CSNS TALK ON THE SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL COINS

Award-winning author Dennis Tucker will speak in person at the three-day 2026 Newman Numismatic Portal Symposium in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, Illinois. His talk is scheduled for 5:00 pm Central on Friday, April 24, 2026. The NNP Symposium is accessible three ways: Visitors to the 87th Central States Numismatic Society convention can attend in person; the presentation will also be livestreamed via Zoom; and it will be archived online. There will be a Q&A portion at the end.

Tucker's presentation is titled "The Semiquincentennial Coins: What's Going Right . . . and What's Going Wrong." He will give a behind-the-scenes history of how the United States Mint developed its coinage and medals program to celebrate America's 250th anniversary. He will describe the direction the program was headed in for several years, how it dramatically changed just weeks before the Semiquincentennial, and what it all means for American numismatics.

"The 2026 Semiquincentennial is bringing new excitement to the coin-collecting hobby," Tucker said. "It's also ignited a firestorm of controversy and has threatened nearly 250 years of numismatic tradition." He describes the scope of his NNP Symposium talk: "This isn't so much a critique of individual designs, although there will be some analysis along those lines. It's more of a study of how the coins' themes and designs have been developed, later altered, and subsequently challenged."

Tucker will update listeners on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request he submitted to the Treasury Department, and will discuss recent developments like the Donald J. Trump gold coin and the proposed Trump circulating dollar coin. United States Mint Director Paul Hollis will also discuss the Semiquincentennial coins at the NNP Symposium; his talk is scheduled for Thursday morning, April 23.

The 2026 Central States Numismatic Society convention will be held April 23–25 at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center, close to suburban Chicago's Woodfield Mall. This is the 87th CSNS convention. It features more than 425 coin dealer booths, free entrance for Society members and visitors under 18 years old, free entry to auctions and educational programs (including the NNP Symposium), club meetings, activities and giveaways for young collectors, and more.

Dennis Tucker is an author, numismatic researcher, and book publisher. He served as a Treasury Department Special Government Employee and numismatic specialist on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee from 2016 to 2024. His book American Gold and Silver: U.S. Mint Collector and Investor Coins and Medals, Bicentennial to Date won "Best Specialized Book" from the Numismatic Literary Guild. Tucker is a Life Member of the Central States Numismatic Society and recipient of the Society's 2024 Q. David Bowers Award for his contributions to the hobby.

For more information on the Central States Numismatic Society and the show, see:
https://www.csns.org/

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