Artists design banknotes for popular community currencies

WANT to buy a coffee here? Times are ch-ch-changing. Hope you brought your hipster banknotes.

The turnip, a beloved vegetable in Great Barrington, scored prime position on the Ten BerkShare note.

AS THE rest of us rely increasingly on electronic payments, hip neighbourhoods in Europe and the US are bringing back the banknote — but not of the usual kind.

Alternative paper-based currencies are springing up in places such as Brixton and Bristol in the UK and Massachusetts in the US, where they are becoming the preferred form of payment among locals.

And while alternative currencies such as the Bitcoin are nothing new, what sets these small-batch currencies apart is that their old-school bills are works of art.

Local artists are creating strikingly unique notes for these local currencies, replacing the faces of Queen Elizabeth or former US presidents on official government tender with images of pop cultural icons or local landmarks. As with traditional government-issued banknotes, they also often use anticounterfeiting holograms and serial numbers.

The idea behind local currencies, such as the Brixton Pound, is to encourage trade in community businesses where they are accepted, and recirculation of the money helps create a sustainable local economy.

The 10 Brixton Pound note pays homage to local hero David Bowie.

The Brixton Pound was first floated in 2009 to support small shops and traders who were under threat from the recession and large chain stores.

Last month, the district released a new five-pound note designed by award-winning artist Jeremy Deller, which features a colourful, psychedelic design — very unlike what you’d see on the regular pound sterling note.

Brixton’s ten-pound note bears the image of local hero, music icon David Bowie, and was designed by Charlie Waterhouse and Clive Paul Russell in 2011.

“It’s a simple premise — (it’s a) local currency that can only be used in independent local businesses,” Waterhouse said.

“You buy a coffee in an independent cafe and the money probably goes to the people who are serving you. You buy a coffee in a chain, and the money probably goes to city shareholders. It’s a more virtuous circulation of cash.”

Alternative currencies, such as the Bristol Pound, still use anticounterfeiting technology.

BerkShares are another successful form of alternative paper money launched in the Great Barrington region of Massachusetts in 2006. Showcasing the work of local artists, the notes depict historical local figures such as painter Norman Rockwell and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois and are adorned with images of the local scenery.

“BerkShares allowed that idea of buying local to crystallise,” Alice Maggio, project co-ordinator of BerkShares Inc, told the New York Times.

“I think people are drawn to them for the same reason they’re drawn to handmade things and local food.”

But in Massachusetts, the BerkShare is more than a form of payment — it also symbolises pride of place.

“The idea of creating a currency that has our landscape and has our values right on the bill, that’s creating a sense of place we don’t always have in America, particularly as we move towards a more globalised and homogenised culture,” Ms Maggio said.

Wolman agreed. “When some people hold a banknote, it makes them furious about money and the debt,” he said.

The turnip, a beloved vegetable in Great Barrington, scored prime position on the Ten BerkShare note.

“But for others, those symbols embedded in that paper mean a lot — the note conjures feelings of togetherness and nationalism — and the state wants you to have that feeling.”

The local currencies operate in a similar way to gift vouchers at stores — the Brixton Pound has the same purchasing power as 1 Great British Pound, while 100 BerkShares can be purchased for 95 US dollars.

The Stroud Pound and the Bristol Pound in the UK and the Makkie in Amsterdam are other forms of paper-based community currencies.

There are some local currencies in Australia, such as the Boya, which is used as part of a climate change program at a Perth school.

Local currencies are not legal tender in the country they operate — accepting them is voluntary and they can’t be deposited at banks. But while there are some rules surrounding alternative currency systems, it is not illegal to trade in local currencies.

Former central banker Bernard Lietaer, who was an architect of the European Currency Unit that preceded the euro, told the New York Times money was “an extraordinarily emotional object”.

He said alternative currencies provided an “implicit incentive: I want to give priority to — and I’m willing to make an effort for — my region or community”.

Lietaer, who is a professor of money and sustainability at the Sorbonne in Paris, used Germany’s complimentary currency Chiemgauer as an example.

“It functions the same as the BerkShare, but with a bigger impact,” he said.

“They’re specialising in organic food and cheese. So I buy Chiemgauers with euros, but I know these currencies will circulate in my community, specifically with organic products, and this gives motivation to produce more and have more organic producers.”