LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Fake Gold "Coins"?
Since the artistic design of the Burrows Cave coins is obviously crude to the point that they are not even "good" representations of any coin of antiquity, and noting that they are obviously modern reproductions, it may be true that they violate the 1970 Hobby Protection Act, as outlined by the Federal Trade Commission. The pieces shown are stated to have been "part of the Mauritanian treasury, gold coins from Illinois' subterranean site", whereby they would be used to deceive the public in a fashion of attempting to establish an untruth by association.
I offer the following information in regard to the law governing such "reproductions", and ask that this picture and information on your site be removed and replaced with something factual, or a statement in reference to the picture being "representative reproductions, thus copies of items that may have been found in Illinois' subterranean site." Misleading the public through such a "hoax" that large quantities of gold coins had been unearthed in Illinois could be interpreted by those educated in the numismatic field as unethical and illegal.
Gar Travis
N.A.ANA, ANS, NLG
Travis Numismatic Consulting
(Mr. Burrows, who claims to have found the gold objects, insists on their authenticity--that they are not modern fakes, nor part of any "hoax". He does wonder, however, if investigators are mistaken in describing the gold items as minted "coins", instead of tokens or medallions of some kind. Editor.)