dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

What is the point of local currency?

Traders from Lewes to Brixton use their own currency.

What's the point in a local currency? Anyone who has ever been to one of those 'living history' museums where you have to exchange your sterling for ye olde worlde currency before you can buy a drink might be excused for thinking that the novelty of the Bristol pound will soon wear off.

However, traders from Totnes in Devon to Brixton in South East London have had some success with local currencies, and even credit them as helping to revive the local high street. The team behind the Totnes Pound says that the currency "provides the opportunity to strengthen the local economy whilst preventing money from leaking out".

The Totnes currency has been going since 2006. You can spend it in the butchers, curry house or fish shop, but you can't spend it in the local Tesco. Totnes poundholders hope that they will reduce food and trade miles by using the money, and seventy shops have signed up.

In Lewes, East Sussex, which has a similar scheme, 5p in every pound goes into a community fund, meaning that the traders who sign up are essentially accepting a discount on their goods for the good of the community. The Brixton pound is a little more sophisticated, as it can be used to pay by text.

The Bristol pound, backed by a credit union, promises to be more technological still, with the chance to pay by mobile phone as well as with notes. It will include online banking, with deposits backed by the Financial Services Authority because it is backed by the Bristol credit union. It's the first scheme where businesses will be able to use the money to pay tax, including business rates. They won't be stuck with thousands of pounds of a currency none of their suppliers accept, while consumers will also be able to use it to pay bills online.