Notice from RCNH about Paul Battaglia

dpoole

Just got this notice from Rare Coins of New Hampshire.

I hope nothing serious transpired with Paul Battaglia. I've had good dealings with him at RCNH over the years.

"Subject: Termination of employment of Paul Battaglia at RCNH
Good afternoon,
This is Warren Mills, Vice-President of Rare Coins of New Hampshire(RCNH). This email is to notify you that after 28 years of employment, Paul Battaglia has been terminated; he is no longer associated with RCNH and has no authority to transact any business for or on behalf of RCNH.
We appreciate your trust in RCNH over the years and want to assure you we will continue to be here to assist you with your collecting needs. Should you need assistance purchasing or liquidating rare coins or bullion, please contact Lou Roten or myself.
This a one-time specific announcement. However, we do send out periodic emails to our mailing list for new additions to our inventory; please let us know if you no longer wish to receive the periodic emails. Click here lou@rcnh.com to create a reply email to opt out of these emails. You need only write unsubscribe in the subject line.

Thank you all for your business and interest in RCNH.

Thank you,
Warren Mills"

logger7

I always liked Paul and the many conversations I had with him, a consummate gentleman who sent out very professional notes and holiday cards. Paul was a former government customs agent. His wife was working in the same company.

Warren has some of the sharpest eyes in the business and has had top numismatists working with him. Wasn't Charlie Brown working with him?

UltraHighRelief

Sorry to hear this. Paul is a great guy and will miss him.

MikeInFL

I just got the same email. I wonder what happened to cause such an email to be sent.

TomB

That type of email leaves a large footprint.

DennisH

@TomB said:
That type of email leaves a large footprint.

And large unanswered questions.

BryceM

Hmmmmmm. Paul sold me several nice coins and it was always a positive experience. Reading between the lines, it doesn’t sound like things ended well.......

JBK

Sounds harsh. Quite frankly, it does not make the employer look very good to let the customers see the apparently bad blood that resulted in this personnel change. It is not necessary to bring the customer base into this. The company could simply have said he left the company, has moved on to seek other opportunities, etc., and thanked him for his service over the years.

Barndog

@JBK said:
Sounds harsh. Quote frankly, it does not make the employer look very good to let the customers see the apparently bad blood that resulted in this personnel change. It is not necessary to bring the customer base into this. The company could simply have said he left the company, has moved on to seek other opportunities, etc., and thanked him for his service over the years.

sounds to me like Warren thought whatever Paul did was so egregious that he had better not candy coat it.

JBK

@Barndog said:

@JBK said:
Sounds harsh. Quote frankly, it does not make the employer look very good to let the customers see the apparently bad blood that resulted in this personnel change. It is not necessary to bring the customer base into this. The company could simply have said he left the company, has moved on to seek other opportunities, etc., and thanked him for his service over the years.

sounds to me like Warren thought whatever Paul did was so egregious that he had better not candy coat it.

I agree, but since I don't know any of the characters in this soap opera, the whole thing looks bad to me.

Boosibri

Lots beneath the surface of that statement

Broadstruck

This just reads like a fly by the seat of your pants kind of email. As sending out a notification like this reflects worse on Warren then Paul, since after 28 years of service with one company this deserved being handled with a little more couth.

BAJJERFAN

@Broadstruck said:
Sending out a email like this reflects worse on Warren then Paul, as after 28 years of service with one company this deserved being handled with a little more couth.

Sounds like damned if does and damned if he doesn't.

RegistryCoin

Yep. CYA.

BruceS

I have a feeling we will be hearing more on the subject and he wanted to preemptively get it out there.
But just a guess.

lkenefic

Wow... I bought a couple of nice pieces from them a few years back. I think it was Lou that I dealt with...

BLUEJAYWAY

Perhaps a warning shot across the bow?

shorecoll

You'll know if you get an email from Paul telling you he moved to another dealer. I also find it sad, though.

Walkerfan

I’m not familiar with the parties in question but it sounds like a warning to me.

messydesk

One does not use the word "terminated" in public releases unless one wants to send a message beyond simply stating that someone is no longer working somewhere.

ms70

To me the tone of the e-mail is one of urgency.

PerryHall

It sounds like he was fired and the message was a warning to collectors and dealers to use caution when dealing with him. Of course that's what I'm getting when reading between the lines.

logger7

It's nearly impossible to discern the basis for the termination; it could have been a painful argument that caused people working closely for many years, trying to maintain professional decorum, finally a break occurred due to human realities or character clashes that happen to the best of us. with a major NH show this week and Baltimore next week the man in charge made a decision.

ricko

I have dealt wit RCNH in the past and always been happy with them. I am sure we will learn more in the next few days. Cheers, RickO

TwoSides2aCoin

No skin off my nose but I did increase my post count by 1.

Bochiman

I got the email about noon yesterday as well. At first, I thought it was spam, then I took a closer look and saw it was from RCNH and I read it.

To be upfront, I have purchased a few coins from them (and Paul specifically) since 2005. Only a few though. They usually didn't have what I was after. The ones I have purchased have been nice, imho, and at a solid, not discounted or ultra-high, price.

My dealings with Paul were fine. Not overly aggressive to me to buy, and he was willing to get the coin and comment to me about it, while I was on the phone with him.

That all said, I would like to know more about this as well, as one just doesn't send that type of email out "after 28 years with the company", unless there is a HUGE issue.

The way I read it, it reads like RCNH is worried that Paul may try to work with people and make them still assume he is part of RCNH. Or, he will go off on his own, and they are worried that people think it is still RCNH. Unless he has already misrepresented, or has told them he will do so, then that shouldn't be a pre-emptive concern.
There are other speculations, which I won't allude to on a public forum, and I hope that none of them are what happened.

As with some of the other posters, I was a bit shocked and dumbfounded reading the email. I believe there are strong emotions about his departure and how it happened, in order for that type of email to be written and publicly sent out.

I did note that there is nothing I could find on the RCNH website denoting the departure. If it was egregious enough to send that email, I would think they would have the email, or similar, on the website.....

QCCoinGuy

Working in a shop, particularly one with choice material and advanced clientele, inevitably presents employees with situations that may tempt even the best of people. I have no idea what happened here, but my read is that this employee crossed a line either recently or multiple times over the years and was recently discovered. Any such breach of trust and suspected future breaches would easily cause an employer to send out this kind of email. I don't think it reflects poorly, necessarily. I just serves as a warning.

themaster

Sounds to me like it is somehow related to their mailing list.

Have a Great Day!
Louis