Occasionally on the Interwebs one comes across rather sensational photos. I’ve seen this one in numerous places, with a caption like “Tragic accident caught at the moment of death,” or some such.
It always disturbed me, just because it was so poignant, and I could only imagine the terror of the two pilots as they augered their plane into the ground at 150 MPH or whatever.
Well, guess what? It was an accident, and it was unfortunate, but no loss of life was sustained. The nosewheel collapsed on landing, leading to a spectacular flip, but no deaths.
It is beyond me how Manasseh Jordan Ministries can still be operating. He is one of this country’s worst robodiallers, and has been sued more times than I have fingers and toes to count on.
Apparently he comes to the business of defrauding people honestly, if one can even say that – he is the son of “Master Prophet E. Bernard Jordan,” another Prosperity Gospel preacher. The Wikipedia article confuses father for son in some of the references, but it’s not hard to see that the road apple didn’t fall far from the horse’s ass.
Just got another call from him tonight – from 775-954-0107. Instead of a spoofed number, it goes right to his recorded message:
“They are trying to take something. Press 1! Press 1! There has been spiritual warfare that is coming up and this is why the enemy has been messing with your stuff! Press 1 now to hear this blessed word, press 1!”
If you do happen to press 1, you get his long-winded spiel of spiritual gobbledygook (he’ll fight this warfare for you, etc., including some really weird “speaking in tongues” stuff), but it ends up in his hitting you up for that “great reward seed of $46.46, that $146.00 seed, that $246.00 seed, adding that 46 cents for your great spiritual reward, please hold while I connect you to the blessed operator!”
It’s 2021 and this guy is still operating, and sadly he seems to be amazingly successful as people continue to send him money so he can live a lifestyle of decadent luxury. He’s been fined by the FCC twice, and illegally robocalls millions of cell phones every week, and they can’t seem to shut him down, or don’t care to. It’s a disgrace.
Edit: Went back to check and as of 4/29/2021, the “wewinns” shop was nowhere to be seen.
Vanished into the mist
For “promoted post,” read “advertisement.”
I’m using as an example one that showed up in my newsfeed yesterday, from a company which calls itself “wewinns.”
They are offering a complete date set of Morgan silver dollars for $199.99 (reduced from $699.99!)
Beautiful, right? The Morgan really is a gorgeous piece, especially in uncirculated condition. Notice the first description:
Morgan Silver Dollars are an excellent way to own a piece of history, while concurrently investing in the physical precious metal silver. Morgan Silver Dollars are composed of 90% silver and 10% copper. They weigh 26.73 grams. This equates to approximately .7734 Troy ounces of silver and approximately .1 ounce of copper per coin. Uncirculated collectible coins.
Next, we have coin highlights:
Coin Highlights:
Arrives inside of a protective plastic slab courtesy of the NGC or PCGS!
• Struck from 1878 to 1904! • Contains .77344 Troy oz of actual silver content. • Bears a face value of $1 (USD) backed by the federal government. •Issued a Grade of Mint State 66 by the Professional Coin Grading Service or Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. • Obverse features the effigy of Liberty. • Reverse includes the American bald eagle.
When I was a kid, collecting coins was much less complex. Coin grades were:
Cull
Fair (F)
Good (G)
Very Good (VG)
Fine (F)
Very Fine (VF)
Extra Fine (XF)
Almost Uncirculated (AU)
Uncirculated (Unc)
Brilliant Uncirculated (BU)
Proof (P)
“Cull” was a damaged coin with no value, and “Proof” – as today – are specially-created strikes for collector. In between, coins were graded largely based on the subjective opinions of countless coin dealers.
Now, things are a lot more complicated, but a lot more formalized. The PCGS that this advertisement invokes has a very detailed designation and a numerical grading system by which coins are qualified. According to their website, MS66 is defined as “Well struck with a few marks or hairlines not in focal areas.” In other words, a pretty, uncirculated coin.
