deceptive advertising

The National Collector’s Mint is touting their new WTC Dollar as “a legally authorized government issue silver dollar…clad in .999 Pure Silver recovered from Ground Zero.”

An article by Allan Drury discusses how misleading the advertising is, and I agree. The medallion is not legal tender, does not contain .999 pure silver but is silver plated and probably contains less than one cent worth of silver. Lastly, the government they refer to is not the United States government, but the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (in small text at the top, which I hadn’t even noticed until the article pointed it out).

In response to their laughable claims that the “silver dollars may well be among the most historically meaningful coins you will ever own” and “the earliest reservations receive the highly coveted lowest registration numbers” I say, “Fat chance!”

The change in your pocket is more historically meaningful (and worth more) than the medallions and I don’t know a single person who would be foolish enough to covet the lowest registration numbers.

Donn Pearlman of the The Professional Numismatists Guild (and a sponsor of the Long Beach Expo) provided an excellent summary when he said, “Most serious collectors would have no interest in the Freedom Tower pieces because they are not legal currency. There are a lot of things, from Beanie Babies to coins, where the only thing that’s rare is finding somebody five years later who wants to buy it from you.”

Update: I just received an e-mail from Donn Pearlman clarifying PNG’s relationship with the Long Beach Expo. They are a sponsor, just not the sponsor. Sorry for the confusion.