Judge Says 9/11 Coin Ads Were Deceptive (Spitzer in action)

[Khephra]

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A state judge ruled that a company's advertisements for a coin commemorating the Sept. 11 attacks were deceptive, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced Tuesday.

The judge found that National Collector's Mint Inc. engaged in civil fraud, false advertising and deceptive business practices when it marketed its "2004 Freedom Tower Silver Dollar" for $19.95 in television and print ads.

The company claimed the medallions were made of nearly pure silver recovered from the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. But Spitzer said they were made of inexpensive metal alloy plated with about one-ten-thousandth of an inch of silver.

Spitzer had filed a civil lawsuit against the Port Chester-based company.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-brf-attacks-coin,0,1136465.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[sweettater]

1. What some people will do for a dollar............

:P

[gratuitous]

2. I'm not usually a caveat emptor kind of guy

But the ads clearly stated that the coins were plated with silver, not made of silver. I don't suppose the sort of folks who would be suckered into buying such a cheap piece of crass exploitative kitsch would appreciate that fine point, but in this case, I think that the company should be allowed to fleece everyone dumb enough to respond to their ad.

I guess I'm glad that Spitzer is taking the rip-off artists to court, but of all the sins committed in the emotional aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, this seems to me one of the lesser ones.

[Pithlet]

8. It does.

I would think using the term "Silver Dollar" would get them into hot water legally. I'm no legal expert by any means, though. But, you're right, it is obvious that it is a piece of cheap crap, and not a valuable silver coin, and it's a trick that's been around as long as advertising.

[pinniped]

3. Good, fucking capitalizing scum just like presidunce*.

Everyone should be given a refund if they so choose.

------A company spokeswoman would not say if an appeal is planned, noting in a statement that Spitzer "did not challenge the origin of the silver," nor did the judge rule on that issue.------

Nearly pure silver, right. Challenge that assholes.

[high density]

4. "Silver clad"

I think that's the terminology they use to sell these worthless coins.

[pinniped]

5. You're right, last time I captured a screenshot of the cache...

from the capitalizing scumsite.

Clad is their defense.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. But it's not "clad"

Clad coins are not plated. And the only silver-clad coins produced by the US government had the following specs:

"outer layers of .800 silver, .200 copper bonded to inner core of .209 silver, .791 copper,*" for total silver content of .400, or 40%

*Source: A Guide Book of United States Coins, by R.S.Yeoman

[pinniped]

13. You are correct, but...

maybe these scumsuckers are using the Marianas Island definition of "clad".

After all, they are supposedly Marianas Island legal tender.:crazy:

The bigger question is, can someone with those shit coins take it to the currency exchange office and convert it? They will probably laugh you right out of the office.

I have those Yeoman books too. And it sure doesn't sound like those shit-coins have a total content of 40% silver in them either.

[Art_from_Ark]

15. These fake-coin hawkers are always pulling crap like this

Remember Minerva*? Hutt River Province?

(To their credit, the Minerva "coins" were solid silver, with a little gold included and actually may be collector's items now.)

Then, of course, there are the Marshall Islands "coins" which are fully convertible as long as you take them to a specially-designated bank on the islands between 11:59 p.m. and midnight during a full moon...

[Art_from_Ark]

6. There is another problem-- "silver dollar" implies some sort of

legal tender status.

By the way, in numismatics, "coin" refers only to a metal disc that is, or was, officially issued as legal tender.

[pinniped]

7. Oh, but it is.

These scum claim it is legal tender in some far-off US territory. I'll have to search to see which one.

Edit- An older article:

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/20204.htm

snip-
The medallion, he said, was produced by a private Wyoming company called SoftSky, which had a licensing agreement with the "Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands."

The Marianas, which constitute some 14 tiny Pacific Islands, are U.S. territory — but have no authority to issue coins.-snip

----

Looks like it's not legal US tender after all.

[Junkdrawer]

9. Yep. Can't allow a huckster to cheapen the sacred 9-11...

Only Bush is allowed to do that. :evilgrin:

[Pithlet]

10. I wish crass capitalization of 9/11 were a crime.

That is what these scumbags should be nailed for. ".99 percent pulverized building material and ashes of someone else's loved ones! Act now!"

[Mace]

12. The US Mint picked up on this earlier

http://www.usmint.gov/consumer/index.cfm?action=hotitems

I just can't imagine stations actually airing their commercials that are blatenly ripping people off and taking advantage of 9/11 for profit. I hope this company goes down. :mad:

[Check12]

14. Fox News ran these ads

I think I remember FOX News running these ads.
I was appaled when I first saw them, and thought what a perfect gift for a red state righty.

[StrongbadTehAwesome]

16. I remember seeing those sick pieces of crap advertised

but I also remember the ad saying they weren't pure silver, just silver-coated or whatever. IMHO, anyone dumb or crass enough to buy one of those things deserves to be screwed out of their money...but that's just me.

[IronLionZion]

17. Eliot Spitzer better be the US attorney general some day

America needs him to clean out some of these corruption so firmly entrenched our federal government.

I feel so spiffy living in NY state to have good guys like him kicking so much ass.