Aug 31, 2013 | coins
During the last few weeks I have been doing some business traveling. One of my trips was to the west coast on a flight that required a transfer of planes at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. DFW is an interesting airport, very spread apart, and travelers are dependent on the Skylink unmanned train system to go between the five terminals.
On the trip to and from the west coast, I was able to spend a few dollars for incidentals in order to collect the change to see what I could find. While airports are not necessarily the best place to go change hunting, there is always the possibility that something may be found.
Unfortunately, in two trips I did not find anything interesting from my airport hunts and my west coast spending. In fact, lack of interesting finds is in itself an interesting story because I found more coins with “P” or no mintmarks than with “D” or older “S” mintmark coins.
During this trip not only did I leave an item that I did not think would pass through the TSA checkpoint but I also forgot a necessity. Rather than buying it from the hotel shop, I ventured out to a local big box store to see what I can find in change. Aside from the sticker shock of having to pay 10-cents for a paper bag to carry my purchase out of the store, but the change returned had nothing interesting. The only “D” mint coins I found was a dime and two Memorial reverse Lincoln cents.
Before returning home, I put my change in a zippy bag that was in a side pocket of my carry bag. The bag contained more than $3 in change with only six coins with a “D” mintmark—no early “S” mintmarks or coins older than 1991.
On the way out of the airport to retrieve my car, I stopped at an airport shop for a bottle of water. Aside from being shocked at the $2.50 price, of the two quarters I received in change one was dated 1998-D.
At least the trip was more successful than my change hunting efforts.
Aug 21, 2013 | ANA, coins, medals, shows
The 2013 American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money will be a show I am not likely to forgot. Even though I was only able to attend three days there was a lot to do, a lot to see, and work to be done.
As with every World’s Fair of Money nearly every national organization held their annual meeting during the show. These organizations cover the gamut of interests that fall under the category of numismatics. For me, it was the first time I attended the American Israel Numismatic Association annual meeting. After a few years of conversing with President Mel Wacks via email, we were able to me in person for the first time.
AINA President Mel Wacks (R) presents an Award of Appreciation to David Hendin for his talk at the AINA Annual Meeting
We also heard from the director of the Holy Land Mint about their plans for future coins and medals.
Because I was at the AINA meeting, I missed the meeting of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, another organization which I belong. I really wanted to go to their meeting not only because I am a member, because as a blogger and soon-to-be publisher (my book is almost done), I want to work with the community on the best way to move forward with the concept of e-books. Not only should there be more e-books but there should be some way to preserve older books electronically.
In the news…
Here are some of the stories out of Chicago for the week:
Thursday evening I attended the part of the closed Board of Governors meeting that involved the Technology Committee and the new web infrastructure for the ANA. While I am a proponent of opening as much of the ANA business to the membership at large, I will say that there were discussion about the pending contract for the work that qualified for this discussion to be done in private. The meeting was productive in that the Board has an understanding what was being proposed and provocative in that the dissenting voices will ensure that the project does not fly off the proverbial rails.
At the open Board Meeting on Friday there was a lively discussion on the website, the costs, and the future. This is something I will comment on at another time. However, in a motion by then Vice President Walt Ostromecki, a motion to approve the contract with Riser Media to build the new ANA website and Euclid for their ClearVantage association management software. The motion was passed with a 9-0 voice vote.
During the open forum, a discussion was put forth by then Governor-elect Laura Sperber about the positioning of the auction companies and other non-dealers by the entrance to the bourse floor. Apparently, there has been a lot of angst amongst the dealer community about something referred to as the “star system” used to allow dealers, donors, and others to gain advantages to their position at the shows. As a collector, I agree with Ms. Sperber in that I would rather see the dealers than the auction companies and the other huge booths that are pushed up front.
This year, the World Mint Pavilion was the first set of tables you came to when you entered the bourse floor. In front was the booth for the Holy Land Mint who was showing off their new coins including a lot of gold. Near by were the Royal Australian Mint, the Bank of Russia with their Socci 2014 coins, the Pobjoy Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, and others. I was disappointed that the Royal Mint was not present.
