The BerkShare

Greetings,

I recently tried to move the 1 BerkShare from Exonumia to Banknotes. The Exonumia referee accepted, but the banknotes referee kept moving it back to exonumia, To give you a more in depth look at the specific banknote: N#349992

This should be in the banknote catalogue for many reasons. It is officially issued by the Berkshires in Massachusetts. Banks and businesses accept it in the Berkshires. It is pegged to 1 dollar. Furthermore it is widely circulated. It is legal tender too. This is why I believe it should be in the banknote catalogue.

For more information: https://berkshares.org

Thank you for your time and attention.

It is classed as a local currency, which is why it is in ‘Exonumia’.

The U.S.A. has had quite a lot of local currency systems over the years.

Aidan.

However if it is legal tender, then it should in the banknote catalogue. Instead of choosing standard banknote I could just click local banknote like: N#347555

Exonumia does not have legal tender in the US. Another solution is we just put this under Massachusetts in banknotes or create a sub-issuer called Berkshire County, or even just add a currency in banknotes called BerkShare. What do you all think?

Where does it say that it is legal tender? What is is legal tender for?

The website says that the BerkShares is a local currency which is accepted by 'participating businesses', which suggests a limitation on what it can be spent on. It also states that it is convertible to US currency for a  '1.5% exchange fee' which would suggest a purchasing value of 98.5% of its face value.

There was a similar local currency scheme in Ireland in the 1990s which produced a lot of varieties - good for collecting!

In order to stimulate the Berkshire’s economy this was created as a substitute to US Dollars to keep the money in the community. As far as I knew it was pegged to a dollar, that fee I did not know about. To quote a slightly older BBC article that is still new enough, “Three million BerkShares have been issued since the legal currency was launched seven years ago and 130,000 remain in circulation.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-14814834

If these are backed by banks, and the dollar backs the banks, then these should be in the banknote catalogue. I also found another article:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/04/crypto-goes-farm-to-table-00048309

Hibernia

Where does it say that it is legal tender? What is is legal tender for?

 

The website says that the BerkShares is a local currency which is accepted by 'participating businesses', which suggests a limitation on what it can be spent on. It also states that it is convertible to US currency for a  '1.5% exchange fee' which would suggest a purchasing value of 98.5% of its face value.

 

There was a similar local currency scheme in Ireland in the 1990s which produced a lot of varieties - good for collecting!

Are you referring to this?

https://www.irishpapermoney.com/roma-tokens.html .

I have not been made aware of any Irish community currency systems that have been created since 1 January 2002 when the Euro replaced the Irish Pound.

Aidan.

Yes, the Roma tokens were an experimental local currency issue in Ireland. 

As far as I know there have been no such local currencies since the Euro was introduced.

EDIT: Typo.

Hibernia

Yes, the Roma tokens were an experimental local currency issue in Ireland. 

As far as I know there have been no such local currencies since th eEuro was introduced.

If you find any, please let me know, as I am interested.

Aidan.

Berkshire Collecting

It is legal tender too.

So where does it actually say that it is legal tender? 

@Aidan

The RoMa tokens are very rare, I have only ever had one example!

That is a shame regarding the 1 RoMa note.

Aidan.

BCNumismatics

That is a shame regarding the 1 RoMa note.

 

Aidan.

People kept them. They will turn up!

Hibernia

BCNumismatics

That is a shame regarding the 1 RoMa note.

 

Aidan.

People kept them. They will turn up!

The RoMa notes would find a place in my collection - as the Republic of Ireland's community currency notes definitely belong in a British Commonwealth collection.

Aidan.

Given the fees and limited usability, I am closing this, as it belongs to Exonumia.