Weekly World Numismatic News for July 21, 2019
While there was plenty of news this week, I want to take this opportunity to use myself as an example. Some may have noticed that the blog was taken down for a little more than a day earlier this week. The downtime was necessary to clean up after my account was attacked.
The attack occurred after I had given the person who is maintaining my company’s website the administrative passwords. Although that person did not attack my account, the use of compromised services on the Internet allowed the attack to happen.
Being attacked by malware on the Internet is nothing new. I am sure that most of you experienced an attack either of a website, your email, or social media account. The clean up is not fun. The embarrassment after spending a career as an information security profession is enormous.
I do pay attention to my version of the world to make sure that what I am involved with does not cause problems. Even so, something got passed my watch and infected my entire account, including this blog and the news site.
I have written about security issues in the past. As my experience has shown, letting down your guard can lead to an unintentional disaster.
I know that Internet security is both problematic and annoying. Having to watch over your virtual shoulders can make the time you spend online unpleasant. But it has to be done. You have to stay aware because the threats adapt as you do.
Fans of Hill Street Blues will remember that after the morning briefing, Sergeant Phil Esterhaus would say, “Let’s be careful out there.” Sound advice for the Internet age.
And now the news…
July 14, 2019London (CNN Business)Alan Turing, a crack code-breaker and visionary mathematician who was convicted under Victorian-era homophobic laws, will be the face of Britain's new £50 note. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney announced Monday that Turing, who killed himself in 1954 after he was subjected to chemical castration, will appear on the new polymer note by the end of 2021. 
→ Read more at cnn.com
July 17, 2019Nick Vorsin wasn’t sure what he’d find when he stopped in at the Calgary Coin Gallery, but he ended up buying a couple of nice surprises: two 1967 Canadian Centennial coins. One was a 50 cent piece, featuring an image of a howling wolf, along with a silver dollar featuring a Canada goose. → Read more at globalnews.ca
July 17, 2019(UPDATED) A study finds that Filipinos frequently use P20 bills, leading to the banknote's wear and tear. A coin version will extend its life span. MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – The orange P20 bill will soon get a coin counterpart, an official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Wednesday, July 17. → Read more at rappler.com
July 18, 2019Before you say, "Keep the change," make sure you don’t have one of these. You never know, one of your pennies could be worth the price of a nice dinner out — or maybe a whole lot more. → Read more at cnbc.com
July 21, 2019Richard Hayes left a $45 million coin on the streets of Manhattan all day Tuesday, but he wasn’t particularly worried about a thief carting it off. → Read more at marketwatch.com
July 21, 2019Rusty Goe has spent much of his professional life on a deep dive into the history of the U.S. Mint in Carson City. He’s written multiple books on the subject and spent thousands of hours in research, getting to know the people who worked there 150 years ago. → Read more at carsonnow.org
July 21, 2019There was an increase in hoarding coins during the "tumultuous" reign of the queen, an expert says. → Read more at bbc.com
Disabled Vets Commemorative Passes Congress
After being amended by the Senate, the House of Representatives agreed to the changes to H.R. 634, American Veterans Disabled for Life Commemorative Coin Act, on June 18. The bill is now enrolled and is cleared for the White House for the President’s signature.
The bill calls for the striking of 350,000 silver dollars whose design will be “emblematic of the service of our disabled veterans who, having survived the ordeal of war, made enormous personal sacrifices defending the principles of our democracy.” Coins will be issued in 2010. For this commemorative, the $10 surcharge will “be paid to the Disabled Veterans’ Life Memorial Foundation for the purpose of establishing an endowment to support the construction of American Veterans’ Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, DC.”
The Duke To Represent DC
On June 19, the District of Columbia Office of the Secretary announced that the design for the DC quarter will feature Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington. The design will include the official District motto, “Justice For All.”
Ellington beat out designs honoring Frederick Douglass and Benjamin Banneker by a margin of 36-percent to 33-percent for Douglass and 31-percent for Banneker. Ellington was the only native of Washington, DC of the group.
As with most decisions in the nation’s capital, the design of the DC quarter was not without controversy. First, the DC government submitted a narration with the unofficial motto “Taxation Without Representation” to raise the awareness that the District of Columbia is the only national capital that does not have representation its government legislative body. The US Mint rejected the design as “controversial.”
Then it was questioned as to who should appear on the quarter to represent the District of Columbia. While Ellington, Douglass, and Banneker have various ties to the District, none could have been said to have really defined the District. In reality, Ellington’s major accomplishments occurred in New York, Banneker was from Maryland, and while Douglass’s work was important, it had nothing to do with the District itself.
