The joke is on Bernard von NotHaus,
in the last few weeks the spread between government silver coinage and private label silver coinage has all but disappeared for the first time since the French tried to return to the gold standard in the years leading up to WWI.
Bernard von NotHaus was ahead of the curve and could have been printing decorative, commerative, or even blank rounds and come out as a leader in the world’s PM backed currency movement. Instead he’s looking at a lifetime of appeals, jail, and destitution.
I'm pretty sure the French were on the gold standard in August 1914. Did you mean WWII?