The field of rare coin dealing can be fickle, especially when millions in dollars in coins simply disappear. When you combine shady numismatics with politics, though, you get a whopper of a scandal. The AP's Andrew Welsh-Huggins has the scoop.

The director of Ohio's workers' compensation bureau resigned under pressure Friday over the disappearance of at least $10 million worth of rare coins that the agency had bought as an investment.

Gov. Bob Taft announced the departure of James Conrad, once hailed as state government's "Mr. Fixit" for his ability to overhaul troubled agencies.

[...]

The announcement came a day after it was learned that $10 million to $12 million of the state's $55 million rare coin investment was believed to be missing — dramatically more than the previous estimate of $400,000.

State officials said they plan to sue the man hired to manage the coin investments, coin dealer Tom Noe, and seek criminal charges. Noe has resigned, and a judge has ordered possession of the remaining coins transferred to the state.

Where's the scandal, you might ask. Sure this was a poor investment that wasted taxpayer money. But how could this possibly have political ramifications? The answer comes in paragraph 14.

Noe, 50, a leading GOP donor who operates a coin shop near Toledo, was hired by the bureau in 1998, the year before Taft took office. Democrats have alleged that he won the job in return for campaign contributions to Republicans, who control most of state government. [emphasis added]

This scandal threatens to upend any efforts by second-term GOP Governor Bob Taft, whose approval ratings are an anemic 19%. More importantly, the close ties between Noe and Ken Blackwell -- the leading Republican gubernatorial candidate for 2006 -- could provide six-term Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland with a real shot at winning the statehouse. Should Strickland -- or Jerry Springer or another Democrat -- win in 2006, Ohio would have its first Dem Governor in sixteen years. And who would have ever thought a few coins could make such a large difference?