The time, effort and expense of counterfeiting one dollar coins just doesn’t make sense.
It’s easy to at least understand a criminal’s motivation in counterfeiting rare and valuable coins. But the incentive to forge a daily and common circulating coin? It defies logic.
Yet, that’s exactly what happened with a New Zealand dollar coin. And there’s currently an investigation into counterfeit U.S. Presidential $1 coins, although it would boggle the mind if those were verified as fake.
The U.S. case has been covered and, so far, nothing is new. However, the New Zealand story is intriguing, although brief in detail.
New Zealand counterfeit dollar coin
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The verdict isn’t in on whether counterfeit coins were used earlier this month at a local McDonald’s restaurant in Macomb, Illinois.
The boy who used them was given the four Presidential $1 Coins as a gift from his grandparents. They were special proof versions, which are made for collectors, and have a current value of at least $14.95.
Proofs usually make ideal gifts for many children due to each coin’s mirror-like shine and unmatched detail. The boy, however, was apparently less intrigued and decided to spend them.
The unfolding of the 2007 Presidential Dollar counterfeit story
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Two days ago the Peoria Journal Star reported a police investigation alleging the use of counterfeit Presidential $1 Coins at a local McDonald’s restaurant in Macomb, Illinois.
The coins were colored and had the faces of U.S. Presidents George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
Each were apparently shiny and because they included what looked like the James Madison Presidential Dollar, it was surmised the coins may have come from a collector’s proof set.
Proof sets are special coins the U.S. Mint specifically makes for coin collectors. Although the Madison Presidential Dollar has not yet been released for public circulation, it is available through the 2007 Presidential $1 Coin Proof Set.
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