A full page ad in Discover magazine ~Sept, 2006 "America's Lost Masterpiece , the $100 UNION" Original sketches by George T. Morgan, of Morgan dollar fame ,used to prepare dies and strike proofs in .999 silver for only $99+ S/H. Comes in a NCG looking slab, but the lettering was very small, so not sure if or not. " This is not a reproduction, this is the first time ever Morgan's $100 Union (tm) design has been struck as a silver proof" MY QUESTION concerns the reverse of this "silver round" (my words) which states "United States of America", "In God we trust" and has an eagle/shield/arrows and the words " One Hundred Dollars". Now I must say that in teeny tiny type at the bottom, it says " New York Mint is a private company and is not affiliated with the United States.... This silver proof is not legal tender.." But isn't this akin to counterfeiting. If the round is broken out of its slab and presented to someone without the printed disclaimer, would this round with less than $20 silver value, be accepted as good because of the reverse? and that US coins for the most part are good irregardless of the 1876 date on the obverse. Is it a US Treasury problem if you MAKE a coin or if you try to SPEND such a coin? I thought there was a big fuss a few years ago about private mints using the US dollar designation on foreign coins they made. Just thought it was interesting. I read there was once a pattern $50 half union, but not a full Union.
First, the U.S. has never minted a Union, so this wouldn't be counterfeit by defintion. Second, if it were passed as legal tender, it would probably be juristidiction of the Secret Service or another law enforcement agency, not the Treasury. There are a number of half unions in existence, most copper, and one unique gold pattern by the way.
They make reproductions of just about all US coins - have for years. The concept is nothing new - it's just the first time anybody ever actually struck one of these is all. It's just another silver round.
