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Archive September 2025
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ACEF honors 2 for identifying, creating awareness of counterfeit coins.
Collector Jack Young of Dayton, OH, and coin dealer Matt Dinger of Indianapolis, IN, were honored by the Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation at a special awards ceremony Sept. 26 during the Great American Coin and Collectibles Show in Rosemont, IL.
Don Ketterling, a member of the ACEF Board of Directors, presented Dinger with the Alan Kreuzer Memorial Award 3-inch bronze medal. Young, who was unable to attend the ceremony due to a family medical emergency, will receive his medal award in Dayton.
The award is named for the late Alan “Al” Kreuzer, a Castro Valley, CA, coin dealer who was instrumental in alerting the hobby about counterfeit third-party certification holders and fake insert labels. After his death in 2016, his daughter, Chandra, donated $50,000 to establish the award and to help launch the Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force, now integrated into the work of ACEF.
Young, an engineer by training, collects low-grade large cents. He began collecting as a youth and encountered his first large cent when his grandmother took him to a coin shop in the Dayton Arcade. He joined Early American Coppers in 2002 and became interested in deceptively struck counterfeits in the fall of 2015 by a friend and an EAC dealer’s discovery of a fake 1798 “S-158” large cent.
Young’s counterfeit research during the ensuing years has led to more than 100 published articles about counterfeits in state and national numismatic organizational journals and commercial numismatic publications as well as to contributions published in books on various series. He is founder of two Facebook groups with the primary mission of educating the collecting public about counterfeits: “The Dark Side” group, which now has more than 800 members, and the “Fun with Fakes” group that has grown to 250 members in the past year.
He has also assisted ACEF with presentations about counterfeits and their effects on the hobby and marketplace in meetings with staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Secret Service agents, and Customs and Border Protection staff.
He received the Professional Numismatic Guild’s Sol Kaplan Award in 2021 in recognition of his work to remove counterfeit coins from ecommerce platforms and the ACEF’s Alan Kreuzer Award in 2019 for service rendered as an expert in identifying counterfeit coins.
Dinger began collecting coins at age 7, sold his first coin by age 15, and became co-owner of Lost Dutchman Rare Coins in Indianapolis at age 22. As senior numismatist at Lost Dutchman Rare Coins for the past 20 years he has led the shop’s research, sales, and preservation efforts. He has served as president of the Indianapolis Coin Club and is an active member of the Professional Numismatists Guild, Central States Numismatic Society, and the American Numismatic Association.
In 2010 Dinger launched The Coin Show Podcast ( www.CoinShowRadio.com ), aiming to fill a media gap for engaging, hobbyist-focused coin content. He co-hosts the podcast with fellow creator Mike Nottelmann. The podcast delves into news of both U.S. and world coins, providing context and observations from a broad spectrum of numismatic experts, including those who are on the frontlines of educating the public about counterfeits in the marketplace. To date they have produced 249 episodes, all archived at their website.
Dinger has also served as a consultant to the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for investigations dealing with crimes related to coin counterfeiting, thefts, and numismatic scams.
Immediately following the award presentation Dinger, Ketterling, and ACEF Executive Director Beth Deisher were featured in a special taping of the Coin Show Podcast.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation is funded entirely by donations. Tax-deductible donations may be made to the 501(c)(3) non-profit Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation by submitting the online donation form at www.acefonline.org.
ACEF Board member Don Ketterling, left, congratulates Matt Dinger, right, 2025 Alan Kruezer Award medal recipient.
Jack Young, 2025 Alan Kreuzer Award medal recipient
Don Ketterling, a member of the ACEF Board of Directors, presented Dinger with the Alan Kreuzer Memorial Award 3-inch bronze medal. Young, who was unable to attend the ceremony due to a family medical emergency, will receive his medal award in Dayton.
