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Alumnus Erik Jansen Advising Treasury about Face of Future Coins
December 13, 2011
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology alumnus Erik Jansen has
found the perfect avenue for his love of coin collecting, his
expertise in finance and business, and background in metallurgy:
He's helping the United States Mint determine how your money
looks.
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Erik
Jansen |
Jansen, a 1978 electrical engineering graduate, has started a
four-year term on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC),
an 11-member group that advises the Secretary of the Treasury on
theme and design proposals relating to circulating coinage, bullion
coinage, Congressional Gold Medals, and other commemorative issues
produced by the U.S. Mint.
In the coin world, being selected to the CCAC is akin to being
drafted from an office softball team to play for the New York
Yankees, according to Jansen.
"It is a huge responsibility and something that I, and the other
committee members, take very seriously," Jansen says. "After
all, the images on our coinage represent what we, as a culture,
hold dear. Sitting at the design table with the best artists
and sculptors in the country is the stuff of fantasy -- until the
day comes when you get one of the coins you helped design in pocket
change."
The U.S. Mint strikes almost 10 billion coins a year. "We
often have as many as three dozen drawings submitted for a single
coin to be made -- from which we have to select just two as the
CCAC recommendation for striking. From there the Secretary of
the Treasury makes the final decision and then the Mint cranks up
production. It's a pretty heady ride for a coin geek like
me."
Jansen, a lifelong coin collector, is one of three CCAC members
who represent the interests of the general public.
Learn more about Jansen and his involvement on the CCAC at
Coin Update.