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Silver Surfer Angers U.S. Mint

Lucky superheroes -- they never have to worry about whether their actions are illegal. Marvel Comics superhero the Silver Surfer, as featured in the forthcoming sequel "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," found planets for his boss Galactus to consume until he turned to the good side. To promote the movie, 20th Century Fox got the Franklin Mint to "consume" 40,000 U.S. quarters and add a promotional image of the Surfer on the back. (If you found a quarter, you would be eligible to win a trip to the world premiere of "Silver Surfer" in London).

Cool? Debatable. Legal tender? Not so much. Actually, we were relieved that the U.S. Mint said Fox broke the law because it confirmed what we learned on our tour of the U.S. Mint. You can't take the tour in Washington D.C. like we did lo these many years ago (read: before 9/11), but the Philadelphia and Denver mints are open to visitors year-round. (If you're in D.C. already, you could see the U.S. Treasury Building, but they don't actually make the money there.) Maybe the execs at Fox, who claim they had no idea altering currency is something only the government can do, ought to treat themselves to a tour.

[Photo: Javno.com]