LIBERTY DOLLAR NEWS:
January 2010 Vol. 12 No. 01


Debut of Cabool's Community Dollar
Local merchants reject the house of cards built on the US dollar

Deep in the Missouri Ozarks, a new community currency has appeared to meet the needs of the people. Joshua Deatherage, a local contractor who wears a half-dozen hats to feed his family of four children in Cabool, Missouri, is responsible for creating the new silver based Community Dollar. And it's neither a Jed and Boys nor a Liberty Dollar venture.

As Deatherage explains, "I started thinking about a local silver currency the day after the Liberty Dollar was raided by the FBI." He was concerned that the first value based currency might not survive so his new Community Dollar is only intended to circulate in central Missouri.

After three-and-a-half years, the young monetary entrepreneur who wanted to encourage local trade and commerce in his community, reports that over 60 merchants around Cabool and Mountain Grove are now using his Silver Community Dollar.

Recently, when Deatherage stopped by the local tire shop for repairs, the owner told him that he had received $100 in Community Dollars towards a set of tires from the local bar owner. That man told him he usually went out of town to Wal-Mart, but decided to spend his local currency closer to home. The tire shop owner then used the $100 at a Cabool clothing store that he sheepishly confessed he had never visited before. This is how a local community currency grows in small town America - one transaction at a time.

So who uses the $80,000 in Community Dollars that now circulate around the central Ozark area? "Just regular folks." Deatherage says, "People use the money for a wide variety of goods and services. Around here, you can get clothing and food. And the bar and restaurants accept it, too. You can get almost anything you want or need with the silver Community Dollars."

Deatherage's new Community Dollar is available in four convenient denominations in pure .999 fine silver and a $2 copper denomination. The silver issue consists of a $50 piece that weights one Troy ounce, the $20 weighs two-fifths of an ounce, the $10 weighs one-fifth of an ounce and the $5 weighs one-tenth of an ounce. They all feature an oak tree with "Faith - Family - Freedom" on the obverse.

So who's making all the money - on the new money? It's not Deatherage, who is still scrambling with all his businesses, still gets up at 4 AM every morning and often works well into the night as an on-call plumber.

Deatherage explains that he is dedicated to the currency because it's good for the community. And like the local bank, he too wants to make some money. But it hasn't happened yet. In the beginning, he had to cover all the startup costs for the artwork, dies and, of course, the silver to get the venture off the ground. And now, the merchants make most of the money, since they get the Community Dollars at a discount off the face value and profit when they use it. Like a watchful father, Deatherage is still happy to see his currency grow, as it meets an expanding need - while the US dollar constantly loses its purchasing power.

So in addition to the government's questionable raid on the Liberty Dollar spurring interest, the depreciating US dollar is driving more people to seek protection with a value based monetary system that's in their own self-interest. Deatherage scratches his head as he wonders how the country's monetary structure could be so screwed up.

With silver on the rise - and a flyer called the "Community Dollar Newspaper" that features articles, a free listing of all the merchants who use the local currency, plus advertising - driving more merchants to Deatherage, he doesn't have much time to wonder. He's beset with more requests for more silver money. Even Quire's, an old fashioned, fifth generation general store over 70 miles from Cabool, is one of Deatherage's most devoted merchants. Many people drive 50 miles just to shop there and take home some community currency that they use in their own communities.

Deatherage always emphasizes the advantages of a local value based currency. But folks have a wide variety of reasons for using his new silver currency, beyond the facts that it's attractive and the silver retains its purchasing power. But it's the merchants that drive the local use of the currency as they get it at a discount and encourage other local businesses to protect their customer base. All this activity draws more customers, as their business becomes better known in the community. For Deatherage the benefits are simple, "The more people that use the local community currency - the better off the local economy is." And adds, "The better the money, the better off the community will be."

As Deatherage explains, "With only 20 or 30 merchants in a community, the merchants are the economy. Especially since most businesses are family owned and operated. So when a merchant goes out of business, the community declines. People then have to work and spend their money outside the community. This problem is often compounded by a loss of taxes and funding from state and federal programs for the once thriving community.

Still, the people in the Ozarks have their own down-home reasons for using the silver community currency. They are not concerned about the bailouts or the national debt. Their problems are much more personal as they strive to maintain in a down economy. They simply see the intrinsic value of silver as an appreciating currency. They cling to it as long as possible, until they have to spend it.

There is no doubt that everybody is concerned about the economy and especially the folks in and around Cabool. Even the police seem to understand the problems in the local economy and have not voiced any concerns about the merchants who have banded together and use their own silver money - that circulates outside the bank that is all but closed.

Deatherage is quick to acknowledge that there is no quick fix and that the Community Dollar is not a quick fix for the local community. But he says, "The Community Dollar is helping everybody in the community even if they don't use the new money. Whatever helps the merchants, helps the community, as most businesses are family enterprises."

Quick fix or not, Joshua Deatherage and his Community Dollar exemplify the can-do American spirit at work in the central Missouri Ozarks. Certainly, gold and silver based currencies have a long history of providing a safe harbor in times of trouble. And with silver up nearly 50% in the last year, it seems that Deatherage is not the only one who is aware of the rewards for venturing beyond the house of cards built on the US dollar.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Cabool Community Dollar is not intended to be used as United States currency and any representation as such is strictly prohibited by law.

For additional information on the Cabool Community Dollar please contact Joshua Deatherage: 417.948.1222 or joshuadeatherage@yahoo.com