RWB

The GF prefers pastel sheets. OK with me. With the lights off I can't see the color anyway.

The analogies are not rude; wasting money like that is. Much more enjoyable things could be done with $75 - one might even buy a ready-"graded" coin in a cute slab and have a lot left over; or take the long suffering, tolerant wife to a nice dinner out or at least get a really good carry-out meal. (Ok...so maybe I'm too conservative and cheap. I don't like wasting things.)

The points are: the damage has been done, a slab offers no meaningful protection, and less exposure to contaminants reduces likelihood of damage. Detailed examinations of this problem - gold and silver spotting, "copper" spots, etc. - in Austria, China and Australia clearly describe the mechanisms and most common contaminants, plus prevention. The only remediation is to melt and refine the metal.

Maybe a laxative could help....

Regarding counterfeit 3 cent nickels, the Philadelphia Mint Assayer commented in 1881: The assistant Assayer has completed an examination (chemical) of the 3 cent counterfeits and finds them composed of copper, nickel, and zinc; say copper 65, nickel 20, zinc 15 percent. This is quite different from the legal alloy, copper 75, nickel 25. No doubt the zinc is used to bring down the melting point, and thus to facilitate the working. It does not materially change the tint, although it is a true “German Silver,” such as is used in the inferior coins of Switzerland. It is not softer or more ductile than our binary alloy.

A letter from 1880 concerning suspected counterfeit 3 cent nickels notes: "The five 3-cent pieces sent for examination are all genuine and herewith returned. "The only piece liable to suspicion is one which weighs 36-1/2 grains (wrapped by itself). The legal weight is 30, with allowance of 2; which we often use in order to have a better body of metal. We cannot, however, attain the same precision as in gold or silver, the nickel alloy being harder to work. However, this piece is genuine, with this apology. Generally we believe they are about 30 to 32 [grains weight]." Earlier correspondence confirms that 3 cent nickel pieces were "often" cut to the high end of tolerance, or above, to help get a better impression from the dies. (There are no similar comments for nickels.)

Nothing that Carson Mint produced was of local use. It was supposed to process all the new Nevada silver but transportation expenses made it cheaper to ship silver to San Francisco. Bullion owners could also get a draft on New York, which was not available at Carson. Supplies could be bought in Philadelphia and New York, then shipped to Carson a lot cheaper than buying them on the west coast. (Army Quartermaster Corps handled a lot of this to Carson and the small assay offices.) Carson coins came East under two slightly different circumstances. The first, was to increase the supply of subsidiary silver to the Mississippi Valley and mid-west. With the New Orleans Mint closed after 1861, Carson was able to supplement infrequent coin shipments from Philadelphia a little more efficiently (depending on season). The second, and more costly approach, was to use Carson and SF coins to fill-in when the Philadelphia Mint was overworked with deposits from the New York Assay Office, the burden of minor coinage, and massive redemption transfers from the various Assistant Treasurers. (The latter should not be underestimated for the amount of labor required to sort, remove fakes, count, credit/debit and then store until Treasury decided it was OK to recoin the stuff.) Treasury felt it had to supply new coins to eastern commercial centers, and they paid as much as 2% of value just for shipping to Philadelphia Mint for distribution (at additional cost) to Sub-treasuries.

Various message boards and interest groups appeal to personal interests - sometimes for reasons others do not understand.

Nope. Not a very early strike from new dies (aka "1964 SMS" silliness).

The contamination might still be on the coin, but it doesn't matter. The damage is done and cannot be undone. Air circulation in the slab is immaterial - the contamination initiated a chemical reaction that will continue on the surface and into the body of the coin.

Note also that deceptive counterfeit 3-cent copper-nickel pieces were in circulation. They were usually made from copper-nickel-zinc alloy. Inconsistent quality of minor coins from the Philadelphia Mint helped encourage counterfeiting - the public had trouble telling good coins from bad.

