2020 NLG BEST BLOG!
I have been writing the Coin Collectors Blog for almost 15 years. My first post was on October 29, 2005. I think the only person who read that first post was my (now late) mother. It was the only comment she made on the blog. Unfortunately, comments from before I moved from Google’s Blogger platform cannot be displayed, but I have the comments. I think she would be happy.
And so am I!
I thank everyone who has commented.
I thank everyone who has written to me in private.
THANK YOU TO THE NUMISMATIC LITERARY GUILD FOR THE RECOGNITION!
Stay tuned. There’s more to come!
Summary of September 2012 Coin-Related Legislation
The following is a summary of the coin-related legislation whose status was changed in September 2012:
H.R. 2139: Lions Clubs International Century of Service Commemorative Coin Act
Sponsor: Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL)
Passed the House On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended 9/10/12
Passed the Senate by unanimous consent 9/22/12
Presented to the President 9/25/12
Track this bill at: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr2139
H.R. 2453: Mark Twain Commemorative Coin Act
Sponsor: Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
Passed the Senate with amendments by unanimous consent 9/22/12
Message on Senate action sent to the House 9/24/12
Track this bill at: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr2453
S. 3612: Commemorative Coins Reform Act of 2012
Sponsor: Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
A bill to prohibit the payment of surcharges for commemorative coin programs to private organizations or entities.
Introduced and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 9/21/12
Track this bill at: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s3612
If It’s Saturday It Must Be Fredericksburg
On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the Virginia Numismatic Association Annual Show in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Fredericksburg is about half-way between Washington, DC and Richmond. After a late morning start, I ate a quick breakfast and climbed into the old X3 and hit the road to make my first stop to honor National Coffee Day at a nearby coffee shop.
With hot java in the accessible coffee holder, the X3 was pointed to the highway and we headed south to Fredericksburg. For the most part, it was a pleasant trip except for the last 12 miles where I found myself in what was called a usual traffic delay to the Rappahannock River. Along the way, I was able to use the new iOS 6 maps program with GPS capabilities with no issue. For those who heard the alleged “horrors” of Apple’s map program, I found that for daily use I have had no problems. I think most people who do not try to find obscure addresses (i.e., like trying to map an weird address near a park) will find that it is a quite adequate app.
Relieved of the frustration caused by I-95 traffic, I exited at Route 3 and let the GPS guide me to the Fredericksburg Expo & Conference Center. It is a nice facility with nearby hotels and a large shopping area. Travelers who might have forgotten something would not have to travel far to find a replacement.
Interestingly, the USA Fencing Virginia 2012 KickOff Classic Circuit Fencing Tournament was being held in a different part of the center. It made for a good mix of numismatists and fencers walking in the parking lot. However, it was a little disconcerting when a gentleman was walking toward me in the parking lot carrying four fencing foils!
I registered at the front door and spoke with a number of the VNA people. I met a few of their officers and talked while I wrote my name on a few raffle tickets. Each hour, the VNA raffles of something. There were books, coins, tokens, and medals in the case that showed what was part of each hour’s raffle. You do not have to be present to win, but I did have to write my name and telephone number on 11 tickets which I purchased for $10. Once done, I walked by a Stafford County police officer and entered the bourse floor.
The show was in a pretty large hall with about 50 tables. There seemed to be a slight din of activity but nothing too overwhelming. As I walked around the floor looking at the items on a number of tables, I spoke with quite a few people. There were even a few I had met at other shows like the Whitman Baltimore show. Some said that Saturday was a bit slow, especially as compared to previous years. After a while, I asked some of the Virginia-based dealers if the nice weather and the college football games, specifically the Virginia Tech-Cincinnati game that was played at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland (home of the Washington Redskins) and the Virginia-Louisiana Tech game in Charlottesville (both Virginia schools lost).
It has been a long time since I have been to a smaller show (under 100 tables). Even with the large venue, the fewer tables and with dealers I have never met before from areas of Virginia and North Carolina, it made for a relaxing atmosphere. Many of these dealers also had a different way of handling their inventory such as currency dealers who did not have everything graded and many of their lower quality but desirable series in books in the table for collectors to browse. For the collector on a budget who wants to consider notes with character, being able to flip through a book of these notes is a great idea and, even if you are not a currency collector, a lot of fun just to look. I liked having this type of accessibility and it was refreshing.
There were not many exhibits at this show. I did capture two pictures of exhibits I thought were interesting (see my Pinterest board), but I wish there were more.
