'Spectacular Trial' Is Seen in Case of Liberty Dollar

JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN
NY Sun
Monday November 19, 2007

The monetary gadfly behind the Liberty Dollar, Bernard von NotHaus, declared over the weekend that he expects to be criminally charged over his currency and is vowing "a spectacular trial" that will "put this country's monetary system on trial."

Mr. von NotHaus was interviewed by The New York Sun via telephone on Saturday following disclosures that the Liberty Dollar, a gold- and silver-based currency marketed by anti-government activists as an alternative to the greenback, drew the federal government's scrutiny because the coins resembled official currency produced by the U.S. Mint.

After a two-year undercover investigation of the currency, federal agents last week raided the Idaho mint where the Liberty Dollar was produced and the Indiana offices that served as its marketing headquarters. Tens of thousands of gold, silver, and copper coins were seized, including a special edition bearing the image of a Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Ron Paul, a supporter of the gold standard. It is the standard edition of the Liberty Dollar, which features a profile of a crowned Lady Liberty as well as the lettering USA and "Trust In God," which federal authorities say is illegal.

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These symbols and language are similar enough to coinage from the U.S. Mint that the Liberty Dollars "are easily confused with legitimate United States Currency," a purported affidavit apparently filed last week in support of the search warrant claims.

The apparent affidavit was posted on the Internet on Friday by the libertarian think tank, the Reason Foundation. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Charlotte, N.C., told the Washington Post that a court clerk had mistakenly made court documents in the case public.

Full article here.

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