Weekly World Numismatic News for April 19, 2020
Glenna Goodacre, the designer of the Sacagawea Dollar and world-renown sculptor, died at her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico of natural causes. She was 80 years old.
Amongst her better-known works include the Vietnam Women’s Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Goodacre also created the 8-foot standing portrait of President Ronald W. Reagan at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.
The unveiling of the Sacagawea Dollar design at the White House with (L-R) irst Lady Hillary Clinton, Sacagawea Model Randy’L He-dow Teton, and Designer Glenna Goodacre.
Numismatists know Goodacre for the design of the Sacagawea Dollar. Since there are no images of Sacagawea, the Shoshone guide of the Lewis and Clark expedition, Goodacre found Randy’L He-Dow Teton, a member of the Shoshone-Cree tribe, to be her model. The resulting profile of Sacagawea in three-quarter view and her infant son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, carried on her back has been produced for 20 years.
In 2018, Goodacre donated several plaster and bronze casts of the coin that was used to test the design and show the relief of the coin. There is also a plaster cast with an alternate version without her baby on her back.
As Dennis Tucker wrote in her memory, “The numismatic community joins Glenna Goodacre’s family, friends, and many fans in mourning her loss and celebrating her art.”
And now the news…
April 14, 2020
→ Read more at huffpost.com
April 14, 2020 → Read more at dailymail.co.uk
April 15, 2020 → Read more at finance.yahoo.com
April 16, 2020 → Read more at kitco.com
April 16, 2020 → Read more at irishexaminer.com
April 18, 2020 → Read more at mirror.co.uk
Is the U.S. Mint Hiding the CCAC Coin Design Report?
While watching the live coverage of the situation in Cairo, Egypt, I was marveling how we can see history being made while it was happening. Earlier this year we watched a populist uprising in Tunisia that forced a change in the government broadcast around the world. A few weeks ago when a gunman shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the news was so fluid that watching the news on Twitter became the best way to keep up with the developments. Technology has brought a new world of instant communication to anyone who wants the content. News junkies, like myself, are thrilled!
Unfortunately, this type of communication has been lost on the U.S. Mint. On Wednesday, February 2, it will be two weeks since the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee introduced and adopted as its recommendation the report “A Blueprint for Advancing Artistic Creativity and Excellence in United States Coins and Medals.” As of the time of this writing, the report has not been made available on either the CCAC’s website or the website for the U.S. Mint.
It must be emphasized that this is the fault of the U.S. Mint. According to CCAC member Donald Scarinci on Twitter, they were “told that it will be posted on the ccac website.” It was confirmed that after the meeting, CCAC Chairman Gary Marks urged the U.S. Mint to have the report posted online immediately.
According to Presidential memo, “Transparency and Open Government,” government should be transparent, participatory, and collaborative. Keeping it off line is not transparent, does not allow participation by the citizens, and does not allow for the collaboration between a government mandated committee (the CCAC) and the “citizens” it is to represent. In short, the U.S. Mint is not doing its job.
I know the weather around the Washington-area has not been the best, but we are not talking about snowmageddon-like conditions we had last year. But according the Office of Personnel Management the government is open. This means that the business of the government must go on including observing the President’s Memo regarding transparency and open government.
I urge the U.S. Mint to post the CCAC subcommittee report immediately!
Copper Prices Rising
The base metals market woke up this morning trumpeting record high futures prices for copper, nickel, and aluminum on the London Metals Exchange (LME) and COMEX Metals Exchange (New York). Analysts credit this rise in price to low supplies and higher demand, specifically in China.
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/base/spot-copper-6m.gif)
Copper closed at $4.5135 per pound in New York and $9,878 per metric ton in London on Monday, January 31, 2011.
For numismatists watching production at the U.S. Mint, this means that the material costs to produce U.S. coins will increase. With the exception of the cent, the predominant metal used in the manufacture of U.S. coins being copper—the Lincoln cent is 97.5-percent zinc with a coating using a 2.5-percent copper coating. Since most coins are composed of an average 88-percent copper and the nickel containing 75-percent copper, the rise in the cost of materials will reduce the seigniorage (profit) collected by the U.S. Mint.
