World News

Italian counterfeit coin mint raided

Published: Aug. 17, 2011 at 11:36 AM

NAPLES, Italy, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Police in Naples, Italy, say they've busted a counterfeit mint capable of making perfect copies of one-euro coins.

In the Wednesday raid, police found sufficient raw material to make 10,000 euros, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The storefront facility in the center of Naples contained advanced minting machinery that could accurately reproduce the coins, including the magnetic stamp specifically intended "to make the coins difficult to counterfeit," the European Central Bank, which oversees legitimate euro minting, said.

Police seized 107 finished counterfeit one-euro coins, which experts said were perfect replicas that could be circulated in Italy and throughout Europe.

Police said a 30-year-old ex-convict was arrested.

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