ANA Money Museum aides History Channel production of coin counterfeiting
American Numismatic Association (ANA) Museum Curator Robert W. Hoge, Executive Director Edward C. Rochette and ANA Authenticator Brian A. Silliman, along with specimens from the ANA Money Museum, contributed to the production of a program on counterfeit coins and paper money being prepared for the History Channel.
Dan Golden of Towers Productions, based in Chicago, spent a day at the ANA in December taping interviews and shooting specimens of genuine and counterfeit coins that are among the extensive holdings in the Association’s museum. He expects the two-hour program will air sometime this spring.
“We already have taped interviews in Germany and Great Britain, and spoken with United States Secret Service officials,” Golden says. “In addition, we have interviewed U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing Director Tom Ferguson, and engravers and designers.”
Hoge says Golden was “interested in discovering the roots to counterfeiting coins and paper money. I discussed a number of points with him and showed him a variety of the specimens we have in our collection, dating back to the beginning of money in the 7th century B.C.”
Rochette was asked about some of the more famous or infamous characters and cases of counterfeiting. Among his many books, Rochette is the author of Making Money, Rogues and Rascals Who’ve Made Their Own.
Silliman, who examines thousands of coins a year from individual collectors, museums and auction houses to determine whether or not the specimens are genuine, provided Golden with data and methods on the detection of forgeries and the needs of collectors.
The ANA has worked for years to eliminate counterfeiting of collector coins. The Association’s Library, which circulates material to members for only the cost of postage, has an extensive selection of books and periodicals relating to counterfeiting.
The ANA School of Numismatics offers a correspondence course on counterfeit detection and at the Association’s Summer Seminar, June 30 to July 13, 2001, is offering three classes on the subject -“Detection of Counterfeit and Altered World Coins” with Silliman; “Detection of Counterfeit U.S. Paper Money” with Marc J. Surrency of the U.S. Secret Service; and “Detection of Counterfeit and Altered U.S. Coins” with ANA President H. Robert Campbell and J.P. Martin, senior grader for the Independent Coin Grading company.
In addition, Silliman, who writes a regular column about counterfeit detection for the ANA journal, The Numismatist, offers a continuing series of seminars on counterfeit detection in conjunction with the ANA’s National Money Showâ„¢ and World’s Fair of Money®. These seminars are free and offer a lot of opportunity for students to examine the differences between genuine and counterfeit coins.
Three times a year the ANA releases the Counterfeit Coin Bulletin to help battle counterfeiting of collector coins. Issued on a subscription basis, the bulletin is produced in conjunction with the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN), which operates the International Bureau for the Suppression of Counterfeit Coins (IBSCC) and maintains close links with mints, police forces, museums, collectors and dealers.
For more information about the ANA Summer Seminar 2001, convention classes or the Counterfeit Coin Bulletin, contact the American Numismatic Association.
Originally Release Date: December 27, 2000
ANA Contacts: Phone: 719-482-9872
Email: pr@money.org