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Act Now! Supplies are Limited!
Author: TriSec
Date: 08/16/2008 13:19:01
Good Morning.
It's August....but next month is September, and you know what that means.
For weeks now, I've been seeing a highly irritating commercial hawking a "Silver Leaf Commemorative" for the anniversary of 9-11.
Never mind that it's so tacky that if it was a sailboat, we'd be pulling 12 knots with the wind two points off the bow...
Let's go through the breathless copy point by point, shall we?
For starters, there's a disclaimer right at the top of the National Collector's Mint homepage:
"National Collector's Mint, Inc. is an independent, private corporation not affiliated with, endorsed, or licensed by the U.S. government or the U.S. Mint. All tributes to original coins contain the "copy" designation as mandated by federal law."
OK, so these are simply fakes. I'm betting most people aren't going to pick up on that.
Like a Silver Certificate which is payable in silver, this privately minted Coin-Certificate is payable in coin-of-the-realm.
What the hell does that mean? Who's Realm? What coinage? I suspect that means Liberian coin. More on that in a minute.
Stuck in .999 pure silver leaf,
Silver LEAF. Not Silver. I used to build scale models, and we used a little something called Bare-Metal Foil to simulate aluminum aircraft panels or automotive chrome. It's not unlike their "silver leaf" in most respects. A brief search of the internets yields a find of 25 sheets of pure silver leaf for $18.
So what's underneath the leaf?
Most important, it is the first time ever that two separate denominations have been used to add up to its full $20 face value: it displays 9 and 11 on its front...
Well, aren't we lucky we were attacked on September 11th then! Imagine if the attack was on August 19 or something, then we'd have to have a $27 dollar bill!
Authorized by the government of Liberia, it will never be released for circulation
Ah, here's my real issue with this. It's issued by Liberia. Not that that's a problem per se, as they have been associated with the United States since the country was founded by liberated slaves after the civil war. Of course, on the morning of September 11th, the country was being run by the great humanitarian Charles Taylor, which is just the kind of person the sitting "president" loves to have for an ally, but that's a blog entry for another day.
No, the issue is this. This "certificate" is being offered to collectors at the face value, just $20! Remember now, this is issued by Liberia, and bears the federally-mandated seal that marks it as a copy of an American denomination.
At today's exchange rate, one Liberian dollar is worth about 1.5 US cents. Face value for this coin certificate is currently 30.4 US cents. That's a whopping profit margin now, isn't it?
I'll leave you with a brief snippet from wikipedia about this company. You may draw your own conclusions.
As for me, this coming September 11, I will do the same thing I have done every year since then....I'll look intently at the ground and scurry inside the building (I'm afraid of blue skies and low-flying aircraft on that day) and will pause and remember my friend from Scouts....who was in the North Tower that day and lived to tell the tale, but is a different man than he was on September 10th.
It's August....but next month is September, and you know what that means.
For weeks now, I've been seeing a highly irritating commercial hawking a "Silver Leaf Commemorative" for the anniversary of 9-11.
Never mind that it's so tacky that if it was a sailboat, we'd be pulling 12 knots with the wind two points off the bow...
Let's go through the breathless copy point by point, shall we?
Announcing the special release of the double-dated 2001-2008 September 11 Silver Leaf Coin-Certificate. Like a Silver Certificate which is payable in silver, this privately minted Coin-Certificate is payable in coin-of-the-realm. Stuck in .999 pure silver leaf, its giant size - 3 1/8" x 7 3/8" - dwarfs every U.S. note currently in circulation. Most important, it is the first time ever that two separate denominations have been used to add up to its full $20 face value: it displays 9 and 11 on its front along with the Twin Towers to commemorate the World Trade Center tragedy. The back depicts the stunning design of the new Freedom Tower. Authorized by the government of Liberia, it will never be released for circulation - available now through a special striking for collectors only.
For starters, there's a disclaimer right at the top of the National Collector's Mint homepage:
"National Collector's Mint, Inc. is an independent, private corporation not affiliated with, endorsed, or licensed by the U.S. government or the U.S. Mint. All tributes to original coins contain the "copy" designation as mandated by federal law."
OK, so these are simply fakes. I'm betting most people aren't going to pick up on that.
Like a Silver Certificate which is payable in silver, this privately minted Coin-Certificate is payable in coin-of-the-realm.
What the hell does that mean? Who's Realm? What coinage? I suspect that means Liberian coin. More on that in a minute.
Stuck in .999 pure silver leaf,
Silver LEAF. Not Silver. I used to build scale models, and we used a little something called Bare-Metal Foil to simulate aluminum aircraft panels or automotive chrome. It's not unlike their "silver leaf" in most respects. A brief search of the internets yields a find of 25 sheets of pure silver leaf for $18.
So what's underneath the leaf?
Most important, it is the first time ever that two separate denominations have been used to add up to its full $20 face value: it displays 9 and 11 on its front...
Well, aren't we lucky we were attacked on September 11th then! Imagine if the attack was on August 19 or something, then we'd have to have a $27 dollar bill!
Authorized by the government of Liberia, it will never be released for circulation
Ah, here's my real issue with this. It's issued by Liberia. Not that that's a problem per se, as they have been associated with the United States since the country was founded by liberated slaves after the civil war. Of course, on the morning of September 11th, the country was being run by the great humanitarian Charles Taylor, which is just the kind of person the sitting "president" loves to have for an ally, but that's a blog entry for another day.
No, the issue is this. This "certificate" is being offered to collectors at the face value, just $20! Remember now, this is issued by Liberia, and bears the federally-mandated seal that marks it as a copy of an American denomination.
At today's exchange rate, one Liberian dollar is worth about 1.5 US cents. Face value for this coin certificate is currently 30.4 US cents. That's a whopping profit margin now, isn't it?
I'll leave you with a brief snippet from wikipedia about this company. You may draw your own conclusions.
National Collector's Mint, Inc. is a company based in Port Chester, New York that sells privately-produced coins, other foreign and ancient coins, and creates solid bullion and bullion-clad commemoratives, either as novelties or as legal tender coins in countries other than the United States. Such coins are commonly designated non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) issues. The company does not produce coins that are legal tender in the United States, and is not affiliated with, endorsed, or licensed by the U.S. government or the United States Mint.
National Collector's Mint, Inc. is owned by Avram C. Freedberg, who is also the owner of Maximum Entertainment Productions, LLC. The companies are located at 8 Slater Street, Port Chester NY 10573. Barry Goldwater Jr., former United States Congressman is a member of National Collector's Mint's board of directors, as indicated on his website under Corporate Affiliations[1] and is a spokesman for the company.[2]
The company has an unsatisfactory record with the Better Business Bureau, of which it is not a member. In the past year, 13 complaints have been registered with the BBB in numerous areas of its business practices.[3] However, the BBB states all were closed with the customer receiving their requested resolution.
As for me, this coming September 11, I will do the same thing I have done every year since then....I'll look intently at the ground and scurry inside the building (I'm afraid of blue skies and low-flying aircraft on that day) and will pause and remember my friend from Scouts....who was in the North Tower that day and lived to tell the tale, but is a different man than he was on September 10th.
