Spitzer Halts Sale of Sept. 11 Coins

New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer obtained a court order Wednesday to temporarily suspend the sale of commemorative Sept. 11 coins advertised as being minted from silver recovered at ground zero.

Spitzer said the sale of the silver dollars -- emblazoned with the World Trade Center towers on one side and the planned Freedom Tower on the other -- was a fraud. He is investigating whether the silver actually came from the ruins of the twin towers.

“It is a shameless attempt to profit from a national tragedy,” Spitzer said. “This product has been promoted with claims that are false, misleading or unsubstantiated.”

Spitzer said National Collector’s Mint, based in Port Chester, N.Y., falsely claimed that the coins engraved with “In God We Trust” were legally authorized silver dollars.

Spitzer said the coins, produced by a Wyoming company called SoftSky Inc., were advertised as nearly pure silver when they were only silver-plated.

TV and print ads for the coins include one fashioned after a news story that reads: “Today, history is being made. For the first time ever, a legally authorized government-issue silver dollar has been struck to commemorate the World Trade Center and the new Freedom Tower being erected in its place.... Most importantly, each coin has been created using .999 pure silver recovered from ground zero!”

The dollar pieces are being sold for $19.95 each.

In a statement released Wednesday, National Collector’s Mint stood by the accuracy of the ads.

“Our many repeat customers demonstrate the quality of our products and the integrity of our company,” the statement read.

Tom Conway, head of the state’s Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau, said an investigation of the company had begun with consumer complaints and a referral from the U.S. Mint, which issued a notice on its website that the coin “is not a legally authorized government- issued” product.

The temporary halt on sales is pending a civil suit filed by Spitzer in state Supreme Court. Spitzer seeks civil penalties, restitution to those who bought the coins, greater consumer disclosure and full disclosure that the coins aren’t endorsed by the federal government.