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<p>[QUOTE="GDJMSP, post: 1133, member: 112"]The subject of re-designing United States coinage has been in the news a lot lately – and as most of you already know it is nothing new. There are many who have been clamoring for a re-design of our coins for decades now. On the other hand there are many who could care less if our coins are ever re-designed. But perhaps the best known effort for this cause was put forth about 10 years ago by Diane Wolf, a New York City activist, with major support from hobby organizations, numismatic publishers and individual coin collectors all around the country. Stubborn opposition by then - U.S. Mint Director Donna M. Pope contributed greatly to that defeat. But in the end it was Congress who killed the grassroots movement.</p><p><br /></p><p>Today however we have some Congressional members who are in favor of a coinage re-design. On Sept. 13,2000 there was symposium held in New York City. <a href="http://www.senate.gov/~banking/coin2000/witness.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.senate.gov/~banking/coin2000/witness.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.senate.gov/~banking/coin2000/witness.htm</a> The symposium was organized by Senator Phil Gramm to promote a discussion of how US coin designs "may be improved to signify the distinction and greatness of our Republic." I highly recommend reading the prepared remarks to be found at the link above.</p><p><br /></p><p>In Jan. of 2001, in an outline of the agenda for the Banking Committee of the 107th Congress, Senator Gramm had this to say - "I think there is a growing consensus on our committee that we need to reform American coinage. Senator Sarbanes and I held a roundtable discussion where we had the Smithsonian, we had the numismatic associations, we had various coin designers and artists. And the basic situation we have is that when we started our coinage, it was generally assumed that a coin would change about every 25 years. Our penny design was set in place in 1909. </p><p>So we're going to take a long, hard look at coinage. We're going to invest some money in trying to develop new composites and new metallurgy that would allow us to produce coins that look and feel like the great coins in American history did." </p><p><br /></p><p>What’s more, the current Director of the Mint, Henrietta Fore is in favor of re-design as well and has forwarded her request for these new designs to the Secretary of the Treasury for approval. So the process has begun anew. </p><p><br /></p><p>In an article published in Coin World; <a href="http://www.coinworld.com/news/111102/news-1.asp" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinworld.com/news/111102/news-1.asp" rel="nofollow">http://www.coinworld.com/news/111102/news-1.asp</a> ; Secretary of the Treasury, Paul H. O’Neill says – "In the spirit of how things ought to be done in this country, it's worthwhile to pay attention to people who have a view about these things," "I can't imagine my telling people we're not interested in their opinions. I don't expect to exercise my statutory authority without consulting with the appropriate people." So it seems Mr. O’Neill is willing, in fact wants, to listen to the opinions of the people of this nation. I say we let him. </p><p><br /></p><p>Furthermore, I think we have an opportunity here. We have an opportunity to not only promote a change in our stagnant coin designs; we have an opportunity to see to it that we do not fall into the same rut of stagnation again. I propose that we ask Congress to amend the current law written over a century ago - The Secretary may change the design or die of a coin only once within 25 years of the first adoption of the design, model, hub, or die for that coin. <a href="http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/31/5112.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/31/5112.html" rel="nofollow">http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/31/5112.html</a> ; I propose to make it mandatory that our coin designs are changed every 25 years. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now in order to have any hope of bringing about a change in the US coinage designs it is necessary for our elected officials to be aware of what the public wants. You are after all are the ones who put them in office and they will listen to you as long as you make your voices heard - and in order to do that I have even made it easy for you. But it will require some effort on your part. </p><p><br /></p><p>Below you will find links that will allow you to directly contact the President &amp; Vice President; any or all of the members of Congress; the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing &amp; Urban Affairs; the House Committee on Financial Services; any or all of the above’s sub-committees; and all of the individual members of these committees &amp; sub-committees, and the Director of the Mint, Henrietta Fore.