This is the space where I try to comment on something in the news that I found interesting. Like my update on December 3, 2017, my mind is elsewhere.
If you are a college football fan or happened to watch the Rose Bowl last Monday, my undergraduate alma mater, the Georgia Bulldogs played a thrilling game to beat the Oklahoma Sooners 54-48 in double overtime for the right to play in the National Championship game tomorrow. The last time Georgia played in the Rose Bowl, they were crowned the 1942 National Champions.
Seventy-five years later and 37 years after Georgia’s last National Championship (in the 1981 sUGAr Bowl where I was a member of the Redcoat Marching Band), it will be a battle of Southeastern Conference Titans: Alabama v. Georgia. Also known as the Teacher v. the Student since Georgia Head Coach Kirby Smart was once the Defensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach under Alabama’s Nick Saban. Saban’s former assistants are 0-11 against their former boss. At some point, that streak has to end. Why not on Monday?!
Of course, my mood has been affected by Monday’s game. Even while working an antique’s show this weekend, which is why I am not in Tampa for the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Show, it has been a wild week—and sales have been very good. But I am waiting for the game. Monday night at 8:00 PM on ESPN.
For the coin toss (I have to include some sort of numismatic content), the referees used a silver coin with the logos of the schools on both sides. The coin looked like it was silver dollar size (at least 38mm) and in an AirTite or similar holder. There was no calling “heads or tails.” The logo that showed face up won the toss. For the pre-game and overtime coin tosses, Oklahoma won the toss. But that does not matter. I want one of those coins!
Video of 2018 Rose Bowl Coin Toss
Both the Rose Bowl site and the Highland Mint has what they call “dueling helmets” coins (yes, I know they are really medals). I want one of those silver coins like that was used for the coin toss. I sent a note to the people who run the Rose Bowl to ask how I can purchase one.
If you want to know what kind of mood I will be in on Tuesday, it will correspond to the outcome of the game!
The story of Dr Frankenstein and his cursed monster is celebrated in a new set of coins. A £2 issue will mark the 200-year anniversary of the novel by Mary Shelley which launched the modern horror genre. → Read more at mirror.co.uk
Editor's Note: View Kitco News' full 2018 outlook coverage (Kitco News) – It was a tale of two markets for gold in 2017, as prices made their biggest gains since 2010, but U.S. Mint coin sales were the weakest in a decade. → Read more at kitco.com
Norway minted its own coins during much of the Middle Ages. But the coins didn’t always impress outsiders or even the Norwegians themselves. NTNU Associate Professor Jon Anders Risvaag specializes in medieval coins. → Read more at sciencenordic.com
Challenge coins mean different things to different troops. Senior enlisted and officers tend to place them on a desk to gloat to peers and the more junior troops slam them on the bar to see who’s buying the next round. → Read more at wearethemighty.com
The Royal Mint has unveiled the designs of four new commemorative coins to be launched this year. Based on the sales values of previous issues, these could be attractive investments. Three of the coins commemorate the centenaries of major events and organisations that have helped shape Britain, including a £2 coin that marks the 100th anniversary of the First World War Armistice — the agreement that ended fighting between the Allies and Germany. → Read more at telegraph.co.uk
The hoard of dollar coins in the Baltimore Coin Storage
This was an interesting week. Aside from trying to understand the impact of the new tax bill (H.R. 1) on the numismatic industry, I was hired by a widow to help liquidate an accumulation of coins her late husband collected.
I took the job thinking that it could not be that difficult. She said that her late husband was a lifelong collector and had an affinity for half-dollars. It did not sound like a daunting task, so I agreed to meet with her and look at his collection.
Nowadays, when someone calls me for assistance, I usually ask that they take a few pictures with their smartphone and email them so that I can be prepared. In this case that was not possible since my new client did not own a smartphone and expressed displeasure with her “old-fashioned” flip-phone. I was taking a chance.
Rose (not her real name) reminded me of the grandmother-next-door type. Her house was well manicured and the entry reminded me more of the 1950s than any other time. She was neatly dressed as if she was meeting someone of stature. Thankfully, I thought to wear something nicer than my normal jeans and a polo shirt.
We spoke and then she brought me to her late husband’s office. It was quite a contrast from the rest of the house. This was clearly a man’s room whose interest were cars, horses, and coins. Rose said he owned three cars including a 1972 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 (muscle car fans will understand the significance of this car) and had invested in a few racehorses. The cars and the shares in the racehorses were sold but nobody could help her with the coins. Then I found out why.
