The National Coin & Bullion Association presented its 2021 Diane Piret Memorial Outstanding Service Awards to two of its dealer-members, Dan Hedges and David Miholer, “for their continuous dedication and financial contributions to obtaining a sales-tax exemption on sales of collector coins, bullion coins, bullion, and currency in the state of Arkansas and reinstating Ohio’s exemption for precious-metal and investment coins and bullion, respectively,” according to an NCBA press release.

Hedges, alongside a number of other Arkansas coin dealers, pushed unsuccessfully for a sales tax exemption in 2018–2019 with the help of a lobbyist. A bill introduced by Sen. Mark Johnson did not pass out of committee before the end of the legislative session in 2019. Hedges continued advocating for the exemption, and on May 3, 2021, Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a bill including the sales and use tax exemption on the sale of coins, paper currency, and bullion.

In response to the Ohio Legislature’s July 2019 elimination of a sales tax exemption on investment metal bullion and coins, Miholer assembled a group of Ohio coin business owners to advocate for another exemption in the state’s FY 2022–2023 budget. Amendments providing a sales tax exemption for precious-metals coins and bullion found support in the legislature, and a bill including them was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine on July 1, 2021.

Some coins are not exempt. The press release explains: “Collectible coins made of copper and nickel and paper currency are not exempt, though collectible coins made primarily of gold and silver (such as dimes, quarters, and dollars minted before 1965 and any higher-value gold coins) and any bullion coins made of platinum or palladium qualify.”

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