This is an actual 4 coin set of $2 silver coins minted by the New Zealand mint for Niue.  Apparently the brainchild of PFG Best, I bought this set mainly for sh*ts and giggles because it was so ludicrous (I got 2, one for me, and one for a friend who would appreciate the joke).

The units that came from Amazon (shipped by MTV no less) had all the coins scuffed up because they simply couldn’t be tightly secured in the chest the way it was designed and still stand up to shipping.  Everything had come out of the capsules inside the chests and banged against each other, so they were returned.  I then ordered these from APMEX, and I still had to return two coins that had escaped their capsules.

This little piece of numismatic absurdity might have disappeared into obscurity if not for the fact that the CEO of PFG admitted to defrauding investors of $100 million and could not account for over $200 million in customer funds.  The FBI then promptly raided PFG sometime in July (http://www.mining.com/peregrine-ceo-had-a-penchant-for-spongebob-squarepants-silver/) and presumably confiscated any remaining stock of the 100,000 set limited run.

This of course, immediately led to a huge rush by speculators to get a hold of a set, meaning a quick sell out of the stock in the hands of retailers and distributors.  As of 18th September, I’ve seen an auction close at $710 for a set of these.  I’m seriously tempted to send them for grading, if only to imagine the amount of stoic professionalism a grader would have to summon to do his or her job.