Do you believe the ANA (American Numismatic Association) should promote the interests of collectors? It has a history of promoting the interests of dealers, which can coincide with those of collectors but don't necessarily. As many people here know, Barry Stuppler has bucked the tradition and spoken out in behalf of collectors and against the practices of some grading services, which grade coins considerably higher than common industry parameters, thereby allowing dealers who use these services to deceive collectors about the value of the coins they sell. Barry Stuppler is running again for ANA governor. He deserves every ANA member collector's vote. Incredibly, for speaking out against fraud and protecting an individual collector, the ANA board recently admonished Barry Stuppler. What's more, also recently, three members of the ANA board voted against a motion to send a letter of appreciation to the PNG (Professional Numismatists Guild) and ICTA (Industry Council for Tangible Assets) for their consumer-protection efforts, specifically their groundbreaking survey of dealer attitudes about the practices of individual grading services. Kay Lenker, M. Remy Bourne, and Authur Fitts all voted against this, the only ANA board members to do this. If you feel that the ANA should protect consumers, you should not vote for Kay Lenker, M. Remy Bourne, and Authur Fitts. Any vote in any election shouldn't be a one-issue vote. Other numismatic issues are involved in the current ANA election. But, to my mind, the single most important is the single most neglected -- consumer protection. If we send a Yes with our votes that consumer protection is important, and a No that efforts to suppress consumer protection are opposed by collectors, things may, well, change. Stranger things have happened.
I misspelled Barry's last name in my post here. It's Stuppler, not Suppler. But I just corrected it, which is another good thing about this discussion forum and phpBB.
