Ron Guth is the Chief Investigator at the Numismatic Detective Agency. He has been active in numismatics for 57 years as a collector, researcher, auctioneer, and professional dealer. He is the author or co-author of several best-selling numismatic books, including Coin Collecting For Dummies, The 100 Greatest U.S. Coins, and The Encyclopedia of United States Gold Coins. In 1999, he created CoinFacts (now PCGS CoinFacts). In 2014, he was named the American Numismatic Association (ANA) Numismatist of the Year. In 2021, he was named by Coin World as one of the Top Ten Most Influential People in Numismatics 1960-2020.
Most people who have collected coins have been robbed for substantial sums of money and value of coins. In order to put an end to this rampant part of the inudstry, we need to take provenance much more seriously and double down on the dedication to not trade in stolen property. RIGHT NOW, the coin market will absorb as much stolen goods as could be provided, without limit. This must change.
It would be nice if it could change, but it has been that way for as long as there has been a market, so I doubt it ever will change.