</p><p><br /></p><p>I urge everyone who is interested in seeing a change in our coin designs to write not only to your state’s representatives, but especially to the President &amp; Vice President and all of the representatives of the above committees. And if you are in favor of amending the law regarding coin re-design, write to them about that as well. </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=878001&amp;content_dir=ua_congressorg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=878001&amp;content_dir=ua_congressorg" rel="nofollow">http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=878001&amp;content_dir=ua_congressorg</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=897001&amp;content_dir=ua_congressorg&amp;mailid=custom" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=897001&amp;content_dir=ua_congressorg&amp;mailid=custom" rel="nofollow">http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=897001&amp;content_dir=ua_congressorg&amp;mailid=custom</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/?id=20004&amp;lvl=F" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/?id=20004&amp;lvl=F" rel="nofollow">http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/?id=20004&amp;lvl=F</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/directory/directory.dbq?command=congdir" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/directory/directory.dbq?command=congdir" rel="nofollow">http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/directory/directory.dbq?command=congdir</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.congress.org/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.congress.org/" rel="nofollow">http://www.congress.org/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/agencies/?id=4389&amp;dir=congressorg&amp;command=depresult2&amp;submit.x=13&amp;submit.y=12" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/agencies/?id=4389&amp;dir=congressorg&amp;command=depresult2&amp;submit.x=13&amp;submit.y=12" rel="nofollow">http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/agencies/?id=4389&amp;dir=congressorg&amp;command=depresult2&amp;submit.x=13&amp;submit.y=12</a></p><p><br /></p><p>You can also directly contact the Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill, and Rasario Marin, the Treasurer of the United States at the following link. It is important to contact them for once the SecTreas makes his decision – by statute even the Supreme Court cannot overrule him.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/agencies/?id=4187&amp;dir=congressorg&amp;command=depresult&amp;submit.x=18&amp;submit.y=16" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/agencies/?id=4187&amp;dir=congressorg&amp;command=depresult&amp;submit.x=18&amp;submit.y=16" rel="nofollow">http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/agencies/?id=4187&amp;dir=congressorg&amp;command=depresult&amp;submit.x=18&amp;submit.y=16</a></p><p><br /></p><p>If you are serious about your desires as I am, I also suggest you write Letters to the Editor of your local paper. Contact prominent members in the numismatic community. Contact the ANA, the PNG, the ANS, write to your favorite coin magazine, your local coin clubs, your friends and relatives and practically anybody else you can think of. Ask them to write as well. It will require no small effort on our part to make these changes happen. It has been tried before without success. But it can and will happen if you try hard enough. If you make your voices heard – they will listen.</p><p><br /></p><p>carol@bowersandmerena.com - Q. David Bowers</p><p><br /></p><p>cweditor@coinworld.com - William Gibbs, editor of Coin World</p><p><br /></p><p>http://www.money.org/anaofficers.html - ANA Board of Governors</p><p><br /></p><p>info@amnumsoc.org - American Numismatic Society</p><p><br /></p><p>DavidLGanz@aol.com - David L. Ganz</p><p><br /></p><p>http://pngdealers.com/public/directors.cfm - PNG Board of Directors </p><p><br /></p><p>These are but a few of the individuals &amp; organizations that you can contact. There are many, many more. If you are aware of an individual that should be contacted – by all means please provide an e-mail address for the rest of us by posting it to the thread.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="GDJMSP, post: 1133, member: 112"]The subject of re-designing United States coinage has been in the news a lot lately – and as most of you already know it is nothing new. There are many who have been clamoring for a re-design of our coins for decades now. On the other hand there are many who could care less if our coins are ever re-designed. But perhaps the best known effort for this cause was put forth about 10 years ago by Diane Wolf, a New York City activist, with major support from hobby organizations, numismatic publishers and individual coin collectors all around the country. Stubborn opposition by then - U.S. Mint Director Donna M. Pope contributed greatly to that defeat. But in the end it was Congress who killed the grassroots movement. Today however we have some Congressional members who are in favor of a coinage re-design. On Sept. 13,2000 there was symposium held in New York City. [url]http://www.senate.gov/~banking/coin2000/witness.htm[/url] The symposium was organized by Senator Phil Gramm to promote a discussion of how US coin designs "may be improved to signify the distinction and greatness of our Republic." I highly recommend reading the prepared remarks to be found at the link above. In Jan. of 2001, in an outline of the agenda for the Banking Committee of the 107th Congress, Senator Gramm had this to say - "I think there is a growing consensus on our committee that we need to reform American