At the end of the aisle was the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and next to them the U.S. Mint. Rather than being apart, the two money manufacturing bureaus under the Department of the Treasury were side-by-side. I was told by someone from the U.S. Mint that this was done on request of both bureaus and that there may be some co-sponsoring of collectibles and events.
It was in this area where I saw United States Treasurer Rosie Rios. Treasurer Rios, whose autograph appears on U.S. currency, is a regular attendee at ANA shows. She is very approachable and an interesting person. You can also tell that Rios still gets a kick out of her celebrity status within the numismatic community and will gladly sign a Federal Reserve Note with her printed signature on it (Series 2009).
The World’s Fair of Money is unique in that it is the center of the numismatic universe for the week. This brings out many different types of dealers of all types of collectibles. Not only were there coins, but there was artwork that was credited to the designers of coins but there were other collectible and ancient artifacts for sale. There were also four different book dealers, three supply dealers, auction companies other than the “official auction house” Stacks-Bowers, and dealers of all types of coins and currency.
One difference I noticed from last year is that silver was more popular than gold. A few dealers said that silver dimes and silver dollars were very popular. On Saturday when the scouts attended in force, the dealers were reporting better than average sales of silver Roosevelt and Mercury dimes.
Friday night I attended the ANA Banquet. I had the pleasure of sitting next to Gerald Kwok from Honolulu, Hawaii. Kwok is a collector of Hawaiian coins and I later found out a recognized expert in that area of numismatics. He also received his 50th anniversary pin for his service to the ANA. I hope he had a good trip back to Hawaii and I look forward to seeing him again next time.
Those who attended the banquet were given a set of three elongated cents, a reproduction menu from a past ANA banquet in Chicago from the 1950s, and a copy of David Lange’s Coin Collecting Boards of the 1930s & 1940s. If you missed the banquet and want a copy for yourself, Dave is selling them at half-off ($20, plus $5 for shipping+handling) at his website.
I spent a lot of time schmoozing rather than buying. Wearing my newly purchased red sports jacket as a representative of the Maryland State Numismatic Association and a new video name tag that captured a lot of attention, I wanted to talk more than buy. I did buy some items, but meeting people and talking about collecting, coins, currency, and the ANA was a lot of fun, too.
Aside from the various free items like elongated coins, the 2013 F.U.N. convention medal, I was able to fill in the some of the holes in my Canadian nickel and dime collection. I found a few tokens including the addition of another New York City Subway token with an error, which I thought was going to be the neat find of this trip until I found something even better.
While flipping through a box of tokens and medals I stumbled on a little medal that is 13 mm in diameter with a hole in it that looks like someone used it as a charm. On the obverse is an image of the Brooklyn Bridge with the legend “Brooklyn Bridge” across the top and dated 1883 when the bridge opened.
What makes this token unusual is that the reverse has the entire The Lord’s Prayer as it occurs in Matthew 6:9-13. The lettering is so small I had to use a 16x loupe to read the text.
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Obverse of the 13 mm Brooklyn Bridge Medal showing an image of the bridge and 1883, the year the bridge opened.
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Reverse of the Soley Brooklyn Bridge medal has the text of the Lord’s Prayer.
This mini-medal was produced by George B. Soley, a die sinker who ran a shop on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. In 1875, Soley bought the first steam-powered press that was used by the U.S. Mint after it was take out of commission. Soley exhibited the press around the country striking medals of his design to the delight of the crowds.
Soley displayed the press at the Centennial Exposition in 1876 and used it to strike commemorative medals. In 1883, it appeared at the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Southern Exposition in Louisville. Soley brought the press to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo in 1891, and the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. During these events, Soley struck 13 mm medals with the something resembling the official logo on one side and The Lord’s Prayer on the other that sold for 25-cents.
The medals Soley produces were made of bronze and holed at the top to use as a charm. There are referenced to gilt and medals that were not plated.
It is difficult to tell whether the medal was struck at the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge or a re-strike made during the Columbian Exposition. According to an article that appeared in the December 12, 1894 edition of The New York Times, the Secret Service asked Soley to stop making the “History of the Philadelphia Mint” medals that he first struck in 1876. It suggests that he was re-striking medals at these various fairs. In either case, the medal is 120 or 130 years old!
