Uncle Pennybags Imprisoned for Counterfeiting?

Careful there, Uncle Pennybags.

Learn a lesson from the Liberty Dollar fiasco. If you keep offering U.S. citizens alternate currencies (print your own![PDF]) you might be in for an FBI raid, courtesy of the grumpy U.S. Mint.

And I suspect a "Get Out of Jail Free" card won't carry much weight with the Feds.

Via Kottke

Comments

robc | May 23, 2008, 12:11pm | #

Have there been any updates on the Liberty Dollar raid?

Chris Potter | May 23, 2008, 12:24pm | #

Wasn't this blogged, oh, months ago? Slow news day, eh?

Josiah | May 23, 2008, 12:27pm | #

I usually get angry when they don't post enough, at least this gives us something to comment on, and a good distraction from work.

Bingo | May 23, 2008, 12:37pm | #

Given the decline of the US dollar, is it any surprise there is a blackmarket for currencies? A friend of mine that does "exotic dancing" has been complaining about customers that only give a dollar for dances. I told her they should start having people exchange dollars for euros at the entrance. Leave it to a stripper to know the true value of a dollar.

The Wine Commonsewer | May 23, 2008, 12:45pm | #

KMW, thanks for the smile. I actually didn't know the guy had a name. :-)

ed | May 23, 2008, 12:48pm | #

Why is he wearing girly shoes?

zig zag man | May 23, 2008, 12:54pm | #

I heard on the morning radio that the US Mint has restricted the sale of Silver Eagle coins. Can anyone shed some light on this?

IMHO the dollar has lost so much value that the Federal Government is afraid of a run on silver or gold.

Richard | May 23, 2008, 1:25pm | #

WSJ article on Silver Eagle sales:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121149011951015323.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Basically demand is outstripping supply so the Mint is rationing the amounts sent to resellers.

D.A. Ridgely | May 23, 2008, 1:34pm | #

Why is he wearing girly shoes?

I think he was supposed originally to be wearing spats. Still, that's a funny observation.

ed | May 23, 2008, 1:39pm | #

I don't even want to mention his sloth-like hands.

ed | May 23, 2008, 1:50pm | #

Or his shapely ass.

ed | May 23, 2008, 1:52pm | #

Damn! Uncle Pennybags was a tranny!

bill | May 23, 2008, 2:08pm | #

Why don't the Feds come down on the Disney Dollars?

http://www.libertyforlife.com/banking/ron_pual_dollar_feds_worried.htm

James Anderson Merritt | May 23, 2008, 3:52pm | #

The only "fiasco" concerning the Liberty Dollar is the federal raid / "evidence seizure" itself (much as one might speak of the Waco "fiasco," for instance).

LD was/is not any kind of counterfeiting operation. The whole point of using the LD was that it WASN'T GOVERNMENT MONEY. And I have seen no evidence of fraud, either. So what is the government's point? That it doesn't like competition? The more I see of documentation concerning the raid and its aftermath, the more I am convinced that the government is acting less like protectors of the public, and more like gangsters defending their territory.

One clear fact remains: The US has seized innocent people's property. I'm not talking about any assets actually OWNED by LD, mind you, but rather the silver used to back the paper and electronic LDs, which is OWNED by the thousands who hold those other instruments, and which is kept in trust not by LD, but by the issuing private mint (which was also raided). As long as the government holds that property, and especially if it should auction the silver or dispose of it in any way, other than to redeem it for electronic or paper LDs, Uncle Sam is blatantly robbing its citizens. How can anyone who cares about individual rights and limited government put up with this situation? At very least, if you think that Uncle Sam served up a raw deal for the LD and those who used it, urge your congress rep to co-sponsor and/or otherwise support H4683, Ron Paul's bill to foster competition in currency and repeal the statutory monopoly on currency that the US government asserted (probably in contravention of the Constitution -- read the bill, the relevant sections of the US Code, and the Constitution for yourself, and make up your own mind).

James Anderson Merritt | May 23, 2008, 3:54pm | #

I like the "Get out of Hell Free" card that the Devil gave to lead character Sam in "Reaper." I definitely need me one of those...