http://theoldwolf.com/Fraud/index.htmlNote: Before you read the article below, please read the following disclaimer, made necessary by some of the comments this post has generated.
These coins are not evil. They are cheap bits of plastic from some manufacturer in China. They have no special qualities, no magic powers. There is no witch named “Avagnanian Coishousness of Bepsigosity” – that’s just nonsense from a writer of satire. He might as well have used “A Vague Consciousness of BepsiCola.” There are no witches in this world. A lot of people who want to be one, and pretend they are, but dark magic and fortune telling and bad luck and the evil eye are all products of people’s imaginations.
Well, let me backpedal a bit.
Somehow, I managed to come into possession of one of these little plastic gems:
I’m certain it came to me from one of the fraud letters that my mother used to receive when she was alive (and continues to receive years after her death).
At any rate, here it is. Being a linguist by profession, I was curious about the inscription – whether it was sheer garbage or was based on anything real. I found a lovely description, completely tongue-in-cheek, at The Captain’s Blog:
This is a warning for aspiring pirates intent on purchasing a bag full of plastic novelty coins. Be aware that the brand of plastic coins bearing the legend “AVAG CO BEPSIG” are enchanted. That’s right, enchanted….
At our very first PiratePalooza I made the mistake of buying just such a bag of Avag Co Bepsig coins and made a fair show of giving them out whenever possible. Yet, when I returned to port I found that I still had a good many of the coins in me purse. Over the course of the year I continued to find more of the coins. Some in my bed, some in the settee, some in the stern of my autocarriage. Every time I found an Avag Co Bepsig coin I returned it to me leather coinpurse, full in the knowledge that I had them collected, each and every one.
And still I continued to find more, in places I thought I’d looked before. It’s fairly ridiculous how these things seem to breed in captivity, easily outstripping the population of coat hangers rutting in me washroom.
Without a doubt, my collection of these bewitched plastic coins outnumbers my original purchase and I am now consigned to the fact that some day in the future my ship will be awash in these devilish discs of dementia, certain to sink ‘neath their accursed weight and artificial shininess. For now I can only serve as example to those of you lucky enough yet to avoid these shiny promises from the heart of Avagnanian Coishousness of Bepsigosity, for that it what it turns out the name means.
Avagnanian Coishousness be a person… a Bane Witch of terrible antiquity and uncertain designs upon humanity, Cap’n Drew in particular. And even though I now know the source of me curse don’t expect me to take it all noble-like. No, no.
Know this, me hearties: I’ll take no pity upon any of you, so watch your backs. I’ll be certain to try slipping one of me famous cursed coins into your open pockets, purses, pouches and gaping glimpses of cleavage.
You’ve been warned.
Of course, this is all in fun. But the world is so full of a number of things, I suppose we should all be yanking our hair out in frustration if we knew the depth and breadth of human gullibility. Over at Ripoff Report, I found this letter from a dear soul who was so glad she was warned about the evil enchantment that lay on these coins, received in one of these fraudulent “prayer letter” scams:
You have sent me prayer letters. The one I recently opened on Oct. 16, 2011 although you sent it in May 2011. I just came across it . Although the letter was right on in what I was specifically praying for..you placed 2 coins in the letter to put one in my house that fiances will increase in my house & the other to place in my purse for financial increase. Once i did this & went to bed all night I could not sleep God woke me & told me to google the words on the coins they say “Avag Co Bepsig” I googled these words & discovered they are a WITCH”S name. You see I am a born again believer in Christ Jesus He Is My Lord & Savior..He Promises To Not Let His Children Walk In Darkness…I was at my dad’s house who is a Pastor & has won many to Christ. I was going to put one coin in his house but The Holy Spirit kept telling me NO!!! You see I am EXPOSING YOU !!! THis witch turned a man’s coins to plastic…if you people are really of Christ Jesus why would’nt God show you about these coins before you started sending them out??? God Promises Not To Let THose Who Truly Love Him Walk In Darkness…He EXPOSED you to me!!!
Now, in the interest of full disclosure I need to point out that I have a spiritual walk of my own, but I’ve always done my best to temper my faith with reason.[1] Not doing so leads to madness, or to the kind of attitude one sees above, where “if you read it in the Bible, or if you see it on the Internet, it has to be true.” In the end, it’s scary to think the kinds of world views upon which ordinary people, legislators, and national leaders can base their behavior.
In a recorded interview which once existed on YouTube, Richard Dawkins fielded a question from a Muslim who asked whether atheists could judge right from wrong in the absence of an absolute morality. Professor Dawkins proceeded to shred the question simply by making reference to things like the beating of women and punishment for apostasy, and summed up his analysis by saying that if these kinds of things are what absolute morality brings, he’d rather live without it; instead, he favors a morality that is developed and tested and tried and revised by the strength of reason and humanity. I’m put in mind of the four-way test of the Rotarians, used as a guide for business and personal relationships:
Of the things we think, say or do
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
There’s a lot of wiggle-room in the first one, because among humans “truth” is hard to ferret out, except within the realm of pure science; but the last three ask the same question in different ways, to wit, “will it raise the human condition?”
Whatever we believe, we cannot afford to go through life not asking this question. Religion and humanism have as their ultimate goal to make their practitioners better people. If you’re still a jerk, it’s not working.
The Old Wolf has spoken.
