Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock strives to create an understanding of the Philosophy of Liberty. Understanding is far more important than agreement -- that will come in its own time.
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February 16th, 2012 - L. Neil Smith - Steve Neil - (Audio & Video Loaded)
L. Neil Smith, science fiction author, has a new book, 'Down With Power: Libertarian Policy in a Time of Crisis' - Steve Neil bought the one and only AZ Centennial Commemorative Gold Medallion, and has a story to tell about it...
Tom Paine Maru (eBook, 2005)
image size: 84,518-bytes)[New!]
Hour 2
Steve Neil
Bought the first, and only, Arizona Centennial Commemorative Gold Medallion - and has a story to tell about it...
Ernest,
I watched your show today, and then I found the updated post on FreedomsPhoenix with all the docs you got from the AHAC, the agency in charge of the centennial medallions. I read them carefully. One small item for starters:
The sales tax issue:
For starters, there should be no sales tax per ARS 42-5061.A.54 as I wrote yesterday.
Next, the spreadsheet shows sales tax AND the order form has a blank for sales tax! Double taxation like never seen before.
The best reading is the deal with the company who produced the medallions, Medalcraft. Here's how Medalcraft priced the different metals:
Gold: $1781 for cost of materials + $784 to Medalcraft (44% markup) for a total of $2565.
Silver: $34.90 for cost of materials + $18 to Medalcraft (51%) for a total of $52.90 (50 qty)
Copper: $0.21 for cost of materials + $3.04 to Medalcraft (1,485%) for a total of $3.25 (250 qty)
Medalcraft does the following for the $$ they are getting:
Cast the blank and prep it for strike
Strike it
Put it in a little plastic bag
They don't pay for the metals; they already protected themselves from fluctuations in the price of the metals, so why did they have to add such huge sums? If $3.04 is acceptable for making the copper medallion, I can't see that a gold medallion takes any more work to make, but instead of being marked up $3.04, the gold one is marked up an astonishing $784, adding 44% more to the cost!
It does not appear that the AHAC was very thorough in their procurement and purchasing. This could have been a great thing for collectors, but when these centennial medallions are marked up so much more than the typical bullion coins and medallions, it doesn't make much sense.
=============
Gosh. They have really messed this up haven't they? The sum total of the law about 300 words.
I did compare the weight of a 2011 US silver eagle to a silver Arizona centennial medallion and they are as identical as my scale can show.
Weights: The copper medallion weighs 1/16th of a pound and the silver weighs about 10% more, a troy oz. And I heard them state this to people at the booth on Saturday.
Diameter: The diameter is identical for copper and silver, so for gold easy to assume same die equals same diameter.
Thickness: The silver is about 3.25 mm and the copper about 3.00 mm. Can't say on the gold.
Couple more docs for your website. Certificate of weight and certificate of purity. The weights jive with what I measure. The purity I don't know how to judge.
Some info to prime the pump for tomorrow's show
TAX
I got the refund for the 9.3% tax they charged but shouldn't have. Most of the other sales I saw going on with other people were cash and carry or credit card. Cash and carry - they are out of luck getting a refund unless they hear about it on your show or the ladies happened to get any info from the buyer. Credit cards - the ladies apparently don't have the info they need because I expected an automatic refund, but I had to give them all the credit card info again to get my refund.
I asked how that the no tax provision of the law was missed, and she said that her office didn't notice it and that their attorney specifically told them that the medallions were to be taxed.
WEIGHT STATED ON FACE OF COIN
On the issue of the weight not being on the face of the medallion, she showed me that the purity is stated on the medallion like the law says. The silver has ".999 FS" engraved on the side edge. The gold has "24KT". I said, I don't think the law states that the purity is to be stated, but it does state that the weight is to be on the face. I showed her on the bill where it says the weight is supposed to be on the face and she said, "Oh, it does say the weight". UGH!
The irony of all this is that on Saturday, one of the ladies held up 2011 Senate Bill1498, which is exactly what I was readin g from today.
I asked that my medallions be remade per the law. She said to expect it to take about a week to get me an answer.
--- Steve
Hour 3
Ron Paul Wins Maine
02-14-2012 A voter advocacy group tallies votes
from eye witnesses to the Maine caucus that results in Ron Paul winning
with 43%, Mitt Romney 32%, Rick Sanatorium 19%, and Newt 5%.
Ron Paul Supporter Arrested at AZ Romney Rally Interviewed
02-15-2012 My Videocamera/Psychictaxi YouTube Channel
Christiano
Espinoza had the double fortune to be associated with both Ron Paul and
the 'Dream Act Kids' when he was arrested at the Mitt Romney Rally in
Mesa...
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