At the end of the aisles in the center was an exhibit of philately (stamps) along with pictures that were about Virginia and the its role in the Civil War and after. This exhibit has a few great, vintage pictures of General Ulysses S. Grant (before he became president) including one where his portrait is aside one of General Robert E. Lee. Unfortunately, the pictures had take did not come out well (and I forgot to try again after being distracted).
After four hours of looking and schmoozing, I went back to the X3, plugged in my iPhone, and found that the game was being streamed by CBS through their iPhone app. After a stop to make sure I supported National Coffee Day again, I plugged in the iPhone and listened to the broadcast during the drive home. I am not sure which was worse, the traffic or the lack of defense during the game!
I arrived home in time to see the fourth quarter and make sure the final score was at least in my favor. Feeling better for the win, I was able to reflect on the good time I had at the VNA Convention while having dinner with my wife.
Congratulations to the Virginia Numismatic Association for putting on a good show.
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- Virginia Numismatic Association pin that I purchased at the table where I also purchased raffle tickets.
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- A panorama view of the bourse floor at the 2012 VNA Convention
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- 1949 Empire State Building Encased Cent announcing it as the “World’s Tallest Building,” which it was in 1949.
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- Token to ride the Port Authority of the Trans-Hudson subway system. PATH ties New Jersey to New York and is run by the Port Authority, the same people who own the World Trade Center.
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- 25th Anniversary Middle Atlantic Numismatic Association Medal from 1977. MANA is now defunct but used to be an umbrella organization for the Washington, DC metro area.
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- Reverse of the 25th Anniversary Middle Atlantic Numismatic Association Medal.
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- This was hanging on the door leaving the convention hall. Based on the last line regarding no more proofs after 1964, I think this was produced in either 1964 or 1965.
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- Close up view of the text on the Coin Collector’s Crying Towel
A Thought as the Government Ends Its Fiscal Year
Those of us here in the Washington, DC area who work with or for the Federal Government knows that this week is the home stretch to the end of the fiscal year. Many of us who work for the government are not directly involved with the political infighting that makes the national news. Federal employees are prohibited to be involved with politics by law and contractors usually have employer policies that limit their political activities.
One thing we worry about is the funding issues that have not been resolved. Although the news reported that congress has passed a continuing resolution to fund the government for six months, what the reports did not say is that the continuing funding are only at the levels negotiated last year which rolled back funding to Fiscal Year 2007 (FY07) levels. FY07 dollars do not have the same buying power as today’s dollars and the amount of work required by the laws passed by congress have increased.
You might have heard about the budget “sequestration.” Sequestration is the mechanism that was instituted as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 to force congress to negotiate a budget or automatic, across the board cuts totaling $1.2 trillion will go into effect on January 1, 2013. Sequestration has made a lot of people in the DC area nervous because it will cause contractors to cut jobs. In fact, with the uncertainty of sequestration, large contractors, like Lockheed-Martin, are providing 90 day layoff notices they are required to give employees when defense and other security-related contracts are ended early.
For the money manufacturing operations under the Department of the Treasury, there should not be any problems from sequestration because the U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing are profitable agencies that uses their profits for operations. If there are shortfalls in providing funding for operations, the Secretary of the Treasury is allowed to withdraw funds from the Public Enterprise Funds (the accounts where the profits are deposited).
Problems remain for both agencies. The most significant of the issues are the problems with printing the new $100 Federal Reserve Notes. BEP continues to report that the new notes have folding issues that have delayed their release for two years. Inquiries by numismatic industry news outlets have reported that the problems are still under investigation and that no new release date has been set.
The U.S. Mint recently reported striking problems with the First Spouse Gold Coins. Apparently, the design caused metal flow problems in trial strikes that caused delays in releasing the coins. While the U.S. Mint has said they rectified the problems, the coins have not been issued.
In addition to the coining problems, the U.S. Mint also suspended its attempt to update its technology infrastructure. After receiving the responses from a formal Request For Information (RFI), the U.S. Mint pulled back on its attempt to update its infrastructure and online ordering services to re-examine the requirements and the business processes that would be part of that contract. The U.S. Mint press office said that they had no further information other than what has been published. They did confirm that the RFI responses will not be released because they contain proprietary information that is protected from public release.
It is difficult to know whether the federal budget situation will effect the U.S. Mint and BEP or whether the attempt to reduce costs in order to ensure they do not access more money from their respective Public Enterprise Funds. This is because money in excess of budgeted operations plus a reserve must be withdrawn from these Public Enterprise Funds and deposited in to the general treasury accounts at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury (31 U.S.C. § 5136 for the U.S. Mint and 31 U.S.C. § 5142 for the BEP). It is reasonable to question the management of these funds in the light of the federal budget situation.
