Friday, November 9th, the Liberty Dollar’s Evansville, Indiana offices received a two ton shipment of newly-minted one ounce coins with the image of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on one side. One ounce, 99% silver coins are very common in the US and world, with past US politicians, rulers of other countries, comic book characters, historical figures, guns, trees and a thousand other things cast into their faces. Unless you feel threatened by Ron Paul’s presidential candidacy, there is nothing unusual here.
The following Wednesday a dozen FBI and Secret Service (SS) agents staged a raid on the Liberty Dollar’s Evansville, Indiana office at 8 a.m., confiscating all of its property, computers, records. equipment, gold, silver, platinum and about 64,000 commemorative Ron Paul coins. Of course their claimed justification for federal police action is that these coins and this business are “breaking the law”. So let’s look at the law.
The Constitution of the United States of America, Article I, Section 8 says, “The Congress shall have the power to” then lists borrowing, taxation, international commerce and, in paragraph 5, “To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof.” Nowhere does the law of the land mention exclusive right to cast coins. This isn’t even a little ambiguous. All of those coins out there are perfectly legal – INCLUDING Liberty Dollars with Ron Paul’s image on them.
“Ah, but Liberty Dollar also prints paper certificates for their coins.” Yes, and Ford Motor Company prints paper certificates that say the bearer owns a piece of Ford. Disney World prints certificates that say the bearer can buy a Disney dog or stuffed toy with them. The GM dealer prints a certificate saying I own my new pickup. The Grangeville Chamber of Commerce prints certificates redeemable for merchandise in local stores. Liberty Dollar has cooperated with prior federal and private investigations, proving that each and every certificate they issue is backed by the exact amount of pure metal printed on the certificate.
This, you might note, is quite different from Federal Reserve Notes where every newly printed certificate is backed by thin air. Since 1971, the silver and gold ownership of the USA has not increased, but the number of certificates with theoretical claim to them has multiplied by over 100. I suppose the SS could be jealous that their paychecks are counterfeits while Ron Paul dollars are solid, but that is ridiculous… isn’t it?