FIRST-EVER COIN MINTED TO INCLUDE MESSAGE AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING
by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The innovative prototype coin is issued by the United Future World Currency (UFWC) a global currency initiative. The prototype coin carries the message of ending human trafficking prominently depicted on the obverse the first-of-its-kind to include this socially aware message.
The coin is being struck by the Royal Mint UK in eco-silver* and includes the silhouette images of a man and woman back-to-back with a broken chain of five links. The reverse is designed by Luc Luycx, the graphic artist behind the designs of the EURO.
President Barack Obama designated the month of January as “National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month” in the US, the UFWC have developed this eye-opening campaign to take build on the growing worldwide initiative.
Dr. Sandro Sassoli, founder of the UFWC commented, “We want our project to encourage Mints and central banks to issue a coin that ends up in the hands of the public and raise awareness of this very important cause”.
As part of the launch and project, UFWC are approaching more-than 60 world Mints attending the World Money Fair to encourage them to issue a coin with the message of ending human trafficking and modern-day slavery.
The UFWC are pleased to announce that several Mints and Central Banks have already expressed an interest to participate in this initiative ahead of the launch.
The statistics of human trafficking are staggering, it affects the smallest village, town and big city and no continent is exempt. The figures are growing in terms of the number of women and men becoming victims.
The international campaign organized by the UFWC will continue into 2013 and beyond. Coins have been conveying important messages for more than two thousand years and this coin is meant to speak for those who can’t.
According to the latest UN figures, there are an estimated number of between 10 and 30 million people world-wide who are either enslaved or in bonded servitude; many of them are children, and not just in third-world countries.
No country, continent or community is exempt from this scourge, it crosses race, religion, ethnic background. Both women and men become unwitting victims of unscrupulous crime syndicates who buy and sell human beings as easy as going out for a coffee or burger.
The nominal amount of money involved to buy a human being from a remote Asian village is just US$50. Just two of the UFWC prototype coins can procure one human being!
The UFWC prototype (model) “1” unit coin is struck in Britannia silver (.958 fineness) with a weight of 20 grams and a diameter of 32 mm. The prototype coin is struck in proof quality with a total mintage limited to just 200 examples. The insignia of the Royal Mint appears on the reverse along with the “eco-silver” logo.
The coin is being struck in eco-silver, (a product developed by Cookson Precious Metals) a responsibly sourced precious metal from a dedicated line of recycled silver, thus eliminating the need for further mining activities which are harmful to the environment.
The prototype coin will be made available to several organizations who promote ending human trafficking and anti-slavery as presentation pieces. The coin will also be presented to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon by the UFWC in conjunction with the United Nation’s campaign to end human trafficking.
The United Future World Currency gained international attention during the G8 Summit held in L’Aquila, Italy in 2009. Their first UFWC prototype gold coins were presented to attending heads of state and government.
The UFWC prototype coins were made part of a recent presentation to more than 40 heads of State & government at the South-South awards (a United Nations Development Program sponsored project) in New York City in conjunction with the opening ceremonies of the General assembly on the 19th September.
The United Future World Currency (UFWC) was developed in 1996 as the initiative of Dr. Sandro Sassoli after a meeting and consultation with Prof. Arthur Schlesinger Jr., former counselor to US president John F. Kennedy. The idea behind the initiative is to develop a worldwide recognized currency independent of the US dollar, Euro, sterling or other national currency free from any one political or national allegiance.
While I am well aware that there are a fair number of people who will come around claiming that this is the planned currency of the New World Order and will jump about telling us how bad this is going to be.
As far as I am concerned on this level it is a nigh pure silver coin that may actually become a recognized trade round and that should please many of us who consider that silver coins should form part of a survival preparedness plan.
Having said that, however, that does not mean that precious metal coins should be our primary TEOTWAKI insurance; skills and other things for barter should be and are more important. A number of silver coins would not go amiss, for sure.
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© 2012
