Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Reverse of 100 PTAS Coin Found by Metal Detector on a Treasure Coast Beach .See The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 9/18/18 Report - Detectorist Finds Gold and Pearls. Some Uncommon Beach Coin Finds.. |
What we define as money is changing. The 1-cent coin appears to be on its way out, but specie money is once more becoming relevant. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed HB999, a state law that makes it legal to use gold and silver coins as lawful payment for just about anything in that state. According to the governor, “this legislation will authorize money services businesses like check cashers or PayPal to transmit and accept payment in gold and silver.” Florida can’t mint its own coins under Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, but HB999 will make qualifying legal tender gold and silver coins exempt from Florida’s sales tax. It will also permit them to be able to pay government agencies using electronic transfers or debit cards. Just when specie is making headlines in Florida, crypto tokens are being given a warning by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC Commissioner...
Here is the link to that article.New Law Allows Gold and Silver Transactions - Numismatic News
That leaves a lot of questions. I wondered, for example, how the value of a gold or silver coin would be determined for the transaction. Below is how Copilot says it will work.Under Florida HB 999 gold and silver coins meeting specific purity standards—99.5% for gold and 99.9% for silver—will be recognized as legal tender for transactions, including the payment of debts and taxes.
That excludes escudos and reales and other coins that do not meet the purity standards. The 100 PTAS coin shown above, being only .8000 pure, would not qualify either.
The bill does not fix a face value for these coins. Instead, it allows their value in transactions to be determined by:
Mutual agreement between parties: Buyers and sellers can negotiate the value of the coin based on current market conditions.
Market spot price: The prevailing market price for gold or silver at the time of the transaction may serve as a reference.
Purity presumption: Coins meeting the defined purity thresholds are presumed to qualify, but the burden of proof lies with the person claiming the sales tax exemption or legal tender status.
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Many fake coins are sold on the internet, sometimes intentionally and sometimes by sellers that didn't know it. Maybe an heir inherits a coin not know much about it. Unfortunately, new techniques are being used create convincing fakes. The good thing is that new techniques are also being used to detect fakes, as evidenced in the story below
How can you tell if the patina on a centuries-old coin is genuine? Can you tell if a coin is authentic or if it is a cleverly contrived fake? These aren’t new questions, but rather some of the ways artificial patina can be added to a genuine or counterfeit coin, and the methods used to detect such fakes are changing....
Methods used to corrode or add patina to a coin artificially have unfortunately improved...
In a paper titled “Corrosion Behavior of Coins in Artificial Sweat Solution: A Review,” the authors used chemical and electrochemical techniques to examine artificial sweat on coins...
It was concluded that corrosion had penetrated deep within “the body” of genuine coins, an indication of a gradual degradation of the surface of the coins. “Corrosion in the recently minted replica was mainly confined to the surface, consistent with rapid corrosion over a short time period.”...
“As time goes on, however, compounds in the environment begin to penetrate the coins....
Modern Techniques to Find Fakes - Numismatic News
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It looks like Florida could soon have a new National Park.
U.S. Rep. Randy Fine wants to designate Ocala National Forest and some surrounding springs in Volusia, Flagler and other counties as a national park...
Florida currently has three national parks within it's boundaries: Biscayne, Dry Tortugas, and Everglades, as well as two national seashores: Canaveral and Gulf Islands.
Also listed as U.S. National Park Service properties are Big Cypress National Preserve, Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas national monuments, DeSoto National Memorial, and Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve, home to Fort Caroline National Memorial.
Here is the link for that story.
Under new bill, Ocala National Forest would someday become Florida Springs National Park
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A giant atmospheric wave is circling Earth, chilling the mesosphere and igniting noctilucent clouds (NLCs). Sky watchers around the Arctic are seeing bright displays weeks after the season usually ends. Full story and observing tips @ Spaceweather.com.
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“To get a great idea, come up with lots of them.” — Thomas Edison
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No big news on the weather/beach conditions front today.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net