I'm not sure I buy the idea that this is as simple as the Federal government wanting to ban all currencies that are not the dollar. I don't buy it because ther

I'm not sure I buy the idea that this is as simple as the Federal government wanting to ban all currencies that are not the dollar. I don't buy it because there's still no sign of them trying to crack down on other alternative currencies such as Ithaca Hours. And Ithaca Hours are, I believe, older and more well-established. It wouldn't be the implication that the alternative currency has a cash value in US dollars, because Ithaca Hours are pegged at $10 per Hour. I wonder if it's that the Liberty Dollars were issued by a for-profit organization rather than being community organized like other alternative currencies I'm aware of. If I remember right, the "dollar monopoly" was originally enacted in response to the fracas around Civil War tokens. During the war companies had been issuing their own scrip that started to be used as currency in the surrounding communities. There were a number of minor financial catastrophes that happened whenever the issuing company would stop honoring its scrip, thus causing the currency to collapse. And the scrip issuer essentially made off with however much US currency they had received in exchange for the script. So the government decided to ban that as a form of (at the time clearly much-needed) consumer protection. Anyone who's more knowledgeable about the applicable law and its history who can comment?