We’re honored to be able to accept the award at the GSNA 2010 Convention in Somerset, NJ on Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm. The convention is the largest in New Jersey and runs from Thursday, May 13 through Saturday, May 15, 2010.

We hope to see you there!

Director Moy opened the exhibit to the public which consisted of three display cases similar to those seen in the Mint booth at the ANA show in Baltimore this July. The first two display cases contained test UHR strikes at various tonnages, two plaster sculptures of the obverse and reverse of the UHR design:

The third case contained 11 actual, production 2009 Ultra High Relief Gold Double Eagle coins that were among the first to come off the presses.

Director Moy noted that about 29,000 of the coins were ready and that 43,000 had been ordered in the first 8 days.

As a special surprise, Director Moy invited Mint Sculptor-Engraver John Mercanti to the podium and announced his new job title of Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint. He was greeted by a warm round of applause.

Philly-born John Mercanti is head of engraving at the Mint. Apprenticed here in 1974. As a sculptor-engraver. “I’m actually the last engraver on staff that did steel carving.” Gravers, wood handled tools with hard steel blades are used to cut into hard steel, he explains, showing a rack of about 28 antique tools. Gold, silver carving, too. Bald Eagle print on the wall behind him. (Philly.com)

Director Moy then cut the ribbon.

One of the highlights was that attendees were able to pick up and handle two live UHR coins while under the watchful eye of two Mint Police officers.

It was very exciting to be able to pick up and handle the coin, albeit with cotton gloves on, because I know that I’ll never touch my coin when I get it.

I posted a 15 minute video of Director Moy’s remarks at today’s UHR ceremony at the Philadelphia Mint. It’s available at the following YouTube links (Part 1, Part 2) and is embedded below.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Update: I’ve added photo galleries from the ceremony (29 images) and the tour (33 images).

Ray is the president of the Colonial Coin Collector’s Club and 2nd VP of the GSNA.  He collects and studies coinage that circulated in the British American Colonies and up until the opening of the Philadelphia Mint and collects NJ Coppers by die variety.

Ray is going to give a presentation called “The State Coinage of our Confederation Period” about the state coinages from NJ, VT, MA & CT from 1785 until 1788. The talk will give information about the people involved in the minting process, some of the contemporary economic situations, and the coins themselves. Ray is also well-versed in NJ coppers, colonial paper and in foreign coinage circulating in the colonies.

Join us for Ray’s presentation and a fun meeting on Wednesday, 5 November 2008 at 7:00 pm. More details are on the ACNS page.

Authorized by Public Law 109-145, the four new designs celebrate the bicentennial of President Abraham Lincoln’s birth, as well as the 100th anniversary of the production of the Lincoln cent (penny).  The new designs will be issued in approximately three-month intervals throughout the year.  The first redesigned penny, which will honor Lincoln’s birth and early childhood, will be put into circulation on February 12, 2009.

Four reverse designs will be released to celebrate the great statesman and U.S. President “Honest Abe” Lincoln. The Lincoln cent’s centennial is also tribute to the coin itself – the most collected coin in the world.

The four designs to be featured on the reverse of the Lincoln pennies represent four major aspects of President Lincoln’s life:  his birth and childhood in Kentucky, his formative years in Indiana, his professional life in Illinois and his Presidency in Washington, D.C.  The inscriptions on the reverse of the coins will be “United States of America,” “E Pluribus Unum” and “One Cent.”

The obverse (heads side) of the one-cent coins will continue to bear Victor David Brenner’s likeness of President Lincoln, introduced in 1909, and the motto “In God We Trust.”  At the end of the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial One Cent Coin Program, the reverse of the penny will feature a design emblematic of President Lincoln’s preservation of the United States of America as a single and united country.

A Lincoln commemorative silver dollar, authorized by Public Law 109-285, also will be released in 2009.

The designs for the cent are:

“This is the first program of its kind to inspire shoppers, diners and commuters to use $1 Coins in their normal, everyday activities,” said United States Mint Director Ed Moy.  “When each of us spends the $1 Coin, we make a difference for our country, because the $1 Coin is durable and using it saves the Nation money.  We hope our pilot cities lead the change!”

The $1 Coin lasts for decades and is 100 percent recyclable, so using it can save the country billions of dollars over the years.

For some collectors, the announced offerings may come as a bit of a surprise since the Mint is pushing out an additional product as well as the next scheduled coin honoring U.S. Presidents.

They have, in fact, extended their Presidential product line and are spotlighting already released coins in new ways.