The steam press that Soley used was acquired by the Franklin Institute from his widow in 1927. It was reconditioned, motorized and moved to the museum in 1933 to strike aluminum tokens for visitors. On March 23, 2000, the press was moved from the museum to the rotunda to celebrate the 164th anniversary of its first usage by the U.S. Mint. Later that August, the press was part of a special exhibit at the World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia. Following the show, the Franklin Institute has since loaned the press to the ANA Museum in Colorado Springs where it is displayed at the entrance behind protective glass.
As you could tell from my first day report, I unapologetically had a good time and highly recommend everyone attend the World’s Fair of Money.
Aug 16, 2013 | ANA, coins, shows
One of the great things about going to a show like the World’s Fair of Money is seeing a lot of people. If you like to meet people, talk numismatics, and see lots of interesting items, you should attend one of these shows.
The convention center is across the street from several hotels connected by a walkway where you do not even have to walk outside. Inside the convention center, the hall and the meeting rooms are on the same level almost side-by-side. Inside the entrance to the bourse floor is the World Mint Pavilion and you come right to the booth for the Israel Coins and Medals Corporation, who now calls themselves the Holy Land Mint.
Unless you have no interest in foreign coins, you are immediately drawn to that area. Amongst the mints represented includes the China Gold Coins Company, the group that produces the popular Panda coins; the private Pobjoy Mint that serves smaller countries in the Commonwealth Realm; the Austrian Mint and the Australian Mint that are next to each other and makes for an interesting tongue-twister. The Royal Canadian Mint is here, too.
Straight to the back is the Bureau of Engraving and Printing where they have a number of their products for sale, a display of currency, and the spider press. When I walked up to the spider press, Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios was talking with the gentleman who runs the spider press. Rios, an Obama appointee, is very personable and loves to talk with the public. She even allowed me to take a picture while she was looking at an intaglio print while listening to an explanation of the process.
Next to the BEP is the U.S. Mint. Even though the U.S. Mint takes a lot of floor space, they really do not show much. We have heard reports that they do have a quite a collection of numismatic items but they rarely take it out for the public to see. It would be nice for the U.S. Mint to do more than they do. I saw reports that Deputy Director Richard Peterson who is also filling in as the acting director is here. If I see him I will ask about bringing out some of their archival materials.
After that, the floor is big with a lot of dealers. Since I came without a real plan I started to wander based on what catches my eye. First, I started with the row of book sellers in the back of the room. While I am a proponent of electronic books, there are physical books that are not available electronically. I found a few books that I purchases.
Although I will discuss my purchases when I return home, I will say that I spent more on books than other numismatic items.
While looking though the booth of contemporary supplies and books, I found a really nice book about coin collecting for kids. It looks like an excellent book for kids to learn about coin collecting. I thought it was so cool that I will buy a copy for my niece who has shown interest in coin collecting.
I did attend the American Israel Numismatic Association meeting for the first time since becoming a member. I have been a member for a number of years but never was able to attend an AINA meeting. It was great to meet the people of that organization and hear an interesting lecture about ancient Judean coins and about what is coming at the Holy Land Mint.
Being able to meet and talk with different people is both a lot of fun and a small curse. It is fun because coin collectors are fun people. It is a small curse in that I missed a number of talks that I wanted to attend. But I cannot complain because meeting the people are a lot of fun. I figure out how to get the information from the missed lectures another time!
After the bourse closed, it seems that a lot of people “ran” to the Stacks-Bowers auction for the free food. The food was okay but I was there for the auction. While it was Rarities Night, I was interested in the currency auction which was going on concurrently in an adjoining room. But I didn’t realize the two auctions were separate and missed bidding on Maryland colonial currency I was interested in.
I did leave absentee bids for some Maryland colonials in the John J. Ford collection. I did not receive an email saying that I won, so I will have to check with Stacks-Bowers to see if I did. Some how, I doubt I won.
