What happens when coins follow Barbie?

I did a five-minute segment on Harry Rinker’s radio program yesterday morning just after 7:30. Fortunately for me, the whole thing was done by telephone and so could be done in the comfort of my own home.

My time on the program was little more than five minutes long. It began after a woman asked a question relating to the value of a Barbie thermos bottle from 1965. I learned that they could be auctioned on eBay for between $5 and $10.

I have no interests in Barbie dolls and I am sure there were people who had no interest in coins, but Harry is a professional and kept things light and moving along very rapidly.

You don’t like state quarters? Well, we touched upon those, the nickel designs of 2004-2006, and the new Presidential dollars.

Harry even asked why the United States Mint was turning out so much of this kind of material and I put it in the terms of being able to write a check knowing it would never be cashed. The U.S. government gets the value of the float forever for every state quarter, Keelboat nickel and Washington dollar that is produced and collected or hoarded by the public.

That seemed to be the one answer that I gave Harry that he had probably not expected in advance. As a professional, he picked it up and ran with it and made it even more interesting.

One of the main reasons I was on the program was to plug the 2008 U.S. Coin Digest. Harry provided ample time for that. He actually did all the heavy lifting for me.

He particularly noted the error section in the book and I told him that Alan Herbert had spent many years trying to make the field understandable to collectors.

How many listeners will buy the book, I don’t know, but for me it was an opportunity to see myself and my field as others see me. Experiencing first hand what interests them is always a good idea.

Then I was done and who knows what followed? I was off on my own day’s activities.