'White House' Shop Sells the Gift No One Asked for: $100 COVID-19 Commemorative Coins

[Demovictory9]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-gift-shop-sells-covid-19-commemorative-coins

‘White House’ Shop Sells the Gift No One Asked for: $100 COVID-19 Commemorative Coins

In a sales pitch that absolutely no one has asked for, the White House Gift Shop is selling COVID-19 commemorative coins, emblazoned with slogans like “World vs The Unseen Enemy” and “Everyday HEROES Suited Up.” As the deadly virus continues to kill thousands of people and cripple daily life for most Americans, the privately-run White House store is asking buyers to fork out $100 (reduced from $125!) to commemorate the “historic moment.”

One coin has an image of a COVID-19 spore superimposed on a world map, while a second coin features an empty White House podium with the names of the coronavirus task force members surrounding it including President Trump, Vice President Pence, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and medical experts Drs. Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci.

The shop—which is privately-run but was established by then President Truman in 1946 and says it is given exclusive trademark rights—said sale proceeds will be donated to hospitals.

The coins are the eleventh in a “historic moment art series” that includes coins celebrating Trump’s meetings with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin and another titled, “President Donald J. Trump: A Study in Genius.”

Read it at White House Gift Shop

[brewens]

1. I'm still kicking myself for not buying that set of Al Franken commemorative coins back in the

70's, but I'll pass on this one.

[JHB]

5. I've still got my Lincoln Medallion!

[brewens]

7. I've searched several times but that Franken piece from SNL evidently does not exist

on the internet. At least as far as my search skills go. Not even a reference to what season it was. It was pretty funny. Totally narcissistic and saying stuff like, "featuring a picture of me, Al Franken" and saying his name as many times as possible. That's the way I remember it, but I was probably drinking at the time, so who knows. It is real though, and I'd love to see it again sometime.

[JHB]

10. You remember correctly. I haven't found a nice neat (and free) clip anywhere but...

It's from the January 26, 1980 show (S5 E9) hosted by Teri Garr with musical guest The B-52’s.

It's on NBC.com at https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/january-26-teri-garr/4023014

but you have to sign in, and I don't want to bother.

It's available on YouTube for $1.99 for the episode, or all of Season 5 for 29.99

Similar deal on Amazon Prime
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B002ZBPPFM/ref=atv_dp_season_select_s5

Hulu too, but I don't have a link.

Summary and transcripts for some of the skits in the episode are at
https://snltranscripts.jt.org/79/79i.phtml

but it looks like the Weekend Update segment, where Franken's bit took place, just has a summary, not a transcript.

[musette_sf]

2. "THE GENIUS LEVEL THINKING" coin is truly sick-making

"Chronicling in Bold Coin Art the Progression of What is Likely the Most Unique and Talented President in United States and World History"



https://www.whitehousegiftshop.com/product-p/coin7-case.htm

[Disaffected]

9. And this:

GENIUS MAKES ITS OWN RULES with a Monograph "President Donald J. Trump: A Study in Genius"


Good grief, The Onion or someone must have hacked their website - this cannot be real.

[captain queeg]

3. There goes my appetite. Probably won't be able to eat dinner tonite.

[procon]

4. It's so ghoulish, Trump must be ecstatic with his

new coins celebrating something so macabre as his criminally incompetent mismanagement of the corona virus.

[ramblin_dave]

6. That web site is a private vendor, not government related

Per Josh Marshall...

Link to tweet

[Celerity]

8. No, the White House is not selling coronavirus-themed commemorative coins for $100

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-white-house-is-not-selling-a-125-coronavirus-coin-2020-4

On Wednesday, the Internet stumbled upon what looked like the White House selling decorative coins commemorating the US' coronavirus response for the price of $100 each, promising to "donate" the proceeds.
Almost immediately, thousands of angry tweeters accused the White House of profiting off the deadly coronavirus crisis, including Sen. Bernie Sanders.

But the supposed "White House Gift Shop" coins aren't made by the White House at all, but by a private, for-profit company that has no connection at all to the federal government.

Talking Points Memo found in 2018 that the White House Gift Shop was initially created in 1946 and run by the Secret Service Uniformed Division Benefit Fund. When the fund shut down in 2013, it transferred ownership of the shop to Gianni Strategic Enterprises, a private company incorporated in Pennsylvania and not affiliated with the White House.

Snip

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/white-house-gift-shop-tpm-investigation-continues