Updated 10/19/2009 – The Township of Montville, New Jersey police department is investigating the October 11, 2009 auto burglary of coin dealer Julian Leidman. Mr. Leidman was en route home after participating in Coinfest Coin Show held in Stamford Connecticut. The suspect or suspects entered Leidman’s vehicle by smashing out a side window during a stop in Pine Brook, New Jersey. Virtually his entire inventory was taken ; over 1,000 coins including about 300 certified, encapsulated items as well as currency ranging from Colonial era to small size notes. Fortunately, Mr. Leidman was unhurt in the incident.

Mr Leidman stated some of the significant coins included; ” several scarce Saints, 1920-s, 1921, 1925-s, 1927-s, & 1932. There is a 1794 dollar that is flawed. There are several Gem Busties, including 1806 O-123, prime; 1807 O-113, 1826, 1829, 1832. There is currency from colonial thru small size; some foreign coins from minor thru gold, probably numbering a few hundred coins. The most identifiable is a 1929 German 5 Mark that is about 25% off center and probably unique.” Other coins taken in the theft include 1873 proof pattern silver Trade dollar (J-1276), graded NGC PF65; 1879 proof silver dollar (J-1617), NGC PF65; and an 1892-O proof Morgan dollar described as very choice.

The response from both the collector and dealer community was a mixture of shock, concern and resolve. Immediately after the burglary was announced the message boards started to inquire as to Mr. Leidman’s safety, which then spun into requests for lists of the coins taken and a number of emails sent to surrounding coin shops warning them to be on the lookout for any unusual offerings of coins.

Coinfest owners Jon Lerner and Laura Sperber each immediately offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for this robbery. This was followed up by The Professional Numismatist Guild contributing an additional $2,500 to the reward, and dealer William Dominick is contributing an additional $10,000. This was followed by others dealers contributions; John Albanese $10,000, Kenny Duncan $10,000, Kevin Lipton $10,000, Bob Higgins has added another $1000 as did James Long, and Wayne Herndon also added $2,500 to the reward fund.

Since this story was first posted additional contributions to the reward fund have come in; Matt Lerner $1,000, Joseph O’Connor $5,000, John Feigenbaum $ 2,500,James Sego $1,000, Larry Shapiro $1,000, Ray Hinkelman + Phil Hinkelman $1,000, Tom Crabtree $ 5,000, Dave Wnuck & John Agre $ 2,500, Dave Albanese $1,000, Rob Lehman $1,000, Bill Panitch $ 500, Cary Moomijian $ 1,000,Ron Chiasson $ 500, Ken Goldman $ 2,000, John Abbott $ 1,000, Michael Casper $ 1,000, Elliott Durann – $ 500, Dave Schweitz – $ 2,500, Chris McCawley – $ 1,000, John Pasciuti $1,000, Shawn Bergan $ 250, Steve Gerhinger $2,500, David Weygant $ 1,000, Jan Olav Aamlid $ 1,000, Ed Milas $ 1,000, Harry Jones $1000, Paul Montgomery $ 1,000, Harry Laibstain $ 1,000, Fred Weinberg $ 1,000, Matthew DeRoma $ 1,000, Jack Lee $ 1,000, Heritage $10000, John Maben $5000, Paul Nugget- Greg Roberts- Andrew Glassman- Bobby Avena $3500, Don Kagin $1000, Sheridan Downey $2500, Andy Lustig $1000, Jason Carter $2500, Allan Rowe $1000, Tom Bush $ 1,000, Sam Lopresto $1000, Dustin Massie $1000, Whitman Publ. $2500, Stack’s $2500, Andrew Kimmel $1000, Dana Samuelson $1000, David Hall $10000, PCGS $5000, Sil DiGenova $2000, Coininfo.com $1000, Rocky Mountain Coin $500, Lee Minshull $5000

Presently the reward has grown to $122,500.

We urge Any Dealer or Collector to contact Detective Christopher M. Keezer of the Montville NJ Police Department at 973-257-4113 (CKeezeer@MontvilleNJ.org)or Julian Leidman at 301-585-8467 if they have any information about this crime, or think that any of the coins listed below are being offered for sale either online or in person. This is especially true for those attending flea markets, local auction houses, online auctions and “Brick and Mortar” coin shops on the East Coast.
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Chinese-made counterfeit coins pose a significant financial threat to unsuspecting consumers, according to leaders of five of the country’s most influential rare coin organizations. They warn the public is spending millions of dollars on fake U.S. coins offered in online auctions and elsewhere, such as flea markets and swap meets.

In a jointly-issued consumer advisory (below) the groups caution the public not to purchase any so-called “replica” coins because they may be in violation of federal law. They also urge consumers to only purchase genuine rare coins from reputable, professional dealers or face the risk of losing money on copies that are illegal to re-sell.

Below is the consumer protection warning issued by (in alphabetical order) the American Numismatic Association (www.money.org), the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (www.ICTAonline.org), Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (www.NGCcoin.com), Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) and the Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.com).

Hobby periodicals report that more than a million counterfeit coins manufactured in China have been fraudulently sold in the United States posing a significant financial risk for unsuspecting consumers. Buyer beware! Consumers who buy an item based only on its perceived rarity and who have no knowledge as to how to determine whether the coin is genuine subject themselves to great risk of losing their money

The American Numismatic Association (ANA), the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA), Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) and the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) urge consumers to educate themselves before making purchases: know what you are buying and purchase only from reputable, experienced rare coin dealers (professional numismatists).

“We believe many of these counterfeits subsequently are being resold as genuine rare coins in online auctions and at flea markets and swap meets,” said Clifford Mishler, ANA President.

“Millions of dollars already have been spent on these fakes and potentially millions more may be unwittingly lost by consumers who mistakenly think they’re getting a genuine rare coin,” warned Paul Montgomery, PNG President.
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Mark Naber, founder of ForgeryNetwork.com, answers a few questions about collectable coin forgeries and the purpose of ForgeryNetwork.com.

How bad is the risk of buying counterfeits?

This really is quite a complicated question, depending on what you buy, what venue you buy through and your expertise in the area you collect and your ability to identify the tell tale signs of counterfeits. The dealer and geographical location of where your buy your coins will also impact the risk of buying a counterfeit. For example, if you are inexperienced collector looking for bargains on EBay from unknown dealers, in places such as China, you will almost certainly purchase counterfeits. On the other end of spectrum if you are experienced and buying from reputable dealers whom are experienced in that area, your risk is very low. Knowledge of what you are buying and whom you are buying through is the key to lowering risk. This is nothing new to most seasoned collectors, but it is unfortunate to see new collectors falling into these traps.

What would you advise new collectors to do?

The best advice I would give new collectors is to start small and slowly gain the knowledge as you go. By small I mean don’t spend much – let your spending habits slowly increase along with your expertise. Buy from reputable dealers whom specialise in what you wish to collect, join relevant clubs and discussion boards on the internet and learn; there is a wealth of information nowadays thanks to the internet. There is also a rule of thumb that one should spend 5%-10% of your annual collection budget upon books about coins and coin forgeries. The most risky thing a new collector can do is look for bargains without adequate knowledge. The old saying applies – If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. (more…)