In an age of new crypto currencies such as bitcoin, which is a virtual currency without a physical form, can a new tangible local currency find its place in the sun? Only time will tell if this experiment will succeed or not. An individual in Eugene, Oregon is launching a new local currency there. The man behind this local project is Bruce Holland Rogers.

While collectors refer to local currencies such as the one Mr. Rogers is creating as “scrip,” the public isn’t as picky in terminology and will call it a local currency. According to a statement on a website, Rogers claims he has printed $12,500 in notes in two denominations that he calls 2 skinners and 3 skinners, named after Eugene and Mary Skinner who founded the city.

Eugene is on the 2 skinner and Mary is on the 3 skinner. the notes are to be available in Eugene in May. Mr. Rogers has a posting on Kickstarter for the purpose of using crowd funding to raise $2,000 to help underwrite the cost of the ongoing project, which he hopes will continue beyond his first batch of notes.

With a modern twist, the notes are being printed on polymer not paper as are the currency notes of Australia, Canada, and Mexico. According to Mr. Rogers the launch of the skinner is an experiment. At some point the issue will be recalled and redeemed with dollars. Then it will be up to the residents of Eugene to decide whether they want to continue to have a local currency circulating.

Rogers is also asking the community to organize a group to keep the skinner or some other kind of local currency going. Mr. Rogers is looking for a motto to put on the notes and is looking for input from the public. So how or why does this concern collectors?

If you pledge $35 or more to the Kickstarter skinner project, you will get “either banknote, sk2 or sk3 series A, uncirculated, mounted with archival materials in a cast-acrylic custom one-banknote frame for wall display. The frame is thinner, lighter, and less expensive to ship.”

The issue is limited to a quantity of 80 and the estimated delivery date is in August. There are a number of other pledge options available. The big question is, will collectors rally to this Kickstarter cause? Anyone who collects scrip currency may be interested in this offering. The link for the crowd funding is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/374163954/circulate-a-new-local-currency-in-eugene-oregon-th

You can check out the link and see what the project is all about and decide if you want to make a contribution. It looks to be an interesting project.