Senate Committee Focuses U.S. Mint Director Hearings On Trump, Not Nominee’s Qualifications
This past week, Paul Hollis, who was chosen by President Donald Trump as the nominee for U.S. Mint Director, appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
The choice of Hollis for the role is a huge win for the numismatic and precious metals industry as he has extensive experience and even authored an award-winning book on numismatics. In fact, the book chosen for the award by the Numismatic Literary Guild, was his second book. His first, he had on display with him during the Senate hearings – Coins Nickels, Dimes, Pennies, Half-Dollers (sic), Silver Dollers (sic) 1877-1980. We can forgive the misspelling, considering he was just seven years old when he wrote the book detailing his first coin collection.
The legendary master of the one-liner, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., greeted Hollis and his family, shaking their hands and posing for a photo before describing Hollis as “a favorite son in Louisiana.”
“He served honorably and admirably in our state legislature,” Kennedy told the committee. “He was on the board of Elementary and Secondary Education, there’s no more important job in my state. There is nobody in this country that knows more about coins and coinage and numismatics than Paul. Louisiana is so proud.”
The hearings were somewhat uneventful for Hollis as there were three other political nominees who attracted much more of the committee’s attention. Hollis was introduced by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who serves as the committee chairman. Scott expressed how important the role of U.S. Mint Director was not only for American families but also in commerce around the globe.
“Mr. Hollis, as Director of the U.S. Mint, you will oversee an institution fundamental to the integrity of our currency,” he said. “Americans trust that when they hold a dollar, it represents strength and stability. Maintaining that confidence is essential to our economic leadership at home and frankly, abroad.”
Sen. Scott ran out of time to ask Hollis any questions but he did address Hollis’s son (Zach) and daughter (Bree), who were sitting behind him in the gallery, praising them for their academic excellence, as they are both stellar straight-A students.
Although Sen. Scott ran out of time to speak directly to Hollis’ qualifications, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., seized the opportunity to focus on the government shutdown and asked Hollis if he would put President Trump’s image on a coin.
“At a time when the President is cosplaying king and seeking to put his face on a $1 coin, I have questions about this nominee’s willingness to follow the law and I will have extensive questions for the record,” Warren said.
Similarly, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., asked Hollis about placing President Trump’s likeness on a coin. His concerns stemmed from a law he quoted from 1866 forbidding the image of a living person on U.S. “currency,” he said. “I raise it is that the reasons that were provided for passing that law at the time was to prevent currency from being used as a vehicle for personal aggrandizement or self-honoring portraits of living officials to avoid the appearance of a monarchy. Another reason was to preserve the dignity, neutrality and non-political character of US currency by avoiding living figures who might be controversial subjects to change. We're still actively involved in public life. President Trump is still actively involved in public life. Is he not?”
Hollis answered affirmatively that President Trump was still alive and was still active in politics. He followed with explaining that regardless of any political aspect, his role would be follow the law and he would seek counsel in measures coming before him as U.S. Mint Director.
“Senator, I will assure you that just in my 30 years as a professional numismatist, with my 14 years in elected office and being of professional high integrity, if confirmed, I will bring that same sort of character to the mint,” Hollis countered. “And I will also share with you that I will always be in compliance of the law.”
Remarkably, to me, neither democratic senator asked Hollis about his qualifications to be the next U.S. Mint Director, nor did they make any comparisons to the qualifications of prior U.S. Mint Directors.
10-Month (and October) Market Summary
You wouldn’t know it from some of the headlines but both gold and silver increased during October and they are still beating major stock indexes by a ratio of as much as 4-to-1, depending on the metal and the stock index you select. Both gold and silver gained 3.7% last month, slightly more than the Dow and S&P 500 gains, as this comparative set of statistics demonstrates.
Gold and silver have come down in the past two weeks after reaching all-time highs of $4,350 (gold) and $53 (silver) on October 20th but the metals have merely retreated to where they were as of October 10th. Part of this decline comes from renewed strength in the U.S. dollar, up over 2% in October, but it’s also important to compare precious metals to Bitcoin over the past few months and year-to-date, as investors are coming to realize that real metals, with natural scarcity, are really safe hedges.
The overall CRB Commodity index is up 6.2%, year-to-date, but that is a midpoint between some very dramatic declines in food groups (potatoes down 74%, eggs down 74% and orange juice down 74%), and the metals, up sharply: Rhodium is up 94% so far this year, with platinum up 75%, silver up 67% and gold is up 52. Only a small part of the metals’ growth is due to the 8% drop in the dollar index. Most gains are due to the devaluation trade, with investors expecting the dollar and other currencies to keep “racing to the bottom” in terms of the worst brand of paper money, while gold and silver are soaring.
