PREV ARTICLE
NEXT ARTICLE
FULL ISSUE
PREV FULL ISSUE
U.S. CONGRESSMEN CALL FOR ACTION ON COUNTERFEITSAccording to a Press Release published October 27, 2017, two Congressmen have presented a letter to the U.S. Mint urging them to act on counterfeit precious metal coins.
-Editor
Congressmen Alex Mooney (R-WV) and Frank Lucas (R-OK) today delivered a formal letter to the United States Mint and Secret Service, urging aggressive action on the growing problem of high-quality counterfeits of U.S. precious metals coins entering the country from China and elsewhere. “Enclosed herewith is a 1995 1 oz. Gold American Eagle coin, carrying a face value $50 and ostensibly minted by the U.S. Mint,” Mooney and Lucas wrote. “You are free to keep it, as it’s a worthless tungsten fake.” As members of the House Financial Services subcommittee which oversees the U.S. Mint, Congressmen Mooney and Lucas are seeking information from the government institution responsible for the production of coinage for the United States, such as “the nature and quantity of complaints – and resulting investigations – regarding counterfeit U.S. gold, silver, and platinum coins within the last two years,” and “what anti-counterfeiting programs, if any, are in place to protect the integrity of U.S. coins minted specifically of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.” The congressmen request information as to whether, and to what extent, the U.S. Mint has taken proactive steps to protect the integrity of America’s minted coins, including reviewing and implementing the anti-counterfeiting measures already put in place certain foreign government and private mints. To read the complete article, see: And as noted last week, Mint director (re)nominee David Ryder cited his private sector experience with anti-counterfeiting and security measures and stated that a priority would
be fighting sophisticated, high-quality counterfeiting of United States bullion coins.
I don't know if any of these events have been coordinated or inspired by the Industry Council for Tangible Assets' Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force; sometimes it's best not to inquire about the sausage-making process. But it's encouraging to see some high-level attention being paid to these issues. The next article describes one solution being explored by the U.K.'s Royal Mint. -Editor To read earlier E-Sylum articles, see: Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
|