The Industry Council for Tangible Assets recognized three individuals Aug. 15 for their outstanding work in combatting counterfeiters and those who traffic in counterfeit coins and currency in the United States.
Doug Davis, Nicholas L. Tranchitella, and Richard Weaver received the Ant-Counterfeiting Task Force’s annual Al Kreuzer Memorial Award presented during ICTA’s annual banquet held in Philadelphia during the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money.
The ACTF award – in the form of a three-inch, antique bronze medal – is named for long-time California coin dealer Alan “Al” Kreuzer, who died in 2016. His business, Alan Kreuzer Rare Coins and Collectibles, was in Castro Valley, Calif. Kreuzer was instrumental in identifying counterfeit certified holders that made their way around the Bay Area. Kreuzer’s daughter, Chandra, upon learning about ICTA’s establishment of the Ant-Counterfeiting Task Force in January of 2017, donated $50,000 in honor of her father. The donation played a key role in launching the work of the task force.
Davis is founder and president of the Numismatic Crime Information Center. For 31 years, it has served as a national and international resource for collectors, dealers and law enforcement in the education, prevention and investigation of crimes involving coins, paper money, tokens and related numismatic items.
Tranchitella is a Special Agent in the Cherry Hill, N.J., office of the Homeland Security Investigations division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was the lead investigator in the case against Jonathan A. Kirchner, who currently awaits sentencing on charges of falsely impersonating an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and unlawfully importing counterfeit coins and bars into the United States.
Richard Weaver, president of Delaware Valley Rare Coins in Broomall, Pa., played a crucial role in the apprehension of Kirchner. Two of Kirchner’s victims, a couple, came to Weaver’s coin business seeking an evaluation of 49 Morgan dollars they had purchased from Kirchner. They were all fake.
