By Industry Council for Tangible Assets ……
Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA) dealer-member Dean Schmidt (Dean Schmidt Rare Coins, Atchison, Kansas) was honored during the ICTA dinner and update at Tony Roma’s in Orlando, Florida, on January 8 as the recipient of the 2019 Diane Piret Memorial Outstanding Service Award for his efforts to see Kansas House Bill 2140 passed. The bill provides a sales-tax exemption on sales of gold and silver coins and on all gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bullion.
“We thank Dean Schmidt for his continued perseverance over the years and the tremendous support of everyone who helped make this exemption a reality,” said ICTA’s chief operating officer David Crenshaw.
The dealer and collector communities, in conjunction with ICTA, put a tremendous amount of hard work into the grassroots campaign. Schmidt has championed the cause for the last four years, raising capital for lobbyist costs and reimbursing ICTA’s expenses, spreading the word to dealers and collectors, speaking at shows all over the state, emailing, attending meetings at the state legislature, and testifying in both the House and Senate. Many other dealers also attended and testified at House and Senate committee hearings, as well as financially contributing to the efforts: Jeremy Brakenhoff and Josh McCleary (Mass Metals/Ownx), Robin Tummons (The House of Stuart), Robert Dunlap (Equity Standard Numismatics of Kansas), and Rick Raines (representing the Johnson County Numismatic Society—a major financial contributor to the campaign).
Several ICTA members and JCNS club members also attended committee hearings, and the campaign received tremendous help from Pat Heller (Liberty Coin Service), ICTA’s traveling sales-tax exemption guru, and former ICTA executive director Kathy McFadden, from her testimony in 2018 committee hearings. Big thanks also go to Travis Lowe and Scott Heidner with Gaches, Braden & Associates, the lobbyists that worked tirelessly on this legislation.
“The ICTA partnership, along with lobbyists from Gaches, Braden & Associates and many others, were invaluable to the success of our efforts,” said Schmidt.
The award commemorates the 25-year career of ICTA’s former industry affairs director, who died in 2015.
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About ICTA
Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit association that represents the rare-coin, currency, and precious-metals communities. ICTA is supported solely by dues and donations. The Diane Piret Memorial Outstanding Service Award commemorates the 25-year ICTA career of the organization’s industry affairs director, who died in 2015. To join and/or learn more about ICTA, visit ictaonline.org.
