EXCLUSIVE: Last night, the Forbes editorial office received a letter from an anonymous hacker going by the alias ShadowMint.

He managed to find a vulnerability in the system of the official distributor of Gold Trump Coin commemorative coins. He sent the editorial team a detailed technical description and a working link that allows you to purchase an official 24-karat gold coin for just $199 instead of the market price of $200,000.

The full text of the letter is provided below

“Dear Forbes Editors,

I’m not looking for fame or money. You can call this an act of nobility—it doesn’t matter to me. I’m just tired of the lies.

While ordinary Americans struggle for years to save up for an apartment and suffer from massive inflation, big businessmen and corporations keep getting richer!

Trump is issuing coins to commemorate the 250th anniversary of independence, but what’s the reality? Americans are constantly living on credit—is that freedom? They want to sell the coins to the rich and make more money for the war.

I spent several days studying the system on their website where they sell the coin. I discovered a critical bug in the pricing module for "invited testers."

If you click on a special link, the system automatically applies a price of $199 per coin, regardless of the actual value. They haven’t fixed the bug for several days now.

I could make a fortune off this, but I decided to give ordinary people a chance. Use it quickly. As soon as they notice abnormal sales, they’ll block the link immediately.

I’m reaching out to you in the hope that you’ll act honorably. But if you don’t do this or report it to the police, the consequences will be unpleasant for Forbes. So don’t delay.

ShadowMint

Why is the commemorative coin worth more than $200,000?

The Gold Trump Coin is not just an ordinary souvenir, but a highly valuable asset officially issued by the Mint to commemorate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.

✅ The coin is made of 24-karat gold of the highest purity;
✅ The coin has a diameter of over 3 inches, while its thickness is less than half an inch;
✅ The coin features the current president. This is only the second time in history that this has happened, making the coin a collector’s item;
✅ The coin comes with a certificate of authenticity and a unique serial number in premium packaging;

The coin has a limited mintage of just 10,000 pieces. The coins are available for retail purchase on the distributor’s official website for $200,000, with a limit of five coins per person. Once official sales conclude, the remaining coins will be sold at auction. Experts estimate that in just 3–4 months, their value will reach $1,200,000–$1,500,000 per coin.

We tested the bug ourselves and confirmed that the link works

After receiving the letter, we conducted a thorough internal review of the information provided.

Our senior financial correspondent, Alex Rivera, tested the link in practice last night as soon as he received it.

“I clicked on the link sent to our email,” Alex says. “The website’s interface looked perfectly normal. When I got to the checkout page, the price was indeed $199. I placed an order for one coin, paid with my credit card, and received an official order confirmation with a tracking number. This morning I received an email with the shipping tracking number and the expected delivery date—in 4–6 business days. Just to be safe, I called the distributor’s official phone number, and they confirmed that the transaction was valid and the order had already been shipped.”

Is this legal? An explanation from a lawyer

When placing an order via a link sent by a hacker, we had some questions:

— Are they really going to send us the coin?
— Is this a legitimate transaction?
— Could we be fined or held liable?
— How legal and safe is this?

To find out the answers, we consulted Alan Dershowitz, one of America’s most renowned lawyers and legal scholars, who has earned immense respect in the legal community over the course of his long career.

— Is there any risk for the average person when buying a coin for $199, when its market value is hundreds of times higher?

Alan Dershowitz: From a legal standpoint, the situation is quite clear. If an official distributor confirms an order through its system at a price of $199 and sends a payment confirmation and tracking number, this constitutes a fully valid sales contract. The company cannot later refuse to fulfill the order simply because it “made a mistake with the price.” Under U.S. law, such a transaction is valid.

— Is there a chance the buyer might not receive the coin in the end?

Alan Dershowitz: In theory, there is always some risk, but in this case, it is minimal. We have verified the legal status of the distributor, and it is officially accredited by the Trump Organization.

— Should I be concerned about the potential legal consequences of using a "bug"?

Alan Dershowitz: No. The buyer does not hack into the system themselves or engage in any illegal activity. They simply use a publicly available link. All responsibility for any technical error lies solely with the company, not with the customer.

The lawyer's conclusion:

Purchasing a coin for $199 via this link is a legally valid transaction. The buyer is fully entitled to receive the purchased item. The risks are minimal provided that all order and payment confirmations are retained.

The vulnerability discovered by the hacker is of such great significance. Until the bug is fixed, ordinary Americans have a real chance to purchase the coin for a nominal price.

Urgent Information

The editors at Forbes are required to publish this article, but there is a very high probability that it will be taken down at the police’s request just minutes after it goes live!

While the vulnerability is still active, be sure to use this special link:

Order the coin for $199—this offer is available only once. After your first order, the price on the website will return to $200,000!

How to buy a coin for $199 right now

To receive the coin, please click the link below and place your order on the distributor’s website!

GET MY COIN

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