Free Republic

One recent Saturday morning, Nick Williams navigated the packed aisles of the Glut Food Co-Op in Mount Rainier, filling his basket with organic vegetables, herbal tea, turmeric and local apple cider. After the cashier rang up his purchases, he pulled out a funny-looking piece of paper instead of a wad of cash. The bill had environmentalist Rachel Carson’s picture where Abraham Lincoln’s ought to have been. Stripped across the top was the motto “In Each Other We Trust.” Monopoly money? No, just a local currency system in the Mount Rainier and Hyattsville neighborhoods in Prince George’s County, where users essentially...

ASHEVILLE, NC—Bernard von NotHaus, 65, formerly of Evansville, Indiana, and two additional defendants from Evansville, along with William Kevin Innes, 53, of Asheville, North Carolina, have been indicted in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on conspiracy and other charges in connection with an alleged unlawful operation to publish, possess and sell for profit, coins in resemblance and similitude to U.S. coins. All four defendants are also charged in the alleged conspiracy with uttering and passing, and attempting to utter and pass, a coin of silver in resemblance of genuine coins of the United States in...

When Will They Ever Learn? According to the  Citizen Times and as also noted in the  Daily Beast, a North Carolina man recently found guilty of minting and distributing “Liberty Dollars” was, as stated by  U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins, a domestic terrorist. The conviction resulted from an investigation which began in 2005. As reported in the Citizen Times, “Attempts to undermine the legitimate currency of this country are simply a unique form of domestic terrorism,” U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins said. “While these forms of anti-government activities do not involve violence, they are every bit as insidious and represent a clear...

This weekend, a North Carolina man was convicted of minting and circulating “Liberty Dollars” and “Ron Paul Dollars” that were valued based on the gold and silver they contained. The man, Bernard von NotHaus, now faces up to 25 years in prison and the forfeiture of $7 million worth of gold and silver that was taken by police in a raid. The U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case explains: “It is a violation of federal law … to create private coin or currency systems to compete with the official coinage and currency of the United States.” But what’s wrong with...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A North Carolina man was convicted for creating and distributing a counterfeit currency that was very similar to the real dollar, a U.S. Attorney said....posted using frpa

The FBI, which apparently has no major criminals to pursue, is now busting those who are preparing for the dollar's imminent destruction. Bernard von NotHaus, head of the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve and Internal Revenue Code , commonly known as NORFED and also known as Liberty Services (his website can, or rather could, be seen here ), which since 1998 has been ......posted using frpa

Thoughts On The Liberty Dollar Debacle By Brandon Smith of Alt-Market.com I was in the midst of the Save America Convention in Tampa, Florida when I heard, first, that Libya was under bombardment by the UN (led by U.S. forces), and, that Bernard von NotHaus of Liberty Dollar had been convicted of “counterfeiting”. It was a stressful day, to say the least. For those not familiar with the Liberty Dollar incident, In November of 2007, federal officials raided the group’s headquarters nestled in a strip mall and seized all documents and the gold and silver that backed up the paper...

Ron Paul and Sovereign Citizen types are going berserk about this pretty interesting currency case. http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20110319/NEWS01/110319006/Liberty-Dollar-creator-convicted-federal-court A man has been convicted and could face 25 years in federal prison on counterfeiting charges, for what the government describes as a form of domestic terror designed to destabilize US currency. Bernard von NotHaus is some kind of anti-fed type who has minted and distributed millions of “Liberty Dollars”: silver coins that are 100% backed by precious metals he owns and are meant to be a more stable alternative to the US dollar. He claims the Liberty Coins are a form of barter,...

The leader of a group that marketed a fake currency called Liberty Dollars in the Asheville area and elsewhere has been found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy against the government in a case of “domestic terrorism.” Bernard von NotHaus was convicted Friday at the conclusion of an eight-day trial in U.S. District Court in Statesville. The jury deliberated less than two hours, according to the Department of Justice. Charges remain pending against William Kevin Innes, an Asheville man who authorities said recruited merchants in Western North Carolina willing to accept the “barter” currency, according to court records. Innes...

STATESVILLE, NC -- A man from North Carolina was convicted of minting his own currency. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday afternoon that 67-year old Bernard von NotHaus was convicted of making, possessing and selling his own coins. During the eight day trial, the U.S. Attorney's Office said the investigation into NotHaus' activities began in 2005 and involved minting of coins worth an estimated $7 million. The U.S. Attorney's Office said the coins were made to resemble United States coins and that the Liberty Dollar coins were intended to be used as counterfeit money. NotHaus was the founder of a...