The award is named for the late Alan “Al” Kreuzer, a Castro Valley, CA, coin dealer who was instrumental in alerting the hobby about counterfeit third-party certification holders and fake insert labels. After his death in 2016, his daughter, Chandra, donated $50,000 to establish the award and to help launch the Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force, now integrated into the work of ACEF.
Young, an engineer by training, collects low-grade large cents. He began collecting as a youth and encountered his first large cent when his grandmother took him to a coin shop in the Dayton Arcade. He joined Early American Coppers in 2002 and became interested in deceptively struck counterfeits in the fall of 2015 by a friend and an EAC dealer’s discovery of a fake 1798 “S-158” large cent.
Young’s counterfeit research during the ensuing years has led to more than 100 published articles about counterfeits in state and national numismatic organizational journals and commercial numismatic publications as well as to contributions published in books on various series. He is founder of two Facebook groups with the primary mission of educating the collecting public about counterfeits: “The Dark Side” group, which now has more than 800 members, and the “Fun with Fakes” group that has grown to 250 members in the past year.
He has also assisted ACEF with presentations about counterfeits and their effects on the hobby and marketplace in meetings with staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Secret Service agents, and Customs and Border Protection staff.
He received the Professional Numismatic Guild’s Sol Kaplan Award in 2021 in recognition of his work to remove counterfeit coins from ecommerce platforms and the ACEF’s Alan Kreuzer Award in 2019 for service rendered as an expert in identifying counterfeit coins.
Dinger began collecting coins at age 7, sold his first coin by age 15, and became co-owner of Lost Dutchman Rare Coins in Indianapolis at age 22. As senior numismatist at Lost Dutchman Rare Coins for the past 20 years he has led the shop’s research, sales, and preservation efforts. He has served as president of the Indianapolis Coin Club and is an active member of the Professional Numismatists Guild, Central States Numismatic Society, and the American Numismatic Association.
In 2010 Dinger launched The Coin Show Podcast ( www.CoinShowRadio.com ), aiming to fill a media gap for engaging, hobbyist-focused coin content. He co-hosts the podcast with fellow creator Mike Nottelmann. The podcast delves into news of both U.S. and world coins, providing context and observations from a broad spectrum of numismatic experts, including those who are on the frontlines of educating the public about counterfeits in the marketplace. To date they have produced 249 episodes, all archived at their website.
Dinger has also served as a consultant to the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for investigations dealing with crimes related to coin counterfeiting, thefts, and numismatic scams.
Immediately following the award presentation Dinger, Ketterling, and ACEF Executive Director Beth Deisher were featured in a special taping of the Coin Show Podcast.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation is funded entirely by donations. Tax-deductible donations may be made to the 501(c)(3) non-profit Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation by submitting the online donation form at www.acefonline.org.
ACEF Board member Don Ketterling, left, congratulates Matt Dinger, right, 2025 Alan Kruezer Award medal recipient.
Jack Young, 2025 Alan Kreuzer Award medal recipient
1856 “Upright 5” gold dollar coin key to unraveling mystery
An 1856 gold dollar coin’s story, buried in historical archives for nearly 170 years, is revealed in “Buried History – How Counterfeiting Changed America,” a newly released documentary video posted on YouTube at https://youtu.be/PqKJUekcryI?si=BxRisDyh-pffxuZP
The rare1856 Upright 5 variety gold dollar comprising the Deadwood Collection has long been recognized as a variety by gold collectors, but the key
historical role it played had been unknown until a recent discovery.
Many collectors had wondered why coins in the early 1850s had “Slanted 5s” in the date and then suddenly became Upright. Few would have guessed the answer would lie in the counterfeiting of our nation’s coins, virtually from its beginning through more than five decades as it expanded westward.
Regardless of whether you are an advanced collector or just becoming interested in coins, this video will give you a new appreciation of coins and a deeper understanding of our nation’s history.
