Is this ad deceptive?

KenzoT

RE: COIN WORLD, Dec. 9, 2002, pp57......
American Commemoratives...$5.97 each...Encapsulated in plastic and featuring flawless, historic designs!!......
Now the kicker.....
"Each 39mm (1.5" diam.) piece is a one (1) oz. 999 silver clad proof"
Can someone explain what a .999 silver CLAD proof is?????????
If its .999 silver, where does the clad part come from?

KlectorKid

There is no silver in them, They say that so some people will buy them without catching the fact thats there clad. Wow almost 100% clad like every coin minted for circ. after 1970. Clad Proof is a clad coin ( coin made with no rare metals that is made of a copper coin coated with nickel.) Made into a proof ( a coin minted by the U.S. mint for colectors, show mirrored fields and are issued every year.)

kranky

I've noticed a number of ads that are featuring the "clad" word. I looked at the ad you mentioned. At first glance they look like silver rounds but they don't call them that.

While most collectors would see "silver clad" and think there would comparable silver content to the silver-clad kennedys, it's possible that "silver plated" could be described as silver clad. So .999 fine silver clad might mean it's a base metal piece, plated with a thin, thin, thin layer of .999 silver.

dpoole

We've seen those "100% pure 14k gold plated" ads for years, right? This is just more of the same.

coppercoins

There's a difference, in my opinion, between using "gold plated" in a description and using "999 silver clad" in a description. I hope they get sued over that one...in fact I might just order one and start the ball rolling. It's mail fraud. If they say it's silver, it better be silver. They are trying to get by on the word silver both describing a color and a metallic composition....but when describing a coin, I would think any court would see it as deceptive for them to describe the coin as "silver" and not use the word "colored", especially if the ad actually says 999 silver - forget the "clad" part. The 999 silver part should put them in the ringer.

At least the gold plated coins say what they are - plated.

Conder101

Clad means a thin layer bonded to the outside by a means other than electroplating or chemical depositing (Such as a silver wash). Usually accomplished by explosive compression or by rolling. Take an ingot of base metal and two layers of pure silver, Heat them, stack them, and while hot rollthem out to planchet thickness and in the process you get a base metal strip with a pure silver layer clad onto eithr side. Many Darkside pieces are made using this method of stock production. This give you a thicker, longer lasting layer than electroplating normally does.

tjkillian

I would read the ad as "Nearly pure silver plated base metal coin with such a small amount of silver that it is almost nill"

Deceptive: yes, immoral: yes, wrong: no

Tom