ORANGE COUNTY

Coin Dealer Agrees to Settle FTC Charges: Hannes Tulving Jr., whose company was once among the most prominent U.S. dealers in rare coins, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that he inflated the prices of his coins by creating an artificial market for them. In August, 1990, the FTC filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeking $40 million on behalf of investors for whom it purchased rare coins for as much as five times what they were worth. Tulving’s company, Hannes Tulving Rare Coin Investments Inc. in Newport Beach, was placed in receivership. Tulving had agreed to a $10-million judgment, but the federal court lowered his payment to $260,000 over five years--a total of $1.2 million--based on his ability to pay. The FTC’s suit against the company itself is still pending.