Weekly World Numismatic News for November 8, 2020
Some of you may have noticed that the Coin Collectors Blog and Coin Collectors News sites have been down for a few days. I apologize. There have been technical issues that were resolved (obviously).
It shows that even for a retired expert, this computer stuff can be complicated. But for a government agency with a full-time professional staff and contractors with alleged expertise, the ordering experience of last week’s End of World War II 75th Anniversary American Eagle Proof Coins coins was not an acceptable situation.
My issue was coordinating a response with a hosting company to resolve my issues. The U.S. Mint should not have the same issues. They should have control over the systems and manage the contractor that is providing their service.
Unfortunately, I learned that government agencies do not manage contractors well. Contracts officers (CO) do not show the willingness to make contractors take responsibility for their work. Their technical representatives (Contract Officer Technical Representatives or COTR, pronounced CO-TAR) are ineffective since they tend to serve two bosses, the CO and the project leader.
When I worked for one of the bureaus in the Treasury Department, efforts to consolidate information technology functions did not end well. Each bureau had their reasons for the others not to play in their sandbox. However, the U.S. Mint’s network was a candidate for expanding Internet-related connectivity for applications. Their systems and network could handle more Internet traffic at the time than any other bureau. The U.S. Mint’s IT staff pushed back on the attempt to consolidate with them.
It appears that little has changed with the U.S. Mint. They seem to be circling their proverbial wagons to protect themselves while only tacitly recognizing a problem. After recognizing the problem, then they have to figure out how to fix it.
One of the most significant mistakes government agencies make is not producing proper requirements that contractors can answer. How do they know if the contractor can do the work if you have not told them exactly what to do? The biggest failure of government projects is the lack of appropriate requirements analysis. So far, it looks like attempts to update their web-based services were incomplete and may be a victim of this failure.
Let’s hope that the U.S. Mint will figure it out and make the necessary changes because it is frustrating for the numismatic industry.
And now the news…
October 31, 2020
→ Read more at tehrantimes.com
November 3, 2020 → Read more at seattletimes.com
November 3, 2020 → Read more at dailymail.co.uk
November 5, 2020 → Read more at news.bitcoin.com
November 7, 2020 → Read more at thefirstnews.com
Summary of August 2013 Coin-Related Legislation
H.R. 2932: United States Coast Guard Commemorative Coin Act
Track this bill at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr2932
Shanah Tova 5774
This is the earliest that Rosh Hashanah has appeared on the Gregorian Calendar since 1899. Later this year, Chanukah and Thanksgiving will occur on the same day for the first time in history. With the nuances of the calendars, this will not happen again for 77,789 years.
It will be 5774 on the Jewish calendar which is a leap year. Since the Jewish calendar is lunisolar, a calendar whose date indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year, a leap year adds one month to the calendar. Adar I will begin on February 1 and last for 29 days. All Adar holidays, such as Purim, occur in Adar II.
REVIEW: “The Wishful Penny” should delight your young reader
Rosie was not just a riveter during World War II but she also worked at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia making blanks for coins.
Working in the blanking room at the U.S. Mint was not an easy job. It was hot, loud, and Rosie was confused. Even though she was supposed to feed a sheet of zinc coated steel into the blanking press, Rosie fed a sheet of copper. With the press of a button, 40 copper blanks were made.
Rosie panicked. The president ordered that the U.S. Mint not use the copper for coins so it could be used for the war effort. Not knowing what to do, Rosie let the coins proceed to the next stations where they were washed and “pinched” to create rims keeping her fingers crossed that nobody found out.
The copper blanks were fed into the press along with the zinc-coated steel blanks and thus was born Penny, a 1943 copper cent.
The Wishful Penny is the story of Penny’s adventure from her accidental birth, to an ice cream shop, across the Atlantic, back again, and how one wish made on Penny comes true.
Written for readers in grades 3-5 with a story that can be appreciated by younger students, The Wishful Penny written by J.J. (Jennifer Jo) Young, co-founder of the publisher See the Wish, surrounds the story of a wish made on a penny as it is thrown into a fountain with factual information about the coin and conditions. The story opens with the book’s Rosie, a name obviously chosen, who never worked before but was thrown into working at the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia because the men were off at war. It mentions that President Roosevelt order that copper be preserved for the war effort and even approaches the angst of the time with relative off at war and businesses hoping for survival in difficult times.
The use of factual information makes the story more appealing. Forget the fact that I am some-number-of-many-years beyond the target age group for this book, it has the ability to not only teach the students but also the teachers who may have not thought about using coins as a teaching tool. If a teacher wants to use this book for classroom instruction, the authors offer a teacher’s kit that includes books, worksheets, discussion questions, activities, history tie-ins, and script with a CD of music to allow the students to perform the book as a play.
