# Civil War Commemorative Coin (Liberian Dollars?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 2, 2001, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-commemorative-coin-liberian-dollars/52835 "2001-02-02T06:50:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-commemorative-coin-liberian-dollars/52835/1 "2001-02-02T06:50:42Z")
I’ve seen a commercial a few times lately that advertises a civil war commemorative silver coin for $5. No shipping and handling. It said it was legal tender. Later in the commercial, in fine print, it says “Liberian Dollars”. So, I say “AH HA!” to myself, and head online to look for the exchange rate. From [http://www.OANDA.COM](http://www.OANDA.COM) : > [@](#): > > 5 Liberian Dollar = 11.76471 US Dollar How can this be? Anyone got the Dope on this? I searched all over for the coin, but could only find one, broken link. Now, I know these guys aren’t selling these things for an over 200% loss. What’s going on here? ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-commemorative-coin-liberian-dollars/52835/2 "2001-02-02T08:37:41Z")
Was it a 5 (Liberian) dollar coin, or were they _selling_ it for 5 dollars? That would make a difference… ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-commemorative-coin-liberian-dollars/52835/3 "2001-02-02T08:51:23Z")
Went to the same converter. Something seems wrong- AFAIK, the Liberian dollar is so much toilet paper. It can’t be worth more than the USD. Perhaps they missed a decimal place. According to Yahoo! currency exchanger, there are 42 Liberian dollars to one USD. So, it appears your site got ot wrong. Thus a $5 coin is worth about a dime. ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-commemorative-coin-liberian-dollars/52835/4 "2001-02-02T15:51:53Z")
Thanks, DITWD, I just _knew_ something was fishy with that. ---
**Author:** ![JamesCarroll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@JamesCarroll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JamesCarroll)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-commemorative-coin-liberian-dollars/52835/5 "2001-02-02T16:10:59Z")
Well this [site](http://www.xe.com/ucc/full.shtml) gives a 1:1 rate. The plot thickens. ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-war-commemorative-coin-liberian-dollars/52835/6 "2001-02-02T16:34:59Z")
The [CIA World Factbook](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/li.html#Econ) on Liberia gives the **official** rate as being tied 1:1 with the US Dollar, but the **market exchange rate** (i.e. what you’d get if you went to a bank) as 40:1 as of 12/98. In other words, just because the Liberian government says the coin is worth $X, doesn’t mean that anyone has to give you that amount for it.