I need help on a numismatic speech I am giving

For Speech and Debate, I will be competing in an event called Original Oratory,
here are the rules

• 8-10 min speech
• Memorized
• Maximum 150 words of quoted text
• Choice of topic decided by competitor (thats me)
• Delivered verbally to a panel of 3-5 judges
• No notes during presentation

I thought I would discuss major rarities of US coinage (1804,1933,1913)
But if you can convince me otherwise, I can change the topic.
I ask for any advice you are willing to share about the presentation and or the research and writing.

Thanks for the help,
CoinBlazer

 

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I think major rarities is too large of a topic. I would narrow it down to have a more centralized focus.

 

Good ideas. I also believe you need to make it more interesting to non-collectors, (almost all of the rest of the world). My suggestion would be coinage during the Civil War. Show how all gold and silver disappeared at first, and then even CN cents. Then commerce responded with postage stamps, encased postage stamps, store cards, etc. The government saw this and incorporated these ideas into postal currency and removing the nickel from cents and silver from 5 cent pieces.

I think it could be a fun talk to even non-collectors.

 

This is a superb idea.

 

I think I could riff for an hour on any one of those three rarities. All three begs for a paring down. But then again, I do work in a political related job.

There is a subject that I am presently working on, that interests ME, but you need to feel it in your bones. I am studying how the Brits managed to handle the radical resizing of their 5p, 10p, and 50p coins, within a single 7-year period, PLUS the creation of a 20p and 1 pound coin, and not have their vending industry pitch a fit, while we in the U.S. seem absolutely stymied by the very concept.

 

I've also considered doing explanations about major coinage acts.

 

I agree with @ToughCOINS but maybe something with an interesting historical story behind to catch the interest of the listener if they find coins boring.

 

Is the speech to be directly related to numismatics?

 

I can talk about absolutely anything

 

Well considering that you need to keep it under 10 mins, memorized with no notes and keep it interesting to the goyim... do it on the 1787 Brasher doubloon. Not much technical info to memorize and mostly the historical context, a lot of which you likely already have some familiarity with. Also some big stunners there like how few exist or how much they sell for (millions). Think about it bro

 

A coin speech to non collectors is a boring idea. Expect a lot of yawns.

Make the topic about the personalities you encounter on various websites. Lead off with Doug (never giving a like), then lordmarcovan's interesting personal life, etc.

 

That's a bit weird....

 

No, CB, to the ENTIRE rest of the world (trust me) talking about coins is WEIRD! Different planets, man.

The ONLY people who care about coins are the people who care about coins. We are ALL mutants.

We tend to be socially inept, geeky to freaky, and almost utterly lacking in interpersonal skills. We're worse than guys who wrote their own TRS-80 programs. Glasses? Not without adhesive tape. Heck we even have guys who actually take pictures of funny-colored nickels. [ @Lehigh96 ]

 

I'd go with something coin related that would be exciting even for non-collectors. Maybe about just one major rarity instead of several, or about a "turning point" in US coinage. Or maybe the story of a denomination in US coinage that goes back a while (the one cent piece and why we call them "pennies", et cetera)

Good luck with your speech!

 

@CoinBlazer Nothing wrong with doing coins as long as you know it's a snoozer for almost everyone else. If you can do something with an interesting historical story, then it will be more interesting to the great unwashed masses who do not know that numismatics is the greatest hobby the world has ever known.

Brasher dubloon, 1913 Liberty nickel. Civil war tokens due the coin shortage during the civil war. Another good one could be the introduction of the 2 cent piece in 1864 with the motto In God We trust. There is a cool story behind the why it was added, the timing during the civil war, plus most people don't know the US made 2 cent pieces (you may want to gage if there are any ramifications of this topic in your school. This isn't a political comment, just an objective statement to and be safe not sorry).

The 1943 steel cents may also be cool, you can work in the 43 copper cents as well.

Just something to think about

 

What about coins would be politically incorrect?

 

I could potentially make a comical speech about CoinTalk.....

 

I remember taking Speech and Drama in high school. I had to give a speech "to inform" using much of the same guidelines you described above. I decided to give the talk on "How to catch and prepare crawdads" I first talked about how to catch them, then how to prepare and cook (live). I cooked the live crawdads while doing the talk. Afterwards I served to the class. It was a hit with the class. No so much with the instructor, who informed me to get those "disgusting" things off his desk.

 

What are the top 5 coolest things about coins you can think of? If your speech isn’t dealing with one of the five things you just mentally listed, change your topic. Talk about what you have a passion in; it’ll make it more convincing and easier to memorize/recite. @ToughCOINS provided great suggestions. I love big changes in coins, like the trime, which you could easily talk for an hour on its role in the silver mines in Nevada, postage costs, civil war, etc. pick something you like and run with it.