The following is a three minute speach I prepared for an event.

     Using voluntary, private currency as opposed to the federal reserve accounting units denominated is good for you, by showing the degenerate nature of the United States' government intervention in the market for money.  There are many benefits to using alternatives to the Federal Reserve Notes.  First, by using a private currency, with fully informed merchants and service providers, you show  legal tender laws for what they really are: brute force employed by those in government to abrogate your freedom to contract.  Secondly, using a voluntary currency demonstrates that without a central bank, the sky will not fall.

    There are historical precedents in the United States to show that this is so.  During the Georgia gold rush in the 1830's and during the California gold rush of the 1850's government assayed and minted money was difficult to come by.  During the Georgia gold rush, entrepreneurs stepped up to the plate to provide assaying and minting services  when there was a shortage of government assayed and minted currency.  Using privately issued money was the norm in the area.  The practice of using private currency all but disappeared after the U.S. Mint established a branch in Northern Georgia.  Previously, the nearest mint was located a great distance away in Charlotte, North Carolina.  After the Branch of the U.S. Mint was established locally, legal tender laws forced private currency out of circulation at the point of a gun.

    Of equal interest is how during the California Gold Rush, area merchants dealt with "legal tender" laws.  After the civil war, The United States issued the "green back" and foisted it upon the people, forcing them to trade the paper money at parity with the gold dollar.  Local businesses had lent gold, but were forced to take "green backs" as payment on those loans.  Legal tender laws pointed the gun at the creditor, forcing him to take worthless paper in payment of debt.  Many unscrupulous borrowers legally, not morally, repaid their debt with paper money.  What did the merchants do when they were saddled with a wheelbarrow full of useless paper?  They blacklisted the borrower for their breach of contract.  Merchants contacted their associates throughout the state and no reputable lender would ever do business with a borrower that re-payed loans with green backs.

    There is another, perhaps greater utility to privately issued coin: they are difficult for the government to get their hands on, and they won't take it in payment of taxes (unless they seize your property for non-payment).  You small government types think this won't happen?  You are wrong.  It happened to an acquaintance of mine, Dr. Elaine Brown was my dentist from 1997 to 2001.  She is 66 years old and doing 5 and a half years in the federal penitentiary in Connecticut.  She is not penitent, nor should she be.  Failure to file, pay or comply is a non-crime since there are no victims.

The preceding text is a presentation I prepared for the local Tea Party event to be held at the U.S. Federal Building in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.  This is directly across the street from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Fransisco's local office.  I don't know whether or not I will be able to deliver this to the multitudes, since the Attorney General, a Congress Critter, and various other governmental windbags will be speaking at this event also.  However, I will deliver this to you all in the hope that you find some insight.  Much of the information contained within this piece was gleaned from an article entitled '"Hard Money" in the Volunartaryist Tradition,' by Carl Watner, which appeared in the book compiled and edited by Watner, entitled I Must Speak Out: The Best of the Voluntaryist 1982 - 1999.  That book was selected by participants of http://www.freedombookclub.com as Book of the Month in February 2009.