I received an anonymous tip from a former employee of the World Reserve Monetary Exchange with some more details about how they do business. If anyone else has any input from recent experiences with them, I’d like to hear about it. I also ran across this article from 2005, condemning the practice of making an ad look like a legitimate news article.

Here’s the information I received.

Each ad is geared toward the elderly… “Give widget to your Grandkids” and when the Customer calls WRME they use the “Grandkids” as the ploy to rack up multiple unit sales per call. Good Luck getting off the the call for less than 3-5 units!

They would also mail multiple items separately by “Bulk Mail” Post Office. This was so that they could collect multiple shipping and handling charges, when they could very easily just send multiple units in one UPS or FedEx.

These guys know how to take advantage of every opportunity to make $$$$

Invoices do not go out with pricing on each line item. This almost seems like just a packing slip and most elderly never know how much they really ended up paying until their Credit Card statement shows up.

Invoices do not go out with a phone number for the company. Unisyn has a “twisted web” of company, business and what I would call “stage names”. They sell under the Uni-Syn name.

If I remember correctly, the Ads in the Newspaper would refer to WRME, or the Museum Collection - although you could never find a phone number with Directory Assistance (unless you somehow knew they were all a part of Uni-Syn).

Invoices do not go out with a return address for the company. This was the best part, nor did they print ANYWHERE a return policy or 100% Money Back Guarantee or anything consumer related.

Key Personnel

Owner - Rodney Napier

VP - John (Thomas) White - Sounds Presidential huh!?

Advertising VP - Laura Fish

Yet another error has been found by a couple in Colorado that is the opposite of the plain edge errors. The coin has the edge, it’s just missing the design on both faces of the coin.

Denver, CO (AHN) - In an incident of what can be yet another U.S. Mint goof, a Colorado couple has found a dollar coin without the face of George Washington on it. Although, the coin does have “In God We Trust” inscribed on its edge, it is missing out on the images both on its front and backside.

“We’re just so excited,” Mary Smith told The Associated Press. “I’m just dumbfounded that we actually found something significant.”

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(Thanks to Tom for the tip)

Just when you thought all the errors were in Florida, some new errors have sprung up in Arizona and California. Plain edge dollars have been discovered in both of those locations, so if you live there, it might be worth a quick trip to the bank. After all, if you don’t find any errors, you can just spend them.

Here’s an excerpt from the article.

Reports of missing edge lettering on 2007 George Washington Presidential Dollars found in Denver Mint rolls are now coming in. That means Philadelphia is no longer the lone culprit.

According to error dealer Fred Weinberg of Encino, Calif.:

“Last Friday (March 9) I bought 70 (out of 72) plain edges from a local coin shop.

“A lady had gone into her local bank branch on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks (next door to Encino, about two miles east of me), asked for a $1,000 worth of dollars.

“The teller laughed at her and said, ‘You won’t find any of those errors that are on the news – they’re all being found in Florida.’

“She bought a $1,000 box of paper rolled coins, and found 72 plain edges! These coins are all from the downtown Los Angeles Federal Reserve, where my bank downstairs got theirs. Yesterday at the same shop, a merchant two doors down came up with six of them!

“Tom DeLorey examined the first Denver plain edge last week in Chicago, and my coins match his as far as ‘edge comparison.’ There is a difference that can be seen between the D’s and P’s, but I’m not sure if it’s significant enough for the grading services to be able to put Philadelphia or Denver on a holder.”

The differences between the Denver and Philadelphia issues centered on the amount of the copper core that could be seen on each. The Philadelphia issues tended to show more copper than the Denver.

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One of the negatives of having a coin collection at home is the potential of theft. But at the same time, where’s the fun of having a coin collection if it’s locked away in a bank safety deposit box somewhere? Coins are fun because you can hold (carefully of course) a piece of history and art in the palm of your hand. This pleasure was taken away from a couple in Pittsburgh who had $1,000 face value of their state quarter collection stolen.

Anita Kennedy spent Tuesday rolling the rest of her coin collection to take it to the bank.

“Our collecting days are over,” said Kennedy, 55, of Dunbar Township, Fayette County. “The rest of what I have is leaving here today.”

Anita and her husband, Robert, 55, decided to give up collecting after the state quarters they’d amassed since 1999 were stolen from their Union Street home.

State police in Uniontown reported that someone stole approximately $1,000 worth of quarters belonging to the Kennedys.

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Question: I have a question that perhaps you might know the answer to. I want totry my hand at collecting high grade modern coins. So I am looking for a source for non-picked-through uncirculated dime rolls, (2006 or 2007).

I called a few banks and they have rolls alright but not specifically uncirculated ones direct from the mints. I see there are a few on eBay but they seem overpriced. I called the mint and they don’t sell dime rolls, just rolls of the states quarters and other “sell to the masses for a huge markup” type items.

Do you know where to get uncirculated dime rolls in large quantities for not much over face value for searching for MS-68’s and such?

Answer: One way to get uncirculated rolls (I did this for a year or two) is to buy a bunch of normal rolls from the bank and carry them with you. Then, watch for new coins at stores or supermarkets. When you find a store that has rolls of new coins, offer to trade them for your normal rolls. Most people will think you’re a little weird and wonder if you’re trying to scam them, but after an explanation are willing to make the switch.