In the past, The E-Sylum has noted numismatic authors who have been sentenced to prison. Theshort list includes Dale Estin Birdsell, Walter Breen, Robert Harry Burnie, Charles Lynn Glazer and Frank Albert Lapa. This week another might be added to the list, if his book exists.

Richard W. Suter was identified as the author of How Not to Get Ripped Off in the CoinBusiness. The book was marketed through Suter's National Investment Publication Co. This isapparently quite a scarce title.

In April of 1973, a Richard W. Suter joined the ANA from Sierra Madre, California as MemberR-74189. Another Richard W. Suter joined the ANA in May 1974 as member R-79267 fromChicago, Illinois. In 1981 member R-79267 was expelled from the ANA for failure to fulfill coinorders.

Coin World published a flattering description of Suter in their issue of May 28, 1975:

In 1976, Suter was chairman of the Libertarian Party for Illinois. They promoted lower taxes andless government regulation. Later he was also executive vice president and lobbyist for theNational Taxpayers United of Illinois.

In 1976, Suter was a member of the Numismatic Literary Guild. He published two investmentnewsletters, the National Portfolio Reporter with 500 subscriptions in 1980 and the NationalHard Assets Reporter. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued his credentials onFebruary 28, 1969, and revoked his credentials as a commodity trading advisor in 1979. That'swhen his credibility began to collapse.

In 1982, the Security and Exchange Commission also revoked his credentials as an investmentadvisor. They claimed Suter failed to give refunds as promised in his promotional literature. TheSEC challenged his published claim that he had twenty-years experience as a stock marketanalyst. That would have required him to start at age thirteen.

The SEC questioned his published qualifications, his stated educational background and hisclaimed success with no documentation of his investments. Suter kept poor records of hissubscriptions and income and denied access to his records. The SEC found that complimentarytestimonials were given by people who did not exist.

Subscribers complained that he charged for subscriptions multiple times and forged signatures oncredit card orders. His bank froze his account after numerous complaints and refunds. Suter wascharged with fraud and misrepresentation with his Investment newsletters, Initially there were nocharges for numismatic crimes.

He offered investment units in his newsletter offering the profits from future subscriptionsales. After Suter was issued a restraining order, he used the name Kenneth Wilson to mail outanother subscription offer to investors. Wilson also offered a andcollected $100,000 in investments.

In August 1982, he was indicted by a federal grand jury on 23 counts of mail fraud with hisnumismatic business. Suter solicited orders, offered to acquire rare coins, evaluate them and shipthem to the customer. He in some cases shipped inferior coins and in many cases shipped nocoins to fulfill an order. He negotiated the charges down to just two, pleaded guilty and wasrequired to pay $67,830 in restitution.

One week before sentencing, he filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. He claimed the recordshowed he did not understand the charges against him, was not advised of the consequences ofhis plea and that there was no factual basis for his plea. The court rejected his motion. He filedfor bankruptcy but the court also denied that.

In July of 1985, he began serving a year in prison at the federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.In December he was transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago and put intoa work release program. He was released from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from Fridaymorning to Sunday evening. He immediately resumed publication of his newsletter and solicitedfunds through a pseudonym.

This time it was Roy Glenwich of Galaxy Co. offering $1000 shares in a limited partnership. Acover letter offered investors profits of 305% each year.

Richard W. Suter was released from prison in April of 1986 and remained on probation for fiveyears. He was ordered to stay out of the coin business.

The author may have been Richard William Suter, the son of William Albert Suter and HelenaEmma Fraatz, born in Miami on March 10, 1948, and died on May 12, 1997.

I found 98 newspaper articles pointing out the irony of the book author being convicted ofripping off people in the coin business. None of those articles suggested that the book itself mayhave been part of the fraud.

I am distressed that I could not locate a copy. I did not find the record of a sale. It is not availablethrough Inter-Library loan. I checked a bookseller site without success. As a last resort, I called alocal library. The librarian consulted all available sources including Worldcat and did not find acopy of the book.

There are two possible explanations. Perhaps the book was distributed in a small quantity andnone have made their way into an institutional collection or, the book was a promotional fantasyconcocted by Suter. Can any E-Sylum reader locate a copy?

To read an earlier E-Sylum article, see:
LOOSE CHANGE: MARCH 31, 2024 : Numismatic Investment Literature(https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n13a28.html)