Congress scrams until September

As the U.S. Congress recessed over the weekend and its member were hightailing it back to their homes across the nation, collectors were in the process of leaving their homes to gather in convention in Milwaukee, Wis., for the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money.

The convention will provide a great opportunity for me to ask questions about actions the Congress has taken or is about to take. The U.S. Mint director Ed Moy is expected to be present on Thursday and Friday and I can’t wait to be able to ask him what a new proposal means to the compositions of U.S. coinage.

Legislation was introduced in both houses of Congress authorizing the Treasury Secretary to change the compositions of all circulating U.S. coins. This comes in response to the rising prices of metals used in them, especially for cents and nickels.

I spoke to Mr. Moy about this matter just after he had taken office last year and he put me off by saying that he owed the President his first and best judgment and then only after that would he be able to provide some answers.

This new legislation seems to open the door to that year-old question again, so let’s see what he will have to say. Whta do you think our coins will be made of in the future?

No matter what the answer, it looks like we will have another interesting collecting year ahead of us as the autumn collecting season gets under way.