I was expecting albums, folders, and rolls. When she opened the cabinet, there were five shelves with old cigar boxes, coffee cans, and other containers with loose coins. And while I thought he was a half-dollar collector, he had coins of all types including foreign coins. There were a lot of half-dollars, mostly Walking Liberty halves from the later years and Franklin halves. There was an old metal 35mm film canister with 1964 Kennedy half dollars.
There were several envelopes of foreign currency and Military Payment Certificates he kept from when he was an Army medic in the Korean War.
I have been working with a dealer who specializes in purchasing bulk estates. To help her get the best price, I have been doing a lot of sorting, searching, and ordering of the coins in a manner that would take some of the burdens away from the dealer so he could pay more.
As a bonus, some of the vessels used for storage are also collectibles. The old wooden cigar boxes from Cuba that can be traced to a time before the rise of the Castro regime are highly collectible. So are a few of the coffee cans from brands that have not been heard from in over 50 years including regional brands I had never seen before. That does not include the metal 35mm film canisters. When I asked a dealer, who specializes in old photographic equipment, she made an offer that Rose will probably not refuse.
Considering the size of the accumulation, it will take at least two more days to finish, pack everything, and ship it to the dealer. Although this work is preventing me from writing, I am having a good time. Rose is a nice person and a diehard University of Virginia Cavaliers fan since that was her late husband’s alma mater. Since she decided she likes me, Rose is going to cheer for my Georgia Bulldogs in the upcoming Rose Bowl—which is why I am calling her Rose!
PARIS — Over his 40-year career, the fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier has had his share of odd requests but until last year, he had never been asked to dress a coin. His imagination has produced outrageous concepts like fitting Madonna into a pointy conical bra, slipping the bearded transgender Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst into a couture dress and sending models down a runway lined with menorahs for his fall 1993 Chic Rabbis collection. → Read more at nytimes.com
The staff at Unity's Lincoln Highway Experience have know for some time that future U.S. President William Henry Harrison visited their museum in the mid-1800s, … → Read more at triblive.com
Washington – At the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt participated in the ceremonial strike of the 2018 World War I Centennial Silver Dollar honoring the 100th anniversary → Read more at dailystarjournal.com
Sales of U.S. Mint American Eagle gold and silver coins fell sharply year-over-year in November, keeping their tally for the first 11 months of 2017 on track for the weakest year since 2007, the latest data showed on Thursday. → Read more at reuters.com
Cape Town – The South African Mint, a wholly owned subsidiary of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), has created a commemorative silver coin in honour of the world’s first successful human-to-human heart transplant 50 years ago. → Read more at fin24.com
Nearly 150 coin denominations and fables containing 17 years of the 11th-12th centuries have been found in the country’s southern region Lankaran recently. → Read more at azernews.az
The Widow’s Mites – In Chapter 12 of the Gospel of Mark is a story, a parable, about giving. In summary, the story goes that Jesus and His Disciples were → Read more at jacksonvilleprogress.com
These introductions to the weekly news are supposed to be my thoughts and opinions on some of the things I have read while looking for numismatic-related news. For this week, I cannot think of a thing to say.
That is not exactly true. I have a lot to say but it is not numismatic-related!
Honestly, my mind is elsewhere. It is about 600 miles to the southwest from suburban Washington, D.C. in Athens, Georgia. Not only is Athens where I attended college as an undergraduate but it is the home of the 2017 Southeastern Conference Champion University of Georgia Bulldogs!
After beating Auburn last night to win the SEC Championship and learning today that Georgia will be playing Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl for the College Football Playoff Semi-Finals, I have been just euphoric!
So that I can include some numismatic-related content, I know that the Highland Mint strikes most of the medals that are used for the coin toss around college and professional football. In 2015, the Franklin Mint was commissioned to strike the medals for the CFP games. Regardless of who gets the contract, a copy of that medal will likely end up in my collection.
