I heard many reports of a successful World’s Fair of Money, I wish I was able to attend other days. Unfortunately, with it being two-and-a-half weeks after knee surgery, I was not able to recover in order to make a return trip. So I took the week off to recover and allow my knee to heal. But I had a few thoughts I would like to share.
First, congratulations are in order for Roger W. Burdette. On Tuesday, July 29, the US Mint announced that Roger was appointed to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. Roger was appointed to a four-year term as the member with a special background in numismatics. Roger is a noted numismatic researcher and author. His three-volume series, Renaissance of American Coinage have been met with critical acclaim.
To add to the acclaim for Renaissance of American Coinage, the third published volume, second in the series, covering 1909-1915 has won the 2008 Book of the Year from the Numismatic Literary Guild. With this year’s recognition, all three volumes have won Book of the Year honors (1905-1908 volume in 2007 and 1916-1921 volume in 2006). I highly recommend all three books for anyone with an interest in numismatics!
I was able to spend a lot of time in the area where the international mints were located. I visited with the Royal Mint and was able to purchase the The Royal Shield of Arms and Emblems of Britain Brilliant Uncirculated Collection and a 2008 One Ounce Britannia Bullion £2 coin. What was more interesting was interesting was talking with the 20-something Royal Mint employees. Not only were the accents intriguing, but they were more excited about going shopping. They noticed the same thing that I did many years ago when traveling to the UK, the numbers of the prices were the same but in different currency. So they were excited to pay $45 instead of £45 for jeans. At the current exchange rate, clothes were half-price. I hope they returned to London with a suitcase full of nice clothes!
Sometimes, it is easy to ridicule the Royal Canadian Mint for the large number of non-circulating collectable legal tender (NCLT) coins they produce. When viewing their catalog or other online images, some of the coins have a comical look to them. However, when seeing them in person in their display case. I was not impressed with the coin that is a recreation of an old milk token and some of the full color coins, but those that use color as an access where very beautiful.
My only regret was not picking up a stuffed moose and beaver that was offered at the Royal Canadian Mint booth. They were very cute, albeit expensive, and were dressed in the traditional Royal Canadian Mounted Police dress uniform. My niece and nephew would have loved these fuzzy buddies as gifts.
At the table for the Austrian Mint after Austrian Railway commemoratives caught my eye, I had a conversation with a heavily accented mint employee about their coins. While they have not produced any colorize coins, that will change in the future. It is felt that using color accents on coins help promote interests with new collectors. Interestingly, this Australian Mint employee said that the US Mint may be the last mint to issue colorized coins. He felt that the US Mint takes a parochial view on coin design that make significant change reticent. Although he understood the political process behind US coinage, he cited the lack of bimetallic coinage as part of that inability to think beyond their comfort zone. It was an interesting conversation.
Finally, I was able to meet Bob Van Ryzin, editor of Bank Note Reporter and host of Coin Chat Radio. We talked a little about Coin Chat Radio and how they would handle broadcasts from the show. I also ran into Dave Harper, editor of Numismatic News and World Coin News. I promised him I would not tell everyone that I found him eating cake at the Industry Council For Tangible Assets (ICTA)—so don’t say anything! The few times I met Dave, he always seems to be happy. I guess it helps when you have a great job like his!
Next for the ANA is the National Money Show next March in Portland, Oregon. I have been to Portland once and enjoyed my time. It is a nice city with a small-town feel that is appealing. Besides, Oregon has no state sales tax, which makes shopping that much cheaper!