The Stroud Pound is a local currency in use in Stroud

Stroud

Stroud a town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England.Stroud may also refer to:*Stroud, New South Wales, Australia*Stroud, Ontario, Canada*Stroud , Gloucestershire, UK*Stroud...

, Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

. Unveiled on 12 September 2009, the scheme is the third local currency

Local currency

In economics, a local currency, in its common usage, is a currency not backed by a national government , and intended to trade only in a small area. As a tool of fiscal localism, local moneys can raise awareness of the state of the local economy, especially among those who may be unfamiliar or...

 scheme introduced in England in recent years after the Totnes Pound

Totnes pound

The Totnes pound is an alternative local currency, intended to support the local economy of Totnes, a town in Devon, UK.The initiative is part of the Transition Towns concept, of which Totnes is a pioneer...

 and the Lewes Pound

Lewes Pound

The Lewes Pound is a local currency in use in the town of Lewes, East Sussex. Inspired by the Totnes pound and BerkShare, the currency was introduced with the blessing of the town council in September 2008 by Transition Town Lewes - a community response to the challenges of climate change and peak...

.

History

Launched on 12 September 2009, the scheme is an initiative of the local Transition Towns

Transition Towns

Transition Towns is a grassroots network of communities that are working to build resilience in response to peak oil, climate destruction, and economic instability...

 group. Unlike the Totnes Pound and the Lewes Pound, the scheme is based on the Chiemgauer

Chiemgauer

Chiemgauer is the name of a regional local currency started in 2003 in Prien am Chiemsee, Bavaria, Germany. It is named after the Chiemgau, a region around the Chiemsee. The Chiemgauer program is intended to promote local commerce...

, a community currency circulating in the Chiemgau

Chiemgau

Chiemgau is the common name of a geographic area in Upper Bavaria. It refers to the foothills of the Alps between the rivers Inn and Traun, with lake Chiemsee at its center. The political districts that contain the Chiemgau are Rosenheim and Traunstein...

 region of Bavaria, Germany since 2003. As of April 2010, 30 businesses in Gloucestershire are enrolled in the programme.

On the day of the launch, local currency with a face value of over 1,000 Stroud Pounds was sold.

Currency design

Stroud Pounds are available in four denominations: £1, £2, £5 and £10. All feature Philippa Threlfall's 1972 mural "Buildings of Stroud" and a Fuller's teasel (Dipsacus

Dipsacus

Dipsacus is a genus of flowering plant in the family Dipsacaceae. The members of this genus are known as teasel or teazel or teazle. The genus includes about 15 species of tall herbaceous biennial plants growing to tall...

 sativus) on the front, and various images of local significance (including local celebrities, landscapes, flora and fauna) on the back. The highest denomination features Laurie Lee

Laurie Lee

Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter, raised in the village of Slad, and went to Marling School, Gloucestershire. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie , As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and...

. Designs are printed in bright colours on watermarked security paper.

External links

• "The Stroud Pound"
• BBC News : The town printing its own currency