A Numismatist in the Director’s Chair
Louisiana’s Paul Hollis may become the first Mint director in modern times with a deep background in coin collecting and minting.
The world of numismatics may be about to hit a home run and may not recognize it. Louisiana state school board member Paul Hollis has been nominated by President Donald J. Trump to be the next director of the US Mint. Hollis is an unusual pick; he is a numismatist. Hollis previously worked for the New Orleans-based rare coin and bullion company Blanchard and Company.
In 2003, Hollis founded Paul Hollis Rare Coins, a company servicing inventory to television home shopping networks. Hollis’ company has since specialized in ancient coins. He hasn’t lost sight of U.S. coins, having published a book on U.S. coin production titled American Numismatist in 2011. This is important since, should the Senate confirm his nomination, Hollis will be supervising all the factories minting our coinage.
Just how did a state school board member get a nomination for a position this important from the president of the United States? Very simple—Hollis asked for it! Should he be confirmed, he will replace interim Mint Director Kristie McNally. McNally has been interim director since March, having replaced a Biden administration appointee.
We’ve had mint directors as well as mint employees who had an interest in the product they were manufacturing before, but we haven’t had someone who not only collects coins but has been a coin dealer and is familiar with manufacturing coins as well. His breadth of knowledge stems from ancient to modern coins. His grandfather was influential in stoking his interest, starting him off with a U.S. gold coin. Hollis’s insight, as well as his knowledge of how to mint coins, may make this one of the most interesting mint director tenures we’ll see. First, let’s see if his nomination gets through Congress.
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