Should the next Mint Director be a Friend of Collectors, or a manager of a manufacturing facility?

Longacre

Personally, I don't think that Director Moy did such a bad job. Yes, he had his shortcomings, but running the Mint, and making us eccentric collectors happy, is a tall order.

As the slate of potential successors is assessed, what do you think is the most important attribute of the new Mint Director-- someone who is a Friend of Collectors, who will produce a bumper crop of SAEs, hockey pucks, and other moderns so we can all fill our Whitman albums, or someone who can efficiently run a manufacturing facility on behalf of the taxpayers, which is essentially what the Mint is?

So discuss.

Dentuck

To fulfill the Treasury's goals, the Mint director should be a good manager of a manufacturing facility.

But it would be nice if the next director had a sense of numismatic history, a vision for future coinage design, a finger on the pulse of the hobby community, and a bit of the ol' Theodore Roosevelt "fire in the belly" when it comes to coins.

rld14

It's Analogy Tuesday.

Remember when Ford Motor Company owned Aston Martin?

Let's say that, to the mint, making coins is like Ford Making pickup trucks and collectors equate to Ford selling blue Aston Martins with tan convertible tops.

scotty1419

I think the Mint director should have a strong personality and a good background in design/art or manufacturing.

291fifth

He should be the manager of a factory. He should also cut back on numismatic offerings as much as possible. (Yes, I know about the problem of congressional mandates.)

messydesk

First and foremost, he needs to be able to run the manufacturing facility effectively (not only efficiently). Standing in the way of this, regardless of who is appointed to the position, will be politicians and unions.

He must have a genuine enough interest in numismatic products to want to stay in tune with collectors' opinions on the numismatic offerings so that he can push back against congressional mandates when appropriate. Since this effort will be in vain, however, he needs to have competent customer relations and creative marketing people who can actually elicit and process collector feedback and adapt mandated product to what collectors want while not breaking the congressional chains that bind them. Of course, this is anathema to a political appointee who must merely kiss the... uh... ring of the hand that feeds him until the next opportunity presents itself.

CaptHenway

Henrietta Fore was one of the best Mint Directors we have had in a long time. Her previous experience was in the metals manufacturing industry.
.
As to the next Director, she, or he, should be in the metals fabricating industry.
.
TD

ambro51

SHE? Yes, you are right. It will be a SHE. and a she no doubt of a non-white racial base. And, to keep it O so politically correct, no doubt the SHE will be confined to a wheelchair.


Qualifications to run several huge manufacturing facilities? All of the above will suffice today, thank you very much.

ModCrewman

I believe it should be someone who has proven themself an effective manager of a manufacturing facility, ideally it would be an individual with that qualification who also happens to be a passionate numismatist and student of the hobby.

CaptHenway

<< <i>SHE? Yes, you are right. It will be a SHE. and a she no doubt of a non-white racial base. And, to keep it O so politically correct, no doubt the SHE will be confined to a wheelchair.


Qualifications to run several huge manufacturing facilities? All of the above will suffice today, thank you very much. >>




You got something against women?
Who was the better of the last four Directors? DIehl, Johnson, Fore or Moy?

TwoSides2aCoin

Someone who would roll up their sleeves and assist a die setter, pick up a mop and clean a spill, coach the management team to be this way..., someone who is willing to BE the man by being the servant would be my pick. Metal manufacturing experience would be mandatory and one of the criterion for this job. Managing people by being one of them is what a good leader is. (Im making this crap up as I go MrL)
Maybe a longterm loyal employee from within the company. They will do a better job for less money and they don't need an appointment, they just need to dress up and be willing get the job done. They already show up at the office every day. It's quite simple, really.

Oh wait... I'm from the old school That'll never work.

In addition; I think Mr Moy did the best he could. I'd like to believe this from every civil servant.

derryb

His loyalty should be with those that pay him. In this case both the employer and the tax payers.

SaorAlba

He should pander to collectors, make worthy collectable coins that sell out easily and are very popular afterwards. The only good thing Moy did was the UHR. The US mint has slipped big time in quality control, customer service etc. I bought an APE from the mint in December 2008 and had to return it because it was scratched. It was a process to get my funds back. The packaging has gotten really cheap, the outsourced customer service and shipping is a joke.

BigE

Maybe Nancy Pelosi or Oprah, I think they will be looking for jobs, and Obama likes them---------------------BigE

Coinosaurus

Hmmmmm. Does RWB have any management experience?

CaptHenway

<< <i>Hmmmmm. Does RWB have any management experience? >>



He would make a GREAT Mint Director, but he's probably overqualified..............

TD

llafoe

<< <i>

<< <i>SHE? Yes, you are right. It will be a SHE. and a she no doubt of a non-white racial base. And, to keep it O so politically correct, no doubt the SHE will be confined to a wheelchair.


