Week Ten

 

Coin of the Week: Morgan’s Union

The idea of a circulating $100 coin is absurd today, due to the invention of the $100 bill (the same reason why a $1 coin is pointless). But that didn’t bother George Morgan. He created a beautiful design for the $100, or “Union”, coin. The idea never got off the ground, unfortunately, and Morgan had to abandon the project. The idea never really left, and in 1997, the $100 platinum eagle really got things going. But what about Morgan’s design?

Well, it made a comeback as of late. Private mints have begun striking bullion restrikes, with no legal tender. The design was somewhat similar to the trade dollar designs that were being created, and shows a seated Lady Liberty. Morgan only made sketches of this magnificent coin, and today, the Smithsonian Institution has supervised restrikes that are readily available (if not cheaply) today. These restrikes are made of either gold, silver, or platinum.

Gold Union

 

Silver Union

 

Platinum Union

 

Making a Mint: New Orleans Mint

The U.S. Mint was having some trouble. They couldn’t produce coins quick enough. The technology know how was not there yet, and the branch mints of Dahlonega, Georgia, and Charlotte, North Carolina were brand new, and could only produce gold coins. So in New Orleans, Louisiana, a new branch mint was opened. The New Orleans Mint produced coins with an “O” mintmark from 1838 to 1861, and then it was captured by Confederate forces, and used as the Confederate mint.

Example of an “O” mintmark coin

 

Confederate Cent struck at New Orleans

 

In 1879, the New Orleans Mint resumed production for the United States (after failing to produce enough Confederate coins), and was very successful.

But it was now one of four functioning mints (Philadelphia, San Francisco, Carson City were the others), and with the condition of the building being poor after an earthquake, followed by the introduction of the Denver and Manila, Philippines mints, it was clear that the New Orleans Mint was no longer functional. The last “O” coins were produced in 1909. Today, the building is an art museum, with a mint exhibit showing it’s little piece of history.

New Orleans Mint

 

Coins and the Law: 1933 Double Eagle

The year 1933 was a tough one. The Great Depression was in full swing.

1933 was also election year. President Herbert Hoover lost the election to a former candidate for Vice President and former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

FDR, as he was called, promised to bring the economy back into shape. One of his first acts as President was to order all 1933 $20 gold coins to be melted, and all gold coins (except for those of rare proportions) to be turned in to the government to do likewise.

But a few 1933’s made it out of the mint. They were off the radar for several years. One example was sold to King Farouk of Egypt. Several others were turned in over the years. In 2002, the only legally ownable example was sold at the record price of $7,590,020, which stood as the world record until 2013.

But one thing is for sure. This coin has created awe in collectors for almost a century, and will likely continue to do so.

1933 Double Eagle

Week Nine

 

Coin of the Week/Amazing Artists: Saint-Gaudens Coinage

The long-standing Lady Liberty Design on the $20 double eagle was nice, everyone agreed. Why change it?

Theodore Roosevelt had a simple answer.

In Roosevelt’s mind, the coins of the ancient Greeks were more beautiful than any circulating coin of the U.S.A.  He wanted to change that. So he needed a new coin designer. But they were not born every day, and so he began searching. Finally, he settled on the man who had designed his superb inaugural medal: Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin, Ireland on March 1st, 1848, to a French father and Irish mother. While he was very young, his family moved to New York, and at age 13, Saint-Gaudens was cutting cameos, stones with intricately carved designs on them. Saint-Gaudens traveled for his education, and today is well known as an artist and coin designer.

Roosevelt was pleased with his inaugural medal. It showed the President on the obverse, and a stunning picture of an eagle on the reverse. So Saint-Gaudens Was hired, and he created three wonderful coin designs (despite objections from chief engraver of the mint Charles E. Barber) for the cent, eagle ($10), and double eagle.

The cent features a portrait of Lady Liberty adorned with the branches of peace, with 13 stars to represent the 13 original colonies. The reverse sports a fasces, or bundle of sticks, to symbolize strength, and more branches of peace. (this never made it past the plaster mold stage)

The eagle features a similar portrait of Liberty, wearing an Indian Headdress, and on the reverse, (appropriately) an eagle. Notice the similarity between this eagle and the one on Roosevelt’s inaugural medal.

And of course, the famous Saint-Gaudens double eagle.

This coin was also re-created as a high-relief coin in 2009:

The obverse design is also on the Gold American Eagle:

And the legacy lives on.

 

Trial and Error: Goloid Dollar

In 1877, William Hubbell Patented Goloid, an alloy of Copper, Silver,and Gold, for use in coins, which was meant to appease both sides of the coin issue (Gold V.S. Silver). In the long run, it failed as an official coin alloy, because it was to easy for people to fake them by using only silver. But before it flopped, many great coin designs were created by William Barber and George T. Morgan for use on a goloid dollar. Goloid dollars are valuable today, so if you have one, I suggest that you get it authenticated.

 

 

Cool Comemoratives: The Lame Ones

Many beautiful commemorative coins were created between 1892 and 1954. But not all of them were noteworthy. The good commemoratives included celebrate-worthy events, like the 75th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, and the Oregon Trail Memorial. But others were just, well, for lack of a better word, pathetic. Such as:

The Cincinnati Music Center

Bridgeport, Connecticut Centennial

Huguenot-Walloon Tricentennial

Hudson, New York Sesquicentennial

I mean, seriously!

Week Eight

 

Coin of the Week: $3 Gold Coin

In 1854, a new problem came up for the U.S. Mint. Stamps.

