RWB

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A correctly graded AU (58) will likely be just as satisfying as a MS-63 coin - a specimen from the late December production, without a fin, will usually look nicer than on of the fin examples. But, finding one that is correctly graded will be difficult.

The US Mint normally made arrangements for persons connected with a new coin, or who had a compelling interest in new coins, to purchase examples. This could be done during initial annual production (as with the Director or Sec Treasury), or at a formal ceremonial striking as with the Kennedy halves. There was, and is, nothing illegal or under-the-table about this - it is a common courtesy. A similar situation was offered Denver Mint employees at first release of 1964-D halves - each could buy 2 new halves on the first release date. Philadelphia Mint did the same, and a bag was delivered to Treasury for a similar purpose. Smithsonian got coins from new dies in a similar manner whether direct from each mint for via the Director's office. The who point is that these were not special coins made for special people, or from some secret purpose or test. The hyped "SMS" coins are nothing but normal pieces, from normal dies, made on normal equipment, for normal purposes. The ignorance that led to calling these (or some other coins) "special" lies in the failure of some to research, learn and understand how and why coins appear as they do. (Some will recall that only a few years ago it was believed that new dies were polished and that accounted for PL Morgans and other denominations. I did the research and digging in records to understand what was really done. Now we understand, correctly, that PL coins come from dies polished during repair and touch-up as part of normal production.) One cannot slap "special" or "specimen" or some other title in a coin arbitrarily - it MUST be proven. That demands understanding the processes, equipment, methodology and operational standards of U.S. Mint production and management, along with the range of appearance generated by normal die use. (Many readily accept Early, Middle, and Late die states, yet fail to apply the concept to Initial and Terminal die states.) Frankly, I feel I'm talking past the dollar signs; the truth is just too inconvenient and costly for the hobby business to admit.

There is nothing whatever convincing about the quoted analysis - plus, there is a total absence of facts....other than those.....? (For coins struck 3 times on a medal press, with annealing between blows, and all the attendant potential problems, it is surprising that so many were actually accepted. An unusually wide appearance range would be expected.) Wow! Just got it! The were really SMS coins....Got to be it. Yep.....

Double eagles were subject to the same range of mechanical and die defects as silver dollars. They used the same presses and similar pressures per square inch. DE dies seem to have been pulled earlier than silver dollar dies.

Check to see of the obverse dies are the same. If they are, then the effect is due to press mechanics - which is likely.

That is what I was told by an NGC representative. I stand corrected. It must not have been a final decision. In any event, all the coins were made the same way, so a "proof" designation is specious. As noted before, they might have identified a way to separate the first 500 made in August from the balance, although it's presently not possible to verify anything because of the edge is obscured on so many pieces..

I went so far as driving to Dunsinane right to Macbeth's door to try and get a really good, neutral gray card. But t'was for naught. On leaving I could see in pale moon glow Birnam Wood move forward slow.

Sorry. I don't have a link ... well, I have some 18k gold cuff links, will they work?

Yes. THE standard along with their color cards. Expensive but absolutely neutral....Never liked the Macbeth cards -- purple color cast to them. Amazing that you found anything neutral in Alabama -- must be near Huntsville.

The article concerns transfer of the letter " E " from obverse word "Liberty" to the reverse field to lower left of eagle's tail feathers.

Available now, but you have to designate masked or maskless versions. Also, it won't be shipped by the Post Office until New Year's eve....something about the mail sorting reindeer and antlers stuck in equipment. The Postmaster General (Corporal ?) will surely fix it up OK. Sorry - couldn't resist the cynicism.

Thanks for the full-coin photos. Much easier to examine Tridmn. New collectors should note the specific, accurate language used by Mr. Lange: "...from which the brass plating has been removed...." The coating on modern cents is an alloy of copper and zinc - with is properly called "brass" and not "copper" as mentioned in the vernacular. Yes, it's a tiny "nit" - but in numismatics details and accurate language are important.

Stale pistachio....?

Greenwood's photos are of common proof coins. The so-called "SMS" coins are simply early strikes off new dies. The designation was evidently applied out of ignorance - or more likely greed.

Should the US Mint begin selling ornamental winter cabbages and painted easter eggs, including exclusive privy marks, in addition to its other colorful offerings? What happened to the coin spoons?

Where you found it is where it belongs. A cheap counterfeit from a Chinese manufacturer. PS: The hand appears genuine.

Fingerprint and disturbed luster indicate AU.

The boring ones are going on now. Candidates with the fewest votes get the board seats, the others sit in the floor and smoke "Prairie Mushrooms."

The first major die variety of the Morgan dollar series was identified in 1891. But it would be 129 years before that fact was discovered among newly digitized letters. Read the story in the latest Coin World magazine.

Rather than lack of awareness, I suspect that few care at all. America is a mercantile culture, built by those out to profit materially, not historically, creatively, or artistically. Our creative background is largely imported and is both brief and minuscule compared to any non-Western Hemisphere culture.

"...elevated plain of old-fashioned ruggedness..." Sounds like grain storage in Iowa.

The letter about his firing said that improvements were being made in the department where the fellow worked (Sweeps), and that one less worker was needed. He was the last-hired worker, so he was the first-fired. Seems like a convenient coincidence. The Mints were very tight about employee behavior on and off work hours. It's interesting to note that although married women were hired as adjusters, counters and press operators, they qualified only if they were widowed or NOT living with their husbands. An 1880 letter from a woman tells of being told she could no longer work at the Philadelphia Mint because she was living with her husband -- she resigned. By the 1890s this had moderated and we find women getting married while employed at the mint and the payroll folks scurrying about to change names.

This letter popped up while selecting documents for transcription.Considering it's election time (still...) it seemed to be relevant. The employee was later exonerated by poll workers and reinstated. However, the next day his job was eliminated and the employee fired. [Inferior image quality is a consequence of low-quality fluorescent lights in the NARA Philadelphia copy stand.]

Sad.