American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins, which contain an ounce of .999 fine silver each, are being circulated at their face value of $1.00, (one dollar) on the tropical island paradise of Curacao.
I spent a day there during a cruise and was shocked to get a circulated Silver American Eagle Bullion coin as change when buying a post card of the island. I was even more shocked when I was given another in change while purchasing a Pina-Coloda drink from a street vendor. These Bullion coins carry One Ounce of .999 fine silver, which as of this writing is at $7.41.
That's right, Silver's spot price is currently $7.41 an ounce, and these coins containing an ounce of silver are being used at their $1.00 face value on the island of Curacao.
After getting the third American Eagle in change, I started inquiring of every merchant I patronized if they had any of these American Coins in their tills, and when they did I requested them as change. By the time I had to get back on my cruise ship I had collected fourteen (14) Silver American Eagles, all in various stages of wear, and all at their $1.00 face value.
Until this, I had never seen an American Eagle silver bullion coin being used in commerce, obviously, and I doubt anyone who has not been to Curacao in the last few years has either.
After I got the fourth or fifth silver American Eagle in change I started asking questions of the merchants about the coins. I found out from them that the coins had been circulating on the island for about four years, (I was there in May of 2005), that they are and had been for the whole four years very common on the island, and that many of their customers refuse! to take them as change because of their size and weight, and their unfamiliarity with the coin. One older vendor told me that he usually has to try to pass them off on drunk customers because they are so hard to get rid of! I was told by more than one local that these coins are starting to be considered bad luck among locals on Curacao for some reason.
I was not able to find out who put the American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins into ciruclation on the Island of Curacao, and as of this writing have been able to find out nothing about it on the internet or from anyone else.
The American Eagle pictured at the top of this site is the only one I kept from my adventure on Curacao, the other 13 I sold to a local coin dealer for $7.00 each. I kept the one above as a souvenier of this experience because it was the one in best condition. The others were in worse shape, one was completely black! The owner of the coin shop who bought the 13 American Eagles from me asked where I had found such worn Silver Eagles. When I related this story to him he was absolutely incredulous, and he said he knew where he was taking his next vacation!
Gersham's Law be damned! :>
Curaco is a wonderful island in the Southern Caribbean. It has a population of about 130,000 year round residents. Curacao measures 38 miles long and between 2 and 7.5 miles wide. Dutch is the official language of Curacao, but everyone speaks English and Spanish as well. Curacaoans also speak Papiamento. Papiamento is a blend of all three languages that the locals speak.
If anyone has any information or ideas (or theories or guesses, or anything!) about how Silver American Eagle Bullion coins came to be in circulation at face value on the Island of Curacao, please let me know by signing the guestbook.
I would also like to know if anyone has had a similiar experience on Curacao or any other place, or if you have just found something strange in circulation.
Check out the photos page to see the reverse of the coin up top, and to see other numismatic souveniers I picked up on Curacao Island
Also, was it wrong of me to accept these coins from the locals at face value when I knew they were worth much more than that?
Click the LINKS page to see my most recent find. Also, if you read this article, please do me a favor and sign the guestbook and let me know what you think, or just that you read it. It would encourage me, for good or ill, to post more observations of this type.
If you want to know more about the Island of Curacao, click on the links page and go to the Curacao Tourism Site.
Thanks and have a great day! |
