Anger in Moscow as Russian village prints own currency

[Larry1]

I came across this article about a village in Russia that is now printing its own currency.  Interesting phenomenon.  Every once in a while one hears about private currency.

Anger in Moscow as Russian village prints own currency

Locals warned to abandon 'Kolion,' which is used to trade goods and labour, because it 'threatens Russia's economy'.

Three hours out of Moscow and down a dead-end road, is the epicentre of a strange fiscal controversy. A small shed houses a battered metal box that contains the cash stash of the village. The village's currency, the Kolions, was invented, minted, and printed, by farmer Mikhail Shlyapnikov.

Shlyapnikov told Al Jazeera's Rory Challands that "people have always exchanged things among each other".  "We haven't created this process, we just made it digital. In Russia, for any type of village work you used to give a bottle of vodka and it was stable currency," he says. "So we are doing the same thing - though we don't use vodka. We printed these pieces of paper."

... Another advantage from the Kolion is that it has proven to be resilient to the storms buffeting Russia's official currency, the rouble. When your purchasing power is pegged to the potato, it does not much matter what is happening in the money markets.

However, the Russian authorities are not impressed by the Kolion
"They came last summer and winter and in spring. They wanted to see the Kolions so I made them to chop some wood to earn it," says Mikhail. "We all laughed. And suddenly a month ago I got a summons to court with scary words, like, 'urgently withdraw this money and destroy it because it threatens Russia's economy'."

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/06/anger-moscow-russian-village-prints-currency-150628143029075.html

Hat tip: Tyler Cowen, blogging at http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/06/tuesday-assorted-links-18.html

[Slumba]

The Austrian town of Worgl tried this also - of course, the Austrian central bank made them shut it down:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%B6rgl#The_W.C3.B6rgl_Experiment

[alex330]

Many nations are worried about alternate currencies and have been clamping down on them recently. There was a case in the US where the police raided a home and stole an 8 yr old girls piggy bank as her father was involved in trading virtual currencies. They do not like what they cannot control.

[Faux Pas]

Many nations are worried about alternate currencies and have been clamping down on them recently. There was a case in the US where the police raided a home and stole an 8 yr old girls piggy bank as her father was involved in trading virtual currencies. They do not like what they cannot control.

They're afraid civilization will discover that it doesn't need a banking system.

[alex330]

They're afraid civilization will discover that it doesn't need a banking system.

Exactly. And there is the whole tax issue. It is not only Governments that are worried. Payment processors, banks, Paypal, etc. are all very scared of what may occur. There could be a giant shift and they would hate to see that slip away.

[Faux Pas]

Exactly. And there is the whole tax issue. It is not only Governments that are worried. Payment processors, banks, Paypal, etc. are all very scared of what may occur. There could be a giant shift and they would hate to see that slip away.

True and they will go to no ends to stomp any subversion out where ever it exists. A true barter system for a community, state or nation is merely a computer and excel spreadsheet away. No banks required

[Slumba]

BTW, more info on the Worgl experiment

http://mises.org/library/free-money-miracle