User:Therefore/Sandbox

History
Goldline traces its corporate history to Deak Investor Services, Inc. formed in 1960 by Nicholas L. Deak of Deak & Co. Nicholas Deak, a Hungarian immigrant, founded Deak & Co. in 1939 and served in the OSS (precursor to the CIA during World War II. Deak & Co. specialized in foreign exchange, gold coins and  bullion, and was considered a pioneer in the business.

By the early 1980s, the company was the largest retail gold bullion dealer and the oldest and largest retail foreign exchange dealer in the United States. While Deak described himself as a gold bug, the company felt the strain of growing too quickly during the gold economic bubble which burst by 1982. At that point, they planned on expanding into the wholesale market, offering services to companies instead of the public. The company was the country's leading seller of South Africa's Krugerrand before it was pressured to halt sales because of South Africa's apartheid system in 1985.

In 1984, Deak & Co. faced allegations from the President's Commission on Organized Crime that they laundered money for Latin American drug traffickers, facilitated the Lockheed bribery scandals, and smuggled currency from the Philippines. Later that year, Deak & Co. declared bankruptcy in order to reorganize. In 1985, the company was purchased by a Singapore lawyer for $52 million -- the most valued asset was Deak's Swiss bank. In 1986, the foreign exchange and gold business was sold to Australia's Martin Properties Ltd. (later renamed Deak Morgan ) for $12 million. In the following year, the company was transferred to New Zealand based NZI and expanded its gold coin dealerships by one-third. At the same time, Deak Investor Services, Inc. changed its name to Deak International Goldline Ltd.

Unfortunately, due to the 1987 worldwide market crash, the company floundered, and was sold to the Thomas Cook Group in August 1990 for $10-$12 million. Several months afterward, Deak International Goldline (US) Ltd. was bought by A-Mark Precious Metals Inc, a wholesaler dealer in precious metals, adding thereby a retail presence. In 1992, Deak International Goldline (US) Ltd. changed its name to "Goldline International, Inc." and Mark Albarin, an A-Mark company director, became president. In 1994, Goldline acquired Gold & Silver Emporium (asset purchase only). and in 1998, Goldline acquired Dreyfus Precious Metals, Inc., the precious metal brokerage and storage subsidiary of the Dreyfus Corporation.

In 2005, A-Mark Precious Metals sold Goldline to Irvine, California-based Spectrum Group International for $20 million. Two years later, Goldline moved its headquarters and trading floor across Santa Monica, California to offices at the Water Garden complex. In 2009, CIVC Partners, a Chicago based private equity firm, acquired Goldline for over $50 million dollars.