Over the last few months, I have been trying to convince anyone who would listen to me to change the design to honor Walter E. Washington. Washington was the first Mayor of the consolidated District of Columbia (Georgetown had its own mayor at one time) under the DC Home Rule Act of 1973.
As the last appointed commissioner of the DC, Washington faced the rioters following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. refusing to shoot them, as recommended by FBI director J. Edger Hoover. Washington worked with city leaders in their push for home rule.
If the DC activists, including Mayor Adrian Fenty, wanted to make a statement, placing Mayor Washington on the quarter would have given them the opportunity to speak about Home Rule and the problems the city has faced since.
I love Duke’s music, but I think Walter E. Washington would have been a better choice.
CCAC Selects Native American Reverse
Simcha Kuritzky, Treasurer of the Montgomery County Coin Club and past president of the Maryland State Numismatic Association, attended the June 18, 2008 meeting of the Citizen Coinage Advisory Committee. The agenda was to review the possible reverses for the Native American $1 Coins.
Simcha reported that for the 2009 reverse, the CCAC chose the design representing the three sisters: maize, beans, and squash, which are grown together. As required by law (Public Law 110-82 [PDF]), the date will be removed from the obverse and placed on the edge so that all circulating dollar coins will have edge lettering.
There were three reverses that had substantial support: a woman planting seeds with three corn plants in the background; three woman’s faces with the respective plants intertwined in their hair; and three sets of plants with a shining sun. The first and last designs had the most support from Native American groups. The main arguments at the meeting were over the novelty of design: the three faces design was a fresh approach and some members wanted greater artistic vision, while others were concerned that most people wouldn’t understand the design. The woman planting design had support because it showed agriculture (as opposed to nature) and women’s roles in the native economy, but the plants were small and may not show up well on the actual coin.
The designs and CCAC recommendation will be submitted to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts for their opinion. The Director of the US Mint as proxy for the Secretary of the Treasury will make the final decision.
Could A Water Main Break Predict the Mint’s Future?
On May 21, I reported that the US Mint hired Andrew D. Burnhart as Deputy Director. I had noted that prior to this job, Mr. Burnhart was General Manager for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), a community owned utility providing water and sewer services to the Maryland’s suburbs of Washington, DC.
WSSC has been in the news this week following a major water main break on Sunday, June 15. The rupture of a 48-inch main in a remote area of Montgomery County caused a significant portion of the WSSC service area to be on usage restrictions until this evening. The sale of bottled water has skyrocketed over the last few days.
WSSC has blamed an aging infrastructure. But this 48-inch water main was put into service in 1969 and the county has older water mains that have been recently inspected was deemed safe. Further, inspection and warning systems put into place to notify the WSSC and the public of problems failed.
In a radio interview, Montgomery County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett told reporters that the county had discussed making improvements to the system over the last five years while economic times have been better. WSSC had resisted discussions with Leggett, then Montgomery County Council President, to create a strategic plan to upgrade the system. Rather, WSSC officials continue to prevent Montgomery County from auditing the utility. Although Leggett did not mention names, he was clear that the issue rested directly with the reluctance of the WSSC General Manager.
Why am I discussing this in a coin collectors blog? Because the person responsible for keeping the system up to date and working, pipes inspected, and make recommendation to the governments who own WSSC was Andrew D. Burnhart, now Deputy Director of the US Mint.
“His expertise in organizational change will help the United States Mint achieve its strategic goals and become a more results-oriented organization,” reads the Mint’s press release announcing Burnhart’s hiring.
WSSC has underperformed financially. WSSC will not let their books be audited by one of the counties that own the utility. And WSSC’s performance during a water main break—which they should expect to happen at some point—shows that this hire by the US Mint may be a result of the spoils system and not one of competence.
I hope this does not negatively effect the Mint in the future.
Moving Day At ANS
How do you move one the largest and most valuable coin collections in the world? Hire a moving company with ordinary trucks to schlep 425 plastic packing crates across Manhattan.
Although there was a police escort, the American Numismatic Society moved over 800,000 coins, bank notes, medals, pins, tokens, campaign buttons, and many other artifacts to the society’s new headquarters at One Hudson Square.
The ANS was founded in 1858 and the collection represents an accumulation of some of the finest and most unique collectables accumulated during that time.
The ANS collection will begin to exhibit the collection starting in October. In September, the ANS library of over 100,000 books, manuscripts, catalogs, and other items will be open to the public.
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