Bernard von NotHaus, creator of the Liberty Dollar, was found guilty on two counts this morning in his counterfeiting trial at the federal courthouse in Statesville, N.C. He was found guilty of making counterfeit coins and an intent to defraud. Sentencing will be held in several months. The jury reached its decision in less than 90 minutes. In this week's four days of defense testimony, von NotHaus maintained that his "medallion" was not legal tender. He said each piece contained the NORFED name and telephone number, but the government pointed out that the silver pieces bore a very strong resemblance...

Copyrighted News Article. Gov't says they are trying to 'undermine the US currency system'. Link

Family and friends of the Liberty Dollar of Evansville organization are learning the future of their money and their jobs. The company was raided by the FBI earlier this month. The US attorney's office out of North Carolina confirmed to us today they are investigating Liberty Dollar. They can't comment on the specifics of the investigation but tonight company owner Bernard Von NotHaus is speaking. Von NotHaus' entire company including precious metals, liberty dollar bills and computers were cleaned out of his offices here in Evansville. Von NotHaus designed the Liberty Dollar 10 years ago. The money is backed by...

EVANSVILLE, Indiana (AP) — Federal agents raided the headquarters of a group that produces illegal currency and puts it in circulation, seizing gold, silver and two tons of copper coins featuring Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Agents also took records, computers and froze the bank accounts at the "Liberty Dollar" headquarters during the Thursday raid, Bernard von NotHaus, founder of the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act & Internal Revenue Code, said in a posting on the group's Web site. The organization, which is critical of the Federal Reserve, has repeatedly clashed with the federal government,...

Liberty Dollar office raided Staff report Originally published 01:42 p.m., November 15, 2007 Updated 01:42 p.m., November 15, 2007 The future of an Evansville-based company that produces a "private voluntary barter currency" known as the Liberty Dollar is in question after federal agents raided the facility this week, according to an e-mail sent by its founder. Federal agents reportedly raided the group's headquarters, located in a strip mall at 225 N. Stockwell Road, early Wednesday morning. FBI Agent Wendy Osborne, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Indianapolis office, directed all questions on the raid to the Western District of North Carolina...

"In God We Trust" is the national motto, but you may need a magnifying glass to find it inscribed on the edge of those new one-dollar coins. The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm, is urging Americans to avoid using the coins altogether. "It is astounding that Congress has effectively done what atheist litigants have been unsuccessfully trying to do for years -- erase all reference to God from our money," said Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Law Center. "This is just another step on the road to a secular society where all...

The monetary gadfly behind the Liberty Dollar, Bernard von NotHaus, declared over the weekend that he expects to be criminally charged over his currency and is vowing "a spectacular trial" that will "put this country's monetary system on trial." Mr. von NotHaus was interviewed by The New York Sun via telephone on Saturday following disclosures that the Liberty Dollar, a gold- and silver-based currency marketed by anti-government activists as an alternative to the greenback, drew the federal government's scrutiny because the coins resembled official currency produced by the U.S. Mint. After a two-year undercover investigation of the currency, federal agents...

The government's raid shutting down the Evansville, Ind., offices of Liberty Dollar was a declaration of war, company founder Bernard von NotHaus says. But the confiscation of its stockpiles of gold, silver and medallions also was just the "first battle of a long war that I intend to win!" The company makes and distributes Liberty Dollar barter currency in various denominations and had announced that it had been closed down by a raid of FBI and U.S. Secret Service officers who confiscated gold, silver, platinum, medallions, documents, "everything but the desks and chairs." "For approximately six hours they took all...

In the affidavit, an FBI special agent states that he is investigating NORFED for federal violations including "uttering coins of gold, silver, or other metal," "making or possessing likeness of coins," mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. "The goal of NORFED is to undermine the United States government's financial systems by the issuance of a non-governmental competing currency for the purpose of repealing the Federal Reserve and Internal Revenue Code," he states..

This thread is linked to a PDF document containing the seizure warrant executed against the property of the Liberty Dollar corporation and the bearers of its negotiable warehouse receipts. The justification lists charges of money laundering, mail fraud, and wire fraud. Guilty until proven innocent, apparently.