Qualifications to run several huge manufacturing facilities? All of the above will suffice today, thank you very much. >>




You got something against women?
Who was the better of the last four Directors? DIehl, Johnson, Fore or Moy? >>



I can't speak for ambro51, but I expect he was trying to make a point that the person appointed would be chosen in a political manner as opposed to who is best qualified. Trying to associate gender to ascertain who was the best of the last four is pointless... unless one of the last four are chosen.

ScarsdaleCoin

It would be great to get a person who actually loved the job and considered it a career instead of a 4 year appointment....

RWB

Hmmmmm. Does RWB have any management experience?

Now that you ask, I work with Sr. Govt. Executives and Managers on a daily basis. I’m sure it would be an interesting and exciting job; however, the Mint Director’s position is a political appointment and I have no political connections to one party or another.

The position will go to someone who has done a lot of party work, or has been in functionary positions of a political nature. The Director now reports to the Treasurer of the U.S. who has her office in the same building as Mint HQ. I suspect she will have considerable influence on the decision.

The mints are run by the plant managers who report to the SES Assistant Director.

DeepCoin

The first job of the new Director, whomever that may be, is to fire or demote the present Deputy Director. He is the individual who bought $12 million dollars worth of boxes for 400,000 UHRs at $45 each. The professionals on staff told him they would never sell anywhere near that many and he made them buy the boxes anyway. The Mint wrote off $10 million dollars for that debacle, even though they still have the boxes and are paying storage on them.

It seems petty to even mention that the Mint had 250K blanks made for the UHR at his direction, more than twice the number sold. Thus, another million dollars of taxpayer money flushed as it cost $6 a piece to make them and then an additional cost to have them melted.

Now lets add the current boondoggle of the 5 ounce coins. He never understood they would become numismatic items even though they are designated as bullion coins, because of the low mintage of the bullion version. He pretends to understand numismatics, yet has zero real knowledge based upon a wide variety of choices and decisions.

The list is much longer, but I think based upon those bad decisions, not to mention all the issues with personnel decisions, that the one thing the new Director must do is find someone better to manage the business as being the Director is more of political job than an operational one. The key is having someone skilled making the decisions. That was Director Moy's only major mistake that continues to haunt the current operations.

MrEureka

Seems to me that the person who is in charge of the manufacturing facility should not be in charge of the numismatics division.

pmac

RWB for Mint Director. Everyone write your congressmen(women), write Obama, call the Pope. Appoint someone with our interests (why not, lobbyists have this done everyday).
and any other emoticoms that apply.

ricko

Unfortunately it will be a political appointment and not a practical appointment based on qualifications. After all, look at the qualifications of the team that will appoint the replacement -ZERO real experience. Cheers, RickO

DeepCoin

Andy,

There is an SES individual in charge of Numismatics at the Mint and another SES in charge of Manufacturing. They both report to the Deputy Director who hired them. FYI, he hired someone with ZERO experience in numismatics as the head of Sales and Marketing. His mantra has been to hire retired military, regardless of their past experience. I am NOT anti military, having served 8 years on active duty myself, but would prefer that the people in charge at the Mint have some actual experience for the jobs they are hired.l

Bear

We have no friends. We are merely sheep to be shorn.

Lakesammman

They should have an MBA and use the office to help balance the budget.

jmski52

Now lets add the current boondoggle of the 5 ounce coins. He never understood they would become numismatic items even though they are designated as bullion coins, because of the low mintage of the bullion version. He pretends to understand numismatics, yet has zero real knowledge based upon a wide variety of choices and decisions.

There is an SES individual in charge of Numismatics at the Mint and another SES in charge of Manufacturing. They both report to the Deputy Director who hired them. FYI, he hired someone with ZERO experience in numismatics as the head of Sales and Marketing. His mantra has been to hire retired military, regardless of their past experience.

Well, it appears that none of the top 4 positions had any experience in the positions to which they were appointed. No further comment.

LindeDad

Sounds like a good job for that homeless guy on the street corner holding up that sign.

coinkat

Can we have someone that appreciates Art, History and Design?

It seems that the rest will take care of itself

timcoin

<< <i>He should pander to collectors, make worthy collectable coins that sell out easily and are very popular afterwards. The only good thing Moy did was the UHR. The US mint has slipped big time in quality control, customer service etc. I bought an APE from the mint in December 2008 and had to return it because it was scratched. It was a process to get my funds back. The packaging has gotten really cheap, the outsourced customer service and shipping is a joke. >>



Exactly! But I doubt the people qualified for the job would be willing to take the pay cut.

PerryHall

How many Mint Directors were coin collectors?

RWB

H.R Linderman is the only one I can think of ..... others?

DIMEMAN

I couldn't care less! Nothing they put out now is collectable anyway!!

cmerlo1

Probably a friend of the president, not of collectors.

TwoSides2aCoin

Mark Feld could straighten them out. Vegas would put odds on that.

Raufus

The next Director should have a few citizen advisors, such as some on this forum, who actually understand the market. This would have prevented the puck disaster and other screw ups.