Second most used metal used in U.S. coinage is nickel. While nickel has been up for the last six month and approaching its one-year high, it is down from its previous high reached in 2007 when it the U.S. Mint said the cost of manufacturing the nickel was nearly double its face value. If we use the average production costs from the last three years of 21-percent of face value (as reported in the U.S. Mint Annual Reports), it costs approximately 8.16-cents per coin to manufacture (metals cost 7.06-cents and approximately 1.1 cents to manufacture).
As for the Lincoln Cent, it has fared better in its materials cost. The price of Zinc has also dropped from its five-year high and is trading around $1.09 per pound. Zinc is also in ample supply to meet market demands meaning that the price should not be that volatile. This means that the materials cost to make the Lincoln Cent is 0.644-cents. Using the average cost to manufacture the cent at 35-percent of face value (as reported in the U.S. Mint Annual Reports), the overall cost to manufacture the cent should be on par with its face value.
However, the FY2009 U.S. Mint Annual Report showed a marked rise in manufacturing costs (I have not analyzed the FY2010 Annual Report as of this post) wondering if the production costs estimates are too low. However, if copper continues to rise, then the costs to manufacture all U.S. coins will rise and reduce the profit collected by the U.S. Mint.
Where is the ANA In This Electronic Discussion?
I have never had a reaction to anything I wrote as I have regarding electronic publishing. Not only have I heard from numismatic publishers, but on the E-Sylum newsletter from the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. The editor of the E-Sylum electronic newsletter has been posting excerpts from my postings regarding electronic publishing and responses from other readers.
One of the responders is David Lange, Research Director at Numismatic Guaranty Corporation and author of many excellent books. His latest book, Coin Collecting Boards of the 1930s & 1940s, opens the history of how coin boards changed the collecting habits of millions of collectors—a book I recommend. However, in response to my request for more electronic publication, Dave writes:
The problem I have with doing a book solely in electronic format is one which many numismatic authors and publishers may have encountered—ours is a hobby that caters mostly to older people. I know that the buyers of my current book and the subscribers to my price lists and newsletters are mostly my age and older.
Not to pick on Dave, but his response is an endemic problem with the hobby. Numismatics is dominated by many people over 50. If there is a second age group, it is younger than 18. Missing in the demographic are those from 18-50 who might have been a Young Numismatist but dropped out in college and did not return until after their children have grown. This situation is unacceptable if the hobby is to survive!
One question I have: where is the American Numismatic Association in this discussion?
Sure, the ANA now offers editions of The Numismatist online, but where is the rest of their outreach? Twitter and Facebook are only outreach tools, they are not delivery platforms. The ANA has wonderful programs for Young Numismatists to bring those under 18 into the hobby, but what programs do they have to keep them engaged? Even though the YN program extends to 22, keeping those in college or trying to start careers interested as they mature into their lives is severely lacking.
The ANA can offer better outreach to this connected demographic by the appropriate use of technology. This does not have to cost a lot of money. It takes a little imagination to figure out where these potential members congregate online and deliver new content.
For example, hometown coin clubs may not be accessible to collectors at college. What about virtual coin clubs? The ANA can create “Numismatic Counsellors” to hold periodic meetings that members could access from anywhere. Presentations can be given online by anyone or the meeting can consist of videos, show and tell, and discussion amongst members. And for an average cost of $4,000-5,000 per year, it could be the least expensive outreach the ANA could do.
Has the ANA ever thought to using this service to bring the Coins in the Classroom program on line? When teachers register for the seminar, Education Department could send the materials via regular mail. When the seminar is held teachers can login to the online classroom to support this program. It would reduce travel, lodging, and room rental costs for those taking the online seminar. And the ANA can hold more of these seminars to further the outreach to a new audience.
