No. 10 of 15The history
The economists behind the stamp
A charge on idle money, from Gesell to Wörgl to a ledger.
- Gesell: if money is not to rule goods, “it must deteriorate, as they do”.
- Wörgl, 1932: stamps “at 1 per cent per month”, and wages that came back “20 times a month”.
- Hawarden, Iowa, 1932: “one stamp is to be affixed with each transfer of the scrip”.
- Keynes, 1936: “The idea behind stamped money is sound.”
- VP2.0, 2025: the stamp moves onto a ledger, with “Spending Rewards, Holdings Fees, and Job Creation Funding”.
The idea of a charge on money left idle goes back to Silvio Gesell. Towns tried stamped money in 1932, in Wörgl, Austria, and Hawarden, Iowa, and Keynes judged the idea sound. VP2.0 moves the stamp onto a ledger.
1916Germany
Silvio GesellThe Natural Economic Order
Goods spoil. Gesell argued that money should lose value as goods do, so that it cannot rule over them.
“If money is not to hold sway over goods, it must deteriorate, as they do. Let it be attacked by moth and rust, let it sicken, let it run away; and when it comes to die let its possessor pay to have the carcass flayed and buried.”
Gesell, The Natural Economic Order, tr. Philip Pye (1958)1932August · Austria
WörglThe town’s stamp scrip
The town issued scrip that needed a stamp costing 1 percent each month. The mayor reported that the first wages paid came back to the town 20 times a month, and the town carried out new public works.
“According to plan, on August 1, 1932, 32,000 Schillings’ worth of the scrip (equivalent to about $4500) was issued”
“There was to be no final redemption; and the stamps, at 1 per cent per month, were to be sold by the town, and the proceeds used, not for propagating the idea but for the enlargement of the town’s welfare work.”
“As to the rate of turnover, the mayor reports that the amount of the first wages paid has returned to the city 20 times a month.”
“Accordingly, the city not only met its own obligations but, in the second half of 1932, executed new public works to the value of 100,000 Schillings.”
Irving Fisher, Stamp Scrip (1933), ch. IV1932October · Iowa
HawardenA stamp on every transfer
Here the stamp came with each spend: a dollar of scrip was redeemed once 36 three-cent stamps, $1.08 in all, were fixed to it. VP2.0 has both kinds, a transaction fee and a holding fee.
“in October 1932, upon petition, the town decided to issue $300 in Stamp Scrip”
“one stamp is to be affixed with each transfer of the scrip”
“The stamps alone are the guaranty, and they are sold by the town at 3 cents per dollar of scrip, which is redeemable whenever 36 stamps (aggregating $1.08) have been affixed.”
Irving Fisher, Stamp Scrip (1933), ch. V1932December 26 · Paris
Sy FosterLetter Ten
Foster proposed a $100 bill with a square for each year, kept at full face value by a $5 government stamp each year.
“Each year, one of these squares would have to be filled in with a government frank affixed by the post office or other designated government agency upon the payment of $5.00 by the holder of the bill in order to keep the $100.00 bill up to its full face value.”
Sy Foster, Ten Letters from an International Banker to His Son (1965), Letter Ten1933United States
Irving FisherStamp Scrip
Fisher gathered the experiments in one book and named the point of his stamp: it makes money move.
“For the stamps, as we shall see, compel Stamp Scrip to ‘step lively.’”
“Thus, the stamp is more like a tax on hoarding than a sales tax.”
Irving Fisher, Stamp Scrip (1933), ch. III1936England
John Maynard KeynesThe General Theory
Keynes judged the idea sound, and wrote that the future would learn more from Gesell than from Marx.
“The idea behind stamped money is sound.”
“I believe that the future will learn more from the spirit of Gesell than from that of Marx.”
Keynes, The General Theory (1936), ch. 23, § VI2025March 27 · United States
VP2.0The provisional application
The stamp moves onto a ledger: a holding fee, a spending reward, and a fund that pays for work.
“System and Method for Economic Stimulation via Self-Sustaining Digital Currency with Spending Rewards, Holdings Fees, and Job Creation Funding”
Title of Provisional Application Serial No. 63/779,204
The sources in fullevery quotation on this page, where it stands
“If money is not to hold sway over goods, it must deteriorate, as they do. Let it be attacked by moth and rust, let it sicken, let it run away; and when it comes to die let its possessor pay to have the carcass flayed and buried.”
Gesell, The Natural Economic Order, tr. Philip Pye (1958)
“There was to be no final redemption; and the stamps, at 1 per cent per month, were to be sold by the town, and the proceeds used, not for propagating the idea but for the enlargement of the town’s welfare work.”
Fisher, Stamp Scrip (1933), ch. IV
“AI-Driven and Quantum-Resistant Digital Currency Ecosystem with Decentralized Governance and Economic Stimulation CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part and claims the benefit of U.S. Application Serial No. 19/170,008, filed April 3, 2025 by Gavin Robert McGowen and titled “System and Method for an AI-Driven, Quantum-Resistant Digital Currency Ecosystem with Decentralized Governance and Economic Stimulation,” which application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63/779,204, filed Mar. 27, 2025 by Gavin Robert McGowen and titled “System and Method for Economic Stimulation via Self-Sustaining Digital Currency with Spending Rewards, Holdings Fees, and Job Creation Funding.” The entire contents of each of the foregoing applications, including any appendices, are incorporated herein by reference.”
VP2.0 specification
“As to the rate of turnover, the mayor reports that the amount of the first wages paid has returned to the city 20 times a month.”
Fisher, Stamp Scrip (1933), ch. IV
“one stamp is to be affixed with each transfer of the scrip”
Fisher, Stamp Scrip (1933), ch. V
“The idea behind stamped money is sound.”
Keynes, The General Theory (1936), ch. 23, § VI
“According to plan, on August 1, 1932, 32,000 Schillings’ worth of the scrip (equivalent to about $4500) was issued”
Fisher, Stamp Scrip (1933), ch. IV
“in October 1932, upon petition, the town decided to issue $300 in Stamp Scrip”
Fisher, Stamp Scrip (1933), ch. V