A couple of Thursdays ago, I spoke before the monthly meeting of the Miami Valley Coin Club in Dayton, Ohio, not far from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. 

The base derives part of its name from Wilbur and Orville Wright, the Dayton bicycle mechanics who flew the first controlled powered aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in December 1903. While the Wright brothers made their first flights in North Carolina, they learned how to truly fly on a patch of prairie that is now part of the Air Force base. The importance of the Wright brothers’ accomplishments is proudly celebrated locally; indeed, the club’s 1988 50th anniversary medal, issued under the earlier name of the Dayton-Kettering Coin Club, depicts an early Wright Flyer.

Inside Coin World: What causes these unusual errors? Coins struck by dual misaligned dies and coins with adjustment marks are among the subjects of our columns this week, found exclusively in the print and digital editions of Coin World.

For my presentation, I spoke about some of the latest news about the 1933 Saint-Gaudens double eagles; more new information about that famous coin appears in this issue. Members seemed to enjoy the presentation, after which I took questions not only on the double eagle but on other topics as well.

Two categories of questions stood out for me as a collector and as a numismatic journalist.

Several of the members wanted to know if I had any answers to the hobby-wide problem of an aging collector base made up mostly of older white men. Of the 40 or so members and visitors present, most fell into the demographic I inhabit: white male, 50s to 60s and older. The meeting was attended also by several older women and a few younger men, and a few youths accompanied their fathers to the meeting. I had no answers to their concerns, other than noting that this problem worries other collectors, dealers, coin clubs, and the mints that make the coins that we collect. It was good to see that the club had a few younger people in attendance, and the size of the crowd was impressive for a local club.

The other question to resonate with me was how long Coin World would continue to exist as a print publication. Many of them remember the days when Coin World was much larger in size, printed on newsprint, with many more pages than we currently have every week. I was able to assure them that the management of Amos Media is strongly committed to print publications, and Coin World will continue to be a print publication. I also alluded to some coming changes to our publication that you will be seeing starting with our monthly and weekly issues for August. I cannot tell you much more right now, but I think that you will like what is coming in a few weeks.

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