A couple in Miami were living the high life in their $3.5 million dollar home, purchased with money they got from unsuspecting victims. Their lawyer claims they are innocent, and the Mayor of Golden Beach has offered to be a character witness and put up bail for their release.

The purported scam was that the couple put advertisements for gold coins in several Christian magazines at exorbitant prices. Individuals unaware of their actual value bought them for investment purposes, only to discover much later that they had been swindled. The couple also targeted the elderly and those with IRAs, convincing them to pay excessive amounts for large numismatic investments. A woman spent all of her $250,000 life savings on $40,000 worth of coins and another man lost $360,000 to the couple, but was too embarrassed to sue.

Another unhappy customer by the name of Kenneth Viall decided to do something about it. He created a web site to warn people of the fraudulent activities of the DeAngelis couple.

The lesson I take from this is to verify the worth of any significant purchase before signing on the dotted line.

I just recently saw this post about a person who inherited a coin and currency collection from their father and has since added to it and learned about different countries in the process.

The US Mint has a new idea for the dollar coin: add the faces of US presidents. Research shows that changing the $1 coin won’t increase its everyday use, just collector interest, because people don’t want to have a pocket full of change. Another article on the subject had a survey and last time I checked, 71% preferred dollar bills, compared to a measly 13% who preferred the $1 coins while the last 16% said it didn’t matter either way. The survey appears to corroborate the theory that people don’t want a dollar coin.

In spite of the dismal predictions for the coin’s success, a house panel okayed the change to the dollar coins. Michael Castle (R-Del), the bill’s sponsor believes it will be educational for children and adults. In addition, he predicts the bill to make the government an extra $5 million. The bill also calls for gold bullion coins picturing the first ladies. The two presidents who remarried while in office they would have two first lady coins and the single presidents would have the Statue of Liberty on their corresponding first lady coin. The coins would cost $250 a piece, making them out of reach for most casual collectors.

Here’s some commentary on the change.

The running debate in the house a few months ago wasn’t about the war or medicare. It was whether or not Ronald Reagan’s profile should grace our dime.

Franklin D. Roosevelt has been on the current US dime since 1946, and some felt it was time for a change, but the bill didn’t receive much support and isn’t expected to take effect.

Oddly enough, Lincoln has been featured on our current US cent since 1909, but no one’s clamoring to put a new face on it. Maybe it’s because people want to do away with the cent altogether.

The Money Factory has an interactive experience with a $50 bill where you can see the new security features as well as the new design features.

Now if they would just offer some free samples…