On Saturday, September 5, 2006, the US Mint announced that Edmund C. Moy was sworn in as the 38th Director of the US Mint. Moy succeeds Henrietta Holsman Fore who became the Under Secretary of State for Management. David A. Lebrynk was acting director between Fore’s appointment at the State Department and the installation of Moy. Lebrynk returns to his Assistant Director role.

Moy served on the transition team for George W. Bush and has served in various offices in the Bush administration. Previously, Moy served in the Department of Health and Human Services for President George H.W. Bush.

Pursuant to the Coinage Act of 1873 (31 U.S.C. §304), the Director of the Mint is appointed for a term of five years. However, it is common in today’s political environment that many appointees resign at the end of the president’s term in office to allow the new president to appoint a new team. The last director to serve full terms under two presidents was Donna Pope, who was appointed by President Ronald Regan but served under President George H.W. Bush as well.

Good luck to Director Moy!

Having some time to myself over the last few days allowed me to finish reading Illegal Tender: Gold, Greed, and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle by David Tripp. Tripp is was a director of Sotheby’s in the department responsible for the 2002 sale of the only legal 1933 Saint Gaudens $20 Gold Double Eagle coin. His book is about the history and the over $7.5 million auction sale of this coin.

As with any thriller, the book opens with the background and history of the our protagonist, in this case, the Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle. Tripp repeats the well known history of how President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to extend the gilded age and update the design of US coinage. Roosevelt thought the design of the Mint’s Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber’s were bland and not fitting of a great nation. Tripp reproduces reports of conversations and letters from Roosevelt to Barber and other US Mint officials demanding they follow the instructions of sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, as to how the coin would be minted. If you have not heard the details of this history, the first chapter is a must read.

From the history of the rise of the Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle, Tripp then talks about its demise. With the country in the throes of the Great Depression and the country revolting against President Herbert Hoover at the polls, Tripp discusses the tension between Hoover and the transition team of Franklin D. Roosevelt. While the country was experience a near total economic collapse, Tripp writes how FDR did not want to do anything that would give Hoover credit for doing anything before the March, 1933 inauguration.

Hours after FDR’s inauguration, the Senate approved the appointment of William H. Woodin as the Secretary of the Treasury. Woodin worked tirelessly with the Hoover administration to try to stop the damage. Tripp paints a great word picture as to how Woodin and FDR created a policy that helped the country pull out of the depression.

One of the problem was the amount of gold leaving the United States and being used for overseas trade. More gold was leaving the Treasury than they were taking in. At Woodin’s urging, FDR signed an executive order recalling all privately held gold. As this executive order goes through many updates, Tripp brings us inside the Philadelphia Mint facilities as they continue to mint 1933 $20 Double Eagles. Tripp puts us right in the Mint and traces the path of these gold beauties.

With the order to melt these coins in 1934, the mystery begins. Tripp weaves the story in true mystery novel style following the trail of several of these coins as they leave the Mint. This includes the one coin with a legal export receipt that was shipped to King Farouk of Egypt. Tripp’ coverage of the “Palace Collections of Egypt” or King Farouk’s by the Egyptian government (website in English) is a classic twist of capitalism and greed meeting politics.

The book bogs down a bit starting in the late 1950s as the trail for all of the Double Eagles gets cold and the various law suits are settled. The story picks up again with the discovery of the Farouk coin. Tripp follows the trail from its consignment in England through the seizure in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City by the United States Secret Service. From there, the book reads like an episode of Law and Order leading up to the settlement and auction of this one-of-a-kind coin.

The only thing that makes this only a four-star (out of five) book is that Tripp’s prosaic tome makes this composition a somewhat arduous read. One may require a dictionary close at hand to fully understand the lexicon he uses. If nothing else, the book did help improve my vocabulary. Otherwise, Illegal Tender is a wonderful book to read and better than most mystery novels because it is true!

Illegal Tender won the 2005 Book of the Year award from the Numismatic Literary Guild.

After taking some time off for the end of the summer, I went over the US Mint’s website to see if anything interesting was released. On the front page, the Mint is advertising the American Eagle 20th Anniversary Sets. Starting at noon on August 30th, the Mint is selling three sets celebrating the 20th anniversary of the American Eagle Coin program.

The Mint is offering three sets of coins: silver, gold, and one with a single silver and gold Eagle using the same designs as previous coins. The combined set is a two coin set with a one-ounce uncirculated Silver American Eagle and a one-ounce uncirculated Gold American Eagle. Both coins are minted at the West Point facility and will include a “informative booklet outlining the history of gold and silver in coins throughout history.” The set is priced at $850.

Each of the three-coin silver set and gold set have one-ounce uncirculated and two proof coins. One of the proofs in these sets will feature a new reverse proof Eagle coin minted at the Philadelphia Mint. The uncirculated and regular proof coins are minted at West Point. The silver set is priced at $100 and the gold set is $2,610.

The reverse proof is intriguing. Although not a new concept as Australia, Canada, and Great Britain produce reverse proof bullion coins, I believe these Eagles will be the first reverse proof for the US Mint. These reverse proof coins will only be offered as part of the 20th anniversary set.

The Mint is limiting pre-sale orders to 10 sets each. I have already ordered mine!