Alternative to the dollar

Virginia Wants to Mint Its Own Coins

House agrees to spend $17K on a special panel.

Newser,

5 February, 2013

Virginia is apparently for haters of the Federal Reserve: One state legislator wants the state to mint its own coins in case the US dollar collapses. It may sound pie-in-the-sky, but Virginia's House of Delegates agreed yesterday to set up a $17,000 panel to explore the move, reports the Washington Post. The Virginian-Pilotsees the measure by Republican Bob Marshall as a "conservative shout-out," but Marshall insists he's serious.

“We can’t mint money, but we can mint gold and silver coins,” he explained previously, reports NBC News. “It sounds like a small difference, but it is a difference legally. If you look closely on a [dollar] bill, it doesn’t say that it’s money. It says it is legal tender ‘for all debts, public and private.’” What's more, Virginia isn't alone in considering the notes, reports CNN. Here's the nitty-gritty of Marshall's bill.