explain that to the IRS...
Posted on 07/17/2010 8:59:18 PM PDT by thought
New types of money are popping up across Mid-Michigan and supporters say, it's not counterfeit, but rather a competing currency.
Right now, you can buy a meal or visit a chiropractor without using actual U.S. legal tender.
They sound like real money and look like real money. But you can't take them to the bank because they're not made at a government mint. They're made at private mints.
"I sell three or four every single day and then I get one or two back a week," said Dave Gillie, owner of Gillies Coney Island Restaurant in Genesee Township.
Gillie also accepts silver, gold, copper and other precious metals to pay for food.
He says, if he wanted to, he could accept marbles.
"Do people have to accept dollars or money? No, they don'," Gillie said. "They can accept anything they want or they can refuse to accept anything."
He's absolutely right.
The U.S. Treasury Department says the Coinage Act of 1965 says "private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash, unless there is a state law which says otherwise."
(Excerpt) Read more at connectmidmichigan.com ...
gnip
So why is there interest in these competing currencies?
Is it just novelty or is there something deeper?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
me thinks its a way to avoid paying sales tax.
explain that to the IRS...
There were a couple of (somewhat) similar stories a while back about stores in border states accepting pesos as well as dollars. As in this case, the private business was free to do so.
Now, if I could just convince McDonald’s to accept beaver pelts...
If you are stupid enough to take Michigan Pretend Money as payment, you will be 100% ripped off.
Dumbest scam ever!
Actually Federal Reserve Notes are the dumbest scam ever, only it is taking 100 years to play out.
Script is big in Western Michigan. I was taken out to eat on Script in Michigan last month.
get paid in chickens and you owe a tax in egg yolks?
This took place, also, during the early stages of the Great Depression- it was mentioned in Amity Schlaes book, “The Forgotten Man” on that era and FDR’s policies.
Wasn’t there a bank in North Dakota issuing its own currency (backed by a gold reserve) and didn’t the Feds put a boot on their neck and make them stop?
As we say in Okieland, that dog won’t hunt. This has been tried before, and the government always shuts it down.
I think it is great. Of course, I also bartered for goods this year. Still have to report it as income, but it worked great!
no, it’s not dumb. Michigan is not the onlyl place where they are trading with private mint money. And it has worked in this country in the past - so don’t be so quick to knock it.
no, it’s not dumb. Michigan is not the onlyl place where they are trading with private mint money. And it has worked in this country in the past - so don’t be so quick to knock it.
Now, if I could just convince McDonald’s to accept beaver pelts...
############
OMG! LOL!
I didn’t knock it. I knocked the Federal Reserve in response to the knocker.
No. Many people believe the dollar is going to become worthless (and they want to help develop an alternative economy now). I do too, but only after period of prolonged deflation (when the dollar will actually be worth more).
“no, it’s not dumb. Michigan is not the onlyl place where they are trading with private mint money. And it has worked in this country in the past - so don’t be so quick to knock it.”
I be (as Bugs Bunny once said). Whoever controls the mint has his own printing press for cash. Unless it’s Mother Teresa herself in control of that mint, people will skim - I promise that.
Does he use daily market prices, weigh it, determine purity, etc? It would be kind of funny to come in with a copper pipe and cut off a certain length to pay for the meal.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.