Change hunting at the local grocery store
2022 Maya Angelou Quarter
After putting my items on the belt, I asked why there were looking at the coins. One looked up and said they were looking for the Maya Angelou quarter, and another said that they were reading about Angelou in high school when their teacher talked about the quarter.
One looked at me and asked if I knew that the next quarter would honor Sally Ride and started to tell me about Dr. Ride. After I told them that I watched the shuttle launch on television, they thought it was neat that these quarters were in circulation.
They showed no interest in the national parks quarters as they looked at the quarters when one found an Ohio quarter. Although it has the hanging astronaut, I asked if they found the Florida quarter with the Space Shuttle on the reverse.
They realized I understood the quarters and asked if there was a reference to the themes on the quarters. After pointing them to the U.S. Mint website, I told them about the Red Book. I showed them some of the quarter designs on my smartphone and then the Native American dollars.
Aside from not knowing that the U.S. Mint struck dollar coins, I showed them the 2015 Mohawk Iron Workers dollar, a personal favorite. One showed interest and asked if they had created a design for the Code Talkers, and I responded “💯percent” and showed them the 2016 dollar.
Three high school students were now working at a local grocery store, looking at the coins in the cash register for designs representing history. They may not be looking for silver coins like I did in the early 1970s, but it’s change hunting looking for something neat.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Weekly World Numismatic News for November 15, 2020
Any time news is published about someone finding a hoard that has been buried for centuries, it is guaranteed that I will read the story. If coins are history in your hand, then buried treasure is history speaking to us.
In some areas of the world, there are active archeological digs to discover the past. According to reports, there are a dozen or more archeological in and around Jerusalem. If the Middle East is the cradle of civilization, then the capital appears to be around Jerusalem.
In other areas, treasure hunters use metal detectors for hunting the countrysides looking for something to make them rich. Hunting treasure using metal detectors is a popular hobby in Great Britain. Hobbyists have uncovered coins and other artifacts dating back to the Roman conquest of Britain. More recent finds led to new information about the Viking conquest of the British Isles.
While the knowledge gained from these finds provides insight into history, the treasure hunters find themselves in trouble.
In places where archeological digs are sanctioned, there are no controversies. The finds in those digs are the property of the country. However, in Great Britain, where people hunt without government sanction, the finds are becoming controversial.
Although the United Kingdom has some of the most comprehensive laws that help private citizens protect their finds, other laws like property rights and antiquities laws can turn euphoria into an instant headache.
Ninth-century coins found by metal detectorists in the UK feature a representation of two contemporary Anglo-Saxon kings—Ceolwulf II, of Mercia, and Alfred, of Wessex—sitting side by side. The discovery that Alfred and Ceolwulf minted coins in the same style offered surprising evidence of an alliance between them—one that Alfred had sought to whitewash in an official chronicle of the period. As Gareth Williams, a curator at the British Museum, explains, “It’s like Stalin airbrushing Trotsky out.” The coins have caused a controversy over where and how it was found.
(Photograph courtesy © the Trustees of the British Museum via The New Yorker, whose caption was used here)
The laws are different in the United States. If you have permission to hunt with a metal detector and dig on the property, whatever you find is yours. The history of archeological policy in the United States recognizes that North America’s colonization is around 400 years old. Policymakers recognized that settlement history was very well documented compared to other countries, making it unlikely for anyone to make significant finds.
There are exceptions to the basic finder’s keepers rule regarding finding Native American artifacts and evidence of past civilizations. Otherwise, as long as you have permission to search the area, you can keep what you find.
These post-find issues can turn the story of these finds into fodder for a true-crime story.
And now the news…
November 9, 2020
→ Read more at newyorker.com
November 10, 2020 → Read more at koreaherald.com
November 11, 2020 → Read more at haaretz.com
November 11, 2020 → Read more at wtvy.com
November 14, 2020 → Read more at menshealth.com
The U.S. Mint Responds… YAWN!
