Amero coins
In August 2007, rumors and conspiracy theories began circulating across the Internet regarding alleged
United States Treasury-issued "amero coins".
The inspiration behind these rumors may have been the posting of images of medallions created by coin designer Daniel Carr.
[1] Carr, who designed the
New York and
Rhode Island 2001
statehood quarters, sells medals and tokens of his own design on his commercial website, "Designs Computed" (also known as "DC Coin").
[1] Among his designs are a series of gold, silver and copper fantasy issues of "amero coins" ranging in denomination from one to one thousand.
[1] The medallions have the legend "Union of North America" on the back with his company's logo, a stylized "DC",
[19] in small type.
[20] Concerning his "amero" designs, he mentions on his website:
My goal with these coins is not to endorse a Union of North America or a common "Amero" currency. I fully support the
United States Constitution, and I would not welcome (in any form) a diminishment of its provisions. I expect that these coins will help make more people aware of the issue and the possible ramifications. I leave it up to others to decide if they are in favor of, or against a North American Union. And I encourage citizens to voice their approval or disapproval of government plans that impact them.
[21]
Unauthorized postings of images taken from his website have been reposted widely across the Internet, often being used as supposed "proof" of the amero coinage. Notably,
white nationalist and former
Internet radio talk show host
Hal Turner ran a full article on his website about the "amero coin", claiming to have arranged for a
United States Government minted "amero" to be smuggled out of the
United States Department of the Treasury by an employee of that organization.
[22]
Following Turner's assertions of federal minting of ameros, a web site marketing the curio coins released a statement debunking Turner's claims of a government cover up regarding Daniel Carr's amero products.
[23] The
urban legend investigating Web site
Snopes also ran a further counter to Turner's claims, stating "neither the U.S. Mint nor the U.S. Treasury has a hand in creating these 'Ameros'. These coins are merely collectibles offered to the buying public by a private company in the business of manufacturing such curiosities."
[24] Hal Turner claimed that Carr's website had been created in haste in a matter of days expressly to discredit his claim about the coinage.
[25] However, Carr's designs have been available through his website since 2005,
[26] and according to a
WHOIS search at
Network Solutions, the domain "dc-coin.com" was registered by Daniel Carr on 27 September 2005.
[27] In October 2008, Hal Turner released a video showing an apparent 20 amero coin, with claims that shipments of the currency had been sent to China.
[28] Yet the coin in Hal Turner's video is identical to a medallion on Daniel Carr's "dc-coin" website, listed as "UNA 2007 20 Ameros, Copper, Satin Finish".
[29]
[edit] Amero bills
On December 3, 2008, Hal Turner's blog featured what he claimed were genuine "amero bills". He displayed photographs of purported 20, 50 and 100 amero notes. Turner did not identify how he obtained the images, saying only that "once again, my sources have come through." He claims that the "new currency is already being printed and quietly distributed around the world."
[30] However,
Pravda's website published in February 2008 the same amero image Turner used.
[31] Further, Abovetopsecret.com claims that these images are art from
flickr user aleatorysort,
[2] and are therefore fake.
[32]
