After receiving my copy of Numismatic News in yesterday’s mail, I immediately turned to the Letters and Viewpoint section to see what the readers are saying to find a Viewpoint article: “Private ‘Coins’ Should be Collected.” In the article, Will Gragg writes that Liberty Dollar issued by the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve (NORFED) should be collected. Aside that the article seems like a thinly veiled support for the Liberty Dollar, I began to wonder what happened to Bernard von NotHaus.
Bernard von NotHaus was a co-founder of the Royal Hawaiian Mint. He served as the mint’s supervisor before leaving and founding NORFED under the premise that the Federal Reserve is illegal and devaluing U.S. money by issuing fiat money. Believing that he could create currency using precious metals that could be used in trade, von NotHaus created the Liberty Dollar. NORFED marketed their “coins” as “Real Money” and that their associated notes are “America’s Inflation Proof Currency.”
In 2006, the U.S. Mint issued a consumer alert warning that the Liberty Dollar is not legal tender. Von NotHaus and coconspirators were arrested in 2007 by the FBI. He was release on bond. A grand jury handed down indictments against von NotHaus and his coconspirators for primarily violating 18 U.S.C. § 486, for “Uttering [circulating] coins of gold, silver or other metal.”
Von NotHaus was arrested on June 30, 2010 for violating the terms of his bond. After appearing before Judge David S. Cayer, Federal District Court for the Western District of North Carolina in Charlotte on Wednesday, July 14, von NotHaus’s bond was revoked and is in federal prison pending trial.
It was difficult to find information on the status of von NotHaus. Reports about his arrest and incarceration did not appear in the “mainstream media.” This news was found by reading other sources that reported von NotHaus’s arrest at the beginning of August.
According to the court’s calendar, the case of USA v. von NotHaus, et. al. (5:09-cr-00027-RLV-DCK-1) was scheduled for a hearing today (October 19) before Judge Richard Voorhees. No public information about the hearing was available at the time this was written.
Justice moves slowly.
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