Hatrack River Forum: Spy Coins' Identity Revealed

This is topic Spy Coins' Identity Revealed in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by ReikoDemosthenes (Member # 6218) on :

I am deeply, deeply amused.

quote:
WASHINGTON — An odd-looking Canadian coin with a bright red flower was the culprit behind the U.S. Defence Department's false espionage warning earlier this year, The Associated Press has learned.

The odd-looking — but harmless — "poppy coin" was so unfamiliar to suspicious U.S. Army contractors travelling in Canada that they filed confidential espionage accounts about them. The worried contractors described the coins as "anomalous" and "filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology," according to once-classified U.S. government reports and e-mails obtained by the AP.

The silver-coloured 25-cent piece features the red image of a poppy — Canada's flower of remembrance — inlaid over a maple leaf. The unorthodox quarter is identical to the coins pictured and described as suspicious in the contractors' accounts.

The supposed nano-technology actually was a conventional protective coating the Royal Canadian Mint applied to prevent the poppy's red colour from rubbing off. The mint produced nearly 30 million such quarters in 2004 commemorating Canada's 117,000 war dead.

Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :

*Laughing*

Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :

You mean Canada does not have nano technology?!
[Frown]

And here I thought they did and by implication the US.

Using nanobots to simulate flu symptoms temporarily as a means to get off work or undesired social occasions will have to wait.

Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :

Just for reference, here's the Hatrack thread from the time of the original news release.

Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :

Quality.
No wonder they can't find WMDs in Iraq [Wink]

Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :

Bahaha!

Excellent.

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Of course, the release of this sensitive information has now made it possible for Al Qaeda to put RFID chips onto canadian quarters in complete confidence that they will not be considered serious threats. [Smile]

Way to go, Canadians. Your failure to properly weaponize your freakishly colorful currency has only ensured that this will occur.

[ May 07, 2007, 12:51 PM: Message edited by: TomDavidson ]

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

Oh, man. This makes me laugh so hard. [ROFL]