By
The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Somebody is adding his two bits to the Confederate flag debate by stamping the banner onto the back of some recently minted South Carolina quarters.
So far, four of the altered quarters have turned up in people's change, and the Secret Service is investigating the highly detailed defacing. The Confederate flag, with its stars arrayed in an X, was stamped over the palmetto tree, the Carolina wren and the state flower, the yellow jessamine.
Few people "have the time or talents to do this," said Secret Service agent Pete Ostergren. "It was a very fine job. There were no scratches or etches."
Ostergren said it was a small problem, but "it's nothing you want to see circulated with an emblem that someone might find offensive."
Those who deface money can be fined or punished with five years in jail.
A former lieutenant commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans says there are better ways to support flying the flag.
"Fly them at home, put bumper stickers on cars," R.G. Wilson of Easley said Friday. "There are a variety of ways, but you don't have to deface a coin.
"It's harmful for us who are trying to put a realistic view on the issue."
Flag supporters say the banner is part of the state's heritage, but opponents say it is a symbol of racism.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People started a tourism boycott of the state last year to protest the flag, which at the time flew above the Statehouse.
The flag was lowered from the dome in July, but a similar flag was raised at the Confederate Soldier Memorial on Statehouse grounds, which the civil-rights group says still is too prominent.
Jimmy Sellers, owner of Carolina Gold and Silver in Columbia, said he has seen "all kinds of gimmicks" during his 27 years in the coin business.
"People make them as novelty items," Sellers said. "Somebody with a little determination could do it."
But, he said, "it can never have any significant value because then people would make more."
