Paper Money Currency – Urstromtaler, Cheers Or Plenty – Take Your Pick

One meaning of currency is general acceptance or use. Plastic is taking a bit of a beating recently so perhaps it is better to go back to paper. Bank notes are of course generally accepted for what they are worth. If you are into bank note collecting, you may even be willing to pay more for attractive world paper money or rare United States currency. What about something printed up by your neighbour?

Well apparently communities are now printing their own currency in order to keep cash flowing. It’s a Depression-era idea that aims to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

paper money currency

It works 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 local stores that accept the currency. Here are some of these paper money currencies you may be aware of in the USA:

Detroit Cheers
Ithaca Hours in New York
Plenty in Pittsboro, North Carolina and
BerkShares in Massachusetts.

The BerkShares system started in 2006 and is the largest of its kind in the country with $2.3 million worth of BerkShares in circulation.

There are an estimated 75 local currency systems that have sprung up recently in the U.S., according to Michael Shuman, author of “The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition”

Such paper money currencies are not found only in the USA. In England you have the Lewes Pound. Again it is a complementary currency, redeemable for goods or services with local traders. It is certainly not intended to replace sterling, but it raises awareness of the importance of shopping locally. It can be bought or redeemed for sterling at any of the issuing points in Lewes, which is located in East Sussex.

In Magdeburg, Germany, they are also very proud of their local currency. It is called the Urstromtaler and is used alongside the normal currency, which is the euro. Even two years ago there were more than 200 businesses using the regional currency, including shops, bakeries, florists, restaurants. There was even a cinema that accepted Urstromtaler.

Of course the grand-daddy of them all is to be found in Switzerland. It’s the WIR, now over 75 years old. For an explanation in English, you can check out the WIR Economic Circle Cooperative. It notes that the WIR is a successful Swiss local currency for business to business transactions based on mutual credit:

The WIR credit clearing association, now called the WIR Bank, also provides conventional banking services. WIR is an important case for monetary reformers and free exchange advocates to study. While there may yet be some deficiencies in its operating policies, WIR has proven over a long period of time the effectiveness of direct clearing of credits between buyers and sellers as an alternative to conventional bank-created debt-money.

Clearly something that has achieved general acceptance and use for 75 years has earned the right to be called a currency. Let’s hope the Cheers, Hours and Plenty earn their place in the paper money currency Hall of Fame.