In the wake of the FBI raid of the Liberty Dollar headquarters, sells of the private currency have skyrocketed on eBay bringing in enormously high bids. The Ron Paul gold Liberty itself has reached $3,000.

Thats right, $3,000 for a 1oz .9999 gold Ron Paul Liberty Dollar with a face value of $1,000.

Some people will have you believe that the Liberty Dollar is illegal and is some sort of counterfeit version of the Federal Reserve Note. This is not the case because the NORFED never claimed that the Liberty Dollar was a Federal Reserve note. Calling the Liberty Dollar illegal would be similar to calling a Canadian dollar counterfeit if used within the United States.

Besides, the Liberty Dollar can not be considered counterfeit because it looks nothing like a green back. A true counterfeit should have to look and feel like the currency it supposedly trying to imitate.

In fact, after the Treasury Department’s legal team reviewed the currency, Claudia Dickens, spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing stated that the currency is legitimate. “There’s nothing illegal about this,” she said, “As long as it doesn’t say ‘legal tender’ there’s nothing wrong with it.”

The Liberty Dollar is legal because it is voluntary exchange between individuals. Why should I not be allowed to trade in gold and silver pieces if I so choose?

So the question remains: Should the Liberty Dollar be considered illegal just because the FBI raided NORFED? Or is there more to the situation than meets the eye?

I choose the latter.

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On Tuesday March 20, 2007, the Liberty Dollar filed a law suit — Liberty Dollar v Henry M. Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury, Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, Edmond C. Moy, Director, US Mint — at the U.S. District Court in Evansville Indiana. The law suit is requesting for the court declare that the Liberty Dollar is not a federal crime, as the U.S. Mint has previously claimed. It would also require the court to enter a permanent injunction against the U.S. Mint, forcing it to remove any reference to the Liberty Dollar being illegal from its website.

This case is very important and could have dire consequences. If the Liberty Dollar organization happens to lose, the Federal Reserve will be the only currency allowed in the market place. This means no competition and when there is no competition, there are always bad results. This kind of precedence could also have far reaching implications. Coupons, for example, are a type of currency and — as a result of the Liberty Dollar losing this case — could become illegal. I know this isn’t likely but at the very least they could become regulated and require government approval, allowing for the creation of another money wasting bureaucracy to authorize all coupons. This may seem like a stretch, but I wouldn’t put it past the Federal government, they’ve done far dumber things.

Suing the United States government requires a lot of time, effort and money (don’t forget that the government can print money out of thin air), which is why the Liberty Dollar needs your help. If you have any money to spare, please click here to find out how to donate money to help fund their case. That page also contains other interesting ways to support their cause such as bidding on special edition Liberty Dollars on eBay. If nothing else, you can always buy some Liberty Dollars and spend them with friends and stores in your local area.

For more information check out LibertyDollar.org

The Liberty dollar is a private currency that has been in circulation in the United States since 1998. It was created by NORFED in an attempt to provide a competing currency to the U.S. Dollar. The silver and gold pieces are made of either .9999 pure silver or gold respectively. The paper certificates can be traded in for silver or gold that is currently being stored in a warehouse in Idaho. The popularity of the Liberty Dollar has been growing in many states across the nation. This increase in interest seems to represent a desire to change back to a currency that is actually backed by something. The metal-based system is meant to be a hedge against inflation so your money does not loose its value unlike our current fiat system.

The U.S. Mint has recently declared that Liberty Dollars are illegal. In a public statement they said “The United States Mint is the only entity that can produce coins”, and that it “is a crime” to spend the Liberty Dollar. The first statement is not entirely false. The U.S. Mint is the lone coin creator of the United States, but the Liberty Dollar never claimed to be a coin. In fact, they consistently try to distance themselves from the Federal Reserve Notes. The Liberty Dollar is actually backed by something tangible. The Federal Reserve note is barely worth the paper it is printed on. The government continues to have more and more money printed and the notes continue to loose value. With every dollar they print, the amount of money you make at your job becomes less. The more they print, the higher the cost of goods becomes. This is why there is inflation. With the Liberty Dollar, this would not happen, because there has to be gold or silver in a vault somewhere to exchange the dollars with.

This recent claim from the government is complete bullshit. The Liberty Dollar never claimed to be ‘legal tender’ and never will. This is just another attempt by the government to kill the free-market and end competition with one of their many monopolies. In 1998 when the Liberty Dollar was founded, the government said there was nothing illegal about it. Now that it is gaining popularity, they start to cry foul. I can see the fear in their eyes. Please, if you own a business, this is your chance to stick it to the government. Start accepting Liberty Dollars. If you are a consumer, start spending them where they are accepted. For more information check out libertydollar.org. On their site you can see where you can exchange U.S. Dollars for Liberty Dollars, or you can buy straight from them. Also, you can see a list of places that accept them in your state. Support freedom. Support the Liberty Dollar.