TIMOTHY HAROLD LAPOINTE (1947-2023)

The April death of Timothy LaPointe has gone mostly unnoticed in the numismatic media. Although he was involved in what may have been the greatest scandal in numismatic history, his contribution is little noted and not long remembered.

Timothy LaPointe was born in Chicago on January 3, 1947. He was the son of Kenneth P. LaPointe and Edith C. LaPointe. In the 1950 census, Kenneth was listed working in an aircraft assembly plant in San Diego.

Timothy LaPointe graduated from Pierce College in Los Angeles with a degree in business.

He married Nancy M. Corbett in Los Angeles on September 13. 1969. The marriage lasted less than four years and ended in divorce in April 1973. He played semi-pro baseball and signed a contract with the California Angels.

He began working for Numismatic Funding Corporation (NFC) in 1973. There he implemented a successful inventory management system. After two years he moved to the wholesale arm of NFC, with Old Roman Coin Exchange in New York City. He attempted to go into business for himself, but lacked adequate capitalization to succeed.

Then in 1978 he joined New England Rare Coin Galleries as executive sales representative in the wholesale department in Boston. He contributed a Market Report to their Inventory Selections publication. When the company became Heritage, he moved to Texas. In the 1980's he worked for Numismatic Certification Institute.

 

In 1989 he became director of sales for the numismatic and collector investor division of Ruffco Financial Services in Provo, Utah.

In 1992 he was appointed executive vice president of Numismatic Investments of Ohio in Toledo. That firm was affiliated with Tom Noe and Vintage Coins and Collectibles in Maumee, Ohio. By 1998, Vintage Coins was nearly insolvent. Then the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation gave Tom Noe $25 million to go play in the coin market. He spread the money over several subsidiary companies. He also used money from the coin fund to pay off debts and to improve Florida property.

Occasionally auditors would stop by to see how the fund was doing. Based on glowing reports of success, he was given another $25 million in 2001. A 2006 audit was not so favorable. Ohio State Auditor Betty Montgomery reported that Noe owed the state 13.56 million dollars.

On February 13, 2006, Noe and Lapointe were indicted on charges of racketeering, theft, forgery and money laundering. At trial, LaPointe testified against his friend and former boss.

When inspectors were coming, they would borrow coins from customers and other dealers to create the appearance of coins in the fund inventory. LaPoint testified that he made up phony purchase orders to give the appearance that they owned the borrowed coins.

The company bookkeeper, Jeannie Beck, testified that the company borrowed money from the fund but recorded this as a purchase, as instructed by LaPointe. It appeared that the coin fund purchased coins from Vintage Coins. At other times, the fund wrote checks payable directly to Noe.

Priscilla Livingston, retail sales manager, reported that the store didn't make much money. She testified that LaPoint controlled the computerized inventory of the coin fund and told her what coins belonged to the store and what belonged to the fund. She was rewarded with a $10,000 bonus in 2004.

On November 27, 2006, LaPointe pleaded guilty to three counts of record tampering. On January 8. 2007, he was sentenced to three years in state prison. He served time at Ohio Hocking Correctional Facility.

There were two parts to the Coingate scandal. It began with an investigation into illegal campaign contributions from Noe. Charges were made against twenty-one people with nineteen convicted including Ohio Governor Taft.

Mismanagement of the coin fund resulted in charges only for Noe and LaPointe. After all the assets were liquidated, the state recovered about $56 million from their $50 million investment. However, they lost out on interest that should have been earned by the investment.

After release from prison, Lapointe went to work for Casey Noxon with Texas Numismatic Investments Inc, (TNII) They attended the 2023 Central States show at Schaumberg, Illinois. After the show they got in the car to drive home. Noxon noticed that Lapointe appeared to be unconscious. He could not be revived.

LaPointe died on April 27, 2023. His obituary was published in The Blade on May 7, 2023. His survivors include his wife, Beth, and sons Jason and Kyle. The obituary mentioned that he was an athlete, a soldier, a leader, and a provider. It makes no mention of his profession.

The obituary can be found at https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/toledoblade/name/tim- lapointe-obituary?id=51802710

 

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