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'Glorious' Obama coin no more than a trinket
Chicago Sun Times ^ | 12/25/08 | DONNA LEINWAND

Posted on 12/25/2008 6:44:45 PM PST by melt

The TV ads tout a "genuine" U.S. Inaugural Presidential Dollar showing President-elect Barack Obama depicted in "glorious full color" for just $9.95, plus shipping and handling.

A coin-collecting expert says the gold-dipped, painted coins are nothing more than a trinket, and the U.S. Mint -- the only official purveyor of U.S. currency -- says buyer beware.

"They are worth the face value of the coin. If the coin says 25 cents, it's worth a quarter," says Scott Travers, author of the Coin Collector's Survival Manual and a New York City coin dealer.

The U.S. Mint last month issued a warning that the heavily advertised commemorative coins -- produced by several private companies in various designs -- are not official U.S. Treasury products.

Altering coins with stickers, plating or colors isn't illegal as long as the company doesn't intend to pass them off as currency or use them as advertising, says Mint spokesman Michael White.

"Our concern here is that it's confusing to consumers," who may think the coins are official government products, White says.

The New England Mint, a Connecticut company advertising the "uncirculated U.S. Presidential Dollars" as "limited edition" coins, did not return phone messages seeking comment. The company has advertised its coin on TV and on the Internet.

The Professional Numismatists Guild, a nonprofit organization of rare-coin dealers, also advised consumers that the recently offered Obama coins are merely mementos with little resale value to coin collectors.

(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: antichrist; bhoinauguration; coins; cult; jonestown; junk; obama; obamabots; trinkets; usmint

"Change" you can believe in--- $9.95 plus shipping & handling...

1 posted on 12/25/2008 6:44:45 PM PST by melt
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To: melt

For his sake they should have left his head on his shoulders. A floating O-head is... disturbing. And the red stripes look like uhm... blood?


2 posted on 12/25/2008 6:46:44 PM PST by SolidWood (Sarah Palin - Everything that is Sweetness and Light!)
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To: melt

The Uno is a scam, so why should a coin with his likeness on it be any different???


3 posted on 12/25/2008 6:46:59 PM PST by rednesss (Fred Thompson - 2008)
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To: melt

I’m not interested in the Hussein Obama set but if they do one for Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley, I’d probably give it a go.


4 posted on 12/25/2008 6:48:57 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (For more information on America's "new direction" read The Road to Serfdom. by Friedrich A. Hayek.)
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To: melt
Sweeeeeett!!!
:)
5 posted on 12/25/2008 6:49:24 PM PST by allmost
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To: melt

Would you pay for that?


6 posted on 12/25/2008 6:51:22 PM PST by allmost
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To: melt

I’ll bet this is the same outfit that sells those disgusting WTC coins.


7 posted on 12/25/2008 6:54:09 PM PST by kms61
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To: melt

Has this ever been done for any other prez-elect? I guess if, for some odd reason, he is disqualified to be sworn in, the coins become even more valuable? lol


8 posted on 12/25/2008 6:54:56 PM PST by Evil Slayer (Sarah Palin reminds me of the story about David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-11, 41-50)
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To: melt

The Emperor continues to be naked.


9 posted on 12/25/2008 6:55:17 PM PST by NordP (CONSERVATIVE AGAIN IN 2010 ..... Now, is it 2012 yet ???)
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To: melt

You can put lipstick on a quarter... but it is still only worth 25 cents.


10 posted on 12/25/2008 6:55:40 PM PST by OCC
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To: NordP

Garbage you can believe in. Whenever I see that commercial I change the channel


11 posted on 12/25/2008 6:56:46 PM PST by Sarah Barracuda
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To: melt

with the high level of stupidity in this country you can count on the company to sell a large number of these.
It’s like they use to say in the car business:
“There’s an ass for every seat”


12 posted on 12/25/2008 6:58:26 PM PST by mrmargaritaville
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To: melt

“There’s a sucker is born every minute”


13 posted on 12/25/2008 6:58:44 PM PST by Rebelbase
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To: OCC

Used to, you could get a shave and a haircut for two bits. For this two bits, you get a dumb a__ clown.


