Recently, I was invited to the U.S. Mint Numismatic forum in Washington D.C. The event took place October 17, 2018 and only a select few of the Nations leading Numismatists and Dealers were invited. These are my recommendation given to Mint officials that day. Please follow me on Instagram at thoresonnumismatics
2018 Coin Recommendations By Troy Thoreson
Inspire youth with educational incentives.
Develop a system of educational credits that can be implemented in schools across the nation with coins being used as an incentive for study in areas like History and Social Science.
Start in elementary school and give coins and/or medals, along with educational credit towards grade scores and rewards for: reading, national competitions, homework completion, extra credit assignments, students who exceed State testing standards, and original research.
Finish the “America the Beautiful” series with 60 Coins.
My recommendation includes adding four more quarters to the series and ending the collection in December 2021. Adding these quarters in 2021 will therefore match all previous years that released five quarters, ending the series with 60 different coins. Concluding the set with 60 quarters will add symmetry to the collection.
My motivation to promote this idea is the Pinnacles National Park. Ironically, I volunteered to take a group of 8th graders to Nevada Falls in Yosemite. The previous year I had taken a group to Pinnacles National Park; which the students liked better. It was then that I realized a push was needed to get more national parks added to the list of quarters. Inspiration from our National Parks is easy to find across America and should be celebrated to the fullest.
Mint a Restrike of the 2009 Proof Silver Eagles.
Restrike a 2009 American Silver Eagle in proof condition in 2019 as a 10 year anniversary of the 2009 coin never struck. There is no public record of it ever being minted in proof condition. Restriking proof coin dates did happen in the 1800’s and restriking the 2009 Proof Silver Eagle is an interesting opportunity that should be explored. A very limited quantity of 50,000 is recommended. If a success, then please consider also producing a 2009-W and 2010-W special edition Unc Silver American Eagles. Adding these coins will make it possible to complete a year set of both these series and can play a big part in collector interest. Everyone wants to complete a set!
Only use Capital letters on coin legends.
Use standard capital letters when spelling out “United States of America” on a coin. Especially, the U in “United” should be a standard capital U and not any other letter configuration that can be confused with a lowercase letter.
Place coin dates only on obverse.
It is highly recommended that coin dates (the date a coin is minted) be located on the obverse of a coin, not the edge. This recommendation comes from email correspondence I had with David Bower in August of 2018. I have also personally experienced collector confusion with people believing they have an error coin without a date, not realizing the date is on the edge. For example, the Presidential dollars and Sacagawea dollars from 2009-date. The less confusion the easier is it to collect.
Publish mintage with coin sales information.
The serious coin collector and dealer wants transparent information, not only on how many coins were sold, but how many coins were minted along with the disposition of minted coins not sold. Currently, the best information given is perceived to be only how many units were sold. I believe overall sales will improve over time if more information is given as to these numbers.
Better define coin set ending sales date.
Collectors and dealers like to plan for the future. I believe sales of future coins are diminished when coins that do not sell out continue to be available on the U.S. Mint website in the next or future years. I recommend the Mint end all sales within the year of production.
Make coin set continuity and symmetry a priority.
A good symmetrical set also makes it possible to plan out a goal for collecting. And this is not to say you can not have special editions or create a rarity that may actually be good for a series, but ending a set with one coin for a particular year when all other years had five should be avoided. Example: “America the Beautiful” series with one quarter (instead of 5) in 2021 (see recommendation).
Creative Designs: Discourage building or portrait coin designs.
Discourage coin designs with portraits of people or buildings. It is much better to show objects in action. For example, instead of featuring a portrait of Mark Twain, reenact a scene of one of his stories. Susan B. Anthony, imagine a scene from the underground railroad. Inspire the youth of America with scenes of the actions that made people great.
Connect coin designs with the past.
Use coin designs to bridge generations from the past and future.
2052 – Tree Series: Celebrating 400 years of the first coins made in colonial America. 2052 Tree design series including the Willow, Oak, and Pine. Allow members of the public to mint a very limited production of the Willow Tree on an original old minting press by having the public experience the minting process.
2064 – 200 years of the first coin with the words ‘In God We Trust’. Heavy commemoratives running through the 200 year anniversary of the Civil War leading up to this coin being the last.
2069 – Space Series: Extra High Relief Apollo coins
The Future: Mint Quantum Solis coin for Generation Space. – In development – Consult with Troy Thoreson
RECOMMENDATIONS BY:
Troy Thoreson, Senior Numismatics and President
Thoreson Numismatics, an Auc Pro company, 118 West Main Street, Turlock, CA 95380 209.668.3682