My time at the convention center end after attending the Board of Governors closed session with the Technology Committee. It was a productive meeting and worth talking with the Board of Governors about the issues. Members interested in what the future has in store for the ANA and technology should attend the open board meeting on Friday.
That’s it for now, Watch for more on Twitter and Pinterest on Friday!
Aug 13, 2013 | awards, coins, news, shows
Some things are just too good to not share. Yesterday, Professional Numismatic Guild presented their annual awards at the eve of the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont. The picture accompanying the announcement is priceless.
Eloise Ullman, who is retiring soon as Executive Director of the Industry Council For Tangible Assets, was awarded the PNG’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her years of dedicated service and achievements in numismatics.
The award was presented to Ullman by ICTA Industry Affairs Director and PNG Associate Member Diane Piret. Ullman has provided the numismatic hobby and profession with 23 years of service as ICTA Executive Director, and the PNG is grateful for her outstanding efforts on legislative and tax issues facing dealers and collectors across the country.
Piret was honored with the PNG’s Significant Contribution Award for her40 years of dedication and significant contributions to numismatics. The award was jointly presented by PNG Board of Directors members Dana Samuelson and Barry Stuppler.
But the picture of Ullman’s reaction is priceless.
I met Ullman last year when I began to work with the Gold & Silver Political Action Committee. From what I could see she was a tireless working for ICTA for over 23 years and they will have a difficult time finding someone to succeed her.
Congratulations Eloise and the other PNG Award winnerss.
Image courtesy of Donn Pearlman.
Aug 12, 2013 | ANA, coins, news, shows
The American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money begins tomorrow, August 13 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. Rosemont is a suburb of Chicago and not far from O’Hare Airport.
As with any World’s Fair of Money, there will be quite a few announcements. Some may appear here others will be tweeted as they come in.
Terry Hanlon, newly elected president of the Professional Numismatists Guild
PNG’s Board of Directors are Mitchell A. Battino of Hudson Rare Coins, Princeton, New Jersey; PNG Immediate Past President Jeffrey Bernberg of Rare Coin Company of America, Willowbrook, Illinois; John Maben of John Maben Rare Coins, Sarasota, Florida; James A. Simek of Numisgraphic Enterprises, Westchester, Illinois; and Richard A. Weaver of Delaware Valley Rare Coin, Broomhall, Pennsylvania.
Congratulations to all!
Professional Coin Grading Service announced that they are teaming with eBay to expand the eBay U.S. and Canada Coins Catalog feature. When the new catalog from PCGS goes online this fall it will immediately grow from the current 8,500 products to more than 41,000.
The renewed U.S. and Canada coins catalog will allow for more detailed descriptions of specific coin attributes, as well as further differentiation for the collecting community. These detailed descriptions, item specifics and high resolution images in the catalog will allow novice and experienced sellers alike to more accurately identify the coin they are selling on eBay.
An expanded catalog should help provide education to collectors buying and selling on eBay. Anything that makes that marketplace safer os good for the hobby.
Although the ribbon cutting is on Tuesday, my schedule will not allow me to get away until Wednesday night. Stay tuned for more news.
Aug 10, 2013 | coins, counterfeit, legislative
The fight against fakes has taken a significant step forward with the passage of the Collectible Coin Protection Act in the House of Representatives before congress left for summer recess.
Formerly H.R. 1849, the current was reintroduced by Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) to resolve a technical issue. All of the co-sponsors for H.R. 1849 co-sponsored H.R. 2754 with the addition of Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE).
On July 30, H.R. 2754 was brought to the floor of the House of Representatives on the suspension calendar. Bills on the suspension calendar are those that are considered non-controversial and have broad support. For this bill, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) was the floor manager and moved to suspend the rules and pass this bill. After a brief introduction, Rep. Butterfield spoke on behalf of the bill.
If you want to read what was said, it begins near the bottom of the second column of page H5147 in the Congressional Record. [PDF]
H.R. 2754 passed the House of Representatives on a unanimous voice vote.
The bill will be sent to the Senate but will not be considered until after the summer break.
