Dollar ReDe$ign Project

Be There or Be Square : Baltimore B-Note

via baltimoregreencurrency.org

Today the Baltimore Green Currency Association is set to officially launch Baltimore's first local currency called the B-Note. Follow the link for details.

Micah Perez : El Paso Pound Local Currency Project

Right now, there is some consideration being put into the creation of a local currency for El Paso County in Colorado. It would operate in a similar manner to Berkshares, the Plenty, The Lewes Pound, and The Icatha Hour. Please contact me if you have any ideas suggestions or comments, please email me. If you are from el paso County, tell me what you think and what should be done in order to implement it.

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The goal of the El Paso Pound Project is to establish a local currency for El Paso County, Colorado. A person would be able to trade in $0.90 for every £1.00, participating businesses would accept the Pound at face value, which gives the customer a built in 10% discount.

There are numerous benefits of implementing a local currency system and the El Paso Pound would have these following benefits:

Vision: We envision a strengthened and self-reliant local economy that provides essential goods and services to local consumers, resulting in the creation of a greater sense of community within the citizens of El Paso County. 

Mission: To strengthen the Local Economy through a local currency program that gradually replaces imported goods with locally produced items, giving Local businesses a chance to effectively compete with national organizations.

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Benefits to Local Businesses

Local Businesses would benefit from increased revenue as a result of advertisement on the notes and due to the built in 10% discount. Each participating business would be listed in a directory that would be available to El Paso Pound Users.

Why sign up now? If you are one of the first 30 businesses you will receive a free ad space on a total of 20 notes of one denomination (£1, £5, £10, £20, £50, or £100) of your choosing.

What will it cost my business?

Nothing, all you have to do it put up an El Paso Pound label up stating that you will accept pounds at face value, by accepting pounds you will automatically be giving your customers a 10% discount.

What if I want to Trade my Pounds for US dollars?

Simply trade them in at the local participating bank, remember that you get 10% more by spending pounds at other participating businesses $90=£100.

What about taxes?

El Paso Pounds will be taxable at their US Dollar value.

As a business you will have nothing to lose and much to gain. By accepting pounds your business has potential only to gain more revenue.

Help us keep the money within our community and help support other local businesses as well!

Benefits to Customers

A customer by using El Paso Pounds will receive an automatic 10% discount at participating businesses.  Also the customer will help to develop the community by keeping money within our County. 

What if I want to trade my pounds in for regular money?

You can do so easily and quickly at a participating bank $0.90=£1.00.

How many businesses will be accepting the Pound?

Initially, there will be anywhere from 10-50 Businesses, as the pound becomes more popular we will be able to gradually increase the number of local businesses who will accept the Pound.

Will I be able to use US dollars too?

Yes, locations that accept the Pound will accept the dollar too; however you do not get a discount by using the dollar.

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For Investor/Bank partner:

Bankers have always been able to find a way to make money, off of money. By introducing a local currency with ad space, we will be able to generate revenue to cover the cost of note printing as well as to make a significant profit.

Each note would have space for 5 ad logos of local businesses, the businesses would be able to go online and order a certain advertisement package, and the rates would be the following:

5 Spaces $50 for 1 space on 50 £1.00 notes
5 Spaces $55 for 1 space on 50 £5.00 notes
5 Spaces $60 for 1 space on 50 £10.00 notes
5 Spaces $65 for 1 space on 50 £20.00 notes
5 Spaces $70 for 1 space on 50 £50.00 notes
5 Spaces $75 for 1 space on 50 £100.00 notes

5 x $375 = 300 notes

$1875.00 - (avg  $0.60* Per note)$180 = $1695 

The Notes would have to be printed on security paper and would have to be printed in high quality; there would also be the option of putting a security hologram on the note. An investor might be looking at an initial investment of up to $500.00.

Benefits to Participating Banks

Banks will benefit from exchanging Pound for dollars and vice versa because:

1. The first bank to join will receive a significant portion of the advertising profits
2. Banks handling the pound will have an advantage over those not handling the pound because they will have distinguished themselves above the other non participating banks
3. People are more likely to open accounts at participating banks if that is where they often go to get their local currency
*High estimate

Launching the Currency

In order to launch the currency the following steps must be taken.

1. Create a website for the El Paso Pound with pay pal for ad space sales. 
a. Website would have to contain information for consumers on the Local currency
b. There would have to be a section where the businesses could sign up and print “We accept the el Paso Pound Sign”
c. Ad selling section

2. Find a bank that will exchange Dollars for Pounds and that will be a primary partner to help with the initial funding and to share in the profits.