Right now, the way the BEP and the Federal Reserve has handled the situation with the new $100 note suggests there is more to that issue than meets the eye. Nether the BEP or the Fed are answering question and the BEP did not issue an annual report for 2011 which would have to report on the production of the $100 notes. Inquiries to the BEP were returned with a reply that the report “is not ready.”
The annual reports for both these bureaus will make for interesting reading, if the BEP produces one for 2012.
ANACS Revelation Shows We Continue to Have Counterfeit Problems
It was reported that the third-party grading service ANACS has found a counterfeit 1934 Peace Dollar. Although the coin appears to be made with a genuine planchet, indications of heavy polishing and other flaws seen under high magnification has ANACS questioning the coin’s authenticity.
Senior ANACS Numismatist Michael Fahey was interviewed for the Coin World article does not believe that the counterfeiters used a previously struck coin and that the dies were made using a transfer process.
NGC discovered the “Blundered O” not included in the VAM references.
Regardless of whether one point is valid or not, the fact of the matter is that the ANACS staff who examined the coin found a lot of evidence that leads them to believe the coin is counterfeit. Finding counterfeit coins that get by experienced dealers and nearly fools the graders is a serious matter for the hobby. This is why the Hobby Protection Act needs to be strengthened so that we can stop something like this from hurting the hobby.
I will remind everyone that it is not too late to write to your representative and ask him or her to support H.R. 5977 the Collectible Coin Protection Act. In short, the Collectible Coin Protection Act will allow collectors, dealers, and grading services to bring legal actions that are much more effective, with much stronger remedies than previously existed. It will allow those harmed to work with the Justice Department to bring criminal actions, where appropriate.
The only way to ensure that H.R. 5977 becomes law, especially since we are approaching the end of this session in an election year, is to contact your member of congress will let them know that the numismatic community supports this Act and that their support is important. It can be worked on during the lame duck session and members of the Industry Council for Tangible Assets (ICTA) and the Gold and Silver Political Action Committee are working to see this law passed.
WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP!
There are only 11 co-sponsors of this bill as I write this post. We need more co-sponsors to get the attention of the House leadership.
First, see if your member of congress is not a sponsor of this legislation. The best way is to visit govtrack.us, scroll down and and select the “show cosponsors” link. If your representative is not there, here is a sample note to send them (complements of the ICTA):
HR 5977 provides a means whereby US citizens can take legal action against purveyors of the high-quality counterfeit US coins entering our marketplace from China by expanding enforcement power of the Hobby Protection Act. The Hobby Protection Act has been in effect since its passage in December, 1975, but lacks enforcement power that HR 5977 now provides.
HR 5977 is revenue neutral and contains no controversial issues.
Please contact me if you have any questions or if I can provide any additional information. Thank you for your action on this.
Even though the House is not in session, members can still contact the Clerk of the House and ask that their name be added as a co-sponsor. The more names added, the better the chance that the bill will see action in the lame duck session.
Please take this opportunity and contact your representative today!
ADDED: If you do contact your representative, please leave a note here and let me know who you contacted. THANKS!
Image courtesy of NGC.
Bibiana Boerio Nominated as Director of the U.S. Mint
Bibiana Boerio as Managing Director of Jaguar, was appointed by President Obama to be the Director of the U.S. Mint.
Boerio is currently Special Advisor to the President of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. Prior to working with the Detroit Regional Chamber, Boerio was Chief of Staff to Congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA).
For the 31 years prior to her entry into politics, Boerio worked for Ford in corporate finance where she became the Chief Financial Officer of Ford Motor Credit in 2000. In 2004, Boerio was named Managing Director of Jaguar Cars Ltd., then a subsidiary of Ford.
Boerio, who is a native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, earned a Bachelor of Science from Seton Hall University and an Master of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.
Boerio succeeds Edmund Moy who resigned in January 2011. Since Moy’s departure, Deputy Director Richard Peterson has been capably running the world’s largest coin manufacturing agency. If Boerio is confirmed, Peterson will return to being the full time Deputy Director.
Moy announced his resignation in December 2010 and left in early January 2011. For 21 months the U.S. Mint has been without a permanent director. With a little more than a month to go until the election and the results in doubt, it is curious as to why this appointment was made now. It is doubtful the Senate will take up this nomination before adjourning next week to allow members to return to their states to campaign.
Image courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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