ > \*\*The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States… To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; \*\* Maybe I’m reading this wrong, and that could very well be, but this doesn’t seem to say that Congress has exclusive rights to all currencies, but rather that the Congress has the power to produce the national currency (currently under the guise of Fed notes). Which mine wouldn’t be, because I’m not the government. Hrm. Help? ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/6 "2003-07-25T01:50:36Z")
You need to back it with something. That is, people need to want it, or they won’t sell things for it. If everyone knows it works, then everyone’ll be happy accepting it, but I think to start with it needs some value. Either contianing precious metal, or being a cheque on a trusted party, or something. As to deprecating,I’m not sure. We need an economist in here. But I’m not hopeful. ---
**Author:** ![Panzerfaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Panzerfaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panzerfaust)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/7 "2003-07-25T02:58:54Z")
Well, I’ve got an idea for backing the currency through community participation (the more people involved, the more valuable the currency is - imagine!), but I’m still confused as to whether or not the US Government can storm my “First Bank of Bazooka” and throw me in the slammer for trying to compete with the Fed. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/8 "2003-07-25T03:21:26Z")
Many localities have “Local Bucks” that are redeemable by local stores and services. You can earn them through a variety of means, either buy just buying them or performing community service or donating items to shelters, etc. [http://www.progress.org/archive/currency.htm](http://www.progress.org/archive/currency.htm) [http://www.coopamerica.org/individual/marketplace/IMMMcurr.htm](http://www.coopamerica.org/individual/marketplace/IMMMcurr.htm) [http://www.zpub.com/notes/LocalCurrency.html](http://www.zpub.com/notes/LocalCurrency.html) Google “local currency bucks” ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/9 "2003-07-25T03:21:47Z")
[They did it in Berkeley.](http://www.breadhours.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Panzerfaust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Panzerfaust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panzerfaust)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/10 "2003-07-25T03:54:00Z")
Hooray! Thanks, folks. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/11 "2003-07-25T03:58:32Z")
You can quite easily create your own form of currency by opening a checking account. Voila! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/12 "2003-07-25T06:53:44Z")
You’ll probably have to get a sizeable stockpile of gold or silver… ---
**Author:** ![Blackeyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f6c823/32.png) [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/13 "2003-07-25T08:22:40Z")
Companies used to do this back in the day. They’d pay you in credit which could only be used at company stores, which overcharged the worker and sent them into dept, and so they had to keep working for the company. This was the wage-slave system. However, someone else should know more than me and provide a cite. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/14 "2003-07-25T10:23:12Z")
[http://www.aci.net/kalliste/dmt\_guide.htm](http://www.aci.net/kalliste/dmt_guide.htm) Here’s a link from a guy who writes college textbooks on international finance about having your own currency of sorts. [Smart Cards and Private Currencies](http://www.aci.net/kalliste/smartcards.htm) Here’s anotyher one from the same fella. [http://www.aci.net/kalliste/](http://www.aci.net/kalliste/) here’s a link to this guy’s homepage. (Not work friendly) It’s also possible to have a company that issues bearer bonds. these function very similarly to cash. ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/15 "2003-07-25T14:41:44Z")
Somebody already has done it, and a few places around here will accept the money for goods and services: [http://www.norfed.org/](http://www.norfed.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-start-my-own-currency/190761/16 "2003-07-25T16:08:28Z")
Another example of a “local currency”: [http://www.ithacahours.org/](http://www.ithacahours.org/) Very popular in Ithaca. The fact that the town has a remarkably excellent farmers’ market that accepts these probably helps a great deal.