Recently, we added 1-oz silver coins featuring Dr. and Congressman Ron Paul to our inventory and the response has been overwhelming. Besides their purity, one important but overlooked feature of these coins is that they meet the criteria set forth by the American Open Currency Standard, or AOCS.
What exactly is AOCS?
The American Open Currency Standard was started to provide units of trade for silver. Known as ‘face value,’ these units provide a basis for the pricing of goods in ounces, grams and grains rather than a dollar amount. A ‘face value’ of 50 for example refers to 50 units of trade on the AOCS standard.
To determine these ‘face value’ amounts, AOCS uses a 30-day moving average provided by an independent, third party source. Using a 30-day average rather than a daily market price keeps the currency stable. If it were valued according to daily market moves, it would be very confusing for ordinary people to start using silver as money.
Each Ron Paul 1-oz silver coin represents 50 units of trade in the AOCS system. It’s a ‘Series C’ coin, which is the most current edition.
As an independent barter association, AOCS exists to bring together merchants who wish to participate in a private, voluntary exchange.
AOCS also provides ‘face value’ amounts for copper and gold coins as well.
The purpose of doing all of this is to provide a bridge between fiat currencies like the U.S. Dollar and a free market system of trade based on commodities and other stores of value.
As we’ve discussed here fairly often, the U.S. Dollar has consistently seen its value eroded due to actions by the Federal Reserve. These actions are one of the prime motivations for owning gold and silver. AOCS simply provides a way for individuals to use precious metals for their historical use – as a medium of exchange.
We invite you to take a look at the Ron Paul 1-oz silver coin available through Provident Metals and other coins approved by the American Open Currency Standard.
This burgeoning method of trade is being tried in many areas of the U.S. with much success, keeping commerce local and helping communities and individuals in this tough economic environment (…much of which was brought on by inflationary policies of the central bank)
