RWB

Frank Leach was one of the best qualified people to be mint director. Another was Henry Linderman, and another was Robert Preston. All had long term experience, intelligence and good judgement. Several other directors developed into outstanding inhabitants of the office including Nellie Ross, George Roberts, and Robert Wooley.

It is a defect in the working die. It has no relationship to the design other than incidental.

This letter to the Secretary of Treasury might be of interest to some members.

Hmmm....$52.50 + commission

Minor adjustment --- a 1943 bronze cent is not a "transitional piece." That is, it was not intentionally produced to demonstrate what the coin would look like after a noticeable change. It was simply a mistake - an error - due to a few planchets being stuck in planchet bins.

Did not know that. Thanks.

Same as "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by Thomas Edward Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia).

"It's the Hard Knock Life" from Annie. It's the hard-knock life for us It's the hard-knock life for us 'Stead of treated We get tricked 'Stead of kisses We get kicked It's the hard-knock life

Retromodo: Complete fake. If the seller tells you it's real he/she is lying. If they say "I don't know" then they shouldn't be selling coins.

"Annie"

Yep. A coin with a musical written about it.

Was this one 'specially made for ancient communion ceremonies?

The dime's edge reeding is missing because it was deliberately removed (resulting in a light weight coin), or the coin was stuck in between two moving surfaces (such as in a clothes dryer) and the reeds were pressed together. The rims look unusually high, so I suspect the latter. Lots of people who work with their hands at al;l kinds of jobs collect coins. But we all learn very quickly to avoid damaging coins by handling by the edges, only.

RE: "Is that a perfect example of a ddo?" Is that a spelling error for "poopo" ?

There were no mintmarks of proof coins until 1968. The photo appears to show a strike through or stuck sliver of a sliver of wire or other metal. It overlaps the rim and sticks beyond the edge so it cannot be part of the die.

There is a small browser macro for Firefox that will drop all that trash before it hits your screen. It's free. I've forgotten the name, but it works on most sites.

Because the coin's quality is better than conventional pieces, and there is documentation stating the unusual circumstances of its manufacture, the combination enables a distinctive identifier. Either paper or coin without the other, is just ordinary. There is a vast difference between feeding 6 planchets into a press and pulling the coins out before the drop into the receiving box, and normal production of 80+ DE per minute. (Was the 6th planchet improperly struck and discarded? We don't know -- yet. As for so-called "1964 SMS coins" the facts are so clear and simple that these are nothing but early strikes off normal dies and not made for ANY special purpose, than it strains credibility that anyone would fall for this con. I take exactly the SAME approach - but no one has produced anything to support the "1964 SMS" claim. There is nothing at all. Such is the power of a "lying label" and poor research by those certifying such junk.

Well, the owner could also have a CAT scan made to see that's inside the bag. If there was a cat, the humane thing to do would be to open the bag so the cat could get out, stretch its legs, and have a snack.

Thank you! Your kind remarks are much appreciated.

Yes, as well as Omaha, Seattle, Dalles Oregon, and a bunch of other spots that wanted government jobs. The Dales story has been told many times. However, prior to WW-II there was an active proposal to build a new mint in Indiana (the Mid-West Mint). Treasury had an option on land and started blueprints. The details are in my book "Saudi Gold, etc...." Here's a paragraph: The subject of a new mint was discussed with Secretary Morgenthau during his October 5, 1940 staff meeting. Morgenthau’s assistant, Harold N. Graves, had visited the Philadelphia Mint the previous week. It was already known that Philadelphia could not keep up with demand, and that several months earlier coins had to be shipped from the San Francisco Mint to the Eastern seaboard. During his visit he learned that there was considerable difficulty and delay in renovating the building to hold new equipment that was planned. Graves thought a new manufacturing plant might be necessary, probably in the West someplace.

I'll have to take a look ! Sounds interesting and it has the "Henri" seal of approval, too!

By the late 19th century expansion of railroads and growth of mid-west population and economies made it economical to produce coins at Denver. It was the only sizeable city between the Rockies and Mississippi and Treasury already owned land. As an Assay Office it received gold and some silver from upper mid-west territories along with the southwest. These combined to make Denver a good spot for a new mint, and also to eventually eliminate New Orleans - something Treasury had wanted to do for a decade. Express and Post Office rates also had considerable influence, since shipping coins was costly. The three mints supplied coins to specific geographic areas: Philadelphia - East of Mississippi; Denver - Central States; and San Francisco - Pacific coast. There was a little overlap around Chicago and New Orleans, mostly related to cost of transportation. There was also the intent to begin striking minor coins at SF and D - again to reduce distribution expenses, and provide more timely response to demand.

RE: "I'm not buying into the whole "got to have papers" to be a "real" Specimen or Special Strike coin since many of the early Proofs (proof dies) and Specimen coins (first strike) were struck on demand for many well-heeled collectors of the day as well as falling into the hands of mint employees' family and friends." This is a common confusion created by conflation of limited information and speculations. However, the "specimen" or "special strike" pieces I refer to were produced as mementos or souvenirs of some event or person, AND documented as such. The objection is TPGs giving these "different looking" coins a special label without documentation or explanation. Lots of coins from ordinary dies look "different" depending on when they were struck during the life of a die, and other details such as planchet hardness. While early strikes might "look different" they are entirely ordinary and were not specially made. (I've examined coins in the CT State Collection - Mitchelson. Many of these would immediately be given some special label by the TPGs -- Yet, we have clear documentation that they are just ordinary coins made from fresh dies, and were part of routine distribution to Museums and major collections of the time.) Early Master Coins were made under varying circumstances, and we have written records of some of their manufacture. The same applies to some restrikes of circulation coins, and pattern pieces. Master Coins were provided at face value to anyone who asked for them and would wait for the Chief Coiner to get around to it. (This is a continuing research project - but much remains to be investigated.)

Yes. That is a squirrel running down the trunk of an oak tree to harvest acorns. The upper portion is his/her/its bushy tail and the rest are its body and head pointing downward.

Agreed --- this coin definitely needs to be resting! It has obvious trauma and should not be expected to exert itself in retail commerce.