LeLand Howard became the czar of the Office of Gold and SilverOperations and imposed regulations in 1961 which limited without alicense from the O.G.S. importation of all gold coins.

It created a hardship, as the application for import approval (or dis-approval) took from 3 weeks to several months. Any coins to be broughtin had to stay where they were. Collectors and dealers had to pay for them to the sellers, and never knew what would be licensed and what couldnot be licensed.

The firm of Stack's in late 1963 was offered a splendid collection of WorldGold Coins assembled by a client and collector in the Netherlands, and we applied for a license to bring it into the U.S. and sell it at Public Auction.The collection contained many coins of the 16th through the 19th Century, andas I recall about 50 which were struck or dated after 1933.The whole collectioncontained close to 1000 different coins.

After months and months inquiring whenwe would get the license, the O.G.S, denied a number of coins, and the collectorin The Netherlands said he "would not break up his collection because of the regulations "without explanation" in place. But he did promise to hold the collectionfor us and give us the opportunity of getting an ADMINISTRATION HEARING atthe Treasury Department. In late 1966 we presented our case.

First of all, the Office never listed or gave the Criteria for Import License. Theyruled as the coins were presented, accepted or denied, without explanation. At thehearing beside being the main witness of our case, (with a prominent Washington D.C.attorney at my side,) I explained that the rules were not evident and that the actionsby the Treasury was arbitrary and capricious. Backing my claim was Henry Grunthal,who was Director of the American Numismatic Society , together with both Stefanellis. who were joint curatorsof the Smithsonian. After a lengthly hearing Stack's WON the case. The examiner feltthat the OFFICE OF GOLD AND SILVER OPERATIONS actions were Arbitrary andCapricious.

However, (because we believe of the long standing of LeLand Howard in the Department)the O S.G. denied license. We were going to go higher, but our attorney learned if we let it go for a few months, there was evidence that things would change. In late 1967LeLand Howard retired from the Department (with all the bells and whistles for long service)and within one month the rulings were rescinded.

Unfortunately, the client had earlier in 1967 lost patience with the unitedstates rulings and regulations and sold the collection overseas.Stack's won the battle, but lost the war. But as it eased the import of Gold CoinsI guess it was worth it.!!