There has been quite a controversy on the ownership issue. I started the rumor because after trying to conduct business with him, I received an e-mail from his office that said Mr. Katz had sold his interest to a Mr. Yamamoto and was presently on a permanent vacation in Florida. Subsequently, Katz' coins started auctioning SS's on Ebay again but his MO was obviously different. He also was flooding the market with strikes (including many dups) akin to dumping his inventory. Mr. Katz would never do business the way it was beginning to be run. Another collector checked on this and by phone actually talked to him at his Palmdale office. Surprise!!! A couple months later someone was suspended from Ebay for shilling Mr Katz' items, while Katz himself wasn't...no proof. I don't think Mr. Katz himself would ever have used shills because he did a great business. So who was running the show? Another mystery...coincidently, Katz stopped selling on Ebay for exactly 30 days after the shilling incident. A short time later it was reported that the sale was real but according to Ebay officials, their policy dictates that a new owner could not sell using his old e-mail address which he apparently is still doing. Katz has continued his Coin business as usual and is doing well. Sorry for the long story, but that's how long the controversy has been going on.