Texas Attorney General Issues Gold Coins Consumer Protection Tips

May 22, 2017 | News

(Austin, Texas) May 22, 2017 – With input from numismatic experts, the Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, has issued a consumer protection alert about buying and selling gold coins.

Award-winning rare coins and precious metals writer, Michael Fuljenz, President of Universal Coin & Bullion in Beaumont, Texas, provided continuing consultation to the attorney general’s office on this important consumer alert. Fuljenz, in coordination with other key numismatic industry leaders, offered guidance on consumer protection best practices for precious metals consumers.

The advisory notes that senior citizens make up about 14% of the U.S. population but account for 60% of the callers to the National Fraud Information Center.

Paxton’s advisory cautions consumers and investors: “If coins you bought as an investment would have to double or triple in value before any gain could be realized, you may have been a victim of fraud.”

Entitled “Consumers Should Do Their Research Before and After Investing in Gold Coins,” the advisory emphasizes the crucial importance of working with reputable dealers to help avoid paying too much when buying or receiving too little when selling. Paxton’s office recommends researching dealers through the Better Business Bureau, the American Numismatic Association, the Professional Numismatists Guild, Professional Coin Grading Service and Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.

“By issuing this important consumer protection advisory, Texas is not only assisting Lone Star state residents but providing nationwide benefits to the public who can access this useful information online. Attorneys general across the country now also have a template to provide consumer protection advice to their residents about buying and selling gold bullion and gold coins,” said Fuljenz.

Among other tips in the Texas Attorney General’s advisory:

Do not respond to callers not previously contacted. Cold callers often are not registered in Texas to legally telemarket and often try to pressure customers to act quickly.

Do not do business with a dealer who guarantees your purchases are totally safe, will go up in value or can’t go down, stresses government gold confiscation or says he will buy them back for what you paid at any time.

The full consumer protection advisory from Texas Attorney General Paxton is available online and as a printable PDF document at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/cpd/gold-coins.

Regretfully, due to print limitations, additional buying and selling tips were excluded, said Fuljenz, including avoiding false grading claims, advice about return privileges and urging caution if sellers receive certified money orders or certified checks from unknown buyers because they could be counterfeit. All ten of the additional consumer protection tips are available online at www.MikeFuljenz.com/goldtips.

At Fuljenz’ request, the following are among the precious metal industry leaders who provided input to him for the advisory. Their names are listed alphabetically with affiliations given only for identification purposes.

Universal Coin & Bullion (www.UniversalCoin.com) President Michael Fuljenz has won more than 60 prestigious national and regional awards and honors for his consumer education and protection work in rare coins and precious metals. He is on the Boards of Directors of the influential Industry Council For Tangible Assets, Crime Stoppers of Jefferson and Hardin Counties Texas, and is a member of the prestigious Professional Numismatists Guild which honored him along with Doug Davis and Jerry Jordan in 2016 with its Sol Kaplan Award for helping to fight numismatic-related crimes.

Comments of James A. Simek about Catherine Bullowa-Moore

May 17, 2017 | News

Catherine Bullowa-Moore, a very highly respected Philadelphia coin dealer for six and one-half decades, passed away peacefully May 15, 2017. She was 97 years of age and was originally from Larchmont, New York. She was likable, charming, engaging and very interested in educating people about the joys of numismatics. She was particularly fond of talking to youngsters about coins because she felt they represented the future of the hobby. 

​I first met Catherine in 1966, I believe, at a coin show in downtown Chicago. I was a teenager with very little money to spend, and I let her know that. She graciously spent time visiting with me and even let me have a coin on “memo” since I did not have enough money with me to pay for it (at the time I did not even know what “memo” meant!). I was taken aback, since we had just met and did not really know each other, but she said “that’s OK, I trust you.” That left an indelible mark and led to a friendship that has endured for more than half a century. She is one of the reasons I am in this profession today.

​After marrying David Bullowa, one of America’s premier professional numismatists, Catherine was thrust into the rare coin business when David died unexpectedly in October 1953 after only 1-1/2 years of marriage. Although approached by numerous dealers who wanted to purchase the business name and location, Catherine was determined to make a career of it herself. “Determined” is a good word to describe Catherine. She was independent, strong-willed and extremely capable and was admired by many for having these traits.

 She had acquired a love of coins from her late husband and, in his memory, decided to continue the business. Keep in mind that, at the time, there were only a handful of female coin dealers in the entire country so this presented quite a challenge for the young lady who had majored in zoology at Connecticut College.

