My Latest Pet Project : Getting Silver Back In Circulation

Yikes! Lots to catch up on.

@ninamason - Cranky happens, so no worries. However, cranky is 100% forgivable. (Unlike stupid, which may easily cause cranky. Cranky is merely coping with it.) :-)

@early42 - NORFED I think was dancing a very fine line, and I believe this was done on purpose. In order to get an alternate currency accepted, it needs to feel familiar, so in using familiar motifs a case could easily be made for counterfeiting. Even people who have tried to pass fantasy coins (like the famous CF-S$1-1851-0001 http://fakes.numismetrica.com/2012/...1-1851-0001/) that are utterly fabricated fall under counterfeiting laws. However, at the same time, some of the court proceedings were an absolute joke. They shouldn't have used photos at all. Instead they should have simply passed Liberty Dollars out for physical examination. However, back on the other hand, I still have to explain to younger cashiers that Kennedy half dollars are worth 50 cents, not a dollar, and I've been given change for a dollar more than once for them.

Some people are simply unaware of our own currency, and I feel that this begs larger questions about "Who is responsible?" Is it solely their responsibility? Or does the Mint bear some of that burden with failure after failure of its educational programs? It's scary to think, but with those Kennedy half episodes, could I be charged for fraud as a modern day "Josh Tatum"? :-)

@Schwanke - With the HARDcash cards, I'm using a model that, if it is found to be illegal, would put the entire TPG business on its ear. At its most basic function I'm authenticating and encapsulating genuine American coins in tamper-proof, inert packaging, which is something that even a Congressionally chartered organization (i.e. the ANA under ANACS before it was sold off) has done. If that's "defacing" currency, then I imagine that PCGS and NGC would have an entire army of lawyers lined up to fight it. :-)

I believe that the problem is specifically stamping coins or currency with advertising a political part or business. I remember that Where's George had some legal issues with this when they sold "wheresgeorge.com" stamps, and they discontinued them. However at the same time, there are plenty of companies that sell painted coins, plated coins, or counter stamped coins that have no political messages or business adverts and they aren't in legal hot water.

@mds308 - In the grand scheme of things, if it's a novelty, so what? :-) I won't count that as a fail so long as it makes people think. And no, #1 is mine! ;-) I'm going to frame it to remind myself of this crazy idea in 10 years time.

I'll catch up some more later.

You can if you wanted. They wont waste their time on something like that even if it were illegal. As long as you can tell what it is they dont really care much




Shocking I know

I almost forgot to mention: I actually carry a 1929 Venezuelan 5 Bolivares as a pocket piece to remind me of just that and I posted the story behind it here: https://goccf.com/t/126401&whichpage=2#1109354.

My great grandfather was very fortunate in that he saw the crash coming and very slowly pulled his money out of his accounts before it hit.

For all anyone knows, silver or gold could go the way of aluminum (precious metal one day, tin cans the next) but the likelihood of such an event is fairly slim.

Thanks for the update on the legality or atleast probability of getting in trouble for painting coins. I may go back to doing that. As funny as it sounds maybe to us, even in college back before I even knew what numismatics was I used to spray paint the reverse of quarters (before the state ones came out) wierd colors and spend them at local coffee shops. Every single time the cashier went 'oooh cool' and exchanged one from their pocket for one of mine. I could have fun going back to that again. Nothin fancy really just having fun making quarters colorful as opposed to generic silver that barely even gets dirty unless it tones. (And apologies if I already gave this anecdote, cant remember if I hit send that time lol.)

Back on thread, concept wise I think this is a great idea and really wish it would take off, I just have doubts that 'society' is 'intelligent and mature enough' to recognize the benefits and even the enjoyment of the novelty. Its like people who collect comic books and then cant possibly imagine why someone would be reading a #1 spider man they found in daddy's garage while they were sitting on the can trying to meditate. .

Woo hoo! Do you think they'll work here in Mexico? ;/ just kidding.

Come on guys, pour in the orders!

Well, now that you mention it, I honestly don't know enough about Mexican coinage, but if there is the equivalent of "junk silver" coins that don't have any real additional numismatic value over their spot, and are approximately dime-sized I could always apply the same method. I've contemplated doing it with smaller old Venezuelan silver Bolivares (specifically 1/2 Bolivares and 1/4 Bolivares), as they're easy to get at spot under those conditions. Old Canadian dimes, too.

They're just a bit bigger than a credit card, so they don't quite fit in a credit card pouch, but they fit perfectly in one half of the bill fold of a standard wallet. As I see how these work out, I might shrink them down a little if true credit-card-sizing works better in the next series.

Way too bulky ...