Here we go again?

What’s up at the American Numismatic Association headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.?

Something is. The gossip network is in overdrive.

Gossip is probably the wrong word. Longtime supporters of the ANA are trading speculations among themselves.

I placed calls yesterday morning to legal counsel Ron Sirna and President Tom Hallenbeck for an explanation.

I am waiting for return calls.

It was only Friday when it was announced at a public board of governors session at the World’s Fair of Money in the Chicago Suburb of Rosemont that former executive director Christopher Cipoletti had resigned his membership, the last act of a four-year crisis that had followed his removal from the executive director’s post in 2007.

I went home from Chicago on Saturday night at the conclusion of the convention thinking it had been a great show and the ANA was on track.

Who wouldn’t?

There were new leaders and precious metals have been making fortunes for the ANA dealer members. Regular collectors seemed to be eagerly buying.

Let the good times roll?

Apparently not.

Sirna mentioned at the Friday morning meeting that the toboggan finally had reached the bottom of the hill.

This was a reference to a statement he had made early in the Cipoletti crisis that all of the legal proceedings were like getting on a toboggan. Once on, you can’t get off until you reach the bottom of the hill.

It was a clever metaphor.

Are we already at the top of another hill? Is there a toboggan there?

I don’t know, but with the events of the last four years as the background it is no wonder that concerned ANA members are trading gossip.

I hope we find out what is going on soon.