NEWS: Fantastic Forgery: Rise of the Counterfeit Quarter

GEEK: Fantastic Forgery: Rise of the Counterfeit Quarter

To promote its upcoming movie, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, 20th Century Fox planned to release 40,000 quarters altered by The Franklin Mint to display an image of the Silver Surfer on the "tails" side. The quarters were to be released into regular circulation, and any fan lucky enough to find one could go to the website listed on the back and enter a contest to win prizes or a private screening for all their friends. The coins are actual, honest-to-goodness United States currency coming from a previously uncirculated batch of 2005 quarters honoring the state of California. The Franklin Mint simply colorized one side.



Sounds like a good way to advertise, right? Who doesn't like money? One problem, though. The movie studio forgot to tell the U.S Mint.

Many of the coins have already been distributed and found their way onto eBay, with some auctions exceeding $100 for the 25 cent piece. No fines have yet been announced.



The Silver Surfer could not be reached for comment, but Dr. Doom is said to have laughed maniacally before disintegrating the reporter with a particle beam directed through his cell phone.

I'm looking forward to the Fox News promotional $2 bill.

I'm in favor of more jokes featuring Dr. Doom.

Interesting, they picked the exact amount of currency I would pay to sit through this thing.

You know, that's precisely what I was thinking.

Amen.

+1.

Is the movie even worth paying fake money to see?

The day the government makes it okay to advertise on our currency is the day I take up arms.

The joke's on Fox. $2 bills don't circulate.

Fuck the Surfer, I want my California quarter!!! Just a thought, when the $1 Presidential coin series is released, what do you think will happen to the George W. Bush coin after it's release (once he's dead)?
Suggestions anyone?

Oops.

I'm just waiting for News Corp or Fox Broadcasting to buy out one of the mints.

"Season seventeen of 24 on the backside of your five? Pshaw, old news!!! The Denver Mint has been putting out those for months!"

when someone has to go to this extreme to advertise a movie, you KNOW it's gonna suck.

No, when the first movie was a craptacular sack of menses like Fantastic Four was, you KNOW that the sequel is going to suck even more giant elephant testicles.

It's a Latverian scheme.

I wish more SG newswire stories were like this.

But...but...Silver Surfer?
Maybe it will be cool? I mean...logically if the first one was a craptacular sack of menses (which I concede) doesn't that mean they might work extra extra hard on the sequel?
Right? Right?
Please?

It simply cannot suck worse than X3. My god the only good part about that movie was juggernaut, and the fact that Kitty Pride was a little cutie. Yes she was legal so I'm not that much of a perve.

CURSE YOU, RICHARDS! RICHARDS!!!

-TM

And I thought my granddad was confused by the State quarters...

so ... am I like the only person on the planet that liked the Fantastic Four movie?

I couldn't agree more

The state quarters (and Sacagawa/presidential dollars) are just advertisements for the US government. They're moneymakers:

Yes, you are.