Reader issue #719

In the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, area, you can walk around with coins in your pocket that can be exchanged for goods and services at more than five dozen merchants. They say "Liberty" and "Trust in God" on the front, and on the back they claim a value of $20 or $50. They're made of silver, and they are neither produced nor endorsed by the federal government.

In Fairfield, Iowa, those same coins are accepted at more than 15 merchants, from Mexican restaurants to Radio Shack.

They're called Liberty Dollars, and they're part of a movement called "community currencies," or "alternative" or "competing" and "complementary" currencies. And with the economy seemingly getting worse each day, you're likely to hear a lot more about them.