May 21, 2008 | US Mint
The US Mint announced that Andrew D. Burnhart has been selected as the new Deputy Director of the Mint to begin on Friday, May 23—just in time to be paid for the Memorial Day holiday.
“Andy has more than 20 years of experience in senior executive positions,” said Mint Director Edmund Moy. “His expertise in organizational change will help the United States Mint achieve its strategic goals and become a more results-oriented organization.”
Burnhart had previously was General Manager for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) with is responsible for water and sewer services to Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, the Maryland counties surrounding Washington, DC. Aside from the accolades published in the press release, the Burnhart-lead WSSC raised water and sewer rates by more than 8-percent this year for an infrastructure plan that has been in discussions for the last few years.
When the rate increased was proposed, the Burnhart-lead WSSC refused to provide access to budget data to the Montgomery County Inspector General, one of the government owners of WSSC. Montgomery County has paid $2.3 billion to WSSC over the last three years.
Officials of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties have criticized the management of WSSC for not providing the requested information alleging a cover-up over spending practices. They have also questioned the timing for implementing the infrastructure plan in the light of economic reality.
Burnhart announced his intent to leave WSSC at shortly after Montgomery County’s Inspector General query and right before the rate increase was announced.
May 17, 2008 | commemorative, legislative, US Mint
In a rare display of overwhelming bipartisan support, the House of Representatives passed three numismatic related bills. One was the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Ultra-High Relief Bullion Coin Act that was passed 415-0 (18 not voting) that will allow the US Mint to strike the high relief 24-karat gold coins featuring the Augustus Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle design.
On a vote of 403-8 (22 not voting), the House passed H.R. 5872, Boy Scouts of America Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. If passed by the Senate and signed by the President, this bill will authorize the Mint to strike one dollar proof and uncirculated silver coins to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Scouting in the United States in 2010. The bill stipulates that the coins can be only struck at one Mint facility and would be distributed starting February 8, 2010. A $10 surcharge will be added to the price of the coins that will be paid to the National Boy Scouts of America Foundation.
Scouting started in 1907 in England. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the scouting movement, the Royal Mint produced a beautiful commemorative coin and associated products.
In 1814, Baltimore attorney Francis Scott Key joined Colonel John Stuart Skinner aboard the HMS Tonnant to negotiate a prisoner exchange for Dr. William Beanes, a Maryland resident who was captured during the British attack on Washington, DC. After Key and Skinner dined with the ship’s senior officers, the three men were not allowed to return to Baltimore. That evening, the British spent part of 25-hours bombing Fort McHenry in the Baltimore Harbor.
In the morning, Key awoke to the view of the flag still flying over Fort McHenry. This inspired Key to write the four-stanza poem “The Defense of Fort McHenry“ which he said should be sung to the tune of The Anacreontic Song.
Over the years, the poem’s popularity would gain and then wane. On July 27, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin F. Tracy signed a general order making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official song to be played when raising the flag.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order to have the “Star-Spangled Banner” be played by the military and for other “appropriate occasions.” After a controversy brewed when a cartoon announced, “Believe It or Not, America has no national anthem,” President Herbert Hoover signed the law making it the official National Anthem in 1931.
To honor the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and Key’s poem that became our national anthem, the House passed H.R. 2894, Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act. The bill calls for one-ounce proof and uncirculated silver coins designed to be “emblematic of the War of 1812 and particularly the Battle for Fort McHenry that formed the basis for the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’.“ Coins will be issued during 2012. The $10 surcharge will be paid to the Maryland War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission to help in its role of providing education, research, and celebrating the bicentennial of the War of 1812.
All of these bills must be passed by the Senate and signed by the President before they become law.
May 17, 2008 | CCAC, CFA, coin design, gold, US Mint
Today, I noticed that the US Commission of Fine Arts posted the final minutes from their April 17, 2008 meeting. The CFA is part of the coin design bureaucracy that is required to approve, reject, or recommend changes to coin designs. These minutes approve of the 2009 Double Eagle gold coin US Mint Director Edmund Moy proposed the design to the Citizens Coin Advisory Committee.
