Several months ago at a local McDonald’s, I saw a man buy a meal for his family with a $20 silver coin. I couldn’t believe the employee took the money.

I tried to do my civic, and numismatic, duty by informing the worker, who was of another nationality, that there is no such thing as a legal tender $20 coin. Only Congress has the right to “coin money” and regulate its value. It’s in the Constitution (see Article I, Section 8).

The man buying the meal didn’t appreciate my interference and insisted that the Liberty Dollar is legit. McDonald’s sided with him and took the funny money.

That scenario, minus the enlightened redneck coin collector who can’t mind his own business, appears to be playing out more often these days. Both businessmen and consumers see silver, which has been mostly increasing in value since late last year as the economy worsened, and buy into the notion that the Liberty coins are “inflation-proof.”

The presidential campaign of Ron Paul, who decried the government’s “monopoly over artificial money” when asked about a 2007 raid over the “Ron Paul Liberty Dollar,” has helped spur interest in such monetary alternatives.

Libertarians, who are pushing the coins as an “inflation-proof” alternative to the greenback, call it a revolutionary act. “It’s about trying to take power away from the Federal Reserve and return it to private citizens,” Leobald said. …

For years, those who obsessed about the Gold Standard and tried to pass so-called “private money” were considered fringe nutcases.

With predictions of the dollar weakening and consumer fears of inflation strengthening, there is sudden new interest in alternative money - even in New York City. “I ask the merchants if they would rather be paid in green pieces of paper or real silver, and more often than not, they want the silver,” said Karl Reile, 47, who says he spends Liberty Dollars on a daily basis at gas stations and restaurants.

He said store owners almost always accept the pieces.

Both the numismatist and the historian in me appreciate the appeal of Liberty coins. I long for the days when coins had intrinsic value because they were made of precious metals and when “silver certificates” and other paper money were backed by those same metals.

It’s a bad idea for the government to be able to print money at will. Inflation and the ridiculous spending of trillions of dollars by Congress as we’ve seen the past few months are inevitable. Sometimes I wonder if we wouldn’t be better off with the barter economy of yore.

But the gold standard is history and would never work in today’s economy. The Constitution, furthermore clearly denies citizens like Bernard von NotHaus the right to make their own money and distribute it at will. I don’t trust “Uncle Bernard” any more than I trust Uncle Sam. He’s just in it to make a buck.

If people want to buy Liberty dollars as an investment, go for it. Lots of people are investing in gold and silver in these days when property and stocks are proving to be bad investments. Liberty coins can be melted for their metal value just like old coins, modern bullion and jewelry.

But stop using them to buy Big Macs, please. You risk further undermining the economy for the rest of us.