The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 46, October 30, 2005, Article 13

SATIRICAL STATE QUARTERS

For some time now, entrepreneurs have been producing satirical
knockoffs of the U.S. Fifty State Quarter series. I've not heard
of any claims of misrepresentation on the part of the producers,
and they seem to be pretty widely distributed via eBay and other
outlets.

An October 27 article in the Kalamazoo Gazette describes
some of the coins:

"The coins feature revised verbiage and, well, let's say risque
images. The most popular is the "2003 Arkansas'' quarter that
says "Head Quarters'' on one side and has an engraved image
on the other side that is supposed to represent former President
Bill Clinton in a low moment.

"We've sold thousands,'' said Michael Cline, owner of The
Coin Shop in Indianapolis, which sells the quarters for $4.95
apiece.

Cline said the coins come from a distributor in California.

They look similar to real quarters because they are made from
real quarters. The spoof coins are simply pressed with the new
images and words, making them slightly larger. Their weight is
nearly the same, making detection difficult for banks. Cline said
defacing U.S. currency has not been a crime since 1973.

None of the local bank tellers with whom the Gazette spoke
had ever seen the spoof coins, but it was clear they would
treat them like counterfeit currency and call the authorities."

[Is it true that these are overstruck on real quarters? I don't
have any handy to examine but didn't notice any evidence of
overstriking when shown the pieces before. -Editor]

To read the full article (registration required) see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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