RCNA Member Selling Counterfeit Canadian NCLT

The ONA apparently had some concerns but not acted upon. Safe bet it will not happen again.

Dear Fellow Numismatists,

The Royal Canadian Numismatic Association has received an official complaint about one of its member's sale of counterfeit NCLT items. We are required to follow a protocol set out in our governing By-Laws to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of a complaint before making any judgement or comment. The person(s) initiating the complaint will be informed of the results as soon as the investigation is complete.

Further, the RCNA is acutely aware of the legal and hobby related ramifications of counterfeit collector, NCLT and bullion coins being produced in China. I want to thank everyone who has expressed concerns with the RCNA's alleged involvement and reassure you that the Association does not support the sale or exhibition of any counterfeit material as stipulated by our stringent Code of Ethics, part of our Associations By-Laws.


Sincerely,
Henry Nienhuis
President, Royal Canadian Numismatic Association

(The beginning of the email is in reference as to whether NCLT is accepted at banks or not. He claims they are not accepted at banks.)

I got this response at 10AM this morning.

Its as if he refuses to just acknowledge that it IS illegal to sell these because he's gotten away with it for so long. I just dont get it. I am "harassing" him. He actively purchases these from China for display at his shows. Giving money to these crooks.

I don't mind him displaying these coins for educational purposes. (personal opinion) However, selling these coins and introducing them into the marketplace is absolutely not acceptable when people like Mike Marshall are making an unending effort to stop these from flooding the market.

Anyways, I am glad he removed them from Kijiji, though I'm not confident he wont try to sell them elsewhere judging by his remorseless email.

On another kijiji ad he mentions trips to China, this one he lists the various numismatic associations he's involved with, I assume to assure collectors looking to sell that he's respectable and trustworthy.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-art-collecti...ionFlag=true

But that leads one to conclude that his main business isn't just selling $75 fake superman sets on kijiji....

I agree, I'm not so sure the RCMP would be too interested if there's no proof of actually having sold counterfeits, only listing, but it's reassuring that RCNA is taking the information seriously, considering membership is being used as a leverage.

Hello all forum members,
I was made aware of the ongoing situation from the RCNA President and spent considerable time discussing it with him.
The ONA at this time will wait for the RCNA to complete its investigation and once that has been completed, will take in to consideration any appropriate actions.

The ONA has the following statement in our Bylaws under Code of Ethics
Section 10(vii) reads:
As a member of the Ontario Numismatic Association the individual:
"Agrees not to sell, exhibit, produce or advertise counterfeits, copies, restrikes and reproductions of any numismatic items if their nature is not clearly indicated by the word counterfeit, copy, restrike, or reproduction incused in metal or printed on the paper thereof, with the exception of items listed in standard catalogues and generally accepted by numismatists and not in any way misrepresented as genuine"

Others have mentioned in these forums that the ONA member involved had exhibited at our recent convention. Our exhibit rules allow for the this type of exhibit as you can see from this excerpt:

13. Any numismatic material, known to be a legitimate copy or replica, must be labeled. Any material known to be forged, spurious or counterfeit will not be displayed unless the exhibit is titled and labeled as an educational exhibit of forgeries.

Once the RCNA has reached an outcome from their investigation, the ONA will take into consideration changing the exhibit rule above to one that more resembles the RCNA exhibit rule on this topic.

The ONA will not be making any further judgement or comments until the RCNA investigation is completed.

Robb McPherson
Ontario Numismatic Association - President

As I said earlier The ONA and RCNA don't seem to understand that their rules do not trump Canadian law.
It does not matter that the display conformed to their rules.
Their rules and bylaws as they stand allow for and condone illegal activity.

The problem is that there are literally thousands of "collectors" who use "educational use"as a trump card to justify their purchase of these counterfeit coins.
What will be the final disposition of these tens of thousands of fakes?
Most will likely be sold off by heirs and estate sellers as genuine coins, that's how this situation will devolve.
That's why purchase and possession is illegal and should remain so.

The ONA and RCNA executive should have a look at this section of the forum.
http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/...FORUM_ID=161
Our US host on this forum bobby1313 has sellers of Canadian counterfeit removed within 24 hours.
He has no interest in Canadian coins whatsoever, only a mission to protect this hobby.
How and why is it that he can do more to fight counterfeits than our Numismatic Associations which are supposed to have our interests as the cause of their existence.
It's because he doesn't pussyfoot around the issues,he calls a spade a spade and eliminates the threat.