2022 Maya Angelou Quarter
After putting my items on the belt, I asked why there were looking at the coins. One looked up and said they were looking for the Maya Angelou quarter, and another said that they were reading about Angelou in high school when their teacher talked about the quarter.
One looked at me and asked if I knew that the next quarter would honor Sally Ride and started to tell me about Dr. Ride. After I told them that I watched the shuttle launch on television, they thought it was neat that these quarters were in circulation.
They showed no interest in the national parks quarters as they looked at the quarters when one found an Ohio quarter. Although it has the hanging astronaut, I asked if they found the Florida quarter with the Space Shuttle on the reverse.
They realized I understood the quarters and asked if there was a reference to the themes on the quarters. After pointing them to the U.S. Mint website, I told them about the Red Book. I showed them some of the quarter designs on my smartphone and then the Native American dollars.
Aside from not knowing that the U.S. Mint struck dollar coins, I showed them the 2015 Mohawk Iron Workers dollar, a personal favorite. One showed interest and asked if they had created a design for the Code Talkers, and I responded “💯percent” and showed them the 2016 dollar.
Three high school students were now working at a local grocery store, looking at the coins in the cash register for designs representing history. They may not be looking for silver coins like I did in the early 1970s, but it’s change hunting looking for something neat.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
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Scott
Why can’t Dr. Ralph Ross and the ANA try to reach out to these people and ask these people to please join? The hobby would grow and the ANA would have more $ coming in.
Sincerely
Bob
Scott
More thoughts on the subject. The ANA should help form a new specialty organization aimed at collectors of the commemorative quarters. Numismatics might already have several hundred of them.
What also comes to mind is something from US political history. In approximately 1970, an anti Vietnam War demonstration was being held. Construction workers held a counter demonstration.
Unionized workers like construction workers had voted Democratic for decades. But, Republican leaders of the time saw the demonstrating construction workers and said they are our people now.
So, Republican leaders began to reach out to people like the construction workers. They were a big factor in electing Ronald Reagan President in 1980 and putting the US Senate in Republican hands for the first time in 26 years. Many of their descendants still are Republicans.
My point is that numismatistic leaders need to realize that the those people looking for quarters in a cash drawer are our people and need to be reached out to. If current leaders won’t, they should be replaced. Perhaps an old Reagan Republican should run the. ANA.
Sincerely
Bob