CoinWeek News Wire for March 2, 2018: Elon Musk Cryptoking? Gold Underfoot…

March 2, 2018

By Coinweek Coin News Wire ….

Coin News Wire for March 2, 2018

Current Events

1.) New Jim Thorpe one-dollar coins selling out fast

The people of Jim Thorpe were lining up to get the newest coin from the US Mint. The Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank has already sold out of a 3,000-coin shipment it received on Tuesday…

2.) Special coin commemorates Polish general

The National Bank of Poland has issued a special coin commemorating a hero of the Polish struggle for independence.

General August Emil Fieldorf (nom de guerre “Nil”), a hero of the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920 and of World War II, was arrested by the communist authorities in 1950. In April 1952, he was sentenced to death…

Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News

3.) Elon Musk Reveals Personal Crypto Holdings

The billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla told Twitter followers that he, in fact, has never purchased cryptocurrency, and only holds a small amount of Bitcoin gifted by a friend. Last year Musk was center of attention in the cryptocurrency space. In November there was heavy speculation that he was the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin…

4.) All the Ways Regulators Plan to Tame Bitcoin

It took one of the wildest investment manias in history to jolt them into action, but governments around the world are finally starting to regulate cryptocurrencies. Their approaches have run the gamut, from a massive crackdown in China to an exchange-licensing regime in Japan and a largely hands-off system in Switzerland. Some countries, most notably the U.S., have yet to formulate a comprehensive strategy. But on the whole, oversight is increasing. How the rules evolve will help determine whether last year’s cryptocurrency boom was a flash in the pan, or the start of something bigger…

5.) Is Bitcoin a Waste of Electricity, or Something Worse?

Some economists see evidence that people are playing video games instead of going to work, logging on instead of getting it on, and plowing a growing share of their time, capital and natural resources into virtual products like social media, games and the latest fad: virtual currencies…

6.) SEC shelves dozens of ICOs with old-fashion technology

More than a dozen crypto-linked companies have shelved plans to raise money from investors after Securities and Exchange Commission officials called them up, SEC cyber enforcement boss Robert Cohen said Saturday AEST.

The SEC scrutiny prompted firms to realise their offerings may have violated federal securities laws, he told a conference in Washington…

7.) How The US Government Handles Its Massive Stash Of Bitcoins

Several agencies within the U.S. government routinely seize valuable objects and precious metals and sell them off in auctions. But none of the assets seized have the price volatility of cryptocurrencies. This has given rise to novel situations and questions.

For example, a strategically timed sale of bitcoin, which has appreciated significantly in price, would have paid dividends for a government agency’s budget. But the U.S. government has been criticized for selling bitcoins at a cheap price…

8.) Steve Wozniak had $70,000 in bitcoin stolen after falling for a simple, yet perfect, scam

“I had seven bitcoins stolen from me through fraud,” Wozniak said at the Times’ Global Business Summit on Monday. “Somebody bought them from me online through a credit card and they cancelled the credit card payment. It was that easy. And it was from a stolen credit card number so you can never get it back.”

Crime & Punishment News Wire

9.) NCIC Crime Bulletin

From the Numismatic Crime Information Center (NCIC):

National Banknotes Stolen

A dealer has reported the loss of approximately 20 slabbed small national banknotes from his table at last week’s Long Beach Expo.

Partial Listing of stolen notes:

FNB of Beardstown, IL $10 T1 PC 15
FNB Dolton, IL $10 T1 PC12
NB of Kirkwood, IL $10 T1 PC 15
FNB Metcalf , IL $10 T1 PC 10
FNB Newton, IL $10 T1 PC 12
American NB Mansfield, LA $10 T1 PC AU 55
Riggs NB of Wash, DC $5 T1 PMG 63

Proof Morgans Stolen

The Numismatic Crime Information Center has been requested to assist in the burglary of the New England Patriots‘ tight end, Rob Gronkowski. His home was burglarized on February 4, 2018, on the night of the Super Bowl. Among items taken were two Proof Morgan dollars.

Stolen Coins:

1879 PCGS Proof Morgan 81852050
1896 PCGS Proof Morgan 81296984

Please contact the NCIC’s Doug Davis if you have any questions or information about any of the cases above. You can reach him at (817) 723-7231 or email him at [email protected].