14 posted on 12/25/2008 7:00:25 PM PST by Evil Slayer (Sarah Palin reminds me of the story about David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-11, 41-50)
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To: Rebelbase

You have to admit, you’d laugh if you received one as a white elephant gift, though!


15 posted on 12/25/2008 7:01:00 PM PST by Skenderbej
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To: melt
Use of the '$' symbol palms off the value of official US Treasury-minted currency. The 1 behind the '$' tries to be one more than the Zero it actually represents.

One has to believe this is neigh unto personalized counterfeiting, especially since 0bambi is almost certainly getting a cut of this, or being paid a fee.

OTOH, forking over more than $10 to get the value of one real dollar is something all Americans may well face in the Zero years, while this venture only gets the $10+ out of self-selected, fanatical volunteers.

HF

16 posted on 12/25/2008 7:01:59 PM PST by holden
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To: melt

Ping me when the “President Elect” coin comes out.


17 posted on 12/25/2008 7:03:25 PM PST by the invisib1e hand (appeasement is collaboration.)
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To: Sarah Barracuda

“Whenever I see that commercial I change the channel”

Me too.


18 posted on 12/25/2008 7:05:59 PM PST by unkus
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To: melt

So the people who sold Ron Paul coins got arrested, but the Obama coin dealers are OK.


19 posted on 12/25/2008 7:07:51 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: Skenderbej

I endorse this product. The only ppl stupid enough to buy it are Obama supporters


20 posted on 12/25/2008 7:09:33 PM PST by 4rcane
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To: melt

Yeah, the commercial causes me to immediately change the channel too. But, this sort of tacky political trinket has a long history (didn’t they really begin to churn this stuff out immediately after JFK’s assassination?).

Yep... tacky, tacky, tacky. But who am I kidding? If this were a coin depicting Governor Palin, I’d grab my telephone and order five of the suckers.


21 posted on 12/25/2008 7:12:00 PM PST by greene66
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To: melt
"Our concern here is that it's confusing to consumers," who may think the coins are official government products, White says.

LMAO, why do I suspect that this eye-rolling warning, which is strictly for idiots, would not be necessary for conservatives?

22 posted on 12/25/2008 7:14:12 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: melt

Junk; just junk...


23 posted on 12/25/2008 7:20:36 PM PST by GusBreacher
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To: melt
Hahahahaha......To any idiots that wasted their money on Zero and paid $9.95, you got exactly what the coin and the over-hyped under performing Hussein is worth, $.25. Sucks to be you idiots.
24 posted on 12/25/2008 7:20:36 PM PST by utahson
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To: y'all

plug nickel


25 posted on 12/25/2008 7:32:33 PM PST by OnTheDress (His legacy is a stain on the dress.)
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To: melt
A coin-collecting expert says the gold-dipped, painted coins are nothing more than a trinket...

... much like the President-Elect himself, dipped, painted, but not the real deal.

26 posted on 12/25/2008 7:33:24 PM PST by theDentist (Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll)
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To: melt

” “They are worth the face value of the coin. If the coin says 25 cents, it’s worth a quarter,” says Scott Travers, author of the Coin Collector’s Survival Manual and a New York City coin dealer. “

If it didn’t start out as an official US Mint issue, it ain’t worth dick no matter what “denomination” it has on it.


27 posted on 12/25/2008 7:42:39 PM PST by PLMerite ("Unarmed, one can only flee from Evil. But Evil isn't overcome by fleeing from it." Jeff Cooper)
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To: melt
You can have my commemorative coin for $2.95. I'll pay shipping. I'm much more accomplished, aside from the Presidency thingy.
28 posted on 12/25/2008 7:43:38 PM PST by CaptRon (Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead)
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To: SolidWood
“For his sake they should have left his head on his shoulders. A floating O-head is... disturbing.”

