In my story of 1966, so far I have told about a number of great sales Stack's held in that year, the growth of the hobby, and the loss of ourfriend and client Josiah K. Lilly. These and other things led to 1966 being one of our busiest years ever. And one thing that kept me particularlybusy was our action against the Office of Gold and Silver Operations (OGSO) to protest their lack of clarity when it came to what could andcouldn't be imported into the United States. The suit was brought due to a lack of response from the OGSO to our application to import anextensive collection of gold coins from a client in the Netherlands. We wanted better answers to why we were not able to bring this importantcollection into the United States and why the OGSO wanted to restrict a portion of the coins without an explanation. By instituting a suit againstthe unknown regulations, we felt we could at least know the reason for denial, and learn why certain coins were restricted. In order to hear ourcase, the Treasury Department eventually had to borrow a hearing judge from the Commerce Department.

In late 1965 and early 1966 we spent hours preparing new inventories, marking which coins were highly rare numismatic items, which were known tohave low mintages, and other important factors. The papers we helped our attorney prepare contained virtually what our catalog would haveincluded.

At the initial hearing, I represented Stack's as I had personally handled each coin in the collection and could attest that all that I hadseen were genuine and not counterfeits. After reviewing the list, I asked the hearing judge to help us get the collection admitted to the UnitedStates so we could offer the coins for public auction.

Additionally, I invited several specialists who confirmed that the coins in the collection were scarce or rare numismatic items and should belicensed for import. My specialists included both Stefanellis (curators of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian), Henry Grunthal(curator at the American Numismatic Society) , and some collectors who were familiar with the contents of the collection. The evidence that our sidepresented was quite complete, and the attorneys for the OGSO were at a loss to refute. When they made their case, it was obvious that they did nothave a deep understanding of numismatics and their points were vague and often not based in fact.

During the cross-examination by our attorney the main issue was the criteria that was used by the office or custom house, which had never beenpublished or released. The OGSO implied that they had a committee which determined the rarity of any gold coins to be licensed for import and did notfeel they had to explain the formula they were using or each specific denial. The initial hearing concluded with no rulings as the judge instructedthe OGSO to bring to the next hearing (to be held in about a month) a clearer and more understandable explanation of how licenses were issued ordenied.

Between hearings there was much correspondence and filings submitted to the judge so that the next hearing could be expedited. The basic questionthat the judge wanted answered concerned what was the formula being used and why was it a secret. The attorneys for the OGSO conferred and tried toexplain what the qualifications were that made certain coins not candidates for import. They referred to the laws of 1933-1934 that exempted rare andunusual gold coins from having to be turned in to the government.

The first piece of evidence they presented was the Robert Friedberg book, Gold Coins of the World, published for the first time in 1958. Itis a wonderful reference for gold coins. Since many numismatists contributed information and photographs, it was a most valuable source ofinformation, and we were happy to see them using it.

The OGSO stated that it was easy to determine what was rare and unusual and what had collector value by using this book. They further explainedthat they had a formula to determine when a coin was rare enough to be licensed. Gold was valued at $35 per ounce in 1934 and had remained at thatvalue until at least the 1960s. In order to determine the value of any gold coin, whether small or larger, the gold value at the time was multipliedby four (4x). If a coin had a listed value of at least four times the gold value, they could consider it worthy of being licensed.

So, we finally had an answer, though it made little sense to anyone who knew about numismatic value. Using the formula and basing it on theFriedberg Gold Coins of the World book would only make sense if that book contained complete listings of all dates and mints that made up aseries, along with grade and price information for all those coins, which it does not. The book bunched coins together by design and provided anaverage value to each design and issue.

In my next article I will continue the story of our efforts to force the OGSO to clarify their policies on import licenses and to get approval tobring our Netherlands client's coins to auction.

To read the complete article, see:
Harvey Stack Remembers: Growing Up in a Numismatic Family, Part 42(https://www.stacksbowers.com/News/Pages/Blogs.aspx?ArticleID=3349)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
HARVEY STACK'S NUMISMATIC FAMILY, PARTS 40-41(https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n14a13.html)