from what I can gather Nauru wasn't told about it and are quite unhappy that someone is making a bit of cash from them.... from a numismatisc website http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=95813 In my role as Secretary of the Queensland Numismatic Society, the local ABC Radio station here in Brisbane contacted me about doing a short on-air interview; the early morning show host had seen the ads in the newspaper and had questions about what the deal with these coins really was and wanted a coin collector's perspective about these coins. I went in and did the interview this morning, Brisbane time; ABC page for the interview. I told them pretty much what was being said in this thread, and elsewhere, and even though (as per ABC policy) the company was not named, I don't think Macquarie Mint fared well. A few hours later, I received an e-mail from the Secretary for Justice and Border Control for the Republic of Nauru. It turns out that the Nauruan government has previously noticed and been concerned about these advertisements. He'd either heard or found out about the interview and wished to confirm that these coins are not, repeat not, issued and authorised by the Government of Nauru, nor by the Bank of Nauru which (as lordty pointed out above) has been in liquidation since 2009. As I had suspected, but could not confirm in my researches, Nauru actually has no legal basis in its Constitution or Law that allows it to issue its own coinage. So, either Macquarie Mint is pulling a fast one and outright lying in their ads, or they've been swindled by a conman pretending to be "the official Treasury Authority of Nauru" who gave them fake authority for these coins. Either way, the people of Nauru aren't getting a cent of profit out of the sale of them.
While I agree in part... A scam can also be a misrepresentation or an deliberatly ambiguous description. I looked quite hard for the amount of silver in this coin and only managed to get the information from this forum. It wasn't on the letter and I couldn't find it on the website after a quick look.
A mate who worked at the Aust Post mail sorting centre said that readers Digest and the like never even see the 'return to sender' items. They apparently had a really large bin which these items went into never to seen again. Must be for certain registered clients.
Macquarie Mint got your address from their sister company, downies who hands it out to it's other companies too see this post: http://forums.silverstackers.com/message-206357.html#p206357 Macquarie Mint has your info passed to them direct from their sister company Downies as they are the same company, only different names so that people don't link them (or the other companies) together. Guerilla Marketing is the best description of what downies do once they have your info. Be warned! All are companies of Downies: kidneybenz.com.au 120.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.australian-coins.com.au 120.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.downies.com 120.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.downies.com.au 120.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.e-bid.com.au 125.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.ebid.com.au 125.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.eurocollections.com 126.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.macquariemint.com 119.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.macquariemint.com.au 119.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.mintsales.com 120.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au www.usebid.com.au 125.193.050.210.cust.mel.idc.iprimus.net.au Mintsales.com, downies.com, mail.downies.com, mail.macquariemint.com, australian-coins.com.au and at least eleven other hosts point to the same IP. amusing to see in my searches: "You might also be interested in the competitors: monetarium.com.au"
I got the flyer 2-3 mths ago and binned it also. I wouldnt touch anything from any of the companies listed. For me its the Perthmint,Royal Australian Mint and B/Bourse. Oh and of course making purchases from the good people here. What sort of name is Downies anyway? Scorp
Well it took 12 months but i just got the pamphlet in the mail. Now have to make sure none of the neighbours buy this coin. Possum
