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Beyond this, the banknotes are also quite attractive. Designed<br />
by John Isaacs, they feature locally-produced portraits of regional<br />
heroes W.E.B. DuBois, Herman Melville, Norman Rockwell,<br />
Robyn Van En, and the Mohican Indians, the first settlers of the<br />
area. Professionally printed, they have counterfeit protections and<br />
resemble British pound notes.<br />
The ultimate goal of BerkShares is to help develop an economy<br />
that consumes what it produces and produces what it needs.<br />
Eventually, it is hoped to decouple the regional currency from the<br />
US monetary system, tying it to a “basket of local commodities.”<br />
In the meantime, BerkShares are a handy way to encourage people<br />
in Western Massachusetts to support neighborhood businesses,<br />
while helping to defray the increased costs of regionallymanufactured<br />
products.<br />
Bruce Watson / Berkshares Inc.<br />
Classic Note<br />
This classic note of the Scottish series was designed and engraved<br />
by William Home Lizars, one of the finest engravers working in<br />
Scotland in the 19th century. The essential design features appear<br />
in many similar forms amongst Scottish £1 notes of that era and<br />
the “square” dimensions and the three beautifully engraved vignettes<br />
all make it unmistakably Victorian and unmistakably Scottish. The<br />
use of Gaelic in the motto in the border is unusual even in Scotland<br />
and the words translate as “The land of the Mountains, the Valleys<br />
and the Heroes”.<br />
<strong>IBNS</strong> Journal 48.2 9
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