It is not too early to contact your senator to ask for their support. Just go to senate.gov and use the pull down menu in the upper-right corner of the page to select the state you live or work. Please take the time to contact both of your senators. In fact, if they hold town hall meetings in your area, you can use that opportunity to
Collectors who live in North Carolina’s First District, can send email to Rep. Butterfield to thank him for his help. Everyone else can send him a quick note on Twitter to @GKButterfield to show your appreciation!
You can read the Collectible Coin Protection Act and track the bill’s progress at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr2754.
Aug 2, 2013 | coins, commemorative, legislative, policy, US Mint
H.R. 2633: Thirteenth Amendment Commemorative Coin Act
Sponsor: Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL)
• To require the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which officially marked the abolishment of slavery in the United States.
• Introduced: July 9, 2013
• Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services
Track this bill at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr2633
H.R. 2754: Collectible Coin Protection Act
Sponsor: Rep. George “G.K.” Butterfield, Jr. (D-NC)
• To amend the Hobby Protection Act to make unlawful the provision of assistance or support in violation of that Act
• Introduced: Jul 19, 2013; Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
• Passed in the House of Representatives: Jul 30, 2013 (voice vote)
• Received in the Senate: July 31, 2013; Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Track this bill at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr2754
H.R. 2760: Panama Canal and Pan-Pacific Exhibition Centennial Celebration Act
Sponsor: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
• To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of the centennial of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition and the Panama Canal
• Introduced: July 19, 2013
• Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services
Track this bill at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr2760
Jul 30, 2013 | coins, dollar, fun
I found this poem by Clifford Johnson on a site named OpEdNews.com. It is worthy of everyone enjoying here:
S. 1105: Dollar Coins or Paper Dollars?
by Clifford Johnson
Coin or paper?
What a caper!
One is proper,
one a whopper.
Drastic
is what’s inelastic,
plastic
more than gold’s fantastic.
What is copper
to a shopper,
what a penny?
One too many.
Paper powers
golden showers,
yet isn’t ours!
But a buck round
is square and sound.
One is proper,
one a whopper.
Coin or paper?
What a caper!
Images:
- First $1 bill issued in 1862 as a Legal Tender Note. (Wikipedia)
- President Franklin Roosevelt’s conditional approval of the one-dollar bill’s design in 1935, requiring that the appearance of the sides of the Great Seal be reversed, and together, captioned. (Wikipedia)
- 1921-D Peace Dollar. (Wikipedia)
- 1976-S Type 1 (1975) Eisenhower Dollar with Bicentennial Design. (Wikipedia)
- 2013 Theodore Roosevelt Dollar. (U.S. Mint)
Jul 29, 2013 | bullion, coins, commemorative, nclt, policy
Last March, three members of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee met with Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY), a freshman member of the House Financial Services Committee that oversees the U.S. Mint, to pitch the idea of Liberty-themed coins.
Initially, the proposal was to issue a series of Liberty-themed coins for the five silver-colored circulating coins but dropped the 5-cent coins after Barr said that there must be no cost to the taxpayer. Currently, the U.S. Mint reports that it costs 10.9-cents to produce the Jefferson nickel and was removed from discussion. What the politicians fail to grasp is that coin production does not cost the U.S. taxpayer anything because all of the money used to operate the U.S. Mint comes from the seigniorage collected on all coins, commemoratives, and tokens sold including circulating coinage to the Federal Reserve. Since the Federal Reserve does not use taxpayer money in its operation, the purchase of circulating coins generates a profit for the government.
Although removing the 5-cent coins from consideration is a wise political move, it demonstrates the illogic and dysfunction of the politics. It also illustrates why the current system of how congress controls the U.S. Mint is unsustainable and needs to be changed.
No other mint in the world is under the same legislative control as the U.S. Mint. Every other major mint are autonomous entities running under the authority of the government required to produce circulating coinage for the country’s central bank and must obtain approval from the central bank to create any legal tender coin. A government can decide that it should produce certain denomination or stop producing a denomination and the autonomous entity must comply.
People who want to discontinue the use and production of the one-cent coin looks to Canada as an example of how a country to stop producing their lowest denomination and be successful. While it is too soon to judge the success and failure of this move, what is lost on people is how the Royal Canadian Mint, a Crown corporation of Canada, is required to comply with the laws passed by the Canadian Parliament. If the Canadian Parliament passes a law that says the Royal Canadian Mint is not to produce any more one-cent coins, than the Royal Canadian Mint does not produce one-cent coins.
