The Meinhart Speech Competition

Congratulations to Ryan for giving another wonderful speech at this year's Meinhart Competition! Although he did not win, he really is a dynamic speech giver. All of the children's speeches were wonderful. I am amazed at how much each child has learned through their coin collecting.

Each child receives a trohpy for participating. Here is Ryan holding his. They also throw a pizza party for the kids and give each child oodles of coins to add to their collection. This year each child got a large manilla envelope stuffed with various coins and other numismatic odds and ends.

Here is Ryan with Ursula. She is the proprieter of Mcleod Stamp and Coin in Rochester. The first day we walked into the store, she immediately took Ryan in and invited him to his first Rochester Junior Numismatic meeting. She is so wonderful with all of the children. Here she is giving Ryan yet another prize for participating in this year's contest.

Here is Ryan's speech:

Hi, my name is Ryan Conrad and I have been coming to the junior numismatic meetings since I was 10 years old. This year I would like to talk to you about the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin.

My mom homeschooled me this year and we studied a lot about American history. She took me to see Susan B. Anthony’s house. We had lunch there and got to hear stories about her life. I learned that she died here in Rochester, 100 years ago in 1906. She fought for women’s rights and especially the right for women to vote. When she died, women still could not vote. But 14 years after her death, in 1920, the nineteenth amendment was finally passed. It said that women now had the right to vote. This amendment is also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, because of all the hard work she did to help women get the right to vote.

The Susan B. Anthony dollar coin is a very special coin. She was the first woman ever to appear on a circulating coin in the United States. The president at that time was Jimmy Carter. He actually had to sign a new act into law in order for the coin to be made. In 1978 he signed the Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Act which amended the Coinage Act of 1965. This allowed them to change the size, weight, and design of a one-dollar coin. The Susan B. Anthony coin was officially released on July 2, 1979 right here in Rochester, NY. They produced over 750 million coins that year. Coins were also produced in 1980 and 1981 but many of these were proof and mint sets not meant for circulation.

In 1997, the United States Dollar Coin Act was passed. This replaced the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin with the golden dollar coin. This would become the Sacagawea Dollar. The act said that the Secretary of Treasury could continue to mint Susan B. Anthony coins until they were ready to produce the new golden coins. So, in 1999, the final 41 million Susan B. Anthony coins were minted. The total number of Susan B. Anthony coins produced for circulation was close to 900 million. They are still in circulation today.

Because of their size and color, the Susan B. Anthony coin was often mistaken for a quarter. The coin is round but it looks 11-sided. There is an 11-sided rim on the edge of both sides. The original design called for the coin itself to be an 11-sided hendecagon. This would have made it less likely to mistake for a quarter. But vending machine manufacturers said that vending machine technology could only take round coins at that time. Only some vending machines ended up taking the Susan B. Anthony coin such as the United States Post Office.

Now that I’ve told you a lot about the coins, I would like to tell you some interesting facts I learned about Susan B. Anthony:
1. She moved to Rochester in 1845 on the Erie Canal. She was 25 years old.

2. She met many times with Fredrick Douglass because she also fought against slavery

3. In 1846 she became a teacher and her salary for the year was 110 dollars
4. At the time when she lived, women could not vote. They could not go to college. They could not own property. If they had a job, the paycheck was given to her husband. They had no rights to custody of their own children.
5. In 1860 she helped to pass the New York State Married Women's Property Bill. This allowed married women to own property, keep their own wages, and have custody of their children.
6. In 1870, the fifteenth amendment was passed. It said that all men, no matter what race or even if they had been a slave, could vote. It would be another 50 years before women were given this same right.
4. In 1872 she was arrested at her home here in Rochester for voting
5. In 1900 she helped win the right for women to attend the University of Rochester
7. Susan B. Anthony never got married


I have learned a lot about history through collecting coins. I really like to collect dollar coins and I have many Susan B. Anthony’s in my collection. I think learning about history through coin collecting makes it more interesting and a lot more fun.
Thank you!