The manager of the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon has thanked people for their support after raid, as police investigate several lines of enquiry. → Read more at northdevongazette.co.uk
AIM-listed Hummingbird Resources announced that in line with the imminent commencement of production from its Yanfolila gold mine in Mali (Yanfolila), the compa → Read more at miningreview.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Rare coins that can be potentially worth thousands of dollars may end up being worthless if a buyer doesn't do the proper vetting. Billy Ward told First Coast News he learned that lesson the hard way. → Read more at firstcoastnews.com
MANILA, Philippines — Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Wednesday revealed the new design for P5 coin which would be released in December. The P5 New Generation Currency Coin Series features Gat Andres Bonifacio on the obverse. → Read more at philstar.com
MANILA, Nov. 30 — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced that of the New Generation Currency (NGC) Coin Series, it will release in advance of the other denominations, the 5-piso NGC legal tender coin for circulation, starting December 2017. → Read more at pia.gov.ph
Once, in a busy market, at a time when government policies had made change scarce and thus very precious, a shopkeeper refused to give a customer change in lieu of a high denomination currency note. In those days tempers were high, inconveniences great. → Read more at dailyo.in
Precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are used by several countries like the United States to mint coins that would satisfy investor demand who want to buy these metals in a more recognizable weight and form. → Read more at born2invest.com
Dubai: You have them in your pockets and take them wherever you go. But do you know what they’re worth apart from their face value? The dirhams in your wallet tell more than how much purchasing power you have now. → Read more at gulfnews.com
The Re 1 note has officially completed a century in its existence. The last hundred years – the first note was introduced on November 30, 1917, with the photo of King George V – have been all but tumultuous. → Read more at moneycontrol.com
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sales of U.S. Mint American Eagle gold and silver coins fell sharply year-over-year in November, keeping their tally for the first 11 months of 2017 on track for the weakest year since 2007, the latest data showed on Thursday. → Read more at reuters.com
Twelve years ago, when I went looking for numismatic information online, there were a few resources. The major numismatic publications had not fully embraced the online world and writing about numismatics strictly from the collector’s point of view was non-existent. I took a chance and started writing my own blog.
On October 29, 2005, I posted my first article on the Coin Collectors Blog. Back then it was hosted on Google’s Blogger service. While that was a good start, I found Blogger a bit limiting and moved to have it hosted by another company and changed the look-and-feel.
During that time I have also updated my collecting habits. In addition to the coins of the 20th century, I added Maryland colonial currency, the currency of the State of Israel, Canadian coins, and numismatic items associated with my hometown of New York City and specifically, Brooklyn.
1770 Maryland Colonial 6-dollar note
1774 Maryland colonial 2-dollar note
1774 Maryland Colonial 8-dollar note
1901 Dominion of Canada Large Cent reverse
2000-D New York quarter with Daniel Carr’s autograph on ICG label
2008 $2 Single Note from the New York Fed
New York City Type 2 Subway Token error. It’s missing the punched out “Y”
1983 Brooklyn Bridge Centennial Medal issued by Brooklyn Union Gas
Medal from the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883
50th Anniversary medal from the Inwood Country Club.
1938 Encased Cent from the First National Bank of Inwood (NY)
1949 Empire State Building Encased Cent announcing it as the “World’s Tallest Building,” which it was in 1949.
I have also picked up some other items that I just think are neat.
1973 Israel 4th Series Banknote — 50 NIS featuring portrait of Chaim Weismann
1973 Israel 4th Series Banknote — 10 NIS featuring portrait of Moshe Montifiori
2010 Somalia Sports Cars
Closeup of the elongated quarter that is part of the Maryland Token and Medal Society souvenir card.
University of Georgia Bicentennial Medal — HOW BOUT THEM DAWGS!
Pearl Harbor 65th Anniversary Set from the Honolulu Mint
2007 Somalia Motorcycle Coins
Bureau of Engraving and Printing 100 Years
2016 Canada Star Trek 25-cents Coin
And I have written a lot.
Over 1,540 articles later, I have written on everything from the one-cent coin to the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles. I have written about the making of coins and currency to the government’s legal and policy roles in the process. I have called out the American Numismatic Association for its failures but have complimented them when deserved.
What I have found really special is you, my readers.
When I started I did not know how many people would be interested in reading the blog. Today, I can report that my logs show that there an average of 1,100 unique visitors to this blog every time something is posted—which does not include the number of times people or bots try to hack the blog!
Not every reader is from the United States. After the United States, the top five countries the logs show (in order) are Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, India, and Spain.
After the home page, the top read post is “How easy is it to pass counterfeit currency.” This seems to be a search engine favorite when people are looking to do nefarious deeds. But after that post, my information pages U.S. Coins by Type and Numismatic Dictionary (respectively) are the second and third most read pages. GREAT! I am glad it is a used resource!
I am humbled and honored that you take time out of your day to read what I write. I hope you enjoy reading the Coin Collectors Blog as much as I enjoy writing.
