open letter to Robert Kennedy Jr.

6 November 2024

I am an independent researcher, writer, and social activist. I am (also) currently pitching a proposal for an ambitious TV series devoted to numismatics.  

1. It costs over 2.5 cents to manufacture a U.S. one-cent coin and over 9 cents to manufacture a U.S. five-cent piece. Switching to a less expensive composition (e.g., consisting predominantly of aluminum or steel) would save U.S. tax payers at least $10 million per annum. Note this precedent: in 1982, due to the increasing price of copper, the mint transitioned from the 95% copper/5% zinc compositional ratio for the Lincoln cent to 97.5% zinc/2.5% copper. 

2. About 12,800 years ago, multiple fragments of a comet or asteroid collided with North America. As a consequence of this cataclysmic event, perhaps in combination with other factors, 70% of this continent's megafauna, including the woolly mammoth, giant beaver, American lion, scimitar cat, dire wolf, and every species of horse, became extinct. See on YouTube: Randall Carlson's Ancient Catastrophe (Full Documentary). 

3. I further propose that the visage of Andrew Jackson be replaced by natural historian and pioneering environmentalist Rachel Carson on the U.S. twenty dollar bill. 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/26/the-right-way-to-remember-rachel-carson

4. The rate of species extinction on our planet has been estimated at an alarming 0.1% per year. In conjunction with the special coin designs already planned to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, I propose that a series of special coins be minted to spotlight species currently deemed endangered in the U.S., state by state. I further propose that the denomination for these coins be set at 20 cents, a historical anomaly produced only from 1875 through 1878. The U.S. already produces several denominations that are seldom encountered in circulation: the 50-cent piece, dollar coin, and 2-dollar bill. Most vending machines already exclude these and other denominations and there would be no need to reconfigure their mechanisms to accommodate 20-cent coins. The mintage of proof sets for collectors has in recent years ranged between 400 thousand and 800 thousand per year. I suggest not only that the 20-cent piece be added, but that the total mintage be increased to 1 million for the year 2026 with each state's design comprising 2% (20,000) of that total. I propose that the mintage for circulating specimens be set at 1 million for each design evenly split between the Denver and Philadelphia mints (50 x 500,000 + 50 x 500,000 = 50 million). Rather than the copper-nickel alloy that is used for our 10-cent and 25-cent coins, I propose that the composition for the 20-cent coins instead be bronze, an alloy that is eminently suitable for commemorative pieces and durable enough for commercial deployment. 

The designs for each state's special 20-cent piece could be fashioned to illustrate state birds, mammals, flowers, and/or trees on the obverse and an endemic endangered animal or plant on the reverse. So as to reflect the separation between nature and nation, I suggest that the designs omit the mottoes "IN GOD WE TRUST" and "e pluribus unum"; these deletions would also be aesthetically advantageous.  Photogenic endangered mammals include the California sea otter (population: ~3000), Cook inlet beluga whale (AK; population: ~330), Florida panther (population: ~200), Texas ocelot (population: ~120), north Atlantic right whale (population: ~360), pygmy rabbit (WA; population: <100).  

Note: in 2008, the U.S. issued three separate commemorative coins in honor of, and to support the replenishment of, the American bald eagle. 

Sincerely,

Mark Harris aka "The Lorax"