It has been said that the dog days of summer is when it is very hot causing a period where there is a lot of inactivity or stagnation. There has been little of the dog days here in the nation’s capital. Aside from a lot of work to do, severe storms can wreak havoc with electrical lines—which causes computers not to work. July has been an interesting month and I hope August is more like the dog days without the same heat and humidity!
For something a little different we turn to the technology website CNET. CNET is a long time resource for the consumer technology community that was acquired by CBS Interactive last year. With the commitment of growth from CBS, CNET has been expanding their technology coverage in a number of interesting ways. For CNET, reporter Daniel Terdiman, writer of the Geek Gestalt blog, is taking another road trip. Road Trip 2010 brings Daniel to the east coast where he has visited a few sites of numismatic interest.
While in Washington, D.C., Daniel stopped at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing where he was given a tour Behind the scenes with the next-gen $100 bill. Daniel opens up his trip report by saying, “I’m staring at $38.4 million in cash, and it’s hard not to drool.” It is a nice look behind the scenes at the BEP from the eyes of someone who is not a collector. Do not forget to check out the stacks of money in the photo gallery.
After making other stops, Daniel was in Philadelphia and visited the US Mint. Daniel opens his article talking about the gold-colored planchets that will be struck into dollar coins. Aside from watching the minting process, he spoke with the U.S. Mint’s Chief Engraver John Mercanti about the technology used in creating coins. Daniel spoke with Engraver Joseph Menna about the digital production process—do not forget to watch the YouTube video. When you check out the pictures and when you get to picture 18 imagine the amount of money you could make on the error market if you had access to this bin!
Finally, stopping in New York City required a stop of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Located at 33 Liberty Street in lower Manhattan, it is the branch of the Federal Reserve that distributes U.S. currency worldwide. Eighty feet below the bedrock that the building is constructed on is the gold vault where 36 countries have deposited $255 billion worth of gold. More gold is stored at the New York Fed than anywhere in the world including the U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Since photography is not allowed at the N.Y. Fed, they did provide pictures that Daniel used in his report.
Although Daniel did not get much of a tour through the New York Fed, the series of numismatic-related articles are still a good read from someone without a numismatic background. You may want to check out stories on some of his other stops, including the one place I want to visit!
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