The 2004 Poppy Quarter was the Royal Canadian Mint’s first colorized circulating coin.
Nearly every mint operates in the same manner. while the Royal Mint is more conservative in their issues, the Perth Mint, the Mint of Poland, and Austrian Mint operate in a similar manner.
Some countries do not operate a mint even as a public corporation. Countries like Niue, Somalia, and Isle of Man that have produced popular NCLT issues contract their minting to other mints, such as the New Zealand Mint, or to private corporations like the family-owned Pobjoy Mint. Even the government of Israel thought it was best to privatize their mint. After being established in 1958 by then Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, the Israel Coins & Medals Corp was privatized and sold in 2008 where they continue to operate under the authority of the Israeli government and the Bank of Israel.
2007 Somalia Motorcycle Non-circulating Legal Tender Coins
Those who would be against privatizing the U.S. Mint immediately point to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution that says “The Congress shall have Power… To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof,” as the reason not to privatize the U.S. Mint. While the Constitution gives congress this authority, it does not say that the government has to own the means of production nor does it say that congress has to dictate the design of that money. In its most basic term, “to coin money” means to authorize production of and make legal tender of coins used in commerce (for a full description based on case law, see this section).
2013 Niue Monopoly Coins struck by the New Zealand Mint. Is this too much?
In a huff, those who argue against government-owned corporation point to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as examples of the dangers of making critical government functions private. Unfortunately, these people are reading the headlines and not the reasons for Freddie and Fannie’s problems caused by the recent fiscal crisis. While both companies can be blamed for their parts in the failure of the markets, a lot of their blame can be traced to the laws that congress passed giving them a complicated deregulated environment from which to try to accomplish their goals. Rather than find a way to fix the issues, congress wants to end the programs Freddie and Fannie support and close those entities even though new regulations have been working.
The problem with making the U.S. Mint a government-owned corporation would be the 535 member board of directors (congress) whose knowledge of what it would take to do this right is suspect. This is the same congress that has forced the Postal Service to over pay into its pension fund while forgetting that it has to the power “to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States” by shutting down the government or preventing the payment of debt by manipulating the artificial debt ceiling.
It would be possible to make the U.S. Mint a government-owned corporation using the lessons learned from the governance of the Postal Service, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and any number of other world mints. A charter would be established to make the government-owned Mint corporation the sole provider of circulating coins to the federal reserve and that its operations would be managed by a board with representation from the executive branch, legislative branch, and the Federal Reserve. The board would have oversight power over the Mint corporation and work within the parameters set up by the charter.
Provisions of the charter would be that congress would regulate coinage in that nearly every part of 31 U.S.C. § 5112 would be eliminated except for paragraph (a) that describes the denominations and their size specifications. All laws regarding weights, composition, and design with the exception of the first sentence of paragraph (d), would be eliminated.
2013 American Eagle West Point Two-Coin Silver Set with reverse proof and enhanced uncirculated coins.
A new charter would allow congress to designate two commemorative coins per year with a surcharge to be paid to an organization as it does today, but the Mint corporation could create additional non-circulating legal tender coins with its own designs that are made legal tender by following the specifications of the law (e.g., 31 U.S.C. § 5112(a)(10) allows for “A five dollar gold coin that is 16.5 millimeters in diameter, weighs 3.393 grams, and contains one-tenth troy ounce of fine gold.”) and approved by the design board, the Mint charter board, and the Federal Reserve.
The design board would be the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. Rather than have two design groups, one that whose purpose outside of reviewing coins is to review architecture, only the CCAC would continue as the approved design board. This way, the Mint corporation would have artistic oversight by a dedicated organization and not have to worry about whether the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose purpose is to oversee the architecture of Washington, understands design and the issues with striking those designs.
We should keep the 24-karat gold Buffalo coins, too!
