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Every organized governing body, whether it be a political system, a private business, or an ad-hoc community, establishes a set of rules. These elements of governance, often manifested through doctrines, declarations, laws, and currencies, help establish a community’s identity and, if done well, earn trust and respect. Alongside the establishment of an education system, a healthcare system, and a social welfare program, the creation of a currency is a powerful method of working to legitimize and distinguish one’s own governing body. This applies to political systems (the U.S. has the Dollar, the U.K. has the Pound, the E.U. has the Euro), as well as private organizations (Chuck-E-Cheese has tokens, Club Med has beads, and YouTube has its view counts).

Having generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue by selling oil on the black market, taking ransom payments for hostages, extorting people and businesses, and selling stolen ancient artifacts, the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, has been trying to launch its own currency in an effort to escape what it describes as the “satanic usury-based global economic system.”

Opposed to printable paper money, which ISIS states is intended to enslave communities through manipulated values and debts, the currency is made of gold and other precious metals. It is ISIS’ hope that by having its own currency, like the United States, or Europe, or Chuck-E-Cheese, it will further establish the legitimacy of its governing body among global powers in the modern world, marking “the death of the oppressive banknote, bringing America, the symbol of injustice and tyranny to her knees.”

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