LOOSE CHANGE: JANUARY 31, 2021

New York Federal Gold Vault

THE LARGEST ACCUMULATION OF GOLD in human history is located deep underneath the heart of Manhattan's financial district, at the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Some 80 feet beneath sidewalk level, the Fed's special vault is built into the bedrock and entrusted with deposits from central banks across the globe. Inside sits 7,000 tons of glittering gold bars—around 5 percent of all of the gold ever mined.

The only way into the vault is via a cylindrical entryway that rotates at the turn of a wheel. A sliver-shaped pie chunk of the cylinder has an opening, and when properly aligned with the entry hallway allows access to the treasure inside. Inside there are 122 separate mini-vaults (one for every country), plus a "library vault" for account holders with smaller deposits.

To read the complete article, see:
New York Federal Gold Vault (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/new-york-federal-gold-vault)

On Circulating Commemorative Programs

A major new bill that will create several new series of circulating commemorative quarters and other coins has just become law. Unfortunately, it risks repeating several of the mistakes of other recent coin programs of this type.

Ever since word of the new circulating coin programs received coverage in the numismatic press, reactions from collectors have been almost universally negative with the exception of the semi-quincentennial coins that are reminiscent of the 1975-1976 Bicentennial coins that were very popular.

Comments from collectors in the blogosphere and letters to editors of numismatic publications called the program "overboard and mostly covering unneeded themes"; noted that a "rest [in such programs] is long overdue" or said that state quarters were "fun, but the idea has been overplayed."

To read the complete article, see:
The Coin Analyst: Have Circulating Commemorative Programs Outlasted Their Welcome? (https://coinweek.com/modern-coins/the-coin-analyst-have-circulating-commemorative-programs-outlasted-their-welcome/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web