Mark,
 
You wish to believe the "story" is not true and that is your prerogative.  
The man who had the coins analyzed was a deputy sheriff and a neighbor. The  
coins were confiscated by the Sheriff's Department and they initiated an  
investigation into the former owner. The coins were not aluminum or pot metal.  If 
anything, I probably forgot what he called the metal. The neighbor son and I  
thought the coins were pot metal, which is why he asked his dad to look into it. 
 I have always suspected the former owner stole the platinum and molded it 
into  inconspicuous coins to avoid detection.
 
There is a difference between telling a "story" and telling what happened.  
For some reason in your personal makeup, you wish to believe I was lying or 
that  someone in my experience was lying and the joke is on me. I find your 
response  insulting and wonder what your take is when you conduct oral histories 
for  research purposes. 
 
Ron