(This article continues the 20 questions which were answered by U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy on April 1, 2009 at the U.S. Mint Collectors Forum in Puerto Rico, prior to the launch of the Puerto Rico Territorial Quarter. Please see the beginning of Part 1 for an explanation of conventions used herein.)
Puerto Rico National Parks Quarter Questions
(14) Do you have any plans for Puerto Rico and the territories to participate in the National Parks Quarter Program? Yes, the program includes the territories and Puerto Rico, for a total of 56 participants (50 states, the District of Columbia and 5 territories).
(15) We have the Yunque National Forest here in Puerto Rico. Will this be considered for the National Parks quarter design? We hope so, because if the sequence is determined by the date of establishment, the date for el Yunque is 1903. The sequence for this program is different from the 50 State Quarters® Program in that it is based on the date of establishment of the site being featured. We are now in the process of evaluating the recommendations based on several factors, including how they will execute on coinage. Ultimately, the Secretary of the Treasury will decide the sequence when he approves the list. (Ed: The 1903 claim is important because there is a lot of perceived prestige in being the first of the new National Parks quarters, slated to begin being issued in 2010. It is expected that Wyoming will have this honor with Yellowstone, which was the impetus for creating the National Park Service, and the first designated to the Service in 1916. However, Yellowstone was the first federally recognized land reservation area in 1872, so if entities want to start using non-National Park Service criteria to establish an earlier claim, they still can't beat Yellowstone.)
General Questions Answered By U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy
(16) Do you have an issue with the companies that sell your products in the secondary market at lower prices? Do you have a strategy to compete? The United States Mint sells coins that we make that year. We do not track our competitors because this is not something that we can control. We make coins at the best price and value for the public. (Ed: Again we have this interesting characterization of secondary market sources being "competitors" to the U.S. Mint.)
(17) In 2006, coin designs by famous engravers, Morgan and Barber were discovered by Dr. Doty of the Smithsonian. Are there any plans to reproduce these designs for a commemorative? I am aware of these designs. Congress needs to pass a law to authorize a commemorative coin program. (Ed: Unless you happen to be a well-connected politco in the Mint Director's chair who has the clout to bypass legislation and get your own dream coin produced, such as Moy did with his 2009 Ultra-High Relief (UHR) Double Eagle. Current legislation allows the Secretary of the Treasury, who has the final say about coins, a certain amount of discretion in issuing bullion coin types. The UHR is solid 24k gold.)
(18) Are you losing any money on circulating coins? About three years ago, we started losing money on the pennies and nickels due to metal fluctuation, and it has somewhat leveled out now. We asked Congress to give us more flexibility to respond to changes in the market. We have raised the issue of steel and what it would cost to produce today. (Ed: Although steel is tossed around a lot as a potential coin metal, in reality we're more likely to get an aluminum/brass or aluminum copper alloy or clad if U.S. coin metal is changed. After all, the new composition has to work in all those vending machines out there!)
(19) Do you have any plans to issue bi-metallic coins? No plans at this time. This would require Congressional permission. (Ed: This is perhaps the biggest current travesty in U.S. coinage. While the rest of the leading world mints issue lovely, high-tech bi-metallic coins in denominations worth as much as $5 or more, the U.S. still can't even produce a minor coin with a number on it so foreigners can tell the value of the coin without having English. Putting $1 on the dollar coins is a nice first step, but there should be digits on the smaller coins so non-Americans know what they're worth. We should also have a $2 and $5 bi-metallic coin in circulation to replace small banknotes.)
(20) Do you have any plans in the future to mint buffalo silver coins? If you are referring to our bullion products, we have had trouble obtaining blanks for precious metals. We want to sell more and are making them as fast as we can. (Ed: My guess is that Moy didn't hear the word "silver" here. It is a mistake I have made myself many times in talking about gold and silver Eagle bullion coins. Collectors would love a one ounce silver Buffalo coin; the buffalo design is one of the most popular in U.S. coin history and it's a shame they canceled the fractional Buffalo gold coins before really giving them a chance to take hold in the marketplace.)
U.S. Mint Collectors Forum Summary
As stated at the beginning of this article, the comments in italics are my own, and not from the U.S. Mint. Although most of the questions pertain to the Puerto Rico quarter, I think there is a lot of insight to be gained here about current Mint philosophy and its future plans. After a period of having a rapidly-growing product line, the Mint is going conservative to focus on its core products. We probably won't see much action in the area of a metal change for circulation coins until copper and nickel spot prices go back up again. On a very positive front, the Mint is recognizing its artists on the quarter coins now, by allowing the designer and the sculptor/engraver to have their initials on the coins. This is a departure from the 50 State Quarters program, where the artists got hardly any credit at all.