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.
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.
