Last night I was, as our good friend Bahabully calls it, "Cruising the Bay", and ran across this 1oz. silver round. Did some research and also found this article. Earlier I was involved in the thread "Norfed Liberty Dollars" and the discussion was about the ban ebay placed on their sales. The question arose as to whether or not eBay might ban other rounds. Interesting read. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Lakota-Crazy-Horse-Buffalo-1-Troy-Ounce-999-Silver-Proof-Round-SKU27548-/140908235096 http://www.freelakotabank.com/
Legally they are in a bit of a greyer area that the BVNH issues in that they are supposedly issued by some Native American organisation. If you have ever dealt with such organisations, there are many ambiguities with what is legal and what is not because of sovereignty issues and court cases. But lately it appears as though eBay does whatever the Feds tell them to - so who knows?
You will note on this silver round that it does not state that it is $50......just "FIFTY". For all we know it could mean 50 beaver pelts. Chris
Very important distinction, one which I am sure is done purposefully. Minting anything denominated in dollars in this country is a sure fire way of getting the Secret Services, (oops almost abbreviated it SS), attention.
Native American tribes have the sovereign right to issue their own coinage, even in US dollar amounts.
People claiming to be representative of the Cherokee Nation did in 1980 and 1989 and then again in 1994 - resulting in lawsuits, threats etc. Some guy named Herbert Williams bought some island in the Rio Grande river betwixt the USA and Mexico and claimed to start his own 154 acre country. He had coins minted in Germany by the Mayer mint and sold them however he could to raise money. The 1994 dated coins were minted by some splinter group claiming to be the real "Cherokee Nation" and did catch the attention of the Tahlequah based Cherokee Nation and they got a court injunction to stop that group from minting or distributing the coins. They can still be occasionally found, but while the 1980 and 1989 dated coins are scarce - the 1994 examples are near impossible to find. Sometime when I feel like warming up the scanner I will post images of the coins.
I have one of there 1/2 oz copper coins I picked up on sale at providential I think . Its a very nice round, I know that the .69 I paid is more than the copper but I liked it and its a beautiful coin/ round. I know this is off topic SORRY. JON
I have some of the ONE and TWO copper coins. The ONE has 1/2 oz copper while the TWO has one oz of copper. I haven't picked up any of the higher values yet (silver and gold). I really like the coins I have though. They're smart not to put the word "DOLLARS" on them, I think the AOCS believes this will keep them out of trouble. If NORFED had done this from the start, it may have helped them in the long run. My only complaint about the Lakota coins is that they don't put a year on the coins. To me, they'd be more collectible if so.
All US coins have "In God We Trust" and "Liberty" on the obverse and "United States of America" on the reverse. Do any of these things to your rounds and you're in trouble. I think they went after norfed because the coin had "Liberty" on it. The Lakota coins do not.
Norfed wasn't a sovereign entity. Yes, tribes recognized as sovereign nations, meaning the US government recognizes a tribal government, can issue coinage stating Liberty, dollars, or any other device a US coin has and it's 100% legal. Now, thats not to say it's legal tender though. Thats where Norfed got in trouble. Guy
I posted a link to the AOCS product a week ago. I think the banking idea sounds interesting but the fees are TERRIBLE! I see nothing legally wrong with the rounds, which are (presumably) minted by that acolyte/fmr employee of BvNH. http://www.cointalk.com/t220355-3/#post1613030
will soon find out I checked a few prices and found they were only $1.50 more than the other places that charge ship so I ordered one to check it out.
I bought these before they went out of stock and they are a nice fractional round. http://www.providentmetals.com/1-2-oz-lakota-proof-silver-sitting-bull-999-fine-silver-round.html and about 6 months ago they had these for spot + $2, I didn't have any money at the time so I passed, but will keep checking back as I like this kind of product. http://www.providentmetals.com/2012-lakota-crazy-horse-1-oz-999-fine-proof-silver-round.html and as I check out their site now, they have this for $1 over....get them while you can and the price is right. http://www.providentmetals.com/lakota-crazy-horse-1-oz-999-fine-silver-bullion-round-burnished.html
The silver 1 oz. rounds from 2013 are dated...getting one soon from Provident, had great reviews on the quality of the mintage...so I bought one for kits and giggles.
I picked up some 1 oz rounds (in copper and silver) a long time ago. But I picked up something odd recently - anyone seen one of the 5oz Lakota rounds (dated 2011) before? Do these carry any premium? And does anyone know the mintage numbers?
In the same way that Pedley Ryan dollars are illegal but now have collectable value... Although I've yet to see them trading for more than a few bucks over their melt value.