Liberty Dollar founder convicted of counterfeiting; U.S. attorney calls him a terrorist

"Von NotHaus designed the Liberty Dollar currency in 1998 and the Liberty coins were marked with the '$,' the words 'dollar,' 'USA,' 'Liberty,' 'Trust in God' (instead of 'In God We Trust') and other features associated with legitimate U.S. coinage. Since 1998, NORFED has been issuing, disseminating, and placing into circulation the Liberty Dollar in all its forms throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. NORFED's purpose was to mix Liberty Dollars into the current money of the United States. NORFED intended for the Liberty Dollar to be used as current money in order to limit reliance on, and to compete with, United States currency.

It should be noted that while it certainly isn't legal to pass another sort of coin off as "dollar", it is NOT illegal to use another coin as a "current money", "limit reliance on", or "compete with" United States currency. But when the Feds when a case on a technicality, you bet they will throw the kitchen sink of slurs at the defendant -- especially one who has little fealty to the state and its asserted absolute power.

It's also amusing how worried the government is about these coins "circulating". I think that is a total red herring. Why? Because when sound money (gold and silver) is available and has to compete with legal tender fiat money for circulation, the fiat money always wins. This is called Gresham's law. It happens for a simple reason: if people have to accept intrinsically worthless money by law, then everyone will want to keep money with intrinsic value to themselves.

Another way of looking at this is that people are intrinsically attracted to holding on to the most stable form of money. So prosecutor Tompkins' assertion that these actions are a form of "terrorism" are exactly backwards: it is the state's forcing of worthless currency option society that is the true terrorism. If you don't believe me, ask someone who's been foreclosed on and forcibly thrown into the streets.