As one of his final acts before leaving office on January 9, 2011 as Director of the United States Mint, Edmund Moy awarded the "Director’s Coin for Excellence" medal to Miles Standish, Vice President and Senior Grader of the Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com), a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT).
In recognizing Standish’s meritorious service to the coin collecting community, Moy wrote in an accompanying note: "In gratitude for all your help and support, I’d like you have the new Director’s Coin for Excellence."
"This is a great honor for me as I have been told that the Director’s Coin for Excellence is usually reserved for heads of state and other political dignitaries. It was a pleasure to work with Director Moy when he was Mint Director, and I’m looking forward to working with him on possible numismatic projects in the future," said Standish.
The 2¼ inch diameter, black and gold color medal depicts the U.S. Treasury Department seal on one side along with the words UNITED STATES MINT DIRECTOR’S COIN FOR EXCELLENCE. The other side features a motif of six raised stars and four banner stripes with the words TO BE RECOGNIZED AS THE FINEST MINT ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD.
The medal was created to emulate a historic military tradition of commanders awarding coins or medals to personnel in the field who performed far beyond expectations.
"I’m deeply touched by this historical significance. As a numismatist, I appreciate the fact that U.S. coins help tell the story of our country, where past and future meet, and revealing triumphs and struggles. This is a special honor as it reflects my own passion for numismatics and deep respect for the men and women of the U.S. military," said Standish.
He may want to keep the medal handy wherever he goes. According to the Chicago Public Schools Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC), military tradition is for a person awarded the "Commanders Coin for Excellence" to always carry the coin.
The Chicago JROTC website explains that by tradition, a past recipient of an excellence coin who is not carrying it when asked by another recipient to see it has to buy that person a drink. If he or she is carrying the coin when challenged to display it, the challenger has to pay for their drinks.
About PCGS
Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is a division of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT), the leader in third-party authentication and grading services for high-value collectibles including rare coins, trading cards, tickets, autographs, memorabilia and stamps. With more than 20 million coins graded commanding a total value over $20 billion, PCGS (www.PCGS.com) represents the industry standard in third-party certification.
