'Glorious' Obama coin no more than a trinket
U.S. MINT | It's a souvenir, not investment, collectors warned
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.
"In cases where a marketer has altered an actual U.S. coin after it left the Mint, such as putting a sticker with Obama's picture on it, knowledgeable collectors usually consider that to be merely defacing the coin," said Guild President Gary Adkins. "Some of the so-called 'Obama coins' are layered or plated with a microscopically thin layer of gold with the implication that they are potentially valuable bullion items. However, there usually is precious little precious metal value to plated pieces."
Coloring and plating coins ruins the collector value, Travers said, adding that collectors prefer pristine coins.
The Obama coin "is purely a souvenir, and it's not an investment," Travers said.
Gannett News Service