WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: MARCH 20, 2016

An email last Sunday brought me a dinner invitation from Tom Uram of the Pennsylvania Association of Numismatists. Tom also wears the hat of a CCAC member, and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee was coming to town for a meeting Tuesday. Would I like to join them for dinner Monday? You bet!

I had the pleasure of joining a similar dinner last October (see my Diary, linked below). Just like last time I met everyone at the Embassy Row hotel off Dupont Circle. Tom met me and brought me over to a table in the lobby bar where everyone was gathering.

I gave Jeanne Stevens-Sollman a hug and congratulated Mike Moran on his new 1849 book, written with Jeff Garrett. Tom Uram was there with his brother Jim and this time their 95-year-old father Andy came along as well.

I immediately recognized longtime E-Sylum subscriber Donald Scarinci, who was signing a copy of his book on the Coin of the Year awards for another member. We had never met in person so I introduced myself when there was a break in the conversation. It's always great to convert an online friend to the in-person kind.

For more information on Mike and Don's books, see these earlier E-Sylum articles:
NEW BOOK: 1849: THE PHILADELPHIA MINT STRIKES GOLD (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n06a04.html)
NEW BOOK: COIN OF THE YEAR (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n05a05.html)
BOOK REVIEW: COIN OF THE YEAR (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n30a08.html)

While Donald had another dinner appointment in town, the rest of us stood up to head over to the Beacon Bar and Grill on Rhode Island Ave, when Mary Lannin had made a reservation. In the lobby we joined up with the rest of the group, including the newest CCAC members Steve Roach and Dennis Tucker. I hadn't seen either in person since the summer ANA convention, and I congratulated them both on their appointments.

Along the walk I got caught up with Robert Hoge, whom I didn't get a chance to speak with at the ANS Gala in January. He had just returned from Spain. I also got to meet Coin World columnist Lou Golino.

At dinner I sat next to Dennis Tucker and asked about the process of becoming a CCAC member. It's not a paid position, although travel expenses are reimbursed. There is an application process, and coincidentally the Mint just issued a call for applicants for the next two positions that will open up (however, current members can reapply). See the next article for more information. Dennis said he'd applied three times, and for him the third was a charm. So perseverance helps, and don't get discouraged if you don't make the cut - keep trying!

At my end of the table I could converse with the Urams, Dennis, Steve, Mary and Robert. Discussion topics included the Pacific Coast Numismatic Society, the Newman Numismatic Portal, the show tunes being sung at the piano bar across the restaurant, E-Sylum advertisers, and The Future (How do you pull over a self-driving car?). Here are some of my cellphone photos:

Tom Uram and his father Andy

Robert Hoge and Mary Lannin

From left: Steve, Jeanne, Erik, Heidi, Mike Moran, Mike Olson

One thing we did NOT discuss were the decisions to be made at the next day's meeting. For a look at the considered designs (and there were a lot of them), see the Flickr collections at the links below:

Boys Town
https://www.flickr.com/gp/129211989@N07/fm1Mm1

2017 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin
https://www.flickr.com/gp/129211989@N07/sWV36u

2017 American Eagle Platinum Proof
https://www.flickr.com/gp/129211989@N07/073MWj

Think this is a cushy job? Have a look at the design options and decide for yourself. Can you defend your decisions? Can you articulate why you prefer one design over another? There were 45 different Boy's Town design pairs and 78 individual obverse and reverse designs for the 2017 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin.

I believe it was Mike Moran who told me this was the first time that obverse/reverse pairs by the same artist would be considered together for one of the coins. This ensures the artistic balance of obverse and reverse design style, which when considered separately can lead to what I would call "Frankenstein" coins, where the two sides are clearly from two different hands. It's not at all unusual of course, to have two different designers, but when their styles are very different the effect can be jarring.

The most controversial coin will likely be the 2017 high-relief gold coin which will feature an African-American figure as Liberty. I'm not sure if the directive came from Congress or the Mint, but why not? It's an allegorical figure, not an historical one. The image will seem out of place to many, but when Jackie Robinson first stepped on the field with his all-white teammates, that was an unusual sight, too. Not anymore.

But few members of the general public will end up seeing this coin, since it's not a general-circulation piece. That's a storm on the horizon. The movement for diversity on our paper money (see the Put a Woman on the $20 Bill movement) will come to circulating coinage at some point. CoinWeek Editor Charles Morgan discussed this at the end of his March 18, 2016 Weekly Coin Report.

To watch Charles' Coin report video, see: CoinWeek Weekly Coin Report – March 18, 2016 – 4K Video (www.coinweek.com/recent-articles-video/weekly-coin-report-march-18-2016/)

After paying our checks Tom asked our waiter to take a group shot, so we all gathered 'round. Standing in the back from left to right are: Lou Golino, former CCAC member Mike Olson, Wayne Homren, CCAC members Robert Hoge, Erik Jansen, Steve Roach, Mary Lannin, and Mike Moran. Seated, from left to right are: CCAC members Tom Uram, Dennis Tucker, Heidi Wastweet, and Jeanne Stevens-Sollman.

Image courtesy Tom Uram

Donald Scarinci shared some photos of the next day's meeting. Thanks! Here are a few.

Donald Scarinci adds:

To view the entire photo album, see: Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (www.flickr.com/photos/75739848@N03/sets/72157663662747714/with/25738377811/)

For more information on the CCAC members, see:
http://ccac.gov/aboutUs/members.cfm

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
WAYNE'S NUMISMATIC DIARY: OCTOBER 11, 2015 (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v18n41a18.html)

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