Thank you for being part of my 12-year journey. Now onto my next 12 years!
Sunlight barely reaches the depths of the cavernous, 5,000 sq ft warehouse space in Chai Wan where Dr Werner Burger and his Taiwanese-born wife, Tsai Yui-mei, who goes by the name Lucy, house seven tons of coins. → Read more at scmp.com
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in our country who hasn’t been affected by breast cancer—more than 100 women die from this disease every single day. The unbearable toll is too much; it’s time to end breast cancer once and for all. → Read more at marieclaire.com
MOORESTOWN — Ted Brigante’s interest in coins began early. An owner of E&B Co. on West Main Street, Brigante grew up listening to his father weave tales of his own fascination with the pennies, dimes and dollars that might one day be worth more than their face value. → Read more at burlingtoncountytimes.com
Metal detectorists Reg Mead and Richard Miles unearthed the ancient trove, which contained around 74,000 coins, as well as gold and silver jewellery, in June 2012 in a field in Grouville, ending a 30-year search for the treasure. → Read more at jerseyeveningpost.com
A coin dating back to the construction of a historic North-east castle has been discovered. The 16th-century find was unearthed at Castle Fraser, near Inverurie, by a nine-year-old taking part in an archaeological dig, run by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS). → Read more at eveningexpress.co.uk
On October 23, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Congressmember Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) joined Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) President and CEO Myra Biblowit, BCRF Chief Mission Officer Dr. → Read more at qgazette.com
An American “doughboy” with a distinctive crooked nose will adorn a World War I Centennial Silver Dollar being released by the U.S. Mint to mark the hundredth anniversary of the war’s end. The design on the heads side of the coin, which goes on sale next year, is titled “Soldier’s Charge,” and depicts a stone-faced soldier gripping a rifle. → Read more at stripes.com
PHOTOS BY ADRIENNE SARVIS / THE SUMTER ITEM A large coil of copper, called a mondua, and a u-shaped piece of copper, called a manilla, were on display during the annual Sumter Coin Show on Saturday. The pieces were used as currency by Africans and Europeans during the time of the Atlantic slave trade. → Read more at theitem.com
In a rather remarkable discovery, Chinese archaeologists excavated nearly 300,000 pieces of ancient coins that weighed 5.6 tons. The ancient currency was found under a common residential home in Fuliang County located in the province of Jiangxi, China. → Read more at nextshark.com
British coin expert Roger F. Bland—stopping through the United States to accept a prestigious award for his study of coins—visited campus Thursday evening to detail the history of ancient coin-finding to a group of roughly 40 University affiliates at the Harvard Art Museums. → Read more at thecrimson.com
In January, I reacted to the intent of one of the candidates announced to run for President of the American Numismatic Association. Since then, I learned there will be competition for that position. Last week, it was reported that Don Kagin will run for Vice President and the various numismatic outlets have been reporting on others interested in making a run for the ANA Board of Governors.
While reading the stories of the people who announced their intention of running for the Board of Governors, I have to admit that I do not recognize any of them. But that is great. It means that there are people who are working more on a local level to apply their knowledge nationally. It also means that there are new people to give the Board new life. I applaud those who have stepped up to run.
Since my missives about the ANA Board of Governors, I have heard from several members urging me to run. It is both humbling and an honor to hear from these members offering their support. Following a few conversations with past Board members and my family, I have decided not to run for the Board of Governors.
Although I remain committed to the mission of the ANA and would like to see the ANA expand to be more inclusive to every demographic other that old, white men, my decision is based simply on timing. I was presented with a business opportunity that will take a significant amount of my personal effort to launch, especially since the opportunity is based on my vision. It would not be possible start a business venture and appropriately serve the ANA at the same time.
Because of conflicts with my business venture, I will not be able to attend the National Money Show in March. This is too bad because I had a plan to use Mickey Mouse ears get attention and talk about the Board of Governors on the bourse floor!
For now, I will continue to serve on the Technical Committee as long as the President, Board, and the committee will allow me. I will also continue to write this blog and include any information and criticism necessary to further the mission of the ANA.
Earlier this year I changed the way I keep statistics for this blog. I had to make this change because the old way of keeping statistics did not tell me what you were reading and because I felt some of those third-parties services did not have a privacy policy or a track record of privacy I was comfortable with. While they could tell me that my posts were being read, unless I turned on some of the more obtrusive tracking option, I could not keep track of older posts that were being discovered, bookmarked, or re-read.
