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 Thursday, June 28, 2007
CIA's 'family jewels' disappoint
Posted by David

For all the mainstream news coverage of their release, the Central Intelligence Agency's "family jewels" are a numismatic disappointment.

The collection of memos and reports — assembled in 1973 to document CIA activities dating back to 1959 that might be "delicate," "inappropriate" or have "flap potential" — contains no mention of currency.

No partially censored notes about cooperation with the Secret Service in an operation to mop up any 1964-D Peace dollars that might have escaped the Denver Mint.

No orders for CIA staff to create a 1944-dated export license for a 1933 $20 gold piece — wouldn't that be fun!

I admit I did not read all 693 pages. The closest they appear to get to collecting, though, is concern that a Silver Spring, Md., police shooting of a gun collector could be construed to have connection to the agency because it had supplied some equipment and training to the police. Police intercepted a phone call in which Mr. Ballou spoke of a plan to "kill a cop." If Mr. Ballou had thrown a coin at officers instead of picking up an antique gun, we'd have a real hobby tie. He also likely would not have been paralyzed.

I don't mean to make light of these activities. I'm just looking for hobby aspects. There's a lot of ground to cover in there, about CIA surveillance of Americans (such as politically active college students, John Lennon, and journalists of the time including Brit Hume), about a plot to assassinate Fidel Castro using a member of the mob and, one that seems odd to me, about CIA sharing costs of a White House mailing after public comments about Cambodia resulted in massive public response. And there's plenty more.

Maybe someone in the Cuban Numismatic Association can tell us if there are any direct connections between the CIA's activities and people involved with Cuba's currency.

If you see any numismatic ties to the CIA "family jewels," do tell.


6/28/2007 11:33:02 AM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Wednesday, June 27, 2007
What's source of POW*MIA overstamp?
Posted by David

POW-MIA stamped $5This $5 bill with something stamped on its right end caught my eye in circulation.

The stamped design shows a person's head in silhouette with a guard tower behind, what might be a strand of razor wire running horizontally near the chin, and the letters POW*MIA above. There may be more lettering intended below the central design that I can't make out.

Given the design elements and familiar acronyms for "Prisoner of War" and "Missing in Action," a military theme is clearly intended.

I suppose it was stamped onto the note to encourage people to remember those who have been prisoners of war or who have been categorized as missing in action.

But this is a Series 1999 $5 bill. Isn't it unusual that this overstamp appears on this note?

I'm curious. Can anyone shed light on the source or specific meaning of this overstamp?




6/27/2007 4:54:37 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Wednesday, June 20, 2007
You watching, BEP?
Posted by David

I see that Wal-Mart is expanding its financial services business. Its new product is a prepaid debit card, adding to its ongoing offerings of payroll check cashing, bill payment, money orders, money transfers and its own store credit cards.

Look at all those alternatives to physical U.S. currency!

If this were some other company, it might not hit the radar. But this is Wal-Mart, the juggernaut of volume retailing. The U.S. government partnered with the company to distribute the first Sacagawea dollar coins in 2000. The Federal Reserve clearly recognizes how much money flows through the Wal-Mart check-out lines.

Why not exchange your payroll check for Wal-Mart credit devices and live the new simple life, not the down-on-the-farm sort that Paris Hilton flirted with on TV, but the one-shop-for-everything sort. Sounds particularly good for the RV travelers who I'm told are showering at Wal-Marts already. (Is that true?)

I'm sure the Fed is watching Wal-Mart, I just hope that our friends at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing can survive the results of any future drop in currency printing needs.

Maybe I should get in early and start a collection of Wal-Mart debit cards today!



6/20/2007 5:46:23 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [0]
 Thursday, June 14, 2007
New Confederate variety discovered
Posted by David

A variety of CSA Type 47 has been discovered by Dale Alberstone, who acquired it in Smythe's April 13 auction of the Western Reserve Historical Society collection.

New CSA T-47 varietyThe visible difference is in the shield next to Liberty's legs at upper center of the note. Alberstone's new find has cross hatching or a checkerboard appearance in the lower portion of the shield rather than the usual vertical bands of alternating light and dark.

So far, even though specialists Alberstone has contacted have been looking through their holdings, only this one example of the new variety has been found.

If you've got one, the CSA collecting and research community would be pleased to hear about it. You can e-mail me at david.kranz@fwpubs.com. An image would be a big plus.

Pierre Fricke, author of Collecting Confederate Paper Money, also reported the find in the news section of his Web site www.csaquotes.com. You can see a photo of the normal T-47 shield at his site, and in the upcoming July editon of Bank Note Reporter.

Alberstone said Fricke, Hugh Shull and George Tremmel plan to list the variety in future editions of their CSA references.

The T-47 note is believed to be some sort of essay or fantasy note rather than a regular issue of Confederate Currency, but since Grover Criswell gave it a type number years ago, collectors have considered it an issue to be collected in the pursuit of a complete CSA set.


6/14/2007 9:51:14 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [1]
 Friday, June 01, 2007
High stakes counterfeiting
Posted by David

When President Bush accused North Korea of counterfeiting U.S. paper money, that nation broke from dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Now, Swiss federal police say they doubt that North Korea is capable of making high-quality fakes.

In an article in the New York Times in July 2006, Stephen Mihm quoted a Treasury Department official saying that evidence points to North Korea as a source of high-quality counterfeit $100 Federal Reserve Notes, nicknamed "supernotes."

The Swiss Bundeskriminalpolizei says that the U.S. Secret Service has supplied no information to aid it and provided no evidence, but adds that if concrete evidence could be found pointing to North Korea, the United States would have "basis for going to war."

Start a war over counterfeit paper money — do you think that's sufficient cause?

Is spread of this Swiss police report more of a political step, trying to get the United States to take some other course, or sending warning to the world that war is technically a possibility if proof is found? We've heard something like that before, when then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the United Nations about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.



6/1/2007 12:13:58 PM (Central Daylight Time, UTC-05:00)  #  Comments [1]