Coins We Love: See You In Rosemont!
Any coins you want to see in person? Email us at coins@davidlawrence.com to see them at the ANA World’s Fair of Money at Table 504.
This week has been an absolute whirling dervish as I returned from teaching at Witter Coin U on Sunday evening, only to stare a week of getting ready for the ANA show in the face. We’ll report back next week with news from the bourse floor in Rosemont, IL, but please know that we’d love to see you at our booth located at 504. We will also be hosting some amazing selections from The D.L. Hansen Collection.
So, you may have read about our journey through the American West to San Francisco last week. I was asked to instruct a class for young numismatists at Witter Coin University (WCU), an event that is becoming an annual tradition for me. Witter Coin U is a program that aims to educate young numismatists, ages 14-20, by hosting a one-week, all-expenses-paid, proprietary numismatic learning experience at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. Having attended and instructed in each of its four years of existence, it’s truly one of my favorite weeks of the year and by far my most rewarding. I taught alongside an all-star cast of instructors representing all major numismatic organizations…PCGS, NGC, Heritage, Stack’s, and Kagin’s, with special appearances this year from Brett Charville, Doug Winter, David Hall, and John Dannreuther. Frankly, I’m still shocked that they even let me hold the door!
Spending the week with an energetic group of young numismatists, eager to learn and soak up everything on the way, is truly an awesome experience and I hope the invitations to participate will continue. I was blessed as a young collector to have mentors and training from others who took the time to teach me. Having this opportunity to give back to the hobby and young people with similar interests is truly an honor. And, being able to do it with one of my children is also quite special. To give you a little snapshot of the week and why I’m so exhausted as we enter the ANA week, I’ll break it down day by day.
Saturday: A travel day that, as mentioned last week, didn’t go as planned. But we got to Vegas with hopes to reach San Francisco on Sunday.
Sunday: Well, we got to Reno...so, let’s hit Carson City! The rest of the attendees who made it without travel issues toured Gold Rush Country in Northern California, seeing what the gold mines in the area of Placerville, California look like. We joined the crew there on our way back to San Francisco.
Monday: Day 1 of Class. Following daily breakfast from 8 to 9, class is in session from 9 to 12, then 1 to 4 or 5. Our first session involved all 40 youths and all of the instructors where we discussed the importance of ethics in the hobby and in our dealings with one another. In the afternoon, we break the classes into three groups: Fundamentals of Numismatics, Intermediate Numismatics, and Advanced Coin Grading. I’ve taught the Fundamentals class with Jim Stoutjesdyk and Dr. Kevin Kauffman (a collector/grading instructor/super smart scientist) for the past 3 years. While it is very grading-heavy in instruction, we attempt to give each of the attendees a wide swath of numismatic education, touching on everything from being a professional to trading to future career opportunities. Once the day is over, there are occasional evening outings, but they always end with everyone hanging out in our meeting room, with a ton of coins trading hands amongst the young collectors.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday follow the same formula, with an occasional guest speaker coming in at 4 pm to speak to all of the attendees.
This year we were offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to also tour the San Francisco Mint. Shasta Moon (wife of Keith Moon – NGC Senior Finalizer/Not "The Who" Drummer), was able to utilize her past employment to gain access for all 40 students and chaperones to tour the floor of the historic mint that has historically not offered access to non-historical visitors. My group was able to attend this tour on Wednesday morning. I had the privilege of driving a Suburban into the parking lot of the Mint, which had the security setup of an airport TSA times 45. Needless to say, we felt safe within the granite walls of the mint, but we knew that we better not have any metal in our pockets as we departed! This special tour allowed us to see the production of the 2024 Morgan Dollar Reverse Proof coins on these special presses. Suffice it to say, the process involved a lot more than the press in Carson City. We were even allowed to tour the typically off-limits die polishing and creation room. As this was a new experience for all of us (even John Dannreuther – Numismatic Researcher Extraordinaire/Grading Pioneer Ne Plus Ultra), we stopped to ask ALL of the questions you could imagine. The entire process was truly one of the most mind-blowing experiences for a numismatist and we learned so much from the tour. Personally, after seeing the detailed attention each coin gets in production, I understand how the grade of 70 has come about in our modern lexicon. Truly, the production is like nothing I’ve ever seen. We survived this experience and made a detour on the way to the hotel to see the old San Francisco Mint downtown as well in hopes of finding the cornerstone (that contains the 1870-S coinage!)…alas, no luck this year.
Friday: Another day full of class, followed by a graduation ceremony.
Saturday: We staged a mini coin show for the students so they could get first-hand experience setting up at a coin show and walking the floor - some of these folks have never even attended a coin show, so this is a special time. It’s a blast watching the trading and fun going on! This year, we had some special guests from the Mint join us, including the head of the manufacturing process and the Acting Superintendent of the Mint, Phil Skinner. The instructors and I enjoyed a 2-hour conversation with Mr. Skinner about coin production and manufacture as well as the public secrets of the Denver Mint, his true home. Overall, this was one of the most fascinating numismatic conversations I’ve been involved with and it was quite an honor!
Overall, there’s not a better week of numismatic fun and I wish that we could bottle the numismatic enthusiasm of the young people in attendance! It was truly my favorite numismatic week of the year.
However, this week is coin show prep and involves packing a week of clothing and numismatic paraphernalia into our suitcases for an early morning departure on Sunday. I think we are almost ready for the full week ahead. DLRC will be in Rosemont all week in full force. We hope to see you there - Stop by and visit us at table 504!
Numismatically Yours,
John Brush and the DLRC Team
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