Recognizing the danger and urgency of the threat posed by the growing numbers of counterfeit coins entering the marketplace, leaders of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets, the Professional Numismatists Guild, and the American Numismatic Association sponsored an industrywide summit Aug. 1, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. The summit brought together more than 60 attendees who decided that ICTA was best suited to supervise the creation of a task force to deal with the problem.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force (ACTF) was formally launched Jan. 6, 2017, under the authority of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets, with a primary mission to educate law enforcement authorities and policy makers and to make them aware of the rising threat of counterfeiting, to mobilize law enforcement to attack counterfeiters where they are most vulnerable, and to provide expertise and other resources in the investigation and prosecution of counterfeiters and those involved at all levels of their distribution networks.
ICTA hired Beth Deisher as Director of Anti-Counterfeiting. Her responsibilities included devising an organizational structure for the task force, recruiting volunteer experts to serve on the task force, and coordinating the work of the task force. Initially the task force was led by a 12-member volunteer Steering Committee appointed by ICTA’s Executive Committee. Steering Committee members served as leaders of eight volunteer Work Groups comprised of 34 volunteers. As needs were identified in 2018 four Work Groups were added, with the total number of experts rising to 44.
ACTF reached out to key sectors of the broader community involved in the precious metals industry – refiners, manufacturers, armored carries, depositories, and private mints – to create awareness and coordinate educational efforts. They, as well as the dealer and collector/investor communities, are all affected by counterfeiters and the harm they are inflicting in the coin/precious metals marketplace.
On November 15, 2018, the ACTF and the position of Director of Anti-Counterfeiting transitioned to the non-profit Anti-Counterfeiting Educational Foundation. Doug Davis was selected to succeed Deisher as Director of Anti-Counterfeiting effective September 1, 2019.
The task force completed its work during the fall of 2019 and ACEF has since relied on experts who volunteer their time when needed.
ACEF became a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with Public Charity status in 2018. From the fall of 2019 through December 2023 the Professional Numismatists Guild supplied administrative support to the foundation. Beginning in January 2024 ACEF is no longer dependent upon another organization for administrative support.