Ever heard of Liberty Dollars?

Wednesday, June 30th 2004, 10:23 am

By: News On 6

A News on 6 producer found a Liberty Dollar web site with a list of Oklahoma businesses who accept them. We sent News on 6 reporter Rick Wells out to see if he could find any Liberty Dollars.

Liberty Dollars, you can spend them if you can find a business to accept them. "To my knowledge I'm the only one in Sapulpa who accepts them." Dr Kim Chai is a Sapulpa Chiropractor. He heard about Liberty dollars several years ago and got some. He has a sign on his door announcing his willingness to take them; so far no one has spent any. "I talked to Reasors and QuikTrip; they are the two stores I thought might accept them." They said no, since Liberty Dollars are just a novelty.

You'd think it would be illegal to print up basically a private currency, but it's not. The Liberty Dollar web site says the dollars are backed by real gold and silver, and they list several businesses in Oklahoma like Dr Chai willing to take them.

Throughout our county's history there have been private currencies, people needed money to spend and the government couldn't keep up. Mike Oyster with Tulsa Gold and Silver: "They just couldn't print enough money to satisfy demand from the git go."

Some was backed by bank deposits some by reputation; the best was backed by real silver and gold. The US stopped backing its currency with gold in 1933 and the last silver certificates went out in the 1950â€™s. "It's all good faith now, but everybody knows the world revolves around the US dollar."

But for some like the Liberty Dollar group faith based currency is not good enough. And according to the government money experts we talked to, Liberty Dollars seem to be born out of the same kind of government distrust that produces tax protests.

The bottom line is they are not illegal, but there's just no widespread demand to use them.

To find out more, check out www.norfed.org for more information.