The LETS is a cooperative common currency that has been talked about in freedom circles for many, many years, and it appears that something similar to it has been catching new ground as the US dollar begins its slow decline into obliteration and imitation of every currency that has been printed and debased out of existence by a tyranical federal government.

Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) also known as LETSystems are local, non-profit exchange networks in which goods and services can be traded without the need for printed currency. In some places, e.g. Toronto, the scheme has been called the Local Employment and Trading System.

A Brief History Of Currency in Jesus’ Time

In the time of Jesus the coins current in Israel were Roman, Greek, Syrian and Jewish. However, the Jews were allowed to issue coins only in bronze.

Large sums were expressed in talents and mnas. The talent equaled about $2,000 in US currency. The mina was 1/60 of a talent, or about $35.00.

The silver coins mentioned in the NT are: The Syrian stater (about 50 cents), the Roman denarius (about 20 cents), the Greek drachma, equivalent to the denarius. The stater was accepted as equal to the Jewish shekel, 1/50 of a mina (about 65 cents), which was the Temple tax for two persons. The denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer in the field, and it was the coin of the tax to the Emperor.

The bronze coins referred to, are the Roman assarion (one cent), and quadrants (1/4 of a cent), the Jewish perutah or lepton, which was worthy only 1/8 of a cent, was the coin of the “widow’s mite.”

Where LETS started

Michael Linton originated the term “Local Exchange Trading System” in 1983 and, for a time ran the Comox Valley LETSystems in Courtenay, British Columbia.[1] The system he designed was intended as an adjunct to the national currency, rather than a replacement for it,[2] although there are examples of individuals who have managed to replace their use of national currency through inventive usage of LETS.[citation needed]

LETS networks use interest-free local credit so direct swaps do not need to be made. For instance, a member may earn credit by doing childcare for one person and spend it later on carpentry with another person in the same network. In LETS, unlike other local currencies, no scrip is issued, but rather transactions are recorded in a central location open to all members. As credit is issued by the network members, for the benefit of the members themselves, LETS are considered mutual credit systems (Wikipedia).
[ad#fncsrndm468ad1]
A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money. Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.

Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing

Workers with dwindling wages are paying for groceries, yoga classes and fuel with Detroit Cheers, Ithaca Hours in New York, Plenty in North Carolina or BerkShares in Massachusetts.

Ed Collom, a University of Southern Maine sociologist who has studied local currencies, says they encourage people to buy locally. Merchants, hurting because customers have cut back on spending, benefit as consumers spend the local cash.

“We wanted to make new options available,” says Jackie Smith of South Bend, Ind., who is working to launch a local currency. “It reinforces the message that having more control of the economy in local hands can help you cushion yourself from the blows of the marketplace.”
[ad#yhoolstor468ad1]
About a dozen communities have local currencies, says Susan Witt, founder of BerkShares in the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts. She expects more to do it.

Under the BerkShares system, a buyer goes to one of 12 banks and pays $95 for $100 worth of BerkShares, which can be spent in 370 local businesses. Since its start in 2006, the system, the largest of its kind in the country, has circulated $2.3 million worth of BerkShares. In Detroit, three business owners are printing $4,500 worth of Detroit Cheers, which they are handing out to customers to spend in one of 12 shops.

During the Depression, local governments, businesses and individuals issued currency, known as scrip, to keep commerce flowing when bank closings led to a cash shortage.

By law, local money may not resemble federal bills or be promoted as legal tender of the United States, says Claudia Dickens of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

“We print the real thing,” she says.

The IRS gets its share. When someone pays for goods or services with local money, the income to the business is taxable, says Tom Ochsenschlager of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. “It’s not a way to avoid income taxes, or we’d all be paying in Detroit dollars,” he says.
[ad#trdkng468ad1]
Pittsboro, N.C., is reviving the Plenty, a defunct local currency created in 2002. It is being printed in denominations of $1, $5, $20 and $50. A local bank will exchange $9 for $10 worth of Plenty.

“We’re a wiped-out small town in America,” says Lyle Estill, president of Piedmont Biofuels, which accepts the Plenty. “This will strengthen the local economy. … The nice thing about the Plenty is that it can’t leave here.”

Brought to you by EconoChristian.com but written by Marisol Bello of USA TODAY.