MULLIGAN MINT FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY

A Dallas mint that makes commemorative coins and “alternative” money for people who are wary of the U.S. dollar has run into problems with its own finances.

The 25-worker Mulligan Mint Inc.—which has the power to create a “complementary currency system that can fill in the blanks where the U.S. dollar lets us down,” according to its president—has filed for bankruptcy after officials in June discovered that part of a $1.4 million shipment of silver was missing.

Mulligan Mint’s business targets an antiestablishment clientele who feel estranged by traditional banking; its Deluminati coin, for example, “says no to inflation, crony capitalism and all-powerful government and yes to individual liberty, economic independence and opportunity.” A Web-advertised one-ounce copper coin reflects the image of Tea Party hero and former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, while another one asks in copper, “Who is John Galt?”

Perhaps a better question to ask Mulligan Mint executives: Where did the silver go?

“That’s the big question,” Mulligan Mint President Rob Gray told Bankruptcy Beat. “We don’t really know.”

The mint’s Chapter 11 case was filed last week to keep the silver shipment’s owner, precious metals refinery Republic Metals Corp. in Miami, from taking steps to shut down the 20,000-square-foot plant, Mr. Gray said.

Since Mulligan Mint opened last year, the mint has grown to make between 30,000 and 50,000 coins a month, Mr. Gray said. The company’s equipment, some of which came from a Denver mint that made pennies, can “melt, cast, roll, blank, rim, anneal, burnish, wash and mint” coins, according to its website.

Some of the mint’s coins are used by Native American tribes or associations that want commemorative coins. It has also sold coins for what are called “community currencies”—an alternative money system adopted by small groups of people.

To read the complete article, see: Texas Coin Maker for Fed-Estranged Files for Bankruptcy (blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2013/09/20/texas-coin-maker-for-fed-estranged-files-for-bankruptcy/)

To visit the company web site, see: http://mulliganmint.com/

Wayne Homren, Editor

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