Weekly World Numismatic News for November 24, 2019
Maine Troop Greeters Coin – Created to commemorate the 3,000th flight greeted, March 22, 2008 (Image courtesy of the Maine Troop Greeters)
As part of their work greeting service members coming home from the world outpost, the service members leave their challenge coins with the greeters as a token of appreciation. Within the last few years, the organization created a museum within the Bangor International Airport for these challenge coins. With over 6,000 in their collection, they have documented their holdings, making it available for all collectors.
The database provides color images of each of the challenge coins with a description of size, shape, and devices. If you have a challenge coin you cannot identify, you can search the database for keywords found on the coin. It is a simple yet effective idea.
According to their website, the Main Troop Greeters are slowing their growth and winding down operations as the number of troops overseas decreases. They have done a great service welcoming back soldiers returning from overseas wars. Hopefully, their work will not have to be duplicated in the future.
And now the news…
November 15, 2019
→ Read more at wabi.tv
November 15, 2019 → Read more at foxnews.com
November 18, 2019 → Read more at thevintagenews.com
November 20, 2019 → Read more at pravdareport.com
November 23, 2019 → Read more at indiatimes.com
November 24, 2019 → Read more at blabbermouth.net
November 24, 2019 → Read more at foxnews.com
November 24, 2019 → Read more at bbc.com
What To Do With 2010 Cent Design
For the last few months, the Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee have been volleying between each other and the sculptor-engravers at the US Mint over the design of the reverse for the 2010 Lincoln Cent. Based on what is being reported one thing is clear, the designs are somewhat less than stellar.
Ok… they stink!
According to Public Law 145-109 Section 303 states, “[the] design on the reverse of the 1-cent coins issued after December 31, 2009, shall bear an image emblematic of President Lincoln’s preservation of the United States of America as a single and united country.”
While the mandate sounds simple, there is a catch: Lincoln only caught a glimpse of a united country. Prior to Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender on April 9, 1865, Lincoln visited Richmond after it was taken by Union troops. Lincoln was greeted as a conquering hero by newly freed slaves on his way to visit the Confederate capital. When Lincoln arrived at Jefferson Davis’s office, he sat behind Davis’s desk to symbolize that there was only one president who had the authority to rule over the land. Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865 and died on April 15.
Lincoln was re-elected in 1864 with 55-percent of the vote and a 212-21 electoral vote margin. On March 3, 1865, Lincoln gave his second inaugural address as the war was winding down. Lincoln’s theme turned to healing as he ended his address:
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
With that rich and well documented history, someone could not come up with a good theme to represent the preservation of a united country?
Even though the Confederate states did not participate in the 1864 election, Lincoln’s re-election and inaugural speech laid claim to his desire to end this bloody chapter in our history and pursue a policy of peace. What would be a better iconic image than Lincoln delivering his Second Inaugural Address.
Although there is only one known photograph of the inauguration (see above), there are artists renderings that could be used to base a design. For example, the color image to the right of this paragraph was found on the Internet. I do not know who created the image but it shows Lincoln standing at a lectern with Vice President Andrew Johnson (a southern Democrat) sitting behind Lincoln, and Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase standing to Lincoln’s left. It is a better image to use than what appeared on the cover of Harper’s Weekly because it shows a more dignified proceedings’plus I think it would look better on a small coin, like the cent.
I think that this is a better idea than sheaths of wheat, shields, and images of the Capital building because it is clearly about Lincoln and how he lead the nation out of its bloodiest war into one United States.
If you agree with me, I encourage you to contact the US Mint, CFA, and CCAC to let them know if this idea. After all, it is our money, we should have more of a say in how it looks!!
Cape Cod Sixpence Find
A retired psychologist in Truro, Massachusetts on Cape Cod found a 17th century sixpence while digging in his garden.
It was reported that Dr. Peter Burgess retired to Truro and decided to plant a garden. While digging in March 2008, he found the coin. Although it was very worn, Dr. Burgess did some Internet research and contacted Louis Jordan of the Department of Special Collections at University of Notre Dame. Jordan verified that the coin was a William III sixpence.
