#Congress in 1985 prohibited the #USMint from making bullion out of foreign #gold because it wanted to insulate the process from #HumanRights abuses, primarily in apartheid South Africa. The Mint has flouted that #law, across Democratic & Republican administrations, despite internal warnings.
The #USMint buys #gold that originates in a Colombian #DrugCartel mine. It makes Lady Liberty coins out of gold from Mexican & Peruvian pawn shops & from a Congolese mine that is part-owned by the Chinese government, records show. Some Mint gold has come from a company in Honduras that dug up an Indigenous graveyard for the ore underneath.
“To hold a coin or medal produced by the Mint is to connect to the founding principles of our nation,” the #USMint declares.
But a New York Times investigation has found that the government’s program of #gold sales is based on a lie. The Mint is actually the last link in a chain that launders foreign #gold, much of it illegally mined, for an insatiable market.
#USMint Buys #Columbia #DrugCartel #Gold & Sells It as ‘American’
As prices for the precious metal soar, the industry’s guardrails have broken down.
Every year, the United States Mint sells more than $1 billion of investment-grade gold coins. Each is stamped with an icon like the bald eagle, signifying the government’s guarantee, required by #law, that the gold is 100% American.
U.S. Mint Buys Drug Cartel Gold and Sells It as 'American'
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/world/americas/us-mint-gold-drug-cartel-colombia.html
#HackerNews #USMint #DrugCartel #Gold #AmericanGold #GoldMarket #Controversy
"Congress in 1985 prohibited the Mint from making bullion out of foreign gold because it wanted to insulate the process from human rights abuses, primarily in apartheid South Africa. The Mint has flouted that law, across Democratic and Republican administrations, despite internal warnings.
Now, even President Trump’s 24-karat gold coin, commemorating the United States’ 250th birthday, could come from a swirl of non-American gold from any number of sources.
The Mint, the biggest name in the global market for investment gold coins, is an example of how the industry’s guardrails have collapsed. Gold prices hover around $5,000 an ounce, about four times the price of a decade ago. That gives criminal organizations and fly-by-night operators a huge incentive to mine in wasteful, destructive and risky ways.
Investors buy gold as a hedge against instability. Nearly every terrorist attack, war and financial meltdown in the past quarter-century has fueled a gold-buying frenzy.
But as prices climb ever higher, wealthy buyers are actually helping to create the very instability they are trying to hedge against.
Gold mining funds Sudan’s brutal civil war and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Surging gold prices have helped Venezuela and Iran temper the effects of financial sanctions. Colombia’s biggest cartel, the Clan del Golfo, traffics in gold alongside cocaine — and uses the proceeds to maintain control through murder and bombings. Illegal miners deforest and pollute the Amazon, poisoning people there with mercury. Terrorist groups, including some linked to Al Qaeda, are getting into the gold business, too."
The U.S. Mint is legally required to sell only legal, domestic gold. Instead, it is the last link in a chain that launders foreign gold for an insatiable market. Our reporter Justin Scheck traced one such supply chain: from an illegal mine in Colombia all the way to the Mint’s facilities in West Point, N.Y.
United States Mint unveils coin designs honoring America's 250th birthday
https://katu.com/amazing-america/united-states-mint-unveils-coin-designs-honoring-americas-250th-birthday-amazing-quarter-nickel-dime-penny-money-collection-hobby-local
Critics Blast Decision to Mint Trump Coin for US 250th Anniversary Celebration
The US Mint is generally prohibited from producing coins featuring living public figures or presidents.RE: https://flipboard.social/@NewsDesk/116247233412667764
Update: A Trump-appointed commission has approved the design for the Trump gold coin, which will allow the U.S. Mint to start production. “As we approach our 250th birthday, we are thrilled to prepare coins that represent the enduring spirit of our country and democracy, and there is no profile more emblematic for the front of such coins than that of our serving President, Donald J. Trump,” U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach said in a statement." Here's more from @AssociatedPress.
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