The next statement from the “wewinns” website reiterates the condition of the coins you will supposedly get:
Each of the Morgan Silver Dollar Coins offered by us in this product listing is available to you in Mint State 66 condition from either the PCGS or NGC. Coins in Mint State 66 condition are five grades below the perfect grade of 70 on the Sheldon numeric scale. A coin with an MS66 certification has minimal, but apparent, detracting marks or hairlines.
Following more generic information about Morgan dollars, the sales website goes on to say:
In this product listing, we guarantee you a Mint State 66 condition Morgan Silver Dollar.
Now things get interesting. After some more description of the beauty and rarity of the Morgan dollars, we see this:
Each Morgan Silver Dollar is presented in circulated condition with most major design details visible, and is protected in an archival crystal-clear case that allows for easy and safe viewing of both sides.
“Most major design details visible.” To me, that sounds like an F-12: “About half of detail now worn flat. All lettering remains visible.”
But then in the next bit, we go right back to the shiny new coins you thing you’ll be getting:
Year: 1878 to 1921 Grade: Choice BU Strike Type: Business Denomination: $1.00 Mint Location: “S” – San Francisco Metal Content: 0.7734 troy oz Purity: .900 Manufacturer: US Mint Thickness: 3.1 mm Diameter: 38.1 mm
I have no idea what “Strike type: business” means, unless it just implies general circulation coins and not a proof.
I was curious enough to click the “Contact Us” link on the bottom of the page:
Is anyone suprised that country code 86 is China? My email to the support staff read as follows:
I am interested in your offer, but I am confused. Your ad says the following things: “Uncirculated collectible coins.” “Issued a Grade of Mint State 66 by the Professional Coin Grading Service or Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.” “Each of the Morgan Silver Dollar Coins offered by us in this product listing is available to you in Mint State 66 condition from either the PCGS or NGC.” “In this product listing, we guarantee you a Mint State 66 condition Morgan Silver Dollar.” “Each Morgan Silver Dollar is presented in circulated condition with most major design details visible.” “Grade: Choice BU” So, are these coins that you are offering uncirculated, with a grade of 66, or are they circulated and in generally poor condition? You are aware, are you not, that a full set of Morgan dollars in grade 66 typically sells for over $125,000? I look forward to your speedy response.
But I will be surprised if there is any response at all. [Edit: there was not] If you get anything at all from this outfit, I’m pretty safe in thinking it will be a collection of very poor-quality coins, and that their website will be gone – only to resurface the next day with a different name.
Now I won’t go so far as to say that every advertisement promoted by Facebook is painfully deceptive or outright dishonestly false… but in my experience, a vast preponderance of them are just that, and a large percentage of them come from China. And Facebook continues to happily take their advertising dollars, and countless people are defrauded by unscrupulous enterprises.
It is worth noticing that the current PCGS quoted price for a complete date set of Morgan dollars in MS-66 condition is $165,605.00, and a complete date set in F-12 condition (Fair) is quoted at $1,272.00.
At one point, the Danbury Mint was offering a 28-coin date set for $2,238.60, but that was a limited-time offer and is sold out. [While Danbury is a legitimate company, please be aware that – like the Franklin Mint and other specialty “Mints” – what they sell is fairly overpriced and unsuitable for investment, but they do have pretty things. Just expect that you or your heirs will probably not even recoup what you paid for them if they ever try to sell.]
So heaven only knows what you might get if you drop $200.00 into this Chinese bank account; most likely a bunch of counterfeit coins, or nothing at all.
Be very careful with these ads. Discuss this with vulnerable loved ones, particularly the elderly who might be more susceptible to greasy advertising techniques like this.
Edit 2: This report focuses on an individual who was conned into buying counterfeit silver dollars (made of steel); the report ends by indicating that these bogus dollars were likely mass-produced in China. One more red flag that this particular deal and ones like it should be run away from at great speed.
Playing in the World Game 