​Catherine loved to read and made good use of David’s extensive numismatic library. She studied not only United States coins and currency, but foreign and ancient coins as well. It was not long before she was a self-taught expert in several aspects of numismatics.

​In 1959, Catherine married Earl E Moore, an autographs and manuscripts specialist. Their union was to last 41 years. They were frequent attendees at coin shows and conventions throughout the country and both of them enjoyed the camaraderie and interactions with old friends that these opportunities afforded.

​Through the years, Catherine held membership in numerous professional and hobby-related organizations. Among them were the American Numismatic Society (ANS) of which she was a Life Fellow and to which she contributed generously; the Royal Numismatic Society (RNS) of which she was a Fellow; the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN); the American Numismatic Association (ANA) in which she held Life Membership #355; and the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) where she had Senior Member status. She was also a founding member of the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG), and one of only a handful of individuals to have been given Life Member status (#3) by the organization.

​Catherine received many awards and accolades throughout her illustrious career, and one she was quite pleased to receive was the PNG’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. She also received their Art Kagin Numismatic Ambassador Award in 2013.

​One achievement of which she was particularly proud was to have been chosen in 1965 as a member of the United States Assay Commission. Names were submitted by the Director of the Mint to the White House where the final choices were made. Members would check random samples of the previous year’s coinage for weight and purity and membership in the Commission carried with it a great deal of prestige. She also was a member of the Old Time Assay Commissioners’ Society and enjoyed that immensely.

​Catherine’s rich legacy and fond memories remain with countless people she has come in contact with throughout her long and illustrious career in numismatics. She will be greatly missed by her family, as well as by numerous friends and associates.

New 3rd Edition of MEGA RED Features Great Depression Hobo Nickels

May 16, 2017 | News

(Pelham, Alabama) — The third edition of MEGA RED (the Deluxe Edition of the Guide Book of United States Coins) officially debuted at the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Baltimore Expo, March 30, 2017, and now is available nationwide. Among the book’s special features is a nine-page full-color appendix on hobo nickels.

A hobo nickel is a Buffalo nickel with one or both sides altered by someone outside the Mint to make it look like another image. Often the Indian would be carved into a bearded man wearing a bowler hat, or the buffalo into a donkey, or (turned sideways) a man carrying a knapsack; sometimes political or social messages would be added. This form of folk art was popular in the 1910s through the 1940s, reaching its height during the 1930s Great Depression. Hoboes would engrave miniature works of art to sell or trade for a ride on a train, a meal, clothing, or a night’s lodging. Hobo nickels are very collectible. The Money Museum of the American Numismatic Association displays a collection of the coins, and active hobbyists convene in the Original Hobo Nickel Society (OHNS, online at www.hobonickels.org). In 2014 an example featuring both obverse and reverse carvings, graded as “Superior,” sold at auction for more than $22,000.

Mega Red’s richly illustrated appendix pictures dozens of hobo nickels from the Classic, Later Classic, and Modern eras, with enlarged photographs. It references the research of numismatists including Stephen Alpert, Marc Banks, Arturo DelFavero, Don Farnsworth, Bill Fivaz, Gail Kraljevich, and Del Romines. Each level of the grading system for hobo nickels (Superior, Above Average, Average, Below Average, and Crude) is illustrated with examples. Included are hobo nickels created by the most famous carvers of the Great Depression, Bertram “Bert” Wiegand and his protégé George Washington “Bo” Hughes, as well as artists whose real names are lost to history but whose styles are identifiable: Peanut Ear, Traveler, Rough Beard, and others. The works of well-known modern engravers are also discussed: Ron Landis, Joe Paonessa, Alex Ostrogradsky, Howard Thomas, Chad Smith, Keith Pedersen, John Schipp, and Aleksey Saburov. And the appendix includes a feature on the only Classic-era hobo nickel carver of whom a confirmed photograph exists: William Sharples (1902–1971), a tool and die engraver from New Jersey.

Billed as the “biggest, most useful Red Book ever,” MEGA RED measures 7 x 10 inches and has 1,040 more pages than the regular edition. The larger size and increased page count combined make MEGA RED five times bigger than the regular-edition Red Book. It prices 8,200 items in up to 13 grades each, with 48,000 individual values and 15,400 auction records covering circulated, Mint State, and Proof coinage. The book is illustrated with 7,000 images, including 2,434 that are new to the third edition.

MEGA RED retails for $49.95 and is available online (including at Whitman.com) and from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide. Whitman Publishing is the Official Supplier of the ANA, and Association members receive a 10% discount off all purchases.