Liberty dollar (private currency)
The American Liberty Dollar (ALD) was a private currency produced in the United States.
American Liberty Dollars | |
| ISO 4217 | |
|---|---|
| Code | none |
| Unit | |
| Symbol | $ or ALD (non-ISO 4217; used for multicurrency accounting) |
| Denominations | |
| Banknotes | |
| Freq. used | $1, $5, $10, $20, $50 |
| Rarely used | $500, $1000 |
| Demographics | |
| User(s) | Individuals and businesses primarily in the United States |
| Issuance | |
| Issuing authority | Liberty Services |
| Website | libertydollar |
| Mint | Sunshine Minting |
| Website | sunshinemint |
| This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. | |
The currency was issued in minted metal rounds (similar to coins), gold and silver certificates, and electronic currency (eLD). ALD certificates are "warehouse receipts" for real gold and silver owned by the bearer. According to court documents, there were about 250,000 holders of Liberty Dollar certificates. The metal was warehoused at Sunshine Minting in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho prior to a November 2007 raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Secret Service (USSS). Until July 2009, the Liberty Dollar was distributed by Liberty Services (formerly known as "National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve and the Internal Revenue Code" or NORFED), based in Evansville, Indiana. It was created by Bernard von NotHaus, the founder of the Cannabis Spiritual Center in Malibu, California, and the co-founder of the Royal Hawaiian Mint Company.
In May 2009, von NotHaus and others were charged with federal crimes in connection with the Liberty Dollar, and, on July 31, 2009, von NotHaus announced that he had closed the Liberty Dollar operation, pending resolution of the criminal charges. On March 18, 2011, von NotHaus was pronounced guilty of "making coins resembling and similar to United States coins". In late 2014, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that Liberty Dollars seized in the 2007 FBI/USSS operation should be returned to their owners.