Following the debacle that became of the online ordering process for the End of World War II 75th Anniversary American Eagle Coins, the U.S. Mint issued a statement on social media. On Twitter, the U.S. Mint posted in a series of tweets that read:
The 2020 End of WWII 75th Anniversary American Eagle One Ounce Gold Proof Coin and the End of World War II 75th Anniversary American Eagle Silver Proof Coin were released for sale at noon ET on November 5. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/rFPeyrFZgD
— United States Mint (@usmint) November 5, 2020
Release of these coins resulted in the highest website traffic we have ever experienced, which greatly exceeded our expected capacity. This high volume caused website instability, and customers encountered error messages and in some cases were unable to purchase products. (2/4)
— United States Mint (@usmint) November 5, 2020
Due to extremely high demand, the American Eagle Gold Proof Coin became unavailable by 12:07 p.m. We are pleased with the initial demand, but are also in the process of evaluating the various customer concerns and system constraints and/or failures we experienced. (3/4)
— United States Mint (@usmint) November 5, 2020
We want to assure you that the United States Mint remains committed to providing the highest possible level of customer service, and regret any inconvenience or frustration this buying experience caused. (4/4)
— United States Mint (@usmint) November 5, 2020
When people complained, whoever is posting on their social media platforms commented:
We regret any inconvenience or frustration this buying experience caused, and are working to resolve the system issues.
— United States Mint (@usmint) November 5, 2020
The problem is that there have been problems for many years. Every time the U.S. Mint offers a limited edition coin, their website has problems meeting the demand, leading to an apology and a promise that they will resolve the system issues.
Searching this blog, you can find problems with the ordering process for:
- Eisenhower Coins and Chronicles Set (2015)
- Enhanced Reverse Proof 2019-S American Eagle (2019)
- 25th Anniversary American Silver Eagle Set
- Bald Eagle Commemorative Coins (2008)
- Mint Director Ed Moy apologizes
What you will not find is a story where the ordering process went smoothly. You will not find a story where the U.S. Mint claims that they have fixed their ordering problems. And you will be able to find a story where the U.S. Mint explains how they plan to fix the problems.
From 2016 through 2019, the U.S. Mint has held a collecting forum in Philadelphia. Each year, the U.S. Mint has invited people from all areas of the industry to meet with them and discuss the future of the U.S. Mint’s products. The coronavirus pandemic prevented them from holding this year’s forum. After every forum, the U.S. Mint thanks the participants and promises to do better.
David J. Ryder at the hearing regarding his nomination to be the 39th Director of the U.S. Mint
Ryder is not a stranger to the U.S. Mint or the federal government. Besides working at the Commerce Department, he served in the Office of the Vice President for George H.W. Bush. Bush appointed Ryder as the 34th Mint Director during a Senate recess in 1992.
Before joining the U.S. Mint, Ryder worked for the Secure Products division of the Sarnoff Corporation. After purchased by Honeywell in 2007, he was Director of Currency for Honeywell Authentication Technologies. Ryder can lead an organization looking in the critical security of currency handling with worldwide influence, but he cannot manage the U.S. Mint out a technological paper bag.
As a former federal contractor, I understand that the contracting process is slow. The federal government acquisition process is fraught with checks, rechecks, oversight, and investigations that drive up a hammer’s price to thousands of dollars. But it is the same process to purchase a tool as it is to make a change to a fighter jet costing tens of millions of dollars.
The U.S. Mint has done some work on the website. Aside from changing the look, they replaced the content management system which manages the site. For the technologically savvy, they migrated from the original Drupal implementation to WordPress. The Coin Collectors Blog uses WordPress.
Although the transition to WordPress may provide the flexibility the U.S. Mint needs to manage the website, they have not met the critical need for customer engagement. Fixing customer engagement in a government agency requires the head of the agency to initiate that change. What has Ryder been doing?