The CFA approval reads as follows:
Confirmation of recommendation on the 2009 Double Eagle Gold $20 ultra-high relief coin based on 1907/08 design by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Mr. [Thomas E.] Luebke [Secretary] said that the proposal had been circulated to the Commission members for a vote prior to the Commission meeting due to the U.S. Mint&rsqou;s tight production schedule and the similarity of the proposal to a historic coin design; he asked the Commission to confirm the recommendation. He said that the Mint’s proposal was to reissue a coin from 1907 designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens: the original high-relief design was minted for one year, then adapted by the Mint to a low-relief coin that was issued from 1908 to 1932. The only proposed changes to the 1907 design would be to update the minting year, which will continue to be rendered in Roman numerals; to add a rim which will improve the production process; and to add the phrase “In God We Trust” which was historically included on the coin from 1908 onward. Upon a motion by Mr. [Earl A.] Powell [Chairman] with second by Ms. [Dianna] Balmori, the Commission confirmed its recommendation to approve the updated design with the comment that the Roman numerals for the issue date be as similar as possible to the original design in scale, spacing, and character.
As for the necessary legislation to allow the Mint the produce these coins, H.R. 5614 passed the House of Representatives on May 15 with a unanimous vote. The Senate’s version, S. 2924, is still in committee.
May 16, 2008 | coins, dollar, US Mint
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States and the first president who was a son of a president. Adams served one term, 1825-1829, and was the first president not to take the oath of office on the bible. Adams was a very religious man who felt that the bible should be only used for religious reasons. Adams took the Oath of Office on a book of American laws in effect saying that he was taking his oath to the Constitution.
Adams was elected to the House of Representatives in 1831 and served until he died of a stroke in 1848, two days after collapsing on the floor of the House.
As the US Mint releases the John Quincy Adams dollar coin, the National Stroke Associations will join with the Mint to bring stroke awareness to the forefront.
The National Stroke Association is promoting the FAST method for recognizing stroke symptoms:
- F = FACE Ask the person to smile, does one side of the face droop?
- A = ARM Ask the person to hold both arms outstretched, does one arm drift downward?
- S = SPEECH Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, does the speech sound slurred?
- T = TIME If anyone experiences any of these symptoms, time to call 9-1-1 and ask to be taken to the nearest stroke center hospital
It is a good idea to remember the FAST method. Not only it could save a loved one’s life, it can save yours!
May 8, 2008 | history, medals, US Mint
Harry S Truman became the 33rd President of the United States following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, a few months into Roosevelt’ fourth term. Truman presided over the end of the World War II in Europe and the decisive victory over Japan. He also oversaw the signing of the first United Nations charter.
Controversy followed Truman through his presidency which the close election in 1948 against Thomas E. Dewey. Amongst Truman’s controversial accomplishments was helping establish the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the integration of the armed forces. History has been kinder to Truman than were his critics during the 1952 election.
Harry S Truman was born on May 8, 1884 in Lamar, Missouri making today his 124th birthday. In celebration of Truman’s birthday, the US Mint sent out a release noting that they sell a 15/16-inch bronze medal honoring Truman’s inaugurations. The medal was design by John R. Sinnock (obverse) and Gilroy Roberts (reverse) was struck at the Philadelphia Mint.
Happy Birthday and give ’em hell, Harry!
May 7, 2008 | BEP, cents, coin design, coins, currency, gold, Israel, legislative, US Mint
It has been a week since my last post and I thought an update was in order. I will follow up with a post for some of these at another time. This will give me something to do while proctoring the final exam in an information security course I am teaching this semester.
I recently received four polymer 20 New Israeli Shekelim notes from a dealer in Israel. These notes are the first that Israel is producing on polymer “paper” that was developed by the The Reserve Bank of Australia. Israel is another in the growing list of countries to start using the polymer material. The notes include the same security features as rag-based notes and include a new clear window with a watermark that is said to be extremely difficult to counterfeit. While the polymer substrate costs little more and the production is only marginally more expensive, the benefit will come from the reduction in counterfeiting and the durability of the note. Polymer will last three-to-six times longer than rag-based paper.
According to unconfirmed reports, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is experimenting with different types of polymer paper for both US and foreign production. If the BEP can adjust their equipment to print on polymer paper, they can solicit business from other countries to produce their currency. Once the BEP builds its portfolio, they are prepared to go to congress to recommend discontinuing production of the one-dollar note. Until then, the BEP will continue to produce one-dollar notes in order to keep workers in key congressional districs in the Washington, DC and Fort Worth, TX areas employed. Remember, 95-percent of the BEP’s production are for one-dollar federal reserve notes.
The spot price of gold continues to drop as the dollar gains against the Euro and the Pound. Prices are returning to pre-2008 levels. However, buyers of gold collectors coins from the US Mint has not seen their prices reduced. While the Mint repriced gold and platinum coins in February and March, the Mint has not lowered their prices with the market. The one-ounce American Gold Eagle proof coin is still $1,199.95, the new price given in February. With gold closing at $876.88 today, the $327.07 premium is 36.8-percent higher than the spot price. This will cause problems for those who buy at thiese prices when reselling these coins.