Presidential $1 Coin Historical Signature Set

The U.S. Mint had somewhat quietly released a new collection in April called the Presidential $1 Coin Historical Signature Set. It featured George Washington.

Source: CoinNews.net

The United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the 2008 American Eagle Platinum Proof Coins at 12:00 noon (ET) on May 5, 2008. This year’s coins feature the final design in the three-year series entitled, “The Foundations of American Democracy,” celebrating our Nation’s Judicial Branch of government.Emblazoned on the reverse of the 2008 American Eagle Platinum Proof Coins is an allegorical image of Lady Justice, a classic symbol dating back to the Greeks and Romans. Scales, suspended from a finger of her right hand, represent the delicate balance of the law. A sword in her left hand symbolizes the power of reason, which can be wielded in either direction. The bald eagle-our Nation’s symbol of courage and freedom-watches over our firm foundation of democracy.

Source: CoinLink.com

The Proof One Ounce coin will cost US$2,299.95, and the Proof Four-Coin Set will sell for US$4,119.95. Volatility in the spot price of platinum over the past year has forced the Mint to raise its prices for the Proof 2008-W American Eagle .9995 fine platinum coins, ranging 17.4 to 45 percent higher than 2007 prices.

Each year during the third week of April, the American Numismatic Association celebrates National Coin Week with exhibits, presentations and other activities at civic centers, libraries, and schools to let the world know about the joys of collecting and studying coins, paper notes, and other forms of money.

Learn how Money Makes the World Go Round with the ANA’s “National Treasure Hunt.”

The National Coin Week bookmarks challenge you to find five different numismatic objects:

1. A coin with an animal
2. The oldest coin you can find
3. A coin from a different place (country or state)
4. A coin from the year you were born
5. A coin that’s not a coin (token, medal, etc.)

Once you complete the treasure hunt please contact us with this online form, to enter a drawing for local and national prizes.

The ACNS is an ANA member club and encourages all to get involved!

Director Moy and Gov. Bill Richardson launched New Mexico’s quarter on Monday 07 April 2008 at the state Capitol in Santa Fe. Moy will also be in Albuquerque for a coin collectors’ forum open to everyone.

The New Mexico quarter is the 47th coin of the United States Mint’s popular 50 State Quarters Program, because New Mexico was the 47th state to be accepted into the Union in 1912.  The coin bears the image of a Zia sun symbol over a topographical outline of the State with the inscription “Land of Enchantment.”  The coin also bears the inscriptions “New Mexico” and “1912.”

The New Mexico quarter design:

WHAT:

Launch of the New Mexico Commemorative Quarter-Dollar &
Quarter Exchange
Coin Collectors Forum on Eve of Launch

WHO:

United States Mint Director Ed Moy
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
Secretary Stuart Ashman, Department of Cultural Affairs
State Historian Estevan Rael-Galvez
Santa Fe All Stars

WHEN:

Launch:  April 7th, 2008, 11 a.m. (MT); Quarter Exchange to immediately follow ceremony

Coin Collectors Forum:  April 6, 2008, 2:30 p.m.-4:00 p.m. (MT)

WHERE:

Launch:  Capitol Rotunda, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, NM
Coin Collectors Forum:  National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico, 1701 Fourth St. SW, Albuquerque, NM

U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy has announced that the U.S. Mint will issue a recreation of the famous and beloved Ultra-High Relief Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle gold piece in 2009. The special issue coins will be struck in solid 24-karat gold on 27 mm blanks that I would expect to at least a quarter of an inch or more in thickness.When the original Ultra-High Relief Saints were struck in 1907, the Mint had a very difficult time striking them as the coin’s designer, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, intended them to appear. According to Walter Breen’s Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, it took nine striking blows of the coining press, at an immense hydraulic force of 172 tons of pressure, to bring up the detail on the Ultra-High Relief Double Eagles. Between each strike, the coin had to be removed from the press and annealed, a process which softens the coin blank so that it takes the impression from the dies more completely.

Then the blank had to be carefully replaced in the coin press, aligned exactly as before, for the next striking blow. On the final blow, the edge lettering was imparted via a tripartite (three part) collar die. (The collar is the round base that confines the metal of the coin blank during striking so that the coin stays perfectly round and of uniform size. It is sometimes called the “third die,” just as the edge of a coin is often called the “third side” of a coin. On most U.S. coins, the collar die is either plain or reeded.)

Source: coins.about.com

Among the production specifications approved by Secretary Paulson are the new coin’s business-strike finish and a diameter of 27 millimeters. Only 2009-dated coins will be minted. The coins will go on sale in early 2009, although sales may continue into 2010 if inventory exists.