Aside from the history, the book teaches about real world perseverance from the perspective of Penny, whose optimism about carrying her wish is a good lesson for all children. While having optimism is good, the book also teaches how there is a long road to fulfilling goals that comes with the bumpy road of life. As someone who grew up with parents who wanted me to skin my knees because learning not to was as important as losing the game in order to understand life is just not handed to you, the book portrays that as a series of disappointments. With optimism in tact, Penny goes from the fountain where she meets the silver coins, to Ireland where she lives in a safe with other coins, to running away from thieves, and helping catch them before being mailed back to the United States and finding that a coin is different from the stamps that make the journey with her.
If you buy the book individually, it will come with a CD with 12 songs interspersed with acted audio scenes from the book. It is not exactly faithful to the dialog in the book, but your youngster may not mind. Remember, that the music is intended for your children and that an adult may request their child listen with headphones. After growing up with Peter, Paul and Mary, I am not sure I would have ever like the music. Since I am not the target audience I am not going to complain! However, the audio CD could be just the thing to keep your child busy for an hour during a long drive.
You can also buy the book as an audio CD. The audio book is read by January M. Akselrad, the other co-founder of See the Wish. Ms. Akselrad reads the book just like you would expect to a younger audience. However, I found myself re-reading the book along with her thinking that this might be good for a student who may have a difficult time reading to follow along while listening to the book being read for them.
Although I am not a teacher, I can see using the audio CD with the books in order to show visual highlights of story but the history it shows. Since I was not provided the teaching materials, I can only hope the authors provide teachers with this information.
Coins can teach us a lot about history and history can teach us a lot about ourselves. Although the exact reason for the existence of the copper 1943 cents can only be speculated, turning it into a story for children works on so many levels. I even like that the person who found Penny only to realize she was special was a girl learning about collecting coins. Add to that the collector who buys the coin was a woman is also a lesson that this should not be a male-dominated hobby!
I did not know what to expect when I agreed to review this book. But I was surprised how engaging it was even for a “vintage” person like me. Even though Penny ends up at less than an Mint State (MS) grade by the end of the book, I grade this book MS68 with a recommendation that if your young reader does have reading difficulties also purchase the audio CD. In fact, you may want to consider purchasing the teacher’s kit and donate it to your child’s school. Or for the classes looking to put on a play, why not consider the full-length musical with recorded music. It has to be a great idea for teachers needing new material!
POST SCRIPT FOR PARENTS: After your child reads the book and she wants more information about coins and collecting, let them vista the U.S. Mint h.i.p. pocket change website. “H.I.P.” stands for History In your Pocket, which best describes how many of us see coins.
POST SCRIPT FOR TEACHERS: After your class read this book and performs the play, I would recommend teachers visit the U.S. Mint teacher’s website for additional resources to using coins in the classroom. Who knows, maybe we can turn you and your students into numismatists!
The NEW Official Blackbook Price Guide to United States Coins for 2014
Last year I reviewed The Official 2013 Blackbook Price Guide to United States Coins I received as an e-book from the publisher. In that review I was surprised as to the quality information that was in the book including articles that were written by numismatists sharing their expertise with the collecting public. Unfortunately, some of the information seemed dated and needed updating. Apparently the editors agreed and worked to update information.
Based on the review, the editors turned to a numismatist whose experience with computers, the Internet, and writing for the collector who could add the information about using technology to enhance the collecting experience.
This is where your favorite blogger enters the picture.
The Official 2014 Blackbook Price Guide to United States Coins has an new chapter, “Using Technology to Enhance Your Collecting Experience.” Written in plain language for the collector, the chapter discusses what numismatic-related resources are online.
The chapter opens with a brief history of how computers and the Internet has advanced my collecting experiences. This includes a brief history of the Internet from its birth as ARPAnet through the invention of the birth of the World Wide Web and the services we now take for granted. I wrote it so that when you hear something Internet and web history in the news you have the background to understand why it is important.
Following the introduction are sections that helps you find the information you want online. These sections are titled:
- Online Price Guides
- News and Blogs
- Mobile Computing
- E-books
- Social Media
- Buying and Selling Online
- Auctions (Established auction houses and their online options)
- Looking into the Future
- Your Security Online
If nothing else, the section “Your Security Online” may be worth the price of the book. It is something I have written in many forms, in many places, and have lectured about locally. These are general awareness tips that everyone should follow.
