RWB

Just for laughs, here are two of the rejected cover sketches for From Mine to Mint. The first was too literal and also awkward. The second seemed overly harsh and obscure - it's an abandoned silver mine.

None of them are good copies of the monumental sculpture.

I've long felt that a printed index in a book was both wasteful and ineffective. The purpose was to aid readers in finding a subject or name each time it appeared in the volume. Several years ago I scrapped building printed indices and included a free CD with fully searchable text and images. This worked well until people insisted on using hand-held toy telephones that have no CD option and don't even accept inexpensive external memory devices. One obvious option is to post the book file on the web and allow book buyers to download a copy to their toys. But, that creates a 24/7 infrastructure cost that cannot be supported by book sales - or anything else. So, although I've asked before, what do members think is the best way to provide a free index to a numismatic book?

Yes. And everyone survived just fine without the added cost, argument and bluster.

Ewe ? Someone's pulling the wool over our eyes....or ewes.

Authenticity decisions based on a few fuzzy photos are not reliable. In-hand, examine the reeding for inconsistencies, and on the faces search on-line for known counterfeits. The condition is EF.

This might also help the OP to understand coins made from doubled dies. http://www.vamworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2647

No. Unless you just want to pay over $100 for "grading" two inexpensive coins.

The 1936-41 proof coin book shows records for most new dies, and those are the only ones from which a "cameo" effect can arise.

Wow! Had not looked closely enough to see the mask. Very unusual strike through!

Having just read the above, it is apparent you need to "start over" in learning about coins and how they are manufactured. Could someone please point the OP to the web site that had a description and photos of minting? (It was posted to a thread about a week ago....) PS: It's "lamination" not "lamentation" although your description makes me want to cry.... Here's the link provided by JustBob: Click Me [Wexler's Die Varieties, How Coins Are Made.]

The posted coins show no sign of being struck twice. Also, there's no evidence of the obverse or reverse die having been doubled in manufacture -- at least that I can see in the photos. Both seem like nice ordinary cents with a few surface marks as commonly seen, plus the rim damage at 11 o'clock on the first one.

Just keep in mind the cost of conservation and grading vs the coins FMV of about $350 in that condition (VF).

"Leave them alone, and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them."

Thin markets are excessively affected by innuendo.

During the "gold standard" era, banks did not keep gold on-hand unless required to for reserves or customer convenience. It was, and remains, a dead asset that earns no interest and generates no profit except for speculation and chance. The $400 gold of 40 years ago is now valued at $2,000 - 5-times the dollar value. But, it will not purchase 5-times more -- it will actually purchase much less -- and thus has a negative return. The common "gold-for-food" scenario is a false analogy since small scale real world examples show that barter and trade of necessities quickly overcomes any slight assumed value of gold or any other thing that is not immediately useful.

Going after Tsar Putin....! From: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1072233/super-cool-winged-liberty-pcgs-2021-type-2-50-gold-eagle-error-wow

Allan also wrote a book about the Pratt quarter- and half-eagle gold coins.

But, how much have you lost is real value by holding a dead asset?

I have a considerable archive of US Mint documents and will be pleased to send you anything I might happen to have. I have the originally posted letter, and a prior one, plus a table showing his wages and the employment letter of his successor. I have others from 1899 that might contain additional information. If you PM your email address, I will send you what I can locate. Not sure how helpful all this paper will be in fighting a fiery dragon, but we must protect our supply of damsels.

I got mine cheap -- but had to add the letters to each key.

Try this one, also. Starting age 53. Free. https://archive.org/details/moneyofamericanc1993phil

Here's an authentic example - 1914 (Courtesy Heritage Auctions). Also see: https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/caballito-peso-is-first-commemorative-coin-of-mexico.html.

Well, that one has had its "two cents-worth" of circulation. Imagine how many people handled it to cause that much wear....

Did you check on the truncation of the the bust?