Rising popularity of local currencies

Last popularized during the Great Depression, scrip, or locally created stand-ins for U.S. currency, is making a comeback. Pittsboro, population 2,500, is one of a handful of communities that launched its own money in recent months. It reports an avalanche of calls from other communities that have lost faith in the global financial system...

The western New York college town of Ithaca is believed to be the first community in recent memory to have revived scrip by starting the Ithaca Hour in 1991. Other places, including Portland, Maine, and Traverse City, Mich., followed suit.

In western Massachusetts, activists and a local nonprofit banded together in 2006 to create the BerkShare.

Since then, 2.5 million BerkShares have circulated in the leafy towns of the Berkshire Mountains. Residents can exchange $95 for 100 BerkShares, giving an incentive to use the scrip.

More details at the L.A. Times.