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Re: Legally Powerless trade Organizations
Hi to all,
All that Dean states here is true..........but!
The reason the FBI gets involved is because,
Stamps and Currency are the backbone for generating
revenue for the country involved. So how much money can
they make (or save) protecting our meteorites from fraud?
I have found that groups and organizations are fine if
you need power and to socialize. Fraud has been around
since the beginning of time. If you don't want to be ripped
off , do your research....read books....know your dealer...
ect........
going back in to lurking
mode
mark j.
----- Original Message -----
From: dean bessey <deanbessey@hotmail.com>
To: <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 20, 1999 7:40 AM
Subject: Legally Powerless trade Organizations
> I thought that some list members might be interested in these two sites
> which are totally unrelated to meteorites. The first one is the site of
the
> american philatelic society and the second one is american numismatic
> society. These represent two societies that are among the worlds largest
> resource organizations for stamp collectors and coin collectors.
> Particularly look at membership and code of ethics in the philatelic
society
> and its reference to authtenticity and their comment that "membership is a
> privelidge and not a right". Members have to be approved and voted on
before
> they get membership. True their biggest job is marketing the hobby but
many
> efforts are made (More so in stamps than coins because stamps are easier
to
> fake than coins and there are many more fake ones around - there is even a
> large segment of collectors that collect fake stamps) to ensure that the
> hobby is not filled with criminals. They work closely with the fbi (Which
by
> the way has a special fraud stamp devision) and help out and report, as
will
> as be a resourse for information. I know of one individual that had a
court
> order specifically prohibiting him from dealing in stamps for a 10 year
> peroid. Your membership in the APS is a valuable commodity (Just look at
an
> eBay type online auction site www.stampauctions.com and see how many
people
> puts their aps membership number as reference). Complaints are always
> available for viewing.
> Do they have any real power? (Other than to kick somebody out of the
> society) Not one bit. Nothing prevents a criminal from setting up shop
and
> selling stamps outside of the scope of the APS (And many do). However,
When
> the American Philatelic Society complains the FBI listens.
> I wont even get into powerless societies dealing with ancient artifacts
and
> the efforts they go through and the clout that they have. Interpol has a
> division on that that has a budget bigger than some third world
governments
> and they certaintly use powerless societies as a resource. Stolen
artifacts
> may be more of interest but if somebody sold a very expensive item to a
> museum that was a fake Interpol and the FBI would be interested.
> There are societies around for almost anything. You could surely find a
> needleworking society or a volkswagon bug club in many major cities. The
> biggest job of any society is a resource group as well as marketing group.
> However the FBI or local police will probably listen if a blatently
> fraudulent or criminal act is reported by an official organization than by
> one individual.
> Meteorites need a organization such as this. (Remember that Marketing also
> means information - one of which makes new colectors knowledgable, which
is
> in short supply in the meteorite community) There is no money to start it
so
> work will have to be done by volunteers but almost any organization
> origionally got its start like that.
> Dont knock an organization just because it has no real legal power.
> Look at this website:http://www.west.net/~stamps1/aps.html
> One of the links from it here is
> interesting:http://www.stamps.org/aps/aboutaps/ethics.htm
> Then look at this site:
> http://www.amnumsoc.org/
> Of course no matter what you do, there will always be criminals. No matter
> what resources, the APS, FBI, Interpol, and The US government puts into it
> the stamp hobby will always have con-artists.
> Unlike meteorites though, the stamp hobby has a resource group that people
> can go to for unbiased information and help - not to mention a group that
> the FBI can (And do) use for help. Lets not forget the marketing and
> information importance either. More collectors means a better hobby for
all.
> Sincerely
> DEAN BESSEY
>
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