At the time, postage was still relatively cheap; only 3 cents. How could you pay for a stamp with the coins of the day? Well, you could pay in three large cents (about the size of a half dollar), or 6 half cents (about the size of a quarter), or you could pay them a silver half dime, and receive 2 large cents or 4 half cents in change. Boy, is that a lot to remember! Then, out of the ashes and shambles rises the answer: the three cent coin!

But wait, stamps are usually bought on sheets of 100 (600 half cents, 300 large cents, 60 half dimes, 30 dimes, 12 quarters, 6 half dollars, or three silver dollars). Arrrgh! What now?

Hey, what if we make another coin, with a $3 face value! That’ll make it a lot easier!

And so the three dollar coin was born. This gold coin is odd, as $3 does not fit into the standard eagle pattern (quarter eagle; $2.50, half eagle; $5, eagle; $10, etc.).But it was produced from 1854 until 1889, and saw very little circulation. The rarest of them all is the 1870 S-minted; only one is known to exist. The $3 coin shows Lady Liberty on the front wearing an Indian headdress, and on the back it shows a wreath made of cotton, wheat, corn, and tobacco. All coins are rare, and don’t expect to pay less than $150 for one.

$3 Gold Coin

 

Wonderful World: Liberian Commemoratives

In 2000-2002, Liberia Produced Some of my favorite commemoratives ever. They celebrated all of those years of American coinage by creating almost the exact designs of some of the most famous American coins ever. They include: (Pictures shown in order)

Coiled Hair Stella, Flowing Hair Stella, Amazon Silver, Amazon Gold, Schoolgirl Dollar, Saint-Gaudens Standing Liberty, Indian Head Eagle, Indian Head Quarter Eagle, Trade Dollar, Morgan Dollar, Barber Coins, Peace Dollar, Seated Liberty Coins, and Standing Liberty Quarter.

 

 

Making a Mint: Foreign Coins Made By The U.S. Mint

The U.S. Mint was struggling to produce enough coin for the U.S.A. itself in it’s early years. But over the course of history, it has produced coins for several other countries, including the Philippines, Liberia, Australia, Canada, Hawaii, and more. I’m no expert on this subject, but I was able to find some good pictures. For more information, please visit:

www.pdxcoinclub.org/articles/ForeignCoins

Liberia Large Cent Made in the U.S.A.

 

Hawaii Half Dollar Made in the U.S.A.

 

Philippines One Peso Made in the U.S.A.

Week Seven

 

Coin News: New Mint Ideas

The U.S. Mint has created several awesome coins. Now, a TON of ideas have hit the coin collecting press for 2015-2016. Here are some of them:

First off, the American Silver Eagle has been here for 27 years! A long-standing law states that a coin design that has been around for longer than 25 years is able to change without congressional approval, and a new design for the reverse of the Silver Eagle has surfaced.

The standard Silver Eagle obverse will still be the same if the coin is created, with a reverse design change. The reverse is a very nice design, and was a considered reverse design for another coin. Here it is:

As opposed to the standard design:

Another factoid is the 2015 commemorative coins: One for U.S. Marshalls, and one to celebrate the 75th year of the March of the Dimes, an organization started by president Franklin Delano Roosevelt to help children with the disease known as polio. Roosevelt, who had polio himself, was placed on the dime for this specific reason. Here are my personal favorite designs for this coin:

March of the dimes Commemorative Coin designs

To see the different designs for the U.S. Marshalls program, visit this website:

news.coinupdate.com/usmarshallscoindesigns

 

Coin of the Week: 1913 Liberty Nickel

The nickel has been discussed several times in this blog, but this particular nickel is a classic American rarity of extreme value. Here’s the story:

In 1883, the Liberty design by Charles E. Barber took over the nickel. It was produced until 1912, and then it was to be replaced by James Earl Fraser’s “Buffalo Nickel”. But a mint employee decided to try something. 1913 Liberty nickel designs had been prepared by the mint, just in case something went wrong with the Buffalo design. Well, nothing did, but this mint employee went ahead and made 5 1913 Liberty nickels. They were sold(?) to coin dealer Samuel Brown, but many people think that Brown made the coins himself. They were distributed from there, and made their way to fame. These coins were starred in the TV series Hawaii-Five-O, and a well known example is number 8 on the list of most expensive coins, according to Wikipedia. These coins have been replicated, rumors have been swapped of a 6th example (with no evidence of such an example as of this writing), and they remain immensely famous to this day

1913 Liberty Nickel

 

Cool Commemoratives: Panama Exposition Coins

In 1915, construction of the Panama Canal was underway. But finances were required to build it. And so the U.S. Mint began producing coins to raise money for the Canal, as well as the expo that was scheduled to raise money for the same reason. Coins were created in the following denominations:

• $50 (round)

• $50 (octagon)

• $2 1/2, or Quarter Eagle

• Gold Dollar

• Half Dollar

A new idea for a commemorative coin program is the creation of similar coins in 2016 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Panama Expo. Want to see it happen? If you live in the states, try writing to or e-mailing your state’s Congressmen/women. Good Luck!

 

Amazing Artists: John Mercanti

John Mercanti was the 12th Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and he attended art school, even serving in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He has designed more Coins and Medals than any other Chief Engraver, and has even been enlisted to create coins for Australia! He has cooperated with many other artists to create coins, until he retired in 2010. To see coins designed by him, go to http://www.usacoinbook.com/encyclopedia/coin-designers/john-m-mercanti/. There are to many designs to put them all here! Here are a few of my favorites:

 

American Silver Eagle Reverse

 

2000 Library of Congress $10 front

 

American Gold Eagle Reverse, Flying Eagle

 

Australian Eagle Coins

 

 

 

P.S.   I want to make this blog as enjoyable as possible to everyone, so if you have any suggestions on any topics, type them in the comments box, and I will consider them!