Comment on DOS-2011-0135-0002

I am a collector and dealer in ancient coins. The reason I got involved in this hobby 35 years ago is my love for history. The coins help me interpret that history and when held in hand can give me the feeling of being transported back to the time period when the coins circulated. As a global community we share the same Western Civilization history. Our Founding Fathers found much of the inspiration for our constitution from the writings their Greek and Roman counterparts. Coins in ancient times were as plentiful as they are today. Every person needed to buy food and services just like today and without modern conveniences such as paper money, checks and credit cards, the form of payment was all in coins. I suspect that the coins circulating per person were even more than today. If we put all of the agendas and politics aside it is clear to any person with even rudimentary thinking and reasoning skills that a Lincoln penny will never be so rare as to be considered a part of United States "cultural heritage" no matter how many centuries pass. I feel that common sense is being cast aside which points to the fact that this is an agenda driven by those in power. Thus far collectors’ comments have fallen on deaf ears even though they constitute the vast majority of comments submitted...why is this? The stated mission statement of the State Department is to: “Shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere.” How can this be true when agreements are being made with foreign governments that affect the prosperity of Americans? How can this be true if justice is not being served and the majority voice is being ignored? A “democratic world” would indicate the idea that majority rules. These goals are to be accomplished first for the American people and THEN for people everywhere and yet the State Department is putting the interests of foreign gove