While we are talking about gold, the Original Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle Ultra-High Relief Bullion Coin Act was simultaneously introduced in both the House (H.R. 5614) and Senate (S. 2924). These identical bills will allow the Mint to strike high-relief $20 gold pieces using the Augustus Saint-Gaudens original 1907 design. The date will be in roman numerals and the motto “In God We Trust” will be added over the rising sun as it appeared in 1908. The coin will be on a double-thick, 24-karat gold planchet (sometimes called a piefort) 27 millimeters in diameter.
The US Mint finally posted its online product schedule for the rest of the year. The only thing that jumps out at me is that the 2008 American Buffalo 24-karat gold proof coin is not listed.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives began to debate H.R. 5512, the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of 2008. The primary provisions of the bill will allow the US Mint to determine the size and composition of US coins without having to ask congress for permission. It also specifies that following 2009, the one-cent coin would be “be produced primarily of steel and treated to impart a copper color to its appearance similar to one-cent coins produced of a copper-zinc alloy.” Debate was cut off on procedural grounds by Republican lawmakers who oppose the bill.
It was just another uneventful week!
Apr 2, 2008 | coins, US Mint
On April 2, 1792, President George Washington signed the Coinage Act of 1792 into law, giving birth to the United States Mint. David Rittenhouse was appointed as the first director of the Mint whose first job was to build or purchase the first government owned building.
The Coinage Act of 1792 set the basis of US coins to be the dollar that would be on par with the Spanish Milled Dollar. It established gold coins for the Eagle (ten dollars), Half Eagles, and Quarter Eagles. The half dollar, quarter dollar, dismes, and half dismes were to be struck in silver while the cent and half cent would be struck in copper.
The law outlines how the Mint operates in order to preserve its integrity and sets the basis for making debasement (such as shaving the metals from the edge) and counterfeiting illegal acts. Over the years, we learned that the laws required for self oversight was akin to the foxes guarding the hen house.
From good economic times to bad politics, the US Mint has been working for 216 years to meed the demands for circulating coinage while creating objects that drive the passion of numismatists.
Let’s raise a cheer and wish the US Mint a Happy Birthday!
Feb 21, 2008 | coins, dollar, errors, quarter, US Mint
James Monroe was the fifth president of the United States. Monroe, a Democrat-Republican (the forerunner of the modern Democratic Party) and former governor of Virginia, believed in the Jeffersonian principle of a stronger federal government who would look out for the welfare of the states. He was opposed to the colonization of the Western Hemisphere by foreign powers and worked to have them withdraw from the hemisphere.
Monroe was elected during a time of good feeling after the War of 1812 where Great Brittan tried to prevent the US to trade with France while they were at war with Napoleon. Monroe worked to set the US place in the world, first by convincing Spain to cede Florida to the United States in 1821. Subsequently, Great Brittan, weary of war, wanted the US to oppose the reconquest of Latin America.
Monroe consulted ex-presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who agreed with the concept. Monroe then consulted with Secretary of State John Qunicy Adams. Adams was not only concerned about British meddling in the region, but there was a concern about France and Russia also meddling in the Americas. Adams suggested making it US policy against nation trying to recolonize the west.
Monroe accepted Adams’ suggestion. In a message delivered to congress on December 2, 1823, Monroe say “… the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Power.“ Twenty years after Monroe died, this became known as the Monroe Doctrine.
The James Monroe $1 coin was released to the public on February 14, 2008. However, prior to the coin’s release, there was a report that a number of “irregular” coins were returned to the Mint by the contractor hired to wrap coins.
It was reported that between 70,000 and 100,000 Monroe Dollars were struck on quarter planchets at the Philadelphia Mint. When questions, the US Mint issued the following statement:
In mid-January, the United States Mint’s coin-wrapping contractor alerted the agency when it found some irregular James Monroe Presidential $1 coins. The coins in question were immediately returned to the United States Mint. The United States Mint has performed an internal inquiry and presently has no evidence to indicate that any irregular James Monroe Presidential $1 Coins have been sent to the nation’s banks. The United States Mint expects to make an estimated 103 million James Monroe Presidential $1 Coins.
When I go to the bank tomorrow to pick up some rolls, I will be buying a few extra rolls to check for these wrong planchet errors because I do not believe that all of these “irregular” coins have been found.
Feb 16, 2008 | coins, gold, US Mint
On February 8, 2008, a report from the Moscow News reverberated in both the numismatic press and found its way into some mainstream media outlets said that a couple in Egypt found a 1933 Saint-Gaudens $20 Gold Double Eagle. The forbidden coin, which there is only one legal tender specimen, could be the most valuable coin if it is real.