That floating head looks like a Jib-Jab video.

29 posted on 12/25/2008 7:45:19 PM PST by repubpub
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To: PLMerite
and "Our concern here is that it's confusing to consumers," who may think the coins are official government products, White says.

Like so much else about this very strange election!

30 posted on 12/25/2008 7:46:47 PM PST by thecodont
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To: Sarah Barracuda
Whenever I see that commercial I change the channel

I've seen entire Infomercials based on the coins (didn't watch it, but skimmed past it). The DirecTV show title even says "Obama Coins".

Brilliant move, in my opinion. Enterprising dude decided to take advantage of the stupidity of a good deal of Americans. I've wondered how to do so many times myself.
31 posted on 12/25/2008 7:48:01 PM PST by mmichaels1970
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To: NordP

obama himself is a trinket.


32 posted on 12/25/2008 7:51:44 PM PST by supremedoctrine ("One was drawing funny faces, but his own was grave"--Richard Hughes, A High Wind in Jamaica)
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To: 4rcane

I just wish I had thought of selling 0 stuff much earlier. We should cash in on their stupidity. Think I’ll head over to Cafe Press and add to the fracas.


33 posted on 12/25/2008 7:52:55 PM PST by kenth (It's now spend and tax. How's that for change?)
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To: Evil Slayer
These tokens are not coins and they will have zero collector value. Well, maybe two bits at a garage sale, but that's it.
34 posted on 12/25/2008 7:54:44 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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To: supremedoctrine

Yet ANOTHER good point/observation.


35 posted on 12/25/2008 7:55:16 PM PST by NordP (CONSERVATIVE AGAIN IN 2010 ..... Now, is it 2012 yet ???)
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To: melt

Much like the original...


36 posted on 12/25/2008 8:00:08 PM PST by tips up
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To: melt
But they come with a certificate of authenticity that guarantees that their value will never fall below scrap price.
37 posted on 12/25/2008 8:06:18 PM PST by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: melt

Sham coins, the perfect way to ‘celebrate’ a sham president. All Hail President O’Shama!


38 posted on 12/25/2008 8:07:45 PM PST by Theresawithanh (Impeach Obama)
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To: melt

‘Glorious’ Obama coin no more than a trinket

just like his presidency...


39 posted on 12/25/2008 8:12:18 PM PST by OL Hickory (Where is the America I knew as a boy?)
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To: OL Hickory

Good...fleece the O-bots...they deserve it.


40 posted on 12/25/2008 8:48:44 PM PST by johnnycap
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To: melt
obama is only a trinket.

The only "keepsake" I want from him is the actual, "real", copy of his birth certificate.

That would be worth all the gold-dipped trinkets in the world.
41 posted on 12/25/2008 8:57:25 PM PST by FrankR (“Turtle up”, economically, for the duration of the 0bamanation.)
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To: utahson

Ha! I bet the stupid woman who said that Obama was going to “fill her car with gas and pay her mortgage” bought several. Wait until his own dumbass supporters finally wake up to what he really is. They won’t have the respect for the law that most folks here on FR have. Most don’t anyway. This could get interesting to watch if it weren’t so bad for the country....


42 posted on 12/25/2008 9:44:17 PM PST by Quickgun
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To: melt

Name a star after someone #xx.xx another phoney scam.


43 posted on 12/25/2008 9:48:16 PM PST by Waco (Oath? What oath?)
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To: Sarah Barracuda
Garbage you can believe in. Whenever I see that commercial I change the channel

You got that right, exactly what I do!

44 posted on 12/25/2008 10:00:05 PM PST by calex59
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
So the people who sold Ron Paul coins got arrested, but the Obama coin dealers are OK.

They had a Ron Paul coin? Was it wrapped in tin foil?

45 posted on 12/25/2008 10:40:06 PM PST by LowOiL (Tagline: Optional, printed after your name on post)
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