A WHIRLWIND NUMISMATIC TOUR OF NEW YORK Publique Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 6, Number 49, November 16, 2003, Article 12
A WHIRLWIND NUMISMATIC TOUR OF NEW YORK
Your editor spent a few days this week in New York City
on business. With a couple hours to kill I took a walk uptown
for my first visit to Stack's. At 123 West 57th Street, the
storefront has some famous neighbors, including piano maker
Steinway and Carnegie Hall. The narrow little shop looks just
like many of the other coin shops scattered around the nation,
but for the discerning visitor, many telltale clues note that this
is no ordinary coin shop. For one, security is formidable, with
two burly (but friendly) armed guards milling about. And just
how many U.S. Fractional Currency Shields does one shop
need to stock? The back wall displayed five of them,
suggesting that perhaps there was stack of others somewhere
in the back room. No time to visit, unfortunately, and the
staff was noticeably busy in preparation for an upcoming
auction. So off I went on my merry way.The next morning (Thursday) I stopped briefly at the
American Numismatic Society's exhibit at the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York downtown. It was very nicely laid out and
filled with a number of gems that would wow any knowledgeable
numismatist. The U.S. highlights were featured in a case in the
center of the hall, including an 1804 dollar, a Confederate Half
dollar, a Brasher doubloon and other colonial-era gold coins
stamped with Brasher's "E.B." countermark. The ancient coins
in the exhibit were in superb condition. Having witnessed a
huge crowd viewing a free Brittney Spears concert off Times
Square on Monday, I was sad to see that I was the solitary
visitor to the exhibit that morning. It's hard to sex up a
numismatic
exhibit, but it was chock full of things of beauty. It was nice to
see a group of schoolchildren arrive as I was leaving - hopefully
some of them will come away with a new appreciation of our
hobby.My next stop was the New York Stock Exchange, where I
was treated to a visit to the floor of the exchange for a first-hand
view of how it operates. The post-September 11 landscape
was eerie, made more so by street resurfacing that had Wall
Street and adjacent streets scraped of asphalt and devoid of
traffic. Two NYPD vans were parked out front, and two
officers with riot gear and machine guns patrolled the street.
George Washington's statue in front of Federal Hall surveyed
the scene, which was oddly quiet as the wind kicked up and
rain began to fall.Once inside and past security, my floor trader friend escorted
me through the floor to his work station. I'm not the excitable
type, but it was truly a thrill to walk that famous floor, which
held more computer and communications equipment per square
foot than than I'd ever seen in my life. (and I've been to the
belly of the Internet, visiting key hosting centers for search
engine server farms). And the number of people crammed
into that space is equally amazing. Brokers and specialists
each have what amounts to a couple feet of allocated space,
and no one would bother to sit even if they had a chair -
everyone is on their feet and constantly interacting with others.As I looked up past the matrix of hanging conduits I noticed
the ornate old ceiling above. A beautiful architectural feature,
but one obscured by the practicalities of doing the exchange's
business. I would be surprised if any of the traders, even those
who've worked there for years, ever noticed the ceiling.The wooden floor was reminiscent of a high school gymnasium,
and yes, it was littered with scraps of paper and other trash
(and it was only 11am). Workers' cubbyholes, although
bedecked with the latest electronics, were built of well-worn
wood which looked like they had been installed in the 1970's
and never repaired or touched up in 30 years. Very institutional.It was a bit sad to realize what an anachronism the place is.
Computer technology has already automated much of the
process, and the human element which remains could just as
well be automated, too. Many of these people would still have
their jobs, but they could work from cushy offices blocks,
miles, or continents away. Someday the exchange could be
just another musty tourist attraction, with actors going through
the motions of trading like the "technicians" at amusement park
"movie studios."Technology has eliminated the need for toll tokens, which have
disappeared from the New York subway system and many
highways around the country. Physical stock certificates are
on the way out, and the exchange itself may be next. Coins
and paper money are still with us, but credit and debit cards
are gaining share rapidly. Someday numismatists could no
longer have anything new to collect - we'll have to content
ourselves with the old.- 2003-11-16
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