Its time we had a covnerstaion about something - junk silver.

There was a lot of talk at the fest, and still is at the spores, about the dollar, money, alternate currency ideas and time shares, ect. A lot of us have great ideas and some have even put work into some alternate systems. Unfortunately, most of us that are excited to jump in head first have no idea what is going to work and what isn't, so we are a little worried about wasting time and resources.

I want to start a discussion on junk silver. I want you do to you own research and I want to share my opinion with you to get your thoughts.

Here is some info before I tell you mine:

Summarized from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_silver

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Junk silver is an informal term used in the United States and Canada for any silver coin which is in only fair condition and has no collectible value above the bullion value of the silver it contains. Such coins are popular amongst those seeking to invest in silver, particularly in small amounts. The word "junk" refers only to the value of the coins as a numismatic collectible and not to the actual condition of the coins; junk silver is not necessarily scrap silver.

Junk silver coins may be a desirable method of investing in silver for several reasons:

Low premiums

Junk silver can often be purchased for little or no premium over the spot price of silver, particularly during periods of economic stability.

Legal tender

Junk U.S. and Canadian coins remain legal tender, and maintain their face value regardless of the price of silver.

Recognition

Though not as common as they once were, junk silver coins are still somewhat well-known, and may be less likely to have their value disputed than silver bars or rounds.

Divisibility

Junk silver coins can be easily spent or traded in small amounts; as of March 2008, the silver in a U.S. silver dime was worth less than US$1.50. In contrast, silver bullion coins and bars are rarely smaller than one ounce, while gold and other precious metals are highly valued in even minuscule amounts.

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There are some people in Evolver Atlanta that are trying to pitch currency ideas. Some are time banks similar to Ithica's, which I love. Some are actual physical units of exchange.

One is even a method of exchange using minted Silver coins, which I am little wary of because the coins are sold at a pretty high premium above the spot market price for the profit of the seller. They do have an interesting idea of an exchange network where the coin is traded at twice it's value in a network. This idea is one I would like to discuss further, but I don't want to have that one point distract the entire flow of my conversation.

All of these systems and ideas are exciting, but they fail to satisfy the answer to some fundamental questions that a lot of a lot of us are asking. How can I get away from the elite's banks and their dollar right now?

Junk Silver, as opposed to minted coins, is sold at a low premium and has an already established small business market in Atlanta. I called my coin shop just up the road and spoke with the owner about his coins today. I can get bags of as low as 40% silver and all the 90% I could ever wish for. This means I can put 100 bucks of savings into silver as easy as I could pick up a six pack of beer.

Now, I am not trying to give financial advice, as I am not a licensed financial advisor, but here are some stories in my mind that make sense to me, that I would like to hear from you on.

I take some cash and go buy some junk silver coins at my local shop. The silver trades at the spot price "x" that day plus his small premium. I stick those coins in a safe place.

One day I need some cash for rent. Well my landlord only takes cash for rent and I only keep junk silver coins. I go down to my local coin shop and sell some silver at spot "x" price. I now have cash for the debt.

I exchange with a friend for something else, and give him junk silver coins at an agreed upon value. He can now exchange at the coin shop for spot "x" price. Our exchange may or may not have taken spot "x" prince into consideration. That is a point I need discussion on to draw my own conclusions about if it is a good idea to do or not. It seems like a good idea in that if I were buying a bag of incense from a buddy that usually cost 30 dollars that i would give him roughly two ounces worth of junk silver if silver were trading at 15 dollars an ounce that day or the last day the market was open.

Now I know there are some cavots in this exchange with regard to taxes. I need more information and possibly even need to have a discussion with a lawyer / cpa about these, for I know the government could say that, theoretically, the purpose of such an exchange would be to avoid paying taxes. I would rather pay those taxes than risk damaging the reputation of a potential alternative method for exchanging goods and services that already exist in our markets.

I am going to go meet with and speak with the coin shop owner on that idea next week, to see if he can point me to some resources on those regulations. I am sure he can, but do any of you know some of them?

Fire up your brain and start typing. I want to know what you think.