 3. Create bank account for the El Paso Pound division of the bank as well as an accounting system.

4. Set a launch date

5. Speak with local businesses about accepting the pound, if they accept the terms (accepting the notes at face value, cashing in the notes at the exchange rate, putting up of a sticker which states that they accept the El Paso Pound, and their inclusion in the El Paso Pound Directory) then offer to put up the “we accept the el Paso pound sign” on their store window on the release date.

6. Inform the businesses about the advertising opportunity

7. Print the first 120 notes with the free ads of the first 30 businesses

8. Print 2 Large posters, I to put outside of the bank and one to put inside along with a 1^st edition business directory

9. Launch.

- Micah Perez

Susan Witt : What is Money? : BerkShares Local Currency

In New York City We Trust : School of Visual Arts : Local Currency Project

Inspired by national local currency schemes such as Ithaca Hours and BerkShares, MFA students at New York's School of Visual Arts recently designed a series of local currency bills for various NYC neighborhoods ... "students pulled a neighborhood out of a hat and were asked to research their neighborhood to determine what characteristics should be represented on its currency ... the color, shape and texture of the resulting designs reflect the diversity of the various neighborhoods.' You can check out the 'Mulas' and the 'Favors' and the 'Biscos,' amongst many other wonderful currency ideas on Flickr, or read original blog post here.

Socialized Currency : The Ultimate Financial Revolution?

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POWER TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA!
How to Make Money During a Recession.

First, decide on a name for your currency. Hours, Shares, Bread or Spuds for instance. Then decide on a ‘motto’ or slogan to stand by, such as ‘In Each Other We Trust’. Then get some local artists to put forward ideas and thoughts on what imagery and iconography to use (something specific to your region is always good). Then engage friends, family and everyone in your immediate locality (local businesses too) to buy into your idea. And finally convince them (and everyone else) to use ‘your’ money everywhere (because it will be financially beneficial to them). And hey-presto: you have a self-sustaining economy, you have cash flow and you have some money in your pocket at long last.

  Imagine, it would be like having a license to literally print your own money, legally (as long as ‘Uncle Sam’ gets his share). Plus you’ll have a say in its value to you, and also be able to control its intrinsic value too, because it’s essentially ‘your’ money. Plus, you decide what it’s worth to others, and, what it can buy – basically cutting out the (middle) ‘man’ and placing the power of exchange back in the hands of the people who really create wealth: citizen you.

  But, wait. Hang on a second. Have we not been here before? Sure ‘community currencies’ (or local currencies) are not a new idea, but in recent years their relevance (and use) has risen to the surface again.

  Susan Witt, the co-founder of BerkShares, has been consulting with officials from Newark, New Jersey, and nonprofit groups in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Alaska on how to start local currencies. "The trouble in our global financial system has people very concerned," says Witt. "They don't know how to fix it. It seems out of their control. The concept of a citizen group taking responsibility for its own regional economy and finding a way to issue a medium for exchange in its own area is such a powerful image." (Source: CNN.com)

  In fact, community currencies sprung up in America during the ‘Great Depression’ for similar reasons they are becoming more popular again today. It’s like America is returning to its fragmented beginnings to find a new economical way forward. It’s as if the people this recession is affecting the most will actually be the ones who take our country out of the mess that we’re in. It’s like a financial revolution and like all revolutions it’s being led by people power.

  People throughout America are waking up to the fact that ‘Uncle Sam ain’t gonna help me so I’m gonna have to help myself!’ (plus Uncle Sam is bankrupt, so …) But as manufacturing businesses and factories close throughout the land, people everywhere are turning towards beginning their own localized ‘cottage’ industries: ‘Grand Ma’s cookies sure taste good, she should sell them!’ Sound familiar?

  And as every economist and every financial institution (that’s left) has an opinion on what got us into this state, and the more we sink deeper into depression the more likely it will be that when we do finally hit rock bottom, it will be the individuals who took it upon themselves to find a solution to all our wows who will be the ones that will succeed and prosper and become the new corporations and conglomerates like Ford and every other American powerhouse did before them. Because America was built on the premise that anything is possible. Therefore, this current financial crisis can only lead, eventually, to a better future for us all. That’s if we can drag ourselves away from celebrity obsessionism, reality TV and materialistic consumerism for a moment.

  So if socialized money is OK, what's wrong with socialized healthcare?

In Ithaca We Trust : Time vs Money