[1] Now don’t jump down my throat about inconsistencies here… one of these days I’ll get my thoughts together in a more comprehensive essay about why I believe what I do, although a brief summary might be extrapolated from this entry. After that, feel free to shred my Weltanschauung if it brings you joy, but I’m pretty certain that the exercise will be entirely academic.
Playing in the World Game 
I am so glad I googled what was on the coins I was sent and came across what you had to say.
yes. i recievedd them in the mail these prayer letters that were supposed to be real and i trusted it. then something deep inside told me to goole it before i put them in my purse…thank god i did
Cool I have one of these it says the same thing and its enchanted!
Lucky you! 😀
its not enchanted in a good way i can assure you. i got them in the mail, with this bishop sending me letters that i soon suspected to be just about collecting money. and i told myself well God knows my heart and he wont let something bad happen. and he didnt. after all was said and done i jsut recieved them in the mail,the coins. and something was SCREAMING at me to google it before putting them in my bag .i thank Jehovah above for looking out for me. i thank him for making sure they didnt get that far. any tips on what to do to get rid of them?
Chuck them in the trash. They are not enchanted or cursed or blessed or anything – they’re just cheap plastic made-in-China junk. The whole purpose of this post was to point that out. God does not work in such ways
how many people sent their last 50bucks into this guy at saint matthrws churches. this guy is using guilt and shame and false hope to aquire money that isnt his. he is a pirate. and to do it in the name of God is even worse. how dare he. i even wrote him back saying i had a 5month old son,which i do..and that i couldnt afford anything but to keep praying for me please. and thats when i got the coins. lookout people,even in the name of God these crooks do this. “wolf in sheeps clothing”
I have the coin but is a half
Then you are only half cursed 😉
I have that coin
I HAVE ONE AS WELL. . I FOUND IT IN A STORE ON THE FLOOR… DIDN’T THINK IT WAS EVIL @ THE TIME; BUT I WAS THINKING I HAD IT B4 & WAS SUPPOSE TO GIVE GOOD LUCK;BUT SINCERELY IT’S BN IN MY HOUSE I’VE BN HAVING A BIT OF BAD LUCK.. SHOULD I THROUGH IT OUT? I THINK IT’S ALL ABOUT BELIEF… SOMETHING TOLD ME GOOGLE & IT SAYS IT’S EVIL & THE NAME ON IT WAS INDEED A WITCHES NAME.. NOT SURE WHAT TO BELIEVE.. *ALLEE CRITTENDEN
The story about the witch and the witch’s name were completely made up. These are simply plastic coins with no value either good or evil. If it disturbs you, get rid of it, if for no other reason than your peace of mind – but these were nothing more than plastic novelty coins, used as part of a spurious marketing promotion.
Somebody gave me this coin and I am eight years old so I put it in my neighbors mailbox after I read this I told my mom and we had it for a day and a lot of bad things happened to us so that is why I put it in my neighbors mailbox
Dud anything happen to your neighbor?
they may sound weird, but a few years ago i found 3 of them in my pocket without ever seeing them before. Just now bothered to look it up…
i have some
can i buy them from you? been looking everywhere
I’d be happy to sell you some if I had any. I’ve only got the one.
whadru a jokester? I’ll give you twentyfi dollyrs fur it if you throw in a wooder ice fountain
Well, dat’s better than tree fiddy…
Thanks to Gbear for the pointer, if you really want some. Here’s a link: http://www.orientaltrading.com/web/browse/processProductsCatalog?sku=39/525
Oriental Trading has them.
Cool, thank you for finding this.
My teacher stole three coins from myself and two others. Are the three of us or our teacher possessed?
Upon posting this comment, the coins have made their way back to us. Truly believe
You are wrong about evil. It does exist. Satan roams the earth & will continue until Christ returns.
How else can you explain the atrocities that happen every day?
What I said was, ”dark magic and fortune telling and bad luck and the evil eye are all products of people’s imaginations.” I was very careful not to say “evil doesn’t exist.” It’s just that it is not manifested in little bits of Chinese plastic, but rather in dark deeds spawned from the hearts of men.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path….. proverbs 3:5….
I totally agree because we as Christian’s know to put nothing and no one, any idol before God who loves and cares for our every need.
I just finally became curious about the coin when I saw a lady at the Eastern Market in Detroit buying food/drink with some that you get from a main station converted from a bridge card, and inquired ….so I looked more deeply at the name because I had also received them in spiritual letter telling me where to place them….God is my blessing asss
As a person of faith I believe in the existence of good and evil, but these little bits of plastic are neither. They are nothing but replica coins from China with no particular significance.
I detect here a foreigner. Foreign i say or is it mimicree. You should of made it a movie. Its difficult to scratch a lotto scratch card with them. I will never know if i have won. 💰
Hey my brother just died I ask him for an answer I thought god was cruel he murdered all the people in the flood . And that city and let his son die on cross .so I told my brother to send me an answer just moments ago and he did I found two things one was one of your plastic coins the other was a purple coin on one side says he lives and the other side had 3 crosses on it . I love my brother and I do believe he’s tring to tell me my way of thinking is wrong . I’ve been having a really tough time with his death . I want get into it much but I believe in my heart that I’m the reason he’s gone . I’m not sure how to get threw it . But I think he’s telling me to try . There’s other things that have happen . Which leads me to believe he’s watching over me . He really was the best . Thanks for your story . I think my brother sayin bro don’t be sad I m happy here . I love you brother good bye my friend.
I’m sorry for the loss of your brother and hope that in time the pain will subside and you will be left only with peaceful memories.