Samsung pays Apple $1 Billion sending 30 trucks full of 5 cent coins

November 13

This morning more than 30 trucks filled with 5-cent coins arrived at Apple’s headquarters in California. Initially, the security company that protects the facility said the trucks were in the wrong place, but minutes later, Tim Cook (Apple CEO) received a call from Samsung CEO explaining that they will pay $1 billion dollars for the fine recently ruled against the South Korean company in this way.

The funny part is that the signed document does not specify a single payment method, so Samsung is entitled to send the creators of the iPhone their billion dollars in the way they deem best.

This dirty but genius geek troll play is a new headache to Apple executives as they will need to put in long hours counting all that money, to check if it is all there and to try to deposit it crossing fingers to hope a bank will accept all the coins.

Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, told the media that his company is not going to be intimidated by a group of “geeks with style” and that if they want to play dirty, they also know how to do it.

http://thebladebrownshow.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/lawsuit-paid-in-full-samsung-pays-apple-1-billion-sending-30-trucks-full-of-5-cent-coins/

I didn't think those looked like nickels.

Apparently the story is an internet fable. http://www.examiner.com/article/samsung-pays-apple-1-billion-fine-with-5-cent-coins-online-story-spread-online

Too bad! Pretty good punk.

1) Payment 0ne billion dollars in nickels would have required almost all of the US five cent coins minted for the last ten years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Mint_coin_production

2) Nickels have been legal tender in the United States since sometime in the mid-1960's, so the premise of the story is not entirely farcical, but AS, when evaluating claims like this, you need to keep in mind Locke's proposition that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

For instance, my claim to be a disabled old fart living in Mississippi probably needs to be supported by only a modest amount of proof while a claim by me to be Oz's sock puppet might well need to be greeted with considerably more scepticism. (Who knew the Brits spell skepicism with a K. Or so insists my spell check. Is that sufficient evidence?)

Apparently the story is an internet fable.

A pretty good one, if you ask me!

but AS, when evaluating claims like this

Wherever did you get the notion that I evaluated it?

As lookin, more or less, concurred.

Back story: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2012/aug/29/apple-samsung-trucks-nickels-fake

I always check out these too-good-to-be-true stories, but not this one. I wanted to enjoy it for a little while. I had a good ten minutes until NCBored did the needful. During that time, it occurred that Apple hasn't caught many breaks lately. Twenty billion nickels in the driveway would have been a kick in the iKeister.

Isn't there a lack of federal statue requiring private businesses to accept any and all forms of US coins and currency? Perhaps there is a state law? In other words, a private business need not accept a $100 bill for a 5 cent item and also not accept 20 billion nickels for a 1 billion dollar debt. There should be come common sense involved here but I certainly understand that sometimes common is very uncommon.

Best regards,

RA1

I knew this wasn't true because there are only $1.25 billion of nickels in circulation.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2012/aug/29/apple-samsung-trucks-nickels-fake

Isn't there a lack of federal statue requiring private businesses to accept any and all forms of US coins and currency?

About the time they took all the silver out of coinage, the Feds made all US coins legal tender, That means is that you can pay debts to the government with it and you can validly offer to satisfy private debts with it provided no other means of satisfaction is specified,

A private party can still set their own terms of satisfaction. For instance, auctions often advertise something like "immediate payment of 10% in bank certified funds, balance in 10 days, yada yada." No dump trucks of nickles accepted.

Like all things legal, exceptions exist, proceed at your own risk, etc. There are some railroad bond cases from back in the thirties/forties where older bonds had provisions for payment in gold specie that were voided as against public policy. The old sign in the window (for hitch-hikers) "gas, ass or weed, nobody rides for free" is probably against public policy too, LOL.

It seems I have heard of pennies being refused, although 500 billion pennies might be worth melting down for the copper content, depending upon the current commodity market price. Is it illegal to melt pennies?

I have personally had every form of payment legal in the US either be bogus or stopped payment upon. I have had wire transfers already in my account go back to the sender. I have had cashier's checks stopped. Bogus bank checks are a dime a dozen. Naturally there is counterfeit cash as well as "tainted" cash; tainted by being over $9,999.99 or actually having drug residue on it. I once had a guy to offer gold coins for a purchase where upon I pointed him in the direction of the nearest coin dealer.

I have said for a very long time that there is a better class of crooks in aviation. So far, no one has pulled a gun on me or mugged me or done anything other than try to get into my pocket. Of course, there are some I don't mind reaching into my (front) pocket.

Best regards,

RA1

I always check out these too-good-to-be-true stories, but not this one. I wanted to enjoy it for a little while. I had a good ten minutes until NCBored did the needful. During that time, it occurred that Apple hasn't caught many breaks lately. Twenty billion nickels in the driveway would have been a kick in the iKeister.

Especially if it was in 2,775 18-wheelers! That convoy would be 30 miles long!

"A nickel weighs 5g. It would take 2,755 18-wheeler trucks (max legal tare 80,000 lbs) to carry the money."

Is it illegal to melt pennies?

Yes, it's a federal felony.

Also nickels (apparently nickels are more profitable to melt than pennies now-a-days).

Also illegal to ship them in bulk out out of US for melting elsewhere.

We NEED a few more federal felonies because we have so few now. Let's see, drugs, assaulting a federal officer, lying, cheating (on your tax return) and so many others my head spins .

I think it used to be fairly rare and only in unusual circumstances to be accused of a federal felony but it seems they have used the "circumlocution" example to include many, many others.

I cite as an example, the murder of an ordinary or other citizen which is not a federal crime but they get you on denying him or her their civil rights. It seems to make sense until you realize it is only the feds extracting their pound of flesh, not justice.

Best regards,

RA1

Depending on the cost of metals, it now costs around 10 or 11 cents to mint a nickel, so one can see where Uncle Sam might get a little peeved at some clever fellow melting the little buggers down to make a few bucks.

LOL, melt 'em and sell the metal back to the mint! The perfect racket.

Which cost more, the metal at market or the labor at way over the market?

Best regards,

RA1

RA1, you could just look it up online, lol, but if I remember right, there's about 7 to 8 cents worth of metal in a nickel. The rest is administrative overhead plus a minor distribution cost.

Enough on nickels; now it's back to our regular scheduled programming:

Just For AdamSmith

As my Japanese colleagues like to say:

Thank you too much.

Isn't there a lack of federal statue requiring private businesses to accept any and all forms of US coins and currency? Perhaps there is a state law? In other words, a private business need not accept a $100 bill for a 5 cent item and also not accept 20 billion nickels for a 1 billion dollar debt. There should be come common sense involved here but I certainly understand that sometimes common is very uncommon.

Best regards,

RA1

It's my understanding that the US Dollar must be accepted; however, on domestic airline flights, currency isn't money.