Alex Shagin was born in Russia, near Leningrad, on January 21, 1947. Alexander George Shagin is the only child of George and Ekaterina Shagin. He studied at the Vera Mukhina School of Arts and Design, completing his education in 1971. Shortly after completing his education he was drafted into the soviet army where he spent a little over a year.

Following his discharge, he became an apprentice at the Leningrad Mint. As an apprentice, he submitted his diploma project, a medal of Peter the Great, to the Soviet authorities. His work was so admired that he was recommended for appointment as an artist of the mint. By 1974, Shagin had become a leading designer and sculptor.

In the 1970’s the Leningrad mint was involved mostly in the production of medals and commemorative coins. Shagin was responsible to produce at least one medal every two months. Although he was allowed a rather wide latitude in his work, all of his designs had to be approved by the Council of Art medals before they could be struck.

By the end of the 1970’s, Shagin began to become more and more concerned about the Soviet government’s control over his artistic expression. While visiting an exhibit of medals in Poland in 1978, Shagin was astonished to learn of the artistic freedom his Polish colleagues. During that visit Shagin became convinced that he had to seek artistic freedom in the West.

David Lisot of Coin Television Interviews Alex Shagin at the recent Long Beach Expo

Upon his return to Leningrad, Shagin applied for an exit visa. This so angered the Soviet officials that he was immediately relieved of his position. After waiting more than a year, during which time he had no means of earning a living, he was finally given an exit visa. In 1979 Shagin emigrated to the United States and now resides in Santa Monica, California where he continues his art.

He has works in museums and private collections around the world, including the Hermitage Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, Yad Vashem Museum, the British Museum and the Swedish Royal Medallic Collection. In 2002, as First Vice President of the American Medallic Sculpture Association (A.M.S.A.) he participated in the Federation Internationale de le Medaille (F.I.D.E.M.) congress by designing a special presentation medal for the American Delegation–The Medal of Liberty presented to twelve individuals by Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Each project Alex Shagin designs is a personal tribute to the freedom and democracy he found since immigrating to America from Russia in the 1980’s. His work on the Moscow Olympics (1980) and Los Angeles Olympics (1984) led to international recognition culminating in the American Numismatic Society’s Saltus Award in 1995. He has created works for the US Mint, Singapore Mint, Israel Government Mint, American Numismatic Association, Leningrad Mint, The White House (Ronald Reagan) to name a few.

Updated 10-19-10
The first informational meeting of the recently created Gold & Silver Political Action Committee (GSPAC) occurred in Long Beach, California on September 22, 2010. The creation of the PAC was prompted by enactment of new Internal Revenue Service Form 1099 reporting requirements and other proposed legislation that could create tremendous burdens on dealers as well as collectors and investors.

GSPAC is registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Thirty-one people attended the inaugural meeting in Long Beach, including state and federal government relations experts, rare coin and bullion dealers, executives of several national numismatic organizations and a former US Mint Director who also previously served as chief of the majority staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

“The Gold & Silver PAC is an effort to elect public officials with a better understanding of the numismatic and precious metals community and pending legislation and regulatory issues that could positively impact or adversely affect the hobby and profession,” said Barry Stuppler, Chairman of GSPAC.

“GSPAC does not compete with existing organizations, such as the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA) or the Coalition for Equitable Regulation and Taxation (CERT). By working to elect legislators who understand our community’s needs, issues and concerns, we complement their efforts in Washington and state capitals.”
Veteran government legislative specialist, Nicholas A. Pyle, President of Pyle & Associates in Washington, is volunteering his time to work with GSPAC and among those attending the meeting. Pyle will create an informal “Congressional Coin Caucus” composed of members of Congress interested in coin and precious metals issues.

Stuppler outlined nine “core issues” that GSPAC will use as criteria to evaluate candidates:
• IRS Form 1099 reporting on purchases of merchandise over $600
• Regulation of the purchasing and marketing practices of gold and precious metals dealers
• Enforcement of the Ancient Antiquities Act on Greek and Roman coin imports.
• Problems caused by high-quality Chinese-made counterfeit coins and bogus certified numismatic holders
• Traveling and hotel gold buyers who may be purchasing gold coins and jewelry without required licenses
• Allowing certified rare coins to be placed in IRA accounts
• Exempting coins, currency and precious metals from possible Value Added Taxes (VAT)
• Exempting coins, currency and precious metals from the Streamlined Sales Tax Plan (SSTP) all inter-state Internet or mail-order sales taxes
• Capital gains tax rates on precious metals and rare coins

“I am excited to share that the Gold & Silver PAC raised over $160,000 in contributions from individuals and another $150,000 in pledges,” explained Stuppler. (more…)

The recently concluded Boston ANA World’s Fair of Money provided CoinTelevision Producer David Lisot ample opportunity to discuss the current market conditions with a variety of dealers and numismatic personalities.

Over the next few days CoinLink will present several of these short interviews along with some of the National Mint press conferences which highlight new coins that are going to be releases this coming year.

Our first installment presents Ed Reiter, well known numismatic writer and current editor of Coinage Magazine.

Ed recently retired after 50 years as a newspaper writer and copy editor, including nearly a decade as coin columnist for the Sunday New York Times. He remains senior editor of COINage, a monthly hobby magazine where he have held this post, working from home as a sideline to his newspaper work, for more than 23 years.

ED also handle free-lance writing and editing projects, mostly related to coin collecting but sometimes on unrelated subjects. He is the author of “The New York Times Guide to Coin Collecting,” a book published by St. Martin’s Press in 2002. Since 1990, he have been executive director of the Numismatic Literary Guild, a professional organization made up of several hundred writers, editors and others around the world who help disseminate information about the hobby.