Freeing the U.S. Mint to be more autonomous and provide them the ability to create new products will not cost the taxpayer anything. In fact, it has the potential for the new corporation to earn more than it does now with new products on the market because if you notice, I never said to get rid of the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund (31 U.S.C. § 5136). On the contrary, the new Mint corporation should be required to set an operations budget and leave the budget plus 25-percent in the Public Enterprise Fund for emergencies. The rest should be deposited in the account of the company’s shareholders: the General Treasury of the United States of America.
In this scenario, it will not matter that it costs more than face value to manufacture the cent and 5-cent coins. The losses can be made up by selling other products to a world that trusts the U.S. Mint—a world that buys more bullion and collectibles from the U.S. Mint than any other country. Imagine how much the new Mint corporation could help reduce the deficit if allowed to be run more like a commercial enterprise than an over regulated government agency.
If it is said that the private sector can do better than the government, here is one way to put that rhetoric to a test!
Today’s Poll
What do you think? In addition to writing a comment below, how about participating in a poll. Do you think that the U.S. Mint should become a government-owned corporation?
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U.S. Mint logo courtesy of the
U.S. Mint.
Image of the 2004 Canadian Poppy Quarter courtesy of
Talisman Coins.
2013 Niue Monopoly Coin images courtesy of the
New Zealand Mint.
All other images are property of the author.
Jul 27, 2013 | coins, nickels, US Mint
The other day I was talking with a someone who was not a coin collector to explain why I liked collecting coins. One of the reasons I mentioned was the thrill of the hunt. To be able to find that one coin to add to a collection or even reaching into my pocket and finding something interesting, even if it was not valuable.
To demonstrate what could happen, I reached into my pocket and happen to pull out what could be considered a type set of Jefferson nickels. I first found the 2012-P nickel that seems to now be in common circulation. Next was a 1982-D nickel with what looks like a filled “D” mintmark. For the time period, the blob for the mintmark was common and not worth anything more than a curiosity.
As I slid the 1982-D aside, I found the reverse the the Keelboat type 2004-P nickel. The person I was talking with was not aware of the Westward Journey nickel program commemorating the Lewis and Clark expedition to the west. I mentioned that the 2005 American Bison design was my favorite. Not only does it have the the American Bison on the reverse, the animal that most represents the country’s westward expansion, but the front has that wonderful bust of Jefferson designed by Joe Fitzgerald.
When I started to look at the last nickel, I said, “oh… this is older.” When asked how I knew before looking at the date, I explained how the relief had changed over the years. Using the four coins in hand, I could demonstrate how the relief and designs have been altered over the years to accommodate striking requirements. Even though the composition of the United States 5-cent coin has not changed since 1883 except for the silver-copper-manganese composition during World War II (1942-45), the U.S. Mint has lowered the relief of the coins in order to make the dies last longer and reduce production costs. According to the U.S. Mint’s 2012 Annual Report (PDF) it costs 10.9 cents to make one nickel. It could be more if the U.S. Mint had to use more dies to strike coinage for circulation.
I adjusted my glasses to see that the coin had the year 1956 then I flipped it over to see if there is a mintmark. When asked why I was looking for the mintmark on the back when it appeared on the front of the other coins, I said that up until 1964 the mintmark on the Jefferson nickel was to the right of Monticello and only if the coin was struck in Denver or San Francisco. Only the War Nickels had a mintmark prior to 1964. Luckily, I was able to demonstrate when a “D” mintmark appeared on the coin.
A small type set of Jefferson nickels found in pocket change.
Top row: 1956-D and 1982-P. Bottom row: 2004-P Keelboat design and 2012-P.
The next question was “How much is it worth?” Since the coin could be graded Good-4 at best, I said it would probably be worth 5-cents, face value. I decided to look up the price and saw that it was worth 6-cents! It is hardly worth the effort to sell. But the person that I was showing the coins found my little pocket-change type set was interesting.
Now that I have written about them, all four coins will go back into circulation for someone else to find. Who knows, maybe a young numismatist will find the 1956-D, think it is cool and add it to their collection. If you are in the Washington, D.C. metro area, you can be on the lookout for the 1956-D and other nickels I just wrote about. Happy change hunting!