coinage. Senator Sarbanes and I held a roundtable discussion where we had the Smithsonian, we had the numismatic associations, we had various coin designers and artists. And the basic situation we have is that when we started our coinage, it was generally assumed that a coin would change about every 25 years. Our penny design was set in place in 1909. So we're going to take a long, hard look at coinage. We're going to invest some money in trying to develop new composites and new metallurgy that would allow us to produce coins that look and feel like the great coins in American history did." What’s more, the current Director of the Mint, Henrietta Fore is in favor of re-design as well and has forwarded her request for these new designs to the Secretary of the Treasury for approval. So the process has begun anew. In an article published in Coin World; [url]http://www.coinworld.com/news/111102/news-1.asp[/url] ; Secretary of the Treasury, Paul H. O’Neill says – "In the spirit of how things ought to be done in this country, it's worthwhile to pay attention to people who have a view about these things," "I can't imagine my telling people we're not interested in their opinions. I don't expect to exercise my statutory authority without consulting with the appropriate people." So it seems Mr. O’Neill is willing, in fact wants, to listen to the opinions of the people of this nation. I say we let him. Furthermore, I think we have an opportunity here. We have an opportunity to not only promote a change in our stagnant coin designs; we have an opportunity to see to it that we do not fall into the same rut of stagnation again. I propose that we ask Congress to amend the current law written over a century ago - The Secretary may change the design or die of a coin only once within 25 years of the first adoption of the design, model, hub, or die for that coin. [url]http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/31/5112.html[/url] ; I propose to make it mandatory that our coin designs are changed every 25 years. Now in order to have any hope of bringing about a change in the US coinage designs it is necessary for our elected officials to be aware of what the public wants. You are after all are the ones who put them in office and they will listen to you as long as you make your voices heard - and in order to do that I have even made it easy for you. But it will require some effort on your part. Below you will find links that will allow you to directly contact the President & Vice President; any or all of the members of Congress; the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs; the House Committee on Financial Services; any or all of the above’s sub-committees; and all of the individual members of these committees & sub-committees, and the Director of the Mint, Henrietta Fore. I urge everyone who is interested in seeing a change in our coin designs to write not only to your state’s representatives, but especially to the President & Vice President and all of the representatives of the above committees. And if you are in favor of amending the law regarding coin re-design, write to them about that as well. [url]http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=878001&content_dir=ua_congressorg[/url] [url]http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=897001&content_dir=ua_congressorg&mailid=custom[/url] [url]http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/?id=20004&lvl=F[/url] [url]http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/directory/directory.dbq?command=congdir[/url] [url]http://www.congress.org/[/url] [url]http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/agencies/?id=4389&dir=congressorg&command=depresult2&submit.x=13&submit.y=12[/url] You can also directly contact the Secretary of the Treasury, Paul O’Neill, and Rasario Marin, the Treasurer of the United States at the following link. It is important to contact them for once the SecTreas makes his decision – by statute even the Supreme Court cannot overrule him. [url]http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/agencies/?id=4187&dir=congressorg&command=depresult&submit.x=18&submit.y=16[/url] If you are serious about your desires as I am, I also suggest you write Letters to the Editor of your local paper. Contact prominent members in the numismatic community. Contact the ANA, the PNG, the ANS, write to your favorite coin magazine, your local coin clubs, your friends and relatives and practically anybody else you can think of. Ask them to write as well. It will require no small effort on our part to make these changes happen. It has been tried before without success. But it can and will happen if you try hard enough. If you make your voices heard – they will listen. carol@bowersandmerena.com - Q. David Bowers cweditor@coinworld.com - William Gibbs, editor of Coin World http://www.money.org/anaofficers.html - ANA Board of Governors info@amnumsoc.org - American Numismatic Society DavidLGanz@aol.com - David L. Ganz http://pngdealers.com/public/directors.cfm - PNG Board of Directors These are but a few of the individuals & organizations that you can contact. There are many, many more. If you are aware of an individual that should be contacted – by all means please provide an e-mail address for the rest of us by posting it to the thread.[/QUOTE]
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