To their credit, the editors Mark Hudgeons, Tom Hudgeons Jr., and Tom Hudgeons Sr. read my review and updated the 52nd Edition of The Blackbook to address many of my concerns outside of my chapter. It is a better reference than in the past and worthy of a place in your numismatic library!
Autographs For Education
After autographing my first copy of the book I decided that rather than give away my autograph I want to use it to help raise money for numismatic education. For every autograph, I am asking for a minimum donation of $25 to the American Numismatic Association Florence Schook School of Numismatics to be used to further all numismatic education.
You can either mail the check yourself to the ANA and show me that you donated or give me the check and I will mail all of them together. Checks given to me should be made payable to the “American Numismatic Association” (NOT ME!) with a note on the memo line saying “For The Florence Schook School of Numismatics.”
For your donation, I will autograph the first page of my article above the title and give you recognition here on the blog. Since the ANA is a not-for-profit organization, your donations are tax deductible to maximum allowed by law.
One way to find out where I will be is to follow me here on the blog since I usually announce when I am going to a show. For planning purposes, I will attend the Virginia Numismatic Association Show on Saturday, September 28; the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists show during October 24-26 (my attendance dates TBD) in Monroeville (a suburb of Pittsburgh); and the Whitman Baltimore Expo on Saturday, November 9. I might attend the Wall Street Coin, Currency and Collectibles Show in October if I can resolve a scheduling conflict.
Of course scheduling conflicts do arise, but let me know you if you will be looking for me at a show.
Post Script
Collectors of paper money, world coins, and stamps will be happy to know that the chapter will be adopted for the Blackbook covering those areas in 2015. I will also update the the current chapter since the online world has changed a little since it was written (e.g., Google shutdown the Reader service).
Finding numismatic content in unlikely places
One of the benefits of living in the Washington, DC area is the access to the great museums. Even better, most of them are free or charge a convenience fee to register for entry times online. A few weeks ago, I was able to take advantage of this when my nephew and nice brought their parents, my brother and sister-in-law, to the area in order to visit a few of the museums in the area.
After a late breakfast, we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Aside from its mission to memorialize and teach the lessons of the atrocities during World War II it strives to educate people as to their responsibilities in the face of hatred and genocide while promoting human dignity. The museum is celebrating 20 years having been dedicated on April 22, 1993 and opening to the public on April 26, 1993. You can read more about the history of the museum here.
If you come to visit the Washington, D.C. area, I highly recommend that you allocate at least four hours to go through the museum. If you are like me and like to read everything, view all of the exhibits and displays, and watch all of the videos then you should consider scheduling more time.
What does the Holocaust have to do with numismatics? First, in some of the displays are scrip and coupons used mainly in Jewish ghettos for rationing of goods and services. It shows how an economy attempted to survive in the harshest of circumstances. While some of the scrip are reproductions, it gives the museum goer a sense of what those in the ghetto might have gone through.
Another group that created their own script were the Roma (Gypsies). Although the Roma were Aryan, they were persecuted as being inferior to the Germans. However, when they were rounded up and brought to the concentration camps, the Gypsies created their own order along with the other non-Jewish population as they were segregated in the camps.
There is not a lot of money-related artifacts, especially for the period following the start of World War II, but what is there shows its importance as part of the survival of the persecuted. The power of money was on display the movie Schindler’s List where Jewish artists were forced to create printing plates in order to counterfeit British money. In fact, the movie The Counterfeiters is about the counterfeit operation set up by Nazis to weaken the economies of the enemies.
Before leaving the museum requires a stop in the gift shop. Amongst the books and other items to help you remember your visit are the official medal and some smaller tokens. The medal is made of bronze and is about the size of a United States half-dollar (30 mm). The medal appears to be in a ringed holder that is embedded in a card. Two smaller tokens includes one that reads “What You Do Matters” and one with an image of a candle cut out from the metal with the words “Remember” across the top and “Never Again” on the bottom. Both tokens are 20 mm in diameter.
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- Obverse of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Medal
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- Reverse of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Medal
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- “What you do matters” refers to how you react in the face of genocide where ever it occurs matters.
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- “Always Remember” token with cutout of a candle.
Collecting coins, tokens, and medals of the places you visit is one way to enhance your collection. To complete the collection from this visit I also purchased three postcards. The postcards, medal, and tokens were placed in a page that holds three 4×6 items with two postcards in one pocket, the medal in its own pocket, and the tokens in the pocket with the single card. The page is in a binder with a note describing when I obtained these items, who I was with, and some other thoughts. Adding the note personalizes the collection and will remind me of the visit many years from now.
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