Although the pandemic caused significant interruptions in everything, developers do not have to be on-site to develop software. A program can write programs from just about anywhere. Why were these processes not managed in the subsequent months?
I am asking Ryder to step up to his role and better manage the situation. I am not calling for the removal of Ryder. (POLITICAL ANALYSIS ALERT: Don’t read the rest of the paragraph if you do not like a frank discussion of politics as it affects the U.S. Mint). If Ryder leaves his position, President-elect Biden will likely never have an appointment voted on by the Republican-controlled Senate. We will be back to the nearly eight years of Acting Directors who do not have the authority to make necessary changes as the appointed director could.
Please, Director Ryder, fix the problem. Maybe you can listen to the collecting community. We have good ideas, and we are willing to help.
Weekly World Numismatic News for November 8, 2020
Some of you may have noticed that the Coin Collectors Blog and Coin Collectors News sites have been down for a few days. I apologize. There have been technical issues that were resolved (obviously).
It shows that even for a retired expert, this computer stuff can be complicated. But for a government agency with a full-time professional staff and contractors with alleged expertise, the ordering experience of last week’s End of World War II 75th Anniversary American Eagle Proof Coins coins was not an acceptable situation.
My issue was coordinating a response with a hosting company to resolve my issues. The U.S. Mint should not have the same issues. They should have control over the systems and manage the contractor that is providing their service.
Unfortunately, I learned that government agencies do not manage contractors well. Contracts officers (CO) do not show the willingness to make contractors take responsibility for their work. Their technical representatives (Contract Officer Technical Representatives or COTR, pronounced CO-TAR) are ineffective since they tend to serve two bosses, the CO and the project leader.
When I worked for one of the bureaus in the Treasury Department, efforts to consolidate information technology functions did not end well. Each bureau had their reasons for the others not to play in their sandbox. However, the U.S. Mint’s network was a candidate for expanding Internet-related connectivity for applications. Their systems and network could handle more Internet traffic at the time than any other bureau. The U.S. Mint’s IT staff pushed back on the attempt to consolidate with them.
It appears that little has changed with the U.S. Mint. They seem to be circling their proverbial wagons to protect themselves while only tacitly recognizing a problem. After recognizing the problem, then they have to figure out how to fix it.
One of the most significant mistakes government agencies make is not producing proper requirements that contractors can answer. How do they know if the contractor can do the work if you have not told them exactly what to do? The biggest failure of government projects is the lack of appropriate requirements analysis. So far, it looks like attempts to update their web-based services were incomplete and may be a victim of this failure.
Let’s hope that the U.S. Mint will figure it out and make the necessary changes because it is frustrating for the numismatic industry.
And now the news…
October 31, 2020 → Read more at tehrantimes.com
November 3, 2020 → Read more at seattletimes.com
November 3, 2020 → Read more at dailymail.co.uk
November 5, 2020 → Read more at news.bitcoin.com
November 7, 2020 → Read more at thefirstnews.com
U.S. Mint + CLOUDFLARE Screws Up Again!
Very upset collectors
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- How many times do I have to prove I am human?
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- How is a human rate limited? Cloudflare, why are you not managing traffic?
What is this?
Get all the way to enter the credit card and then…
After making a work-related call, I decided to try one more time before going to complete my work for today and was able to order! Just a mear one-hour and 15 minutes after the coin went on sale!
VOTE!
1976 Washington Quarter with my favorite, the Drummer Boy reverse
Voting is so important to how this country operates that the U.S. Constitution was amended four times to ensure every vote is represented. In addition to the Civil Rights Act, Congress passed six significant voting acts to protect everyone’s vote by making voting accessible to the handicapped and elderly to empowering military and other overseas workers.
The bottom line is that it is your right and duty to vote.
If you did not vote early or by absentee/mail-in ballot, go to your polling location and vote.
Do not let anyone stop you or intimidate you. VOTE!
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