The E-Sylum:  Volume 7, Number 40, October 3, 2004, Article 9

NEW YORK TIMES ON NATIONAL COLLECTOR'S MINT

  The October 2, 2004 New York Times had an article about
  the National Collector's Mint, maker of the controversial
  "Ground Zero" relic items being marketed these days, and
  drawing the ire of the U.S. Mint.

  "The days of Avram C. Freedberg as a distributor of
  pornography are well behind him. No longer is he involved
  with such businesses as the exquisitely alliterative Dirty
  Dick's Dynamite Discount Den. No longer does he mail out
  videos and magazines in discreet packages.

  Fifteen years have passed since he struck a deal with the
  federal government to make a collection of obscenity
  charges go away. He paid $600,000 in fines, agreed to get
  out of the pornography business and set out to reinvent
  himself.

  He moved on to other direct-mail opportunities, including
  National Collector's Mint, which sells "collectible" coins
  - anything from classic American silver dollars to
  numismatic schlock. Gradually, Freedberg the Dirty Dick's
  Den guy was replaced by Freedberg the civic-minded citizen
  of Stamford, Conn., chairman of this nonprofit board,
  member of that.

  Ah, but destiny was not finished with Avram C. Freedberg,
  and it beckoned after the collapse of the World Trade
  Center."

  [The article goes on to discuss how the National Collectors
  Mint obtained some silver recovered from the World Trade
  Center vault of the Bank of Nova Scotia, and used it to
  create the "coins".   The article then asks, "BUT how do we
  know that this silver is Ground Zero Silver?"

  "To find the answer, a visit was paid to a dreary industrial
  park in the Westchester County village of Port Chester,
  where Mr. Freedberg runs his business in a warehouse-style
  building. The small lobby reeks of cigarette smoke.

  A receptionist's disembodied voice answered the doorbell's
  ring. A request to speak with Mr. Freedberg was answered
  with a written statement delivered to the lobby."

  Len Augsberger saw the same article.  He writes: "The
  New York Times business section on Saturday, October 2nd
  offered a numismatic two-fer.  An article on the front page
  delved into the dealings of one Avram Freedberg,
  ex-pornographer, currently doing business as the "National
  Collector's Mint", which sells WTC recovered and coined
  silver under the imprimatur of the Northern Mariana Islands
  (a commonwealth of the United States).  Well known
  numismatist David Ganz is serving as an attorney for Mr.
  Freedberg, and was quoted in the article.  Ganz responded
  to a reporter's question inquiring as to the authenticity of the
  "Ground Zero silver".  According to Ganz, "Mr. Freedberg
  has an opinion letter from a very respected law firm" vouching
  for the provenance of the silver.  "I'm not authorized to tell
  you" the firm's name, he added.

  Later on in the same section, a review is found of "Undertow",
  currently playing at the New York Film Festival.  The plot
  apparently revolves around a sackful of gold coins hidden in
  an auto junkyard in the deep South.  No word on the
  provenance of these pieces, whether they were U.S. gold, or
  perhaps NMI commemorative issues in the same vein as the
  above items."

  Full text available at Full Article (free registration
  required).

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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