RWB

Ooooh... A cosmic ray whacked the die

You'll have to ask Stacks. My source was a MTB employee who was involved. I think he's dead now.

I don't use NNP much. I gave them some of the material, so I've had it for years before NNP. I concentrate on new, undiscovered materials -- and those will eventually become part of the NNP database. (Presuming they fix the AWFUL search engine.)

Yes. Stacks had nothing and claimed to know nothing. MTB said they were the "originator" (or some such term). Just another example of the hearsay and original anecdotal sources dying off without writing down what happened and why. With the routine business documents lost in Hurricane Sandy, we have almost nothing except questionable pubic claims and sales bologna.

It usually comes down to searching for specific coins that are mentioned in archival literature, or learning in advance that a dealer or collector will have a specific piece at a show. Those are very unusual, and the amount of time available to devote to that is limited. Another way to look at it is this: an ordinary day examining US Mint documents will yield more useful information than any but the most extraordinary day at the largest coin show. That is the situation when searching for the unknown rather than looking for the "known."

He discusses EHR/UHR patterns with what was known at the time.

For research purposes those are still "ordinary and generic."

The coins...? You go for the coins...? I rarely go just because the coins are about all there is. Original research is about investigating sources, correlating information, analyzing data -- the coin is only a piece of this puzzle, and almost everything at a coin show is ordinary and generic, regardless of "rarity" or cost.

...."Naked and Afraid?" OR merely "Unclothed and Paranoid?"

It is missing the $10 and Pratt patterns. I discovered the $10 while working in the Smithsonian collection. John Mercanti found the $5 SG hubs in the Philadelphia Mint. Both discoveries were preceded by my location of documentation describing them. In these instances, the search for relevant contemporary written material allowed the prompt location of physical artifacts.

I think married ones might be available, but check with the local priest or televangelist pickpocket,,,the rules vary.

Nope....

Excerpt Dec. 3 1954 On several occasions recently misstruck coins have been referred to this office or to field offices by persons who have obtained them in various ways. For the guidance of the field offices in handling these matters, I wish to state that pieces which have been misstruck, that is, coins struck on the wrong blanks or on blanks that are too large or too small to meet the standards, are subject to recovery by the Government as property of the United States, title to which has never left the Government, and when submitted to us, cannot be returned. These are not coins authorized by the Congress and no coins other than those are specifically so authorized may be lawfully issued. W. H. Brett, Director

Nice find. This box/folder dates from 1973. A quantity of this material from the Denver Mint archives is available on NNP. Start here: https://nnp.wustl.edu/Library/Archives?searchLetter=U ...and look down the list for "Sequence 77"

PCI was consistently inconsistent - at least by most reports. Some claimed to have found real "gems" and others "dogs" all under the same grade label language. This favored those with sound grading knowledge who could pick out the best pieces but pay on the label-grade price, or less.

There is considerable information both formal and informal - if one bothers to look, listen and understand. Most government processes are analogs of private business processes, but wrapped in a layer of specific rules and regulations. There is no secrecy at the US Mint about how a coinage bill is developed, and this has been published. VKurtB's distorted view is summarized in this simple comment of his, "This stinking fetish you have for 'documents' leaves me astounded to no end." This amounts to a preference for pliable and deniable hearsay over facts that are available to all.

[PS: That's really "Ant Man" on the obverse.]

Ask lots of questions.

Do the above also include real Oscar Mayer Bologna or just the lies they mention?

Badly damaged and corroded. It might be worth $5, but finding a buyer would be very difficult when a nice VG is reasonably priced. Yes, it's "rare" but so are collectors of these by date/mint, thus there are plenty of undamaged specimens to meet demand.

Yes. Bring your own daffodils.

It will cost me 1 gallon of gas round trip. Might go if I can come up with a reason.

That's the Lincoln Memorial after a snow storm....that's why the lower steps are hidden.

Impressive photos. The little 25 kopek is now worth more than a big stack of current rubles....