From Committee Notes to Published Work: How I Authored a Technical Book on U.S. Coin Design

From Meeting Notes to Bestseller: My Coin Design Book Journey

Let me tell you a secret I discovered while serving on the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee: meticulous documentation can mint more than coins. When I started as CCAC’s youngest member, I treated our meeting notes like technical documentation – never imagining they’d become the foundation for my O’Reilly book. Here’s how Technical Coin Design: Governance, Process, and Public Impact evolved from committee recaps to printed pages.

The Unexpected Trove of Coin Design Stories

Government committees might seem dry, but our discussions buzzed with technical complexity. I realized these conversations held book-worthy material when explaining design constraints to new members became my weekly ritual.

• Balancing artistic vision with metal stress limits
• Translating cultural significance into physical specifications
• Navigating Treasury regulations (31 CFR Part 92)
• Mediating public sentiment with minting realities

These weren’t just meeting minutes – they were the blueprints for explaining coin design as both art and science.

Turning November’s Meeting into Chapter 3

Let me show you how raw CCAC discussions transformed into book content. Our 2025 review of the Shirley Chisholm medal became a masterclass in technical documentation.

Case Study: The Shirley Chisholm Gold Medal

Original note:

“Consultation with Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and CEO Barbara Bullard… Recommended Obverse Design with modified inscriptions”

Expanded to cover:

• Metal composition tradeoffs (90% gold vs. cost constraints)
• Vector file preparation for antique finish strikes
• Cultural consultation protocols for historical figures

// Simplified approval logic from Chapter 3
if (designPassesCulturalReview() && withinTechnicalLimits()) {
  moveToModificationPhase();
} else {
  returnToCommittee();
}

This workflow mirroring helped software engineers grasp our physical design process.

When Collectors Became Beta Readers

Forum comments like this one from a Washington quarter discussion:

“The obverse relief looks problematic for high-speed striking”

Directly shaped:

• Chapter 5’s defect detection guide
• Die wear simulation models
• Production tolerance tables (±0.15mm matters!)

My Book Proposal Toolkit

Pitching technical publishers required proving this niche had audience potential. Here’s what worked:

The Competitive Edge

• Zero books merged Treasury regulations with minting specs
• CCAC documentation provided ready-made case studies
• 3,000+ collectors already engaged with my forum analyses

Chapter Structure That Clicked

[Technical Process]
  ├── [History Meets Modernity]
  ├── [From Sketch to Strike]
  │    ├── Digital Modeling Tools
  │    ├── Metal Stress Simulations
  │    └── Public Feedback Systems
  └── [Real-World Examples]
       ├── 2025 Shirley Chisholm Medal
       ├── 2027 Native American Dollar
       └── 2029 Paralympic Half Dollar

Publisher Lessons From the Trenches

Each technical publisher offered different advantages:

O’Reilly’s policy audience reach tipped the scales – their distribution put my book in mint training programs.

Writing Like the Mint Strikes Coins

Technical writing shares surprising parallels with coin production:

Drafts Are Blank Slugs

Just as blank planchets transform under pressure:

• First draft: Raw research content
• Second strike: Technical validation
• Final polish: Editorial refinement

Version Control as Die Management

My Git commit history tells its own design story:

$ git log --designs
commit 327a1bc (HEAD -> main)
Author: Kellen Hoard
Date:   Mon Nov 18 2025

    Updated Washington obverse per CCAC notes

commit 94d2f1a
Author: Kellen Hoard
Date:   Fri Oct 25 2025

    Initial Chisholm reverse specs draft

The Unexpected Rewards

Beyond royalties ($12k/year), publishing brought:

• 57% higher consulting rates
• Speaking slots at international mint conferences
• My favorite email: “This changed how we train designers” – U.S. Mint Training Director

Your Expertise Is Currency

If I could turn committee notes into a technical book, your specialized knowledge has potential too. Start treating your:

• Process documentation as chapter seeds
• Colleague questions as content validation
• Technical hurdles as case studies

Today’s meeting notes could be tomorrow’s book outline. What niche expertise are you sitting on?

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