1. The coin is weakly struck, as was often the case for 3-cent CuNi pieces. 2. Evidently there was considerable difficulty in rolling alloy strips from the M & R's ingots. Several annealings were typical and at this early stage of the CuNi learning curve, the Mint had not learned how to best handle this alloy. 3. The final strip was run through a drawbench that had dirty or damaged dies. This left surface abrasions (incorrectly called "roller marks") on the metal strip. 4. Blanks were cut from the damaged strip and probably annealed again before being run through the upset mill, then passed to the coining room for stamping. Evidently the blank for this coin was improperly annealed and the result was a poorly defined design with surface abrasions evident, especially on low areas of the die. Pervasive problems with copper-nickel alloy led to purchases of blanks for 3-cent and 5-cent pieces from Booth & Hayden in Waterbury, CT by November 1866. (The nickel came from Joseph Wharton's plant in New Jersey.)

Very nice! When the Mint received an "error" coin, they normally replaced it with a shiny new one. Treasury was awfully tolerant to return the note to the finder.

Waste of money to have any TPG "grade" it. Why not buy a really nice MS-65 or 66 NGC authenticated dollar?

Normal proof coin. No doubling.

Contamination after the coin was struck but before it was put in the capsule. It cannot be repaired. Return the coin and request a replacement.

Treasury accepted for import coin bars or US coins at full bullion value. The Gold Act of 1934 eliminated all domestic legal tender provisions of gold in ALL forms. If your company in London paid for US goods in dollars and the company held US gold DE, you could get an instant 87% profit. (Domestic coin was still redeemed at face value, but the coin collection exemption could often be invoked for small sums. Large sums could be laundered by smuggling into Mexico, then importing, or "high grading" -- adding scrap to melted coin, or mixing coin gold with native gold. )

Collection of mintmarked coins don't seem to pop up until opening of the Carson Mint. The Southern gold mints were too far from collector pocketbooks to matter, and New Orleans produced more localized silver issues. Following the Civil War, with only three active mints, Treasury moved coins around more via rail and that likely brought more mintmarked silver coins into common circulation. Much like the 1876 letter - local coinage became a mixture of pieces from all three mints.

Note that quarters from all three operating mints were in New York state circulation by mid-1876.

I think it was nice of Mark to write each of us personally. My letter had a nice electronic stamp on it. And....this is my idea of "market cap."

The quantity likely melted per year was small when compared to total trade balances and the value of gold bars moving back and forth. The quick profit on non-USA holdings after January 1934 likely stimulated coin melting. After all, having boxes and bags of gold coins siting around was a waste of money....bankers did not like to waste money. The US accepted coin gold from foreign countries at the full $35/oz rate. If your bank or business had US trade connections, you could get a fast 87% profit.

To us, the answer is an obvious "No." But 140 years ago coins with small differences - extra tail feathers, rays or no rays, mintmarks - were suspicious. Here's a letter from 1876 on the subject. The Mint response, if any, has not been found. Anderson, Nevius & Co. Dry Goods, Groceries, Clothing, Carpets Flemington, NY July 17, 1876 Gentlemen, We have 3 silver quarter dollar pieces all bearing the date 1876; 1 marked CC under the eagle, 1 marked S under the eagle, and 1 with no mark under the eagle. We have heard it repeated that those with CC were counterfeit. If it is not too much trouble would you please give us an explanation of the matter and oblige. Yours Respectfully, Anderson, Nevius & Co. [RG104 E-1 Box 104. NNP Collection.]

A normal quarter (post 1964) has a core of pure copper with outer light gray color cladding of copper (75%) nickel (25%) alloy. The copper-nickel is much harder and tougher than pure copper. Photos suggest the coin was exposed to a strong reagent that dissolved parts of the copper-nickel cladding, but was rinsed off before it reacted with the copper core. An odd looking coin but, as the OP noted, of no particular value.

Yes. That was normal. The coins of individual countries were/are for internal use. Once outside their country of issuance, they are merely metal bits. A double eagle was just a little chunk of gold and copper. In the USA it was a legal tender for exactly $20 - including when slightly worn. Outside of the USA it was valued only for its weight in pure gold. DE were routinely melted and made into local legal tender coins. If some of these made their way to the USA, they were just weights of gold-copper alloy and melted. (Until development of the southern gold fields, all US gold coins were made from melted foreign coins.)

We can't predict future (or even present) acceptance. Usually, small differences fade from importance after a few years. Almost all of the coins are Gem Uncirculated so there's little of the "searching" aspect to collecting these.