Websites keep these records for various reasons, especially if they are monetizing the views. Since I am not doing this to make money, I want to know what people are interested in reading or searching for. The statistics allow me to see how many people read the blog when I post or come from another link, like the results of a search. These statistics are not perfect because I refuse to add the extra taking items that would tell me if you were reading these posts from an online news aggregator or were sent the information via email. But they are better than other services while not exposing you to potential privacy issues.
Looking at the statistics kept by the new software has been interesting. Let me tell you what I have learned:
You do read! And I really THANK YOU for being a reader. Based on the statistics 85-percent of the regular readers will read a new post within 3-days of its posting or by Monday if posted on a weekend. I am going to keep posting when I can and not try to target a date or time.
The most popular day is Wednesday. For some reason, more people read on Wednesday than any other day.
Although the vast majority of you are from the United States, the Top Five other countries (in descending order) are Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, India, and Spain. Readers have been identified from being from all over the world in many places. There are too many to mention but I find the list fascinating.
After the Home Page the most popular page is U.S. Coins by Type, a page that provides a list of every legal tender coin produced by the U.S. Mint including planned future issues.
The most popular post is “No, it wasn’t a double-strike” when quickly looking at my pocket change, I thought the 2013 Mount Rushmore quarter was a double strike. Since I have not beeb paying attention to the striking process, I was not aware of the coins’s design. I thought it was funny but one commenter did not see it that way!
The second most popular post and the most popular over the last six weeks is “How easy is it to pass counterfeit currency.” The post is about a lesson in using iodine pens versus the security features that Bureau of Engraving and Printing adds to every note it produces. Embedded in the post is a story from the television show Dateline showing the basics but leaving out some critical details.
Readers come here from Google, Yahoo, and Bing searches. However, after Google, the most people come from Twitter to read the posts. Although it is difficult to identify the search terms that has lead readers to the blog, the top three terms are “us mint news,” “coin blog,” and “2013 mount rushmore quarter error.” The most interesting search term identified had to be “the “a” was key to identifying the mint city. in principle coins of the greeks (1932), h.” I am not sure what it means! If you know, add it as a comment below.
Finally, you seem to like my pictures as opposed to pictures I embed from other websites. Most of these pictures are the images that I have taken of coins, events, or anything else that may come up. I will try to see if I can find more unique images to write about.
After nearly 11 years and over 1,300 posts, not only am I happy to have you as a reader, but I want to keep going. I appreciate the support over the years and welcome new readers. If there is a topic you would like to see covered, please add it as a comment or send a note.
Thank you!
Just for fun, here are the Romantics and “What I like about you:”
Although this is not numismatic-related, I thought my readers would like a different type of collectible diversion.
Today I will be attending the taping of Antiques Roadshow in Virginia Beach, Virginia. As a fan of the show, I am fascinated by the vintage and antique items people find, the stories behind them, and what they end up being worth. Of course they pick out the best stories and phenomenal values to feature on the broadcast, but one can only hope.
Although Antiques Roadshow does not appraise coins and currency, they would appraise medals, military awards, and even old stock certificates that were signed by famous business leaders. Unfortunately, I do not have any of those items to appraise. Since we are only allowed to bring two items to appraise, I am bringing the following:
Show poster from October 9-10, 1972 at Grand Valley State College
Swiss-made music box from the 1920s plays 6 arias
Inside the 1920s Swiss-made music box
The poster from Grand Valley State College (now Grand Valley State University) is from a pair of 1972 shows by humorists Dick Gregory and Mort Sahl. It was hung on campus and not made to last. I have not seen another like and and the only listing of it online is in the university’s library. This was picked at an estate sale for $10.00.
The music box is Swiss made and there is a faint hallmark that can be seen on the mechanism that suggests it was made around 1922. The motor works well and all of the teeth are attached and play loudly. The interesting thing about this music box is that it plays six 30-second arias. When it reaches the end of an aria, the mechanical mechanism will move the drum over to play the next one. After the sixth aria it will move the drum back to the first position. This was an auction buy which I forgot what I paid.
If you want to following along, you can follow the various social media outlets for my business Having-Fun Collectibles—after all, it is not numismatics.
Sometime in 2005 I began to search the Internet for information about coins. The two major publications, Coin World and Numismatic News, were not quite fully engaged online at that time. There were other online services but there was not something that would be the voice of a collector. Chat boards are nice but they are fractured. I wanted to have a conversation with the community.
