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preserve vintage minting techniques for a future

generation. After years of hard work, they knew

that the way to best preserve the numismatic arts and

showcase the history of minting technology from tree

stump to Shuler press was to open a museum.

This summer, I was invited to be among the original

board of directors for the newly incorporated Gal-

lery Mint Museum Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit

organization intent on building a museum to teach

the history of minting and related arts. The board

is a pretty amazing assortment of top numismatic

minds—I’m proud to be among their number. The

others include familiar names like:

Dr. Richard Doty, curator of the National Numis-

matic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution

Erik Goldstein, curator of numismatics and me-

chanical arts at Colonial Williamsburg

R.W. Julian, perhaps America’s foremost numis-

matic researcher

Dick Johnson, founding edi-

tor of Coin World and former

Director of Research of the

Medallic Art Company

Bob Evans, the discoverer

and chief curator of the treasure

of the S.S. Central America

Chris Madden, bank-note en-

graver employed by the Bureau

of Engraving and Printing.

I wasn’t sure what to expect

of Eureka Springs when the folks at the Gallery

Mint invited me there for the first board meeting.

My knowledge of Arkansas was mostly derived

from jokes, a few hours spent on the tarmac at Little

Rock airport, and reading Bill Clinton’s memoirs. Of

course, Eureka Springs is well removed from Little

Rock in terms of culture, distance, and topography.

When I arrived and saw a sign on the airport escala-

tor warning that barefooted people should not ride, I

worried that everything I imagined was true. Egads.

A mint museum in Mayberry.

Ron Landis picked me up at the airport, and soon

Bob Evans was also in tow for the ride back to Eureka

Springs. Passing massive buildings emblazoned with

the logos of Wal-Mart and Tyson Foods, the three of

us talked a bit about coins but mostly joked and talked

music. Ron and Bob are both talented musicians and I

sure like to listen, so whenever we’re together music

is certain to come up.

As we headed east towards Eureka Springs, the

terrain quickly became hilly. We rose into the Ozarks

on a twisty-turny road full of gorgeous vistas, quaint

roadside attractions, and the occasional possum

which had clearly been born dead on the side of the

road. The landscape is gorgeous. The beauty defies

the popular notion, outside of the state that is, as to

what Arkansas looks like. Their motto “The Natural

State” is well-chosen.

Arriving in Eureka Springs, I was instantly enam-

ored. Here was a tiny, perfectly preserved Victorian

village of a few thousand people that boasted houses

as large and perfectly kept as any I’d seen in the

famous New England postcard resorts. A train line

ran through. Professionals of every description had

shingles hung out and pedestrians were all over the

place. Apparently, not much has changed since the

town’s founding in 1879, when a lively tourist in-

dustry centered on the “healing

waters” of the various springs

in town. People came to bathe,

heal, and generally enjoy them-

selves. Many fine hotels were

erected, including the 1886

Crescent Hotel where I was

lucky enough to stay.

We pulled up at the hotel,

and it looked magnificent, with

several stories built in stone

and a commanding view of the

Tim Grat demonstrates the

Gallery Mint’s conception of

what a vintage working feeder-

finger device could have looked

like. Such devices were used

even in the 18th century to

produce Connecticut coppers

and Fugio cents, but neither

the machines nor diagrams of

them have survived.

The feeder-finger

mechanism successfully

boots a struck coin out

of the coining chamber

while replacing it atop the

anvil die with an unstruck

planchet.

A perfect scale model of the first U.S. steam press,

build by the late Joe Rust.