THE COIN BUSINESS AND OPERATION CHOKE POINT

PNG Executive Director Robert Brueggeman claims that the “Choke Point” program has the potential to “shut down every coin dealer” and kill the rare coin industry.

Details concerning the initiative have emerged in recent months, drawing concern from government watchdog groups and some in the media who feel that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is using extralegal means to browbeat banks and keep them from funding certain businesses in order to make them go away.

A May 7 blog post highlights the biggest success story of the anti-fraud campaign, which led to a $1.2 million settlement by North Carolina-based Fair Oaks Bank, a company that knowingly processed fraudulent transactions through a third-party payment processor.

The Department of Justice did not claim that coin dealers are “high-risk” merchants. The “high-risk” label was used in relation to “coin dealers” in an article published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the Summer of 2011—two years before Operation Choke Point was first disclosed.

In any event, the Industry Council for Tangible Assets, an organization that lobbies state and federal legislators on behalf of the rare coin and precious metal industry, are sending out a press release today saying that it’s legislative consultant, Jimmy Hayes, attended the House hearings on Operation Choke Point and….. “Based on these hearings, Hayes does not believe that coin dealers will be a target of this overreaching initiative by the Department of Justice.“

As of now, it would appear that there is no evidence that the coin industry is in peril. However, we will continue to follow the issue and keep you informed when and if the facts on the ground change.

To read the complete article, see: Numismatic Quick Hits: PNG Warning Premature + Decline in Future Prices for Baseball HOF Coins (www.coinweek.com/featured-news/numismatic-quick-hits-png-warning-debunked-decline-future-prices-baseball-hof-coins/)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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