Here We Go Again

On Tuesday, the American Numismatic Association announced that Executive Director Larry Shepherd was place on administrative leave. The entire statement released by the ANA is as follows:

American Numismatic Association Executive Director Larry Shepherd has been placed on administrative leave during an organizational review process, President Tom Hallenbeck has announced.

Newly elected Governor Greg Lyon wrote on the PCGS message board, “This decision was not taken lightly and was clearly in the best interest of the ANA. / At this point, an investigation will be conducted by a third-party group and any further decisions will be made by the board subsequent to that investigation.”

CoinWeek is reporting that the third-party group investigating the situation is Employer’s Resources of Colorado, a human resources service firm based in Colorado Springs.

“The Board felt that there was significant reason to take this action but details cannot be shared,” wrote Lyon in another post.

Ironically, this came after it was announced last Friday during an open meeting at the World’s Fair of Money that Cipoletti had resigned his member, ending the ANA’s association with the former Executive Director four-years after his removal.

The ANA’s recent history with Executive Directors is far from stellar. After the debacle that became the reign of Christopher Cipoletti as Executive Director, here is another situation where “something” causes the ANA Board of Governors to have to take action. Although the ANA has not disclosed the reason for this action citing privacy issues, it does not look good for the organization.