RWB

This is not a coin. It is the plaster model Fraser prepared in August 1912. It was supposed to be the adopted design -- until Hobbs got involved and a spineless Sec of Treasury stuck his head in the sand. (See Renaissance of American Coinage 1909-1915 for details.)

The most likely explanation is that metal dust and grease built up in the first "K" eventually clogging the letter. (Compacted material can be nearly as hard as the die.) It's called a "filled letter" error and is more a curiosity than anything searched for by collectors. The Yekaterinburg [Екатеринбург] mint ( "EM" ) produced about 14 million 1-kopek pieces in 1852. Yours is heavily worn and might be worth $1-$2. Pieces from the Warsaw mint ( "BM" ) are scarce and worth a little more, but there is minimal interest in circulated pieces.

Do you see a "man in the moon" or a "rabbit?" Humans naturally imagine familiar shapes and symbols in random spots and structures. It's called "pareidolia." Pareidolia -- the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern. The scientific explanation for some people is pareidolia, or the human ability to see shapes or make pictures out of randomness. Think of the Rorschach inkblot test.

False legend. Guns were carried out of necessity, and only then almost entirely by rural and farm workers. Each mint had a small armory containing several rifles, shotguns and pistols plus ammunition. This was locked and required 2 keys to open. Only guards/watchmen were authorized to have weapons or to access the armory. The guns were procured from the Army who retained ownership. They were uniformly old, used and outdated. At the time of the robbery is was common practice to put men who were too old, disabled or feeble to do mint work, on guard duty. One of my CoinWeek columns will deal with the robbery.

People could split half eagles, scoop out the guts, and insert a platinum disc, seal the whole thing like new. They also drilled holes through the edge and the filled with a bit of platinum wire, then reformed and plated the edge. Nothing to do with assaying. People wanting quick verification of gold would make a cut into the coin.

In a film or video production this is called "product placement" and is usually a quid-pro-quo (or maybe a squid pro garlic-lemon sauce) or a paid placement by a product manufacturer. (Think cars, trucks, foods, restaurant names, cigarettes used to be big on this.)

Neither. The official title is A Guide Book of United States Coins and the cover also states: "The official Red Book" with a trademark symbol.

There are no ducklings and that is a lake not "duck sauce." Please duck away from that magnifier - it is goosing your brain.

Identifying one of the 1927 "Special Strike" (actually, "Experimental" is the correct term) nickels is not exceptionally difficult. But, the examiner must know what to look for and how to do the examination correctly. There is nothing in the OP's comments indicating he has expertise along these lines. NGC should have it since David Lange and I discussed 1927 experimental nickels many years ago and agreed on all points. Read the book to find out the rest of the story. I've already done all the hard work of research, analysis, correlation, validation and publication. All anyone else has to do is borrow (or buy) a copy of the book and read a couple of pages. PS: "Satin proof" nickels have better detail than mirror proofs. Polishing invariably removed or suppressed shallow detail. This is also in the same book and is accompanied by illustrations of original matte (from the teens), satin (before July