By the Gold and Silver Political Action Committee ……
On Sunday evening, July 21, 2024, a group of 10 of our industry’s leaders assembled for dinner with U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA30) to discuss issues related to the numismatic and precious metal industry. Congressman Schiff is currently running for the U.S. Senate from California and is considered the favorite to win this November.
The inspiration and coordination of the event came from hobby veteran Barry Stuppler who, as co-founder and past president of the California Coin Dealer Association, has for several decades been at the forefront of protecting our industry from government interference and educating politicians and influencers about the numismatic and precious metals industry.
Our industry’s message to all political influencers is that while our industry is fiercely independent and self-regulated, we are here to assist various levels of government, promoting state-wide tax issues/exemptions, and providing consumer protection by exposing industry bad guys, assisting in counterfeit detection and reporting and evaluating stolen/confiscated numismatic material.
The dinner was graciously hosted by Kevin and Dale Lipton at their beautiful home in Beverly Hills.
The two-hour dinner and discussion included educating the genuinely curious Congressman about the nature of our industry and our challenges in the political arena. Adam Schiff asked about the difference between the numismatic and precious metals worlds, the effect of cryptocurrency, and about dealing with the bad players in our industry. Then (as astute politicians do) he asked each of us for our backgrounds.
Others in attendance included Barry’s son, David Stuppler (MintStateGold); Kevin Lipton (Kevin Lipton Rare Coins); Stephanie Sabin, President of PCGS; Greg Roberts, President of Spectrum, Stacks Bowers Galleries and A-Mark Precious Metals; Don Kagin (Kagin, Inc.), who presented Congressman Schiff with a copy of his latest book; and longtime coin dealers John Dannreuther and Richard Schwary. Also in attendance were California Coin Dealer Association lobbyist Steve Cattolica and Lester Friedman, Mayor of Beverly Hills.
The importance of this meeting cannot be overstated. It is essential that our industry have access to every government leader–no matter their party affiliation. We are a small (tiny by some standards) industry and cannot afford to be blindsided by detrimental legislation or regulations.
In 2014, our association worked with legislators to pass the Collectible Coin Protection Act, and it was signed into law by President Barack Obama. This legislation allowed Homeland Security to seize shipments of counterfeit coins coming into our country while protecting the trademarks of our leading grading services. Our industry has learned that having a relationship with key legislators, both state and federal, is important to the welfare of our community.
If you are interested in learning more by contacting an influential politician or have any other ideas to promote/protect our industry, please contact [email protected].
* * *