US MINT NOT HAPPY WITH SILVER SURFER QUARTERS
by Matt Brady (from Newsarama.com)
So ? remember the promotion where The Franklin Mint and Fox were teaming up to put 40,000 quarters emblazoned with the
Silver Surfer on one side, into circulation, claiming that the quarters would still be usable as legal tender.
Yeah ? well, the US Mint doesn?t agree.
Last Friday, the Mint issued a release in which it said it had learned of the quarter, and the planned promotion, and advised the studio and The Franklin Mint that they were, in fact, breaking the law. As many Newsarama posters had pondered and posited, it?s illegal to turn US currency into an advertising vehicle. Violators can face a fine.
From the release:
"The promotion is in no way approved, authorized, endorsed, or sponsored by the United States Mint, nor is it in any way associated or affiliated with the United States Mint."
The US Mint did not say whether the studio or The Franklin Mint would face a penalty.
From the AP report:
The altered coins are quarters honoring the state of California that entered circulation in 2005. They feature George Washington on the front, as usual, but a colorized version of the character on the back. All 40,000 are slated to be in circulation throughout the country by the end of Memorial Day weekend, and about 800 were released in each state.
Fans who find the customized quarters can enter a contest online to win prizes and a private screening of the movie.
The Franklin Mint mainly produces collectibles or commemorative medallions. Unlike its other commemorative coins, these aren't being sold, said Franklin Chairman Moshe Malamud. He emphasized that putting the character on the coin didn't alter the integrity of the coin.
"We are very, very protective of the currency of this country. Our goal was to enhance the coin," Malamud said.
Fox spokesman Chris Petrikin said that neither the studio nor the Franklin Mint intended to violate any laws or "suggest that there was any approval from the U.S. Mint or the U.S. Government" for the Silver Surfer coins.
"These are commemorative coins like many the Franklin Mint creates on a regular basis for various properties," he said. "We were confident this coin followed the same procedures and guidelines but will certainly take any necessary steps if advised otherwise."
According to the original release and contest information, the coins were to be placed into the currency streams across the United States, allowing them to fall into the hands of individuals who would visit the website and enter the contest. Clearly, with one side of the coin obscured, questions about the status of the quarter as legal tender could be raised by either party involved in an exchange of the coin (buyer or seller of merchandise, for example). In the original release, The Franklin Mint states: "This legal tender coin is a 2005 California statehood commemorative quarter minted by the United States Mint and specially color-enhanced by The Franklin Mint for Twentieth Century Fox," strongly suggesting and implying that the coin, as modified by the company to carry the advertisement, is still legal tender, rather than strictly a collectible with no monetary value.
And yes - these things are now burning up on eBay, with roughly 72 of coins up for auction, including a handful from a seller advertising that they received them from a Fox representative. As the seller, "skazzi" explains it in his posting, Fox representatives were told to spend the quarters as if they were legal tender.
"skazzi" wrote:
I have 10 of the special gold tinted Rise of the Silver Surfer Quarters and this auction is for one of those 10. 40,00 were made in total and circulated nationwide and the Silver Surfer decals were placed on California State quarters here where I live in Colorado at the Denver mint. They are fully legal and tendered.
On the day of their release I had one of the Fox reps come into my work with a bucket full of these quarters that they told him to go out and spend to get them in circulation. I saved several of the ones he spent in my store for myself of course P. Since these coins were given to me at the point of purchase from a Fox Rep himself I can say with 100% certainty that they are uncirculated and in mint condition, straight from the mint!
The seller then added this revision:
Contrary to what the Fox Rep told me, the official website states that this promotion is not affiliated with nor endorsed by the U.S. Governement or its mints. The quarters were California State quarters and were probably purchased at the mint and then decaled and tinted elsewhere.
