PNG leads fight against counterfeits

When the going gets tough, the Professional Numismatists Guild steps up and gets going.

It has taken over a foundation to fight counterfeits flooding into the United States.

When the Industry Council For Tangible Assets gave up the Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force, PNG stepped forward to take leadership.

As of Nov. 20, the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation board of directors now is filled by volunteer members of the Professional Numismatists Guild.

This board will handle the administrative duties and assist with fundraising needed to support task force efforts to fight fakes.

“The Foundation continues as a 501(c)(3) corporation and is separate from PNG. All donations to ACEF are tax deductible,” said the Foundation’s and PNG’s Executive Director Robert Brueggeman.

His professional background is in law enforcement and security.

“PNG will continue to provide $10,000 a year to the foundation, and individual PNG members also are making donations, such as Wayde Milas and Brett Charville, who each pledged $10,000 a year for five years,” Brueggeman said.

“The Foundation and its Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force operate solely on donations, and there is a large need for additional funds of any amount from individuals as well as hobby and trade organizations so this crucial work can continue,” Brueggeman said.

The Central Ohio Numismatic Association has again contributed $1,000 to the foundation.

Beth Deisher continues to lead the Anti-Countefeiting Task Force as coordinator.

The task force was created in early 2017 and has 44 volunteer members. She is also director of anti-counterfeiting for the foundation.

“The ongoing influx of counterfeit rare coins, bullion coins, and grading service holders in the marketplace is a potential problem for virtually every collector and dealer,” she said.

There will be a new foundation website that will go online at some point in December. This is designed to help educate the public about fakes.

“We also want to expand the task force’s network of experts who can assist law enforcement agencies in identifying counterfeits. Another planned effort in the coming year is seeking changes in local, state, and federal laws and regulations to give higher priority and faster adjudication for counterfeiting crimes,” Deisher said.

In 2018, the task force has:

• Provided assistance in more than 30 active cases of counterfeit coins and precious metal bullion products. The largest case prosecuted during 2018 involved seizure of thousands of counterfeits. If the fakes in this case had been genuine, they would have had a retail market value of more than $48 million.

• Mounted a five-case public education exhibit of counterfeit coins and bars at the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money® in August in Philadelphia.

• Conducted the first industry survey to determine prevalence of counterfeit coins and precious metals bars in the U.S. marketplace.

• Worked with supervisors of Customs and Border Protection’s regional centers to determine the best methods of providing educational materials and training for its agents to create awareness of counterfeit coins and precious metals bars illegally entering the United States.

Contact the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation at 28441 Rancho California Road, Suite 106, Temecula, CA 92590.

The phone number is 951-587-8300.

Deisher can be telephoned at 567-202-1795.

Those are the facts.

We can see that the PNG has stepped forward.

Now the test is whether the rest of us will get behind this effort to fight fakes.

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