PNG Adds More New Members, Prepares For First Baltimore Dealer Day
(Murrieta, California) September 10, 2025 – Continuing the organization’s record growth, the Professional Numismatists Guild (www.PNGdealers.org) has added another seven full-time dealers to its membership list. The nonprofit guild, comprising many of the top experts in rare coins and paper money, now has a total of 324 members, an all-time high, according to PNG Executive Director John Feigenbaum.“To protect consumers, the hobby, and the profession, PNG membership requirements are strict. Before being admitted as full (Gold Level) members, applicants are vetted for their experience, reputation, and financial stability,” explained Feigenbaum.
“Also, all members must follow our rigorous Code of Ethics (PNGdealers.org/code-of-ethics). It is a pledge to other dealers and collectors alike that PNG members hold the highest standards in their dealings,” he emphasized.
The full members are:
Russell Bega, Harlan J Berk Ltd., Chicago, Illinois,
Matt Dinger, Lost Dutchman Rare Coins, Indianapolis, Indiana;
Brian Kuszmar, Commercial Rare Coins and Precious Metals, Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida;
Luis Martínez, Matador Rare Coins, Ltd., Jersey City, New Jersey;
John McGrath, Charleston Rare Coins, Charleston, South Carolina;
David Sunshine, Sunshine Rare Coins, Easton, Connecticut; and
Kathryn Symanski, Kate’s Collectibles, Port Charlotte, Florida.
PNG is also finalizing plans for its PNG Dealer Day show on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, in conjunction with the Whitman Expos™ Baltimore Show, November 6-8, in the Baltimore, Maryland Convention Center.
“In addition to PNG member-dealers, all other dealers are invited to participate in our first-ever Dealer Day event at the Whitman Baltimore show,” said PNG President James Sego.
The table fee is $250 for PNG members and $350 for non-PNG dealers. The entry fee for dealers without a table is free for PNG members and $100 for non-members.The dealer set-up will begin at 9 am, and the bourse will be open to attendees for wholesale, dealer-only trading from 10 am to 5 pm.
For additional information about PNG’s three membership categories and membership requirements, visit www.PNGdealers.org/why-join-the-png. For additional information about the 2025 Baltimore PNG Dealer Day, visit www.PNGdealers.org/png-events or contact PNG by phone at 951-587-8300 or by email at info@PNGdealers.org.
For additional information about the Whitman Expos Baltimore November Show, visit www.expo.whitman.com.
ACEF to honor two with Kreuzer Award Sept. 26 at GACC show
The Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation will honor a collector and a coin dealer for their work in identifying counterfeit coins and educating the public about the dangers of online scams related to fakes during a special awards presentation Friday, Sept. 26, at 11 a.m. in Room 12 of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL, during the Great American Coin and Collectibles Show.Don Ketterling, a member of the ACEF Board of Directors, will present the recipients with the Alan Kreuzer Memorial Award, which recognizes the anti-counterfeiting efforts of collectors, dealers, law enforcement agents or others who are diligently trying to protect the numismatic marketplace.
The award is named for the late Alan “Al” Kreuzer, a Castro Valley, California coin dealer who was instrumental in alerting the hobby about counterfeit third-party certification holders and fake insert labels. After his death in 2016, his daughter, Chandra, donated $50,000 to help establish the Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force, now integrated into the work of ACEF.
Each award recipient receives a three-inch, antique bronze medal featuring a Heraldic Eagle on the obverse and his name engraved on the reverse.
Immediately following the awards presentation, the award recipients and Kettering will be featured during a special taping of the Coin Show Podcast. The public is invited to attend both the awards presentation and the Coin Show Podcast taping.
On Sept. 26 and 27 ACEF will have a table in the hallway near the entrance of the GACC show offering to COPY stamp counterfeit coins – free of charge -- for members of the public who bring fakes to the show that they were duped into buying by online scammers.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation is funded entirely by donations. Tax-deductible donations may be made to the 501(c)(3) non-profit Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation by submitting the online donation form at www.acefonline.org