Online forums have parsed the words of this short article noting that the line “Specialists believe that the double eagle found in Egypt could be part of Theodore Roosevelt’s 1933 collection of coins redesigned by famed American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens and given to King Farouk of Egypt as a present,” contain significant factual errors. For instance, Roosevelt did not collect coins, but did commission Saint-Gaudens to design the coin and owned a high-relief coin. Even if Roosevelt did collect coins, he died in 1919 and would have never collected this coin. Saint-Gaudens died in 1907.
Further, evidence discovered by David Tripp and published in his book Illegal Tender suggests that the Farouk coin was sold to an emissary by a dealer.
After parsing the words, you have to realize that this is a story by a Russian news organization quoting a Qatar news organization reporting an event in Egypt. Aside from translation being an issue, even some collectors are confused by the provenance of these coins. So the mistakes could be understandable. But is it a real coin?
The 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle coin sold in 2002 for $7.6 million was assumed to the be the Farouk coin based on the assumptions of its travels until its confiscatio But part of the evidence was that a 1933 Double Eagle coin was removed from the 1954 auction of King Farouk’s coin collection. Although a coin was confiscated from British dealer Stephen Fenton who testified that it was the Farouk specimen, no evidence exists to prove the claim.
Since the sale of the only legal tender 1933 Double Eagle, ten coins found by the family of the late jeweler and coin dealer Israel Switt where authenticated as genuine by the US Mint and subsequently confiscated them. While the family is suing the government for the coins’ return, it was though that this may be the last of the escaped Double Eagles… until now.
If the coin is real, the US government considers the coin government property and illegal to own since it was never released into circulation. Although the US Secret Service has not commented on this story, history suggests that the coin will be confiscated should it return to the United States.
If the coin is real, the $15 million estimate in the Russian article may be possible, but could be too expensive. Should the coin be accurately linked to King Farouk with convincing evidence, $15 million may be a low estimate. However, it would have to be sold overseas to prevent its confiscation by the US Secret Service.
This may not be the last we hear of this coin. But I still want to know how the grandfather of this tailor came to own this coin. Even in 1954, the coin was known to be very rare, so how did it end up in a box in the bottom of a closet? It will make an interesting story!
Feb 11, 2008 | cents, coins, nickels, US Mint, video
CBS News’ ubiquitous weekly news magazine, 60 Minutes, broadcasted a report on Sunday that discussed the costs of producing cents and nickels (see embedded video below). According to the US Mint, over 8 billion copper-coated zinc cents were produced ($80 million) costing the Mint $134 million to produce. Producing 1.3 billion nickels ($65 million) made with the .75 copper alloy that has been in use since 1866, and cost $124 million.
Should We Make Cents?
Source: CBS News
Mint Director Edmund Moy, who was interviewed for the report by Morley Safer, said that the costs were a direct result of the rising metal prices. “You know, coins are made out of metal,” Moy said. “And worldwide demand for copper, nickel and zinc have dramatically increased over the last three years. That’s what’s primarily driving up the cost of making the penny and nickel,”
Stephen Dubner, the co-author of the bestseller Freakonomics, puts the penny in the same category as your appendix and other useless relics. “It’s just not useful,” Dubner said. Unfortunately, Dubner may not have heard that researchers may have found that the appendix does have a useful function.
The focus of the report was to look at the economics of continuing the production of Lincoln Cents. While the report mentioned the tradition of the cent and the coin features Abraham Lincoln, probably the country’s greatest president, and the 2009 redesign program, the argument about removing these coins from circulation are based on their economic worth. But if they are useless and have no value, then why is there a demand for these coins being produced?
I have previously explained that the Mint’s primary “is to produce an adequate volume of circulating coinage for the nation to conduct its trade and commerce.” To carry out this mission, the Mint distributes coins to the Federal Reserve System banks and branches as necessary. Regardless of the cost of production, is it really necessary for the Mint to produce so many cents for circulation?
Unlike commemorative or other collectible items, the number of business strike coins distributed is determined by the individual Federal Reserve banks. As the need arises, the Federal Reserve banks place orders with the Mint for coins to distribute to the nations banks. From those banks, coins are circulated to the public through business or teller operations. Although there are some stockpiles of under used coinage (mostly halves and dollars), the Mint uses “just-in-time” inventory management and distribution like many other manufacturing facilities. Thus, productions of business strikes are based on the demand created by the ordering practice of the various Federal Reserve banks.
If the cent is obsolete and economically infeasible with little buying power, then why is the Federal Reserve ordering so many for circulation?
How Cents are Made
Source: CBS News
Loading ...