I have many more examples of how the ANA could reach out to more people—like using a streaming video service during the ANA conventions. However, the last time I wrote to the ANA Board to discuss a previous post, I was disappointed with the response. I volunteered my services as someone with over 30 years in the computing industry and have not heard back from anyone mentioned in various email notes. DISCLAIMER: Shortly after writing my note my work assignment changed limiting my time, but I could help in smaller ways.
However, if something happened to limit my time, an organization should never ignore a member who is volunteering to help. Not only do I have experience in this area, you never know when my situation will change that will allow me to participate further.
I think the hobby is losing a lot of potential members by not using technology to keep members interested after they are YNs. Especially over the last ten years, as YNs grow up and transition to young adults, they are very comfortable with technology. They are very heavy consumers of electronic content. If the ANA provides its outreach online where these potential members are, maybe the age demographic of the hobby will be more distributed than it is today.
Launch of the Gettysburg Quarter
The Battle of Gettyburg was the pivotal battle of the Civil War. The three day battle (July 1-3, 1863) started when Confederate General Robert E. Lee attacked the Union position in an attempt to invade the North after successful battles in Northern Virginia. Gettysburg was defended by Major General George G. Meade who arrived at Gettysburg three days before the battle began. The Confederate Army began its Retreat from Gettysburg on July 4, 1863 following the resounding defeat after (Maj. Gen. George) Pickett’s Charge on Cemetery Hill.
The Battle of Gettysburg is considered the turning point of the American Civil War because of the morale boost it provided the Union forces. But when the battle was over, there was no mistaking the cost of this battle in that between 46,000 and 51,000 Americans died on the battlefield.
The Gettysburg National Cemetery was dedicated on November 19, 1863 with speeches from Edward Everett and President Abraham Lincoln. Everett’s two-hour formal speech at the event preceded Lincoln’s 271-word Gettysburg Address, a speech that proved Lincoln was not a good prognosticator: “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here….”
The Gettysburg National Military Park came into existence on February 11, 1895 when President Grover Cleveland signed the legislation into law. Originally, the law required the park was to be administered by the War Department. In 1933, control was passed to the National Park Service.
On January 25, 2011, the U.S. Mint launched the The Gettysburg National Military Park Quarter held at park’s Museum and Visitors Center. U.S. Mint Associate Director for Sales and Marketing B. B. Craig and Gettysburg National Military Park Superintendent Bob Kirby co-hosted the event, with Barbara Finfrock, vice chair of the Gettysburg Foundation, serving as master of ceremonies.
The reverse of the quarter depicts the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Monument, which is located on the battle line of the Union Army at Cemetery Ridge. It was designed by Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Joel Iskowitz and engraved by U.S. Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill.
As with previous releases, the U.S. Mint released an edited B-roll video of the launch with highlights, scenery, production footage.
This is the first quarter in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program representing a piece of United States history. We should always note and long remember what happened in Gettysburg and learn about the events leading up to the worst conflict in U.S. history so that we may never relive that history again.
Gettysburg Quarter Launch Info
Followers of the U.S. Mint may have read the announcement that the launch launch of the 2011 Gettysburg National Military Park quarter will be held Tuesday, January 25 at 11:00 A.M (Eastern Time) at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. The public event will include a cash exchange for $10 rolls of the new quarters. Attendees 18 years old and younger will receive a free quarter to commemorate the event.
After the launch ceremony, the U.S. Mint will host a forum where the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and share their ideas about the future of the Nation’s coinage. The forum will be held Monday, January 24 at 5:30 p.m. ET in the Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. No word as to whether someone from the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee will be at this forum.
What the announcement did not include was that B. B. Craig, the Associate Director of Sales and Marketing for the U.S. Mint, will be the Mint’s representative at these events. In checking the 2008 Plum Book, the Associate Director of Sales and Marketing is not listed as a policy or supporting position. Thus, Mr. Craig may be a career professional stepping up to represent the U.S. Mint. Regardless of what you read in the press or hear from politicians, government career professionals are hard working citizens doing the jobs prescribed by the laws passed by congress on behalf of the American people. I wish Mr. Craig well in his appearance!
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