The American Numismatic Association urges its members to contact their members of Congress and ask to repeal a law that could significantly increase the paperwork burden on dealers and increase the risk of identity theft for all collectors who buy and sell numismatic material.

Under Section 9006 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as health care reform legislation, businesses will be required to report all goods and services purchased in excess of $600 with an IRS 1099 form. As written, the law would, beginning in 2012, require all coin dealers to report on IRS form 1099 all goods and services (totaled across a taxable year) they purchase from other dealers and customers in excess of $600.

While the legislation applies to all types of businesses, an unusual burden would be placed on numismatic dealers who, unlike most businesses, buy goods and services from each other and their retail clients. In addition, dealers will be required to gather personal information on all clients who sell them goods or services in excess of $600, including name, address and social security number.

“All dealers will be disproportionately and unfairly impacted by this legislation,” said ANA Executive Director Larry Shepherd. “As a former dealer, I can see how a small-to-medium-sized dealer could easily be required to submit 1,000 or more 1099s in a typical year, at very significant cost. In addition, all collectors would be forced to give out personal information that could increase the possibility of identity theft. This section of the healthcare reform bill is a nightmare for everyone in this hobby. We need to make sure that our voices are heard.”

Shepherd cautioned that the numismatic community should understand that this is not a new tax, but rather a method by which the IRS can collect more information in hopes that more taxpayers will report taxable income. The assumption is that the new regulation would generate about $17 billion over 10 years, increasing tax revenue to cover some of the costs of health care reform.

Already, Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) has introduced HR 5141 to repeal this part of the health care reform act, and Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) has introduced a companion bill in the Senate, S. 3578. Both bills are titled “The Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act,” and will likely need more co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and Senate.

“The ANA urges everyone who loves this hobby to contact your representatives and urge them to sign on to HR 5141 and to contact both your senators and urge them to sign on to S. 3578,” Shepherd said.

The ANA has posted sample letters from dealers or collectors below and on its website at www.money.org.

For contact information on your members of Congress, go to www.house.gov or www.senate.gov. Anyone without a computer should contact the local office of your representative or senator, or call the U.S. Capitol at 202-224-3121. (more…)

Two hundred limited-edition copies of Paper Money of the United States, 19th Edition, numbered and signed by co-authors Arthur L. Friedberg and Ira S. Friedberg, will be available for purchase at the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Boston. The books are $80 (tax included) and will be available August 12-14 in the ANA Museum Showcase on the bourse floor. Proceeds will benefit the ANA Edward C. Rochette Money Museum.

These special hardcover copies are part of the release of the book’s new 19th edition, and include an attractive dust jacket with gold foil lettering. The cover features the image of an 1863 $100 Legal Tender note from the ANA Bebee Collection of U.S. Paper Money. Many other photographs of notes from the Bebee Collection are used throughout the book.

First offering will be to convention attendees on a first-come, first serve basis. A silent auction for the first three numbered copies will be held, with a minimum bid of $80 for each copy. The auction will be at the ANA Museum Showcase, and will begin Aug. 12 at 9:30 a.m. and end Aug. 14 at 3 p.m. Attendees wishing to purchase a specific-numbered copy can e-mail museum@money.org before the show to request a number for an additional $15.

Co-author Arthur L. Friedberg will be available at the Museum Showcase Aug. 12 at 2 p.m. and Aug. 13 and 14 at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. for one-hour sessions to provide personalized autographs and discuss the book. Purchases and bids can only be made by convention attendees, but those not attending may enlist an agent to make bids on their behalf.

Paper Money of the United States is the premier reference book for United States paper currency. Originally authored in 1953 by Robert Friedberg, Arthur and Ira’s father, the book illustrates, catalogs, describes and places values on all U. S. paper money from 1861 to the present. The Friedberg numbering system is the method used by numismatists to identify and describe notes.

The World’s Fair of Money, held this year at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, is the nation’s premiere money show. Show hours are 1-5:30 p.m. August 10, and 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. August 11-14. Dealer set-up is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, August 10. Admission is $6 for adults, and free for ANA members and children 12 and under. For more information on all of the show highlights, call 719-482-9857 or visit www.worldsfairofmoney.com.

The American Numismatic Association has named Rick Snow its 2010 Numismatist of the Year. Snow will receive his award on August 13 during the Awards Reception at the ANA World’s Fair of Money in Boston.

President of Eagle Eye Rare Coins in Tucson since 1992, Richard “Rick” Snow started collecting in 1972, focusing on large cents and colonial coinage. In 1977 he attended his first ANA Summer Seminar, where he took the “Counterfeit Detection” course. He sold most of his collection during the mid-1980s while drifting through Tennessee and Mississippi looking for work.

Snow moved to Tucson to live with his sister and started to renew his collection. His knowledge of coins and ANA life membership got him a job at Allstate Coin Company in Tucson in 1986.

His experiences there and interaction with other hobby professionals allowed Snow to gather the information he needed to write his first book, Flying Eagle and Indian Cents. To make time to promote the book, Snow left Allstate and became an independent coin dealer.

As one of the few specialists in the hobby, Snow sells $2 to $3 million in cents annually. He also continues to write award-winning reference books on his favorite subjects – Flying Eagle and Indian Head cents – and writes and edits Longacre’s Ledger, the official journal of the Fly-In Club, which he co-founded. Snow is preparing to launch his new business, GreatCoins.com, an Internet auction company geared toward honest practices and consumer protection.

He is a 2007 recipient of the ANA’s Glenn Smedley Memorial Award.

The American Numismatic Association is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to encouraging people to study and collect money and related items.