I don’t dabble in collecting coins and I totally missed the release of the Chester A. Arthur $1 coin last January 5. There has to be a wonderful irony to our first post-founding-generation US President born to a British subject being commemorated on US coinage the same year that our second US President born to a British subject father is running for re-election. You can see the story below and click the image to go to the US Mint web site (where you can learn about other coins in the Presidential $1 Series).
The only reason I found this was that I was researching what forms the second part of the one-two punch from the government, this time what has to be the ultimate insult to the birthers. The story flashed by in one of those below screen scrolling things on CNN (that I have running in a window on the computer monitor) and I turned up the volume in time to catch the story. It appears that there has been a leak of information from the Treasury about a coin that wasn’t supposed to be announced until Summer.
CNN reports that the US Mint has already been minting and stockpiling the new $2 coin that features the White House on the front and the face of a “generic” African-featured male on the back. The design is by Randall E. Pershall, who has designed several other US coins as well as coins for Australia and New Zealand. A Congressional task force that began work in 2005 recommended the coin as the best way to commemorate the contribution of Africans slave labor in the construction of the federal city. According to the Associated Press:
Slaves were the largest labor pool when Congress in 1790 decided to create a new national capital along the Potomac surrounded by the two slave-owning states of Maryland and Virginia.
Over the next decade, local farmers rented out their slaves for an average of $55 a year to help build the Capitol, the White House, the Treasury Department and the streets laid out by city planner Pierre L’Enfant.
CNN says the Treasury will issue an NPRM for a new regulation to require mandatory acceptance of the $2 in all vending machines by June 30, 2016, so I guess this is not a one-time souvenir. A press conference is scheduled for Monday morning at 10 AM at the Treasury.
I flipped over to Fox news and they were almost apoplectic in their denunciation of what they called a “transparent pandering to shore up weakening African-American and other minority support in the 2012 election.” Remind me to keep all the radios off when Limbaugh comes on Monday.
Personally, I’m all for this. When I traveled to Peru they had coins that were worth enough to actually buy something. You could go down to the convenience store and get a bottle of water and a sandwich and not have to dig out your wallet. The guys down there all have leather coin purses on their belts. I was a big fan of the US $1 coin, but merchants kept looking at me funny when I tried to use them.
The birthers are going to hate it. Now every time they get change, they will be reminded of the country’s first African-American President.
I’m starting a contest for the best “nickname” for the new coin.
Learn more:
As I start this editorial, I’m not quite sure what I’m going to say. The story of the Georgia ballot challenge to Barack Obama’s eligibility is a fascinating, rich and multi-layered story with twists and turns and surprising connections. However, so much of that story was received in confidence that I don’t think I can write it, at least not now. What I will do is hold up the mirror and talk about how I feel and observe what I see not happening.
