Edmund C. Moy was confirmed by the U.S. Senate July 26 as the 38th director of the U.S. Mint. He succeeds Henrietta Holsman Fore, who moved over to the State Department last year, and takes over from Deputy Director David Lebryk, who has served as acting director during the interim.
With previous service to both the Bush I and Bush II Administrations, Moy?s last job was a political one, which may account for his prompt confirmation. He was nominated June 29 while serving as special assistant to the President for presidential personnel at the White House, a position with which he made sure prospective appointees were ideologically attuned with the administration.
In his youth an amateur coin collector who looked at and pulled aside Mercury dimes and Buffalo nickels while working in the family restaurant located in suburban Milwaukee, Moy is an ethnic Chinese, the first to head up a major Treasury agency. The Mint has a government history dating to 1792; it has been a bureau since the Coinage Act of 1873 reconfigured it.
Moy?s wait amounted to one of the shortest shadow-jobs in recent history. He was nominated June 29, had his hearings before the Senate Banking Committee July 12 and was unanimously confirmed July 26. His term will be for a statutory five years, but it is likely that whoever succeeds George Bush as president on Jan. 20, 2009, will name a different person to the post.
A graduate of Waukesha North High School, Moy received his bachelor?s degree from the University of Wisconsin where he was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
His wife, Karen, accompanied him as he delivered his confirmation hearing testimony July 12.
Looking to the future, Moy sees ?some immediate responsibilities and challenges before me. Implementing the ?Presidential $1 Dollar Coin Act of 2005,? ... is a major operational focus for the United States Mint that is well under way,? he said.
Moy?s swearing-in date was not available by press time, but hobbyists hoped his first public appearance could be at the World?s Fair of Money, which will be held Aug. 16-19 in Denver.
