Press Stories
2001
IMF to issue Island currency
by Cameron Smith
The Barnacle
The Salt Spring economy will get a boost this fall
with the issuance of approximately 80,000 Salt Spring dollars (SS$80,000).
The control and management of the on-Island money supply will be the
responsibility of the Island Monetary Foundation (IMF).
The currency will be issued in three denominations:
$1, $2, and $5 bills, according to Eric Booth, one of the co-ordinators of
the project. The bills will be printed on currency-quality paper by
Island-based printers Barnyard Graphics, and will come in traditional
colours: green for the one-dollar bill, brown for the twos, and blue for
the five-dollar bills.
Salt Spring dollars will be directly convertible on
par with Canadian dollars. Booth said several Island merchants have
already agreed to treat Salt Spring dollars as $1.10 Canadian when goods
are purchased, giving shoppers an added incentive to stay on the Island
and use the local currency.
The primary reasons for developing an Island money
supply, said Booth, are to promote on-Island spending and to provide a
revenue source for community projects. The shop-local aspect is based on
the fact that off-Island merchants will not accept the currency, but the
revenue aspect is somewhat more complicated.
The money will be issued by exchanging Canadian
dollars for Salt Spring dollars, so that the Salt Spring dollars can be
purchased with Canadian dollars. If SS$80,000 are issued, the IMF banks
$80,000 Canadian. Booth said he expects a large number of those Salt
Spring dollars will go off-Island, either in the wallets of tourists or
into the collections of currency collectors. The first issue of the bills
will come with a December 31, 2003 expiry date. If those bills are not
redeemed or exchanged for second-issue dollars by the expiry date, the IMF
will be free to distribute the leftover Canadian dollars to worthy
community projects.
The bills are being designed by Island artist and
sign-maker Warren Langley, along with Booth and Bob McGinn, a fellow
member of the Sustainable Salt Spring Island Coalition (SSSIC), which is
sponsoring the project.
The front of each of the bills will include the
portrait of an historic Island figure, an Island landmark, the
denomination of the bill, a serial number and a silhouette of the Island.
The back of the bills will feature a full-colour artwork to be
commissioned from an Island artist. Booth said the design of the bills
will also incorporate several anti-counterfeiting devices.
Acknowledging that some Islanders may be reluctant
to use Salt Spring dollars because of the project's association with the
SSSIC, which is promoting Island autonomy or sovereignty, Booth said those
people should look at the positive aspects of an Island currency.
"They should consider the purpose of this," he said.
"We're doing this to promote Salt Spring Island and to put money back into
the community. But I suppose if they don't want to participate in that,
that's their prerogative."
Booth said the first bills should be available in
October or November, "in time for Christmas shopping and gift-giving."
See the Daily Barnacle's special feature, Money:
What it is, where it comes from, and who controls it, on the Web at
http://DailyBarnacle.com/Money
Island currency off to the printers
Gulf Islands
Driftwood
Wednesday, August 15, 2001
By
Tony Richards
Salt Spring Islanders are about to see a return of paper
money in the once-familiar one and two-dollar denominations. But they
won’t be in Canadian currency.
September 15 is the anticipated launch date of a brand-new Salt Spring
currency, one that is expected to become popular with collectors and
island visitors.
The project is the brainchild of supporters of a sovereign Salt Spring
movement, but its implementation is being undertaken by a separate,
newly-formed organization called the Salt Spring Island Monetary
Foundation (SSIMF).
Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundations Directors Bob
McGinn and Eric Booth - Photo by Derrick Lundy
And while most foundation directors are also part of the Sustainable
Salt Spring Coalition, sovereignty booster Eric Booth stressed in an
interview Friday the project remains apart from efforts to create a new
nation.
“We want this to be apolitical, to stand on its own and be something
people can take on its own merits.”
Judging by the quality of the work that has gone into the first issue
of the currency, which will total $160,000 in one, two and five-dollar
bills, it may in fact stand on its own and gain widespread though local
circulation.
Two local financial institutions have expressed support for the project
and are expected to offer it for sale on a par with the Canadian dollar.
The design work has been entrusted to artists-designers Warren Langley
and Pat Walker, who have created professional and realistic- looking bills
that reflect Salt Spring. One side of each bill will bear a historical
photo. The other will feature the work of a local artist, with the
exception of the one-dollar bill. It will have a photo of Harry Bullock on
one side and a photo of haying at the Bullock farm on the other.
The two-dollar bill will carry a picture of Matilda Naukana Harris and
the five will have a picture of Sylvia Stark. Art by Warren Langley will
be featured on the reverse side of both.
As of last week, arrangements had been made with Carol Haigh and Jill
Louise Campbell to have their work adorn the $20 and $10 bills,
respectively.
The new currency will be printed on 100 per cent cotton, as is Canadian
currency, and will have built-in security precautions to prevent
counterfeiting by either scanning or photocopying, Booth said.
While Booth and the SSIMF expect the new bills to be warmly received
for their artistic and souvenir value, there is a wrinkle that could spell
a big windfall for the island community.
During the discussions on the project, which have been under way for
about a year, its proponents hit upon the idea of putting an expiry date
on the bills. Each bill will expire approximately two years from the date
of issue. Bills in the first printing, for example, will expire on
December 31, 2003. And that’s where a huge potential benefit comes in.
It’s anticipated that because so much of the currency will be put away
as a collector’s item, or taken away by visitors, redemption rates before
the expiry date could be quite low.
Indeed, Booth guesses that a substantial amount of money will be
returned to local organizations.
Part of the SSIMF’s mandate is to distribute revenues from the project
to support local charities. Those revenues will come from unredeemed
bills.
“It wouldn’t surprise me at all,” Booth said, to see over half a
million dollars a year come back to the island.
“I’m guessing that virtually all (the bills) will not be redeemed.”
He pointed to the fact that even Canadian Tire dollars have collectors.
He believes that given the quality of the Salt Spring dollars, they should
enjoy greater popularity.
Booth and his colleagues expect to approach local businesses soon,
suggesting they purchase some of the new money for a float so they can
offer customers the choice of taking the new bills in change. Last week,
Booth and Bob McGinn, another SSIMF director, made a presentation to
Chamber of Commerce board members, who agreed to provide their endorsement
of the project.
Sale of the currency will also be offered through a website, which will
aim to reach collectors, and as souvenir sets.
Other directors of the foundation are Arvid Chalmers, Don Monteith and
Roy MacMillan. |