* * *

The Numismatic Crime Information Center is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation. P.O. Box 14080 Arlington, Texas 76094.

10.) Unscrupulous group stealing gold coins from Canadian dealers

A group of middle-aged men and women are alleged to be making the rounds at numismatic dealers across Canada with the hopes of shoplifting high-value gold coins.

It’s believed at least half a dozen locations across most of the country – from British Columbia to at least New Brunswick – have been hit by about a dozen different people alleged to be part of a larger criminal organization…

Counterfeit Cavalcade

11.) Man charged with possessing funny money

On February 23, a member of the West Parry Sound detachment of the OPP arrested a man on a warrant in Parry Sound because the man was in possession of a counterfeit Canadian $50 bill.

Vassilios Tsoraklidis, 28, from Parry Sound, was charged with possessing counterfeit money.

12.) Six arrested with counterfeit Nepali currency notes

Police have arrested six people belonging to a gang involved in the transaction of counterfeit Nepali currency notes…

13.) Harwich Port man denies passing counterfeit money

Dennis police Officer Michael Nee responded to the Stop & Shop on Route 134 in Dennis on Feb. 3 and spoke with a store employee, who showed him 10 $100 bills that lacked security devices such as holograms and were used to buy a $1,000 money order, according to a police report. The store employee said he had reports of similar exchanges at other store locations, the report says…

14.) Police Sent Nigerian to Court Who Traded in LD193,000.00 Counterfeit to a Chinese Businessman for Goods

According to a police inside source the suspect, Daniel Ogwoge has been sent to court following his arrest by the police, but the second suspect who is believed to be a pastor for a local and named undisclosed gave him the fake cash to purchase some goods, but unfortunately the money carried all in five hundred Liberian Bank Notes was discovered by the Chinese businessman to be counterfeit…

Gold, Precious Metals & Bullion

15.) World’s Oldest Gold Trader Fails To Find A Buyer

Last October, we reported that the world’s oldest gold trader was for sale after a massive money laundering scandal may have terminally crippled one of the most iconic names in the business. According to the Financial Times, Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia was exploring options for its gold business ScotiaMocatta, including a possible sale of Canada’s most popular precious metals trader. As reported at the time, Scotiabank made the decision to sell ScotiaMocatta following a massive money laundering scandal centered on a U.S. refinery that involved smuggled gold from South America…

16.) Platinum price crashes through $1,000 after German diesel ban

Platinum group metals were the hardest hit on generally weak precious metals markets Tuesday after a German court ruled that cities in Europe’s largest economy and world’s fourth largest automaker have the right to ban diesel cars…

17.) The Next Gold Rush Is Not Cryptos, But ‘Outer Space Gold Mines’ — Famed Physicist

Cryptocurrency is not the future, according to physicist Michio Kaku, who is convinced that the next gold rush is in asteroid mining.

In the book titled The Future of Humanity, [the] American theoretical physicist projects that asteroid mining will play a key role in humanity’s future, comparing it to 19th century cattle supply chain — a process in which meat is processed in one location and then is shipped to urban areas…

18.) Huge gold reserves under the city of Johannesburg – historian

Kruger believes that the gold Struben and others found was the tops of the vents, displaced north by the meteor impact and sheared off from the parent pipes.

He adds: “It is therefore probable that [more of] these pipes still exist north of the Main Reef and that their existence was never suspected by early miners, concerned only in mining on the Main Reef series, which dipped south.”

Banknote News

19.) New HUF 1,000 note enters circulation on March 1

Hungaryʼs new HUF 1,000 banknote [entered] circulation on March 1, the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) said on Wednesday. The new banknote, upgraded with enhanced security features, became legal tender last summer, but did not enter into circulation to allow sufficient time to prepare for the switchover…

20.) Colombian government proposes elimination of last three zeroes from currency

The new Colombian bills released in 2016 are markedly different from the previous ones, as they had already omitted the triple-zero digits and put in their place “mil,” the Spanish word for “thousand.” This foresight should help Colombia by not having to print off too much paper money and risking dramatic spikes in its relatively low inflation rate…