Although I have a technical background, I did not know how to create and run a blog. After doing some research I discovered Blogger, Google’s blogging platform. After playing with the administration and learning how to create a blog post, I wrote my first post on October 29, 2005.
In my first post, I said that the coins I like include “Adolph A. Weinman’s Walking Liberty Half-Dollar and Liberty Head “Mercury” Dime, James Earl Fraser’s Buffalo Nickel, Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ $20 Double Eagle, and Bela Lyon Pratt $5 Half-Eagle.” Not much has changed except for my interest in exonumia, especially those pieces with ties to New York City, and the addition of Canadian coins to my collection
The blog has changed, or I would like to think it has evolved over the years. The biggest change was moving away from Blogger to my own domain. As part of the move I decided to create a logo using the allegedly non-existent 1964-D Peace Dollar, and I now participate social media specifically Twitter and Pinterest. What has not changed is the amazed and humbling experience I feel when I look at the server logs to see that more than 1,000 people read my posts—even with the recent slowdown in writing.
To all my readers, past, present and future, THANK YOU for being part of my numismatic adventure!
The Maryland State Numismatic Association held its annual meeting on Saturday, November 9, 2013 during the Whitman Expo at the Baltimore Convention Center. Following the meeting, the new officers were inaugurated for 2014. Receiving the gavel of the presidency was your favorite coin blogger.
While I would like to say that it was a tough race, I was nominated because I was the previous vice president and elected by a unanimous vote of five people. Truth be told, I forgot to vote! In either case, I accept the honor and trust of the MSNA and hope to expand the organization’s outreach. My first duty will fix the MSNA website that “broke” when my template stopped working properly with the underlining content management system. I hope to fix it by the end of the month.
I do plan to reach out to the member clubs to expand the work of MSNA throughout the state and hopefully grow numismatic participation. We also have a Young Numismatist fund earmarked for a yet to be determined program. If we come up with something good, I will share it with everyone so we can help other numismatic organizations grow.
2014 President Scott Barman accepts the MSNA gavel from outgoing president Frank Murphy
2014 MSNA Officers (L-R): Secretary Bryce Doxon, President Scott Barman, Vice President Jack Schadegg, and Treasurer Simcha Kuritzky
If you like my tie (click on one of the images to see a larger version) you can buy your own version on Zazzle. Those who have seen me at the last few show have seen the tie. It gets quite a reaction. If you buy the tie, $5 will be added to the MSNA YN fund I spoke about earlier.
Twelve years ago, I was a few miles away from the Pentagon when a plane crashed into its side. I remember driving to work hearing about the plan crashes in New York originally thinking that what I predicted many years ago finally came true, a small plane crashed into the World Trade Center. The reports turned grim as I kept driving toward my office.
When I arrived, I sat in the car a while listening to the radio and trying to call friends I knew who worked in lower Manhattan. I remember one was working in the World Financial Center across the street from the Twin Towers. I later found out that he had taken a job on the other side of the river in New Jersey a year earlier.
Another friend was working in 6 WTC, a 40 story building next to 2 WTC or Tower 2. Thankfully, he and his coworkers were able to escape before the second tower collapsed onto that building.
Just after the plane crashed into the Pentagon we were sent home.
I came home to the empty house my late first wife and I bought. She had died five months earlier and this time, the quiet of the house was deafening. I tuned on the television just before the second tower collapsed.
Although it was twelve years ago, I remember the day like it happened yesterday. Those who were around when President Kennedy was assassinated say the same thing about that day. It is difficult to forget these traumatic events, which is good. We should not only remember them but remember what happened after in order to do better next time. We need to learn from history rather than repeat it.
September 11 National Medal obverse features Lady Liberty holding the Lamp of Remembrance. Behind her are beacons of light stretching skyward. Liberty, the lamp and the light symbolize not just the immeasurable loss on that fateful day, but also the resiliency and triumph of those who persevered. The inscriptions are ALWAYS REMEMBER and 2001–2011. Designer: Donna Weaver Engraver: Phebe Hemphill
September 11 National Medal reverse depicts an eagle, symbolizing the strength of the survivors, families and Nation, against a backdrop of cascading water. The flowing water is emblematic of peace, serenity, healing and the continuity of life. The inscriptions are HONOR and HOPE. Designer: Donna Weaver Engraver: Joseph Menna
Medal images and descriptions courtesy of the U.S. Mint.
December 31, 2017
→ Read more at mirror.co.uk
Sometime in 2005 I began to search the Internet for information about coins. The two major publications, 
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