Thoughts on alternative currencies

I recently read a pair of brief articles about the use of a "competing currency" in Michigan. Some business owners are accepting privately-minted silver coins, which retain (and even gain) value as the value of government-issued dollars plummets.

Competing currencies are not illegal, and there is no reason why they should be. So long as buyer and seller agree on a medium of exchange, it makes little difference whether that medium is Federal Reserve Notes (the bills in our wallets and purses today), gold and/or silver, coupons, Monopoly money, or paper cranes. Of course, the buyer could make an unlimited number of paper cranes (at least until he ran out of paper), and thus increase his "wealth," so it would be better for an alternative currency to be made of or based on something that already has value.

Precious metals, including gold and silver, are ideal, for the same reasons that they've been used by practically every human civilization as a medium of exchange. The government can print more Federal Reserve Notes whenever it wants to, thereby directly decreasing the value of those already in circulation, but the government cannot magically produce more gold or silver.

It is fair to say that the competing currency being used in Michigan is a better medium of exchange than the dollar, for the simple reason that the dollar will be able to purchase less six months from now, while the silver coin, increasing in value along with the skyrocketing market price of silver bullion, will be able to purchase more.

After reading the articles, I wondered what kind of currency could be used on Delmarva. Silver coins, perhaps? What would they be called? How would they be designed? An appropriate emblem might be a chicken, or a blue crab, though the peninsula also has a rich history to consider. Caesar Rodney already adorns Delaware's disappointingly boring contribution to the State Quarters program, but what about John Dickinson?

Dickinson is best known for opposing the decision of the thirteen original colonies to declare their independence from England (though he fought for the cause once the decision was made), but he also penned "The Liberty Song," which almost seems like it was written for the present day:

"In Freedom we're born and in Freedom we'll live,
Not as Slaves but as Freemen our money we'll give,
Then join hand in hand brave Americans all,
By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall."

The idea of designing a currency, just for fun, interests me--not only because of my growing interest in government and free-market economics, but because I've collected coins and paper money since I was a child--but, along with many other silly projects, it will have to wait until a less busy time.