William III of Orange was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1689-1702. He was King along side his wife, Queen Mary II until her death in 1694. William endowed the College of William and Mary in present day Williamsburg, VA.
I found a video of an interview with Burgess by the Cape Cod Times:
Even though the coin is worn, I think it is worth something. In any case, it is a good find!
This and That
I had taken some time off from the blog world to get some other work done. Maybe one day I will figure out how to make this a full time job, but until then we will have to endure a written silence. Since I am back after two weeks, here are some random thoughts:
My ballot for the American Numismatic Association 2009-11 Board of Governors elections. Compared to the last few elections, this one is very quiet. The significant race is the one for president that features Patti Finner, the current ANA Vice President, and Cliff Mishler, a current board member and former president of Krause Publications. Both are ANA Life Members with a distinguished career with the ANA. Both have their fans and critics. I have not yet decided who to endorse.
In the mean time, the ANA is still in court fighting former Executive Director Christopher Chipoletti. Now the ANA is alleging that Chipoletti stole money from the organization. If true, Chipoletti’s career is over.
From the perspective of the Federal Reserve, the economy must be wreaking havoc with their distribution operations. In the Washington, DC area, I have not seen any 2009 coins in circulation. Up until recently it was common to find 2008 dated coins in change. Now, I am finding 2008-D coins amongst the coins.
Considering our proximity to Philadelphia, receiving uncirculated, removed from the rolls Denver minted coins in quantity is unusual. In the last week, I almost filled a plastic tube of 2008-D cents! This phenomenon cannot be tied to a “Coinstar effect.” These are new coins that had to be distributed by the Federal Reserve.
The Whitman Baltimore Coin and Currency Show will be held June 11-14 at the Baltimore Convention Center. This show will include the first Maryland State Numismatic Association Distinguished Lecture Series featuring Q. David Bowers. Bowers, who recently publishedWhitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins, will be talking about Colonial and Early American Coins. The talk is being held on Saturday, June 13 at the Convention Center. Times and locations will be posted on site.
MSNA is also sponsoring competitive exhibits at the Baltimore Show. A few people, including your intrepid blog host, will be exhibiting at the show. This will be my first ever exhibit. It will be interesting!
The US Mint announced their Last Opportunity Sale to sell off all 2008 dated items. You have until June 30 to buy these items.
Other than the ANA election, the most interesting story that will be coming this summer is the pending trial for the twenty 1933 Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagles found by the relatives of the late Israel Switt. This could be the biggest numismatic soap opera since trial and subsequent sale of the Farouk-Fenton specimen.
I have a few book reviews coming. Stay tuned!
More Pennies for Good
Anyone who has followed my writing knows that I am an advocate for keeping the Lincoln Cent and charities that use the cent as a basis for the good work they do. The power of the little copper-colored coin is underestimated and maligned for bogus reasons. The coin we colloquially (and incorrectly) call the penny deserves more respect.
Add Marcelo Bezos to the list of people who found the penny to be a worthy charitable endeavor. Bezos, the founder of the Penny Pyramid Project was inspired to break the world’s record for a pyramid made of cents by a family member’s ongoing fight with colorectal cancer. As Bezos writes, “My father in laws Dad has been battling this cancer for almost 12 years. In November of last year his health took a turn for the worst. I wanted to do something big to show this man that his strength, faith and will to live had touched many of those who had met him, including me.”
In turn, Bezos turned his project into an annual fundraising event in conjunction with students in his area.
The concept of building a pyramid from pennies is such a neat idea and the stop action video of the project is so cool, I thought my readers would be interested in watching:
If you watch this video, can someone please help me identify the background music?
Although his site and YouTube channel appears to be sporadically updated, I hope he is successful in furthering awareness to the necessity of screening and finding a cure for colorectal cancer.
Honoring His Accidency
In a ceremony at the Sherwood Forest Plantation home of John Tyler the US Mint released the Presidential Dollar honoring our tenth president. President Tyler was the first to ascend to the presidency from Vice President after the death of William Henry Harrison.
Since Sherwood Forest Plantation is the private home of Tyler descendants, there was no dollar exchange as there was in the past. Only those invited who are under 18 years old were given a single dollar coin.
Nicknamed “His Accidentcy” by his enemies, President Tyler found himself in office during a contentious time. Aside from his accidental presidency, Harrison was selected to run for president by the Whig Party over Henry Clay and Harrison chose Tyler, a former member of the Democrat-Republican party, as his running mate. Clay originally thought that he would be the ”power behind the throne” of the elderly Harrison, but that was thwarted with the younger Tyler becoming president.
Clay was never friendly with Tyler who adapted Democrat-Republican policies from congress. After wrestling with the Whig-controlled congress over banking issues that included the veto of banking measures, the cabinet Tyler inherited from Harrison quit and Tyler was expelled from the Whig Party. Amongst the policies Tyler adopted from the Democrat-Republicans was to oppose the formation of a central bank. This made the Whigs angry and had them suggest that the lack of a central bank lead to the Panic of 1873.
Tyler and the Whigs sparred for most of his presidency. But there were areas where the Tyler and Whigs agreed on policy. Tyler applied the Monroe Doctrine to the Kingdom of Hawaii and used it to begin what became the annexation of the island nation. Tyler normalized relationships with China by sending diplomatic missions and opening a consulate to maintain the relationship. And in 1842, Secretary of State Daniel Webster negotiated the Webster-Ashburton Treaty with Great Britain that set the borders between the United States and Canada.
Tyler risked war with Mexico by annexing the Republic of Texas into the United States. Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836. Tyler, who was looking to show his strength in order to be re-elected, sent newly appointed Secretary of State John C. Calhoun to negotiate the annexation. Tyler was convinced that if the United States was able to annex Texas that he would win the support of the Democrat-Republican Party. Texas was annexed but the Democrats became upset and went on to nominate James K. Polk as their presidential candidate.
To run for reelection, Tyler formed his own party from core officeholders in his administration. As an independent and incumbent, Tyler was not as popular as he thought. When the Whigs chose Henry Clay as their candidate, the race became a fierce contest between Tyler and Clay with Polk being ignored. When it looked like he would not win the election, Tyler withdrew and threw his support to Polk. Three days before the end of his term, Tyler singed the bill annexing Texas.
On March 3, 1845, Tyler’s last full day in office, congress overrode a revenue veto, making it the first time that any president’s veto was overridden.
John Tyler was the first president to have two First Ladies while in office. His first wife, Letita Tyler was the first First Lady to die while her husband was in office. Letita Tyler, already confined to a wheel chair by the time her husband became president, died in 1842.
Tyler met his second wife, Julia Gardiner in 1842. Gardiner’s father, David Gardiner, was killed when the steam frigate, U.S.S. Princeton died when a naval gun exploded on the ship while sailing on the Potomac River. Tyler comforted Julia, 30 years his junior, whose subsequent courtship ending with a wedding on June 26, 1844. It was the first time a president was married while in office.
The release of the Tyler Presidential Dollar also marks the first of the Presidential Dollar series where the honored president has a second generation descendant alive to witness the event. Harrison Tyler, who is 81 years old, is the grandson of President John Tyler. Harrison Tyler resides at the family’s Sherwood Forest Plantation in Charles City, Virginia.
Harrison Tyler was born in 1928 as the sixth child of Lyon Gardiner Tyler and the third child of Lyon’s second wife, Sue. Lyon Tyler, who lived 81 years, was 75 when Harrison was born. Lyon Tyler was the thirteenth child of President John Tyler and the fifth child of Julia Gardiner Tyler. John Tyler, who would father 16 children, was 63 years old when Lyon was born. Harrison Tyler was born 66 years after the death of his grandfather.
Harrison Tyler is an alumnus of the College of William & Mary, as was his grandfather. Harrison also holds a graduate degree from Virginia Tech University. Harrison is one of the founders of ChemTreat, Inc. a company that claims to be “the nation’s largest independent firm dedicated solely to industrial water treatment.”
Coin image courtesy of the US Mint.
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