Court summonses were served to Barry Stuppler, president of the American Numismatic Association, and Gary Adkins, president of the Professional Numismatists Guild, Jan. 10 on the floor of the Florida United Numismatists convention in Orlando.

The summonses spring from a lawsuit filed by National Numismatic Certification LLC; ASA Accugrade, Inc.; PCI Coin Grading, Inc.; Sovereign Entities Grading Service, Inc.; Treasure Gallery, Inc., and Centsles, Inc., against the two numismatic groups and against eBay claiming defamation and interfering with business.

The suit was filed in United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Adkins commented that he referred the court papers to the PNG attorney, Armen Vartian, for response.

Stuppler said he referred the summons to ANA legal counsel Ron Sirna.

The new lawsuit became a hot topic of discussion at an ANA public forum on a number of matters that ran for nearly two hours Jan. 12.

Sirna said the "group (that filed) was very angry eBay has adopted a policy that coins graded by these companies can't be listed as certified." He noted that the attorney representing the companies was the same one who had sued ANA before on behalf of Accugrade.

The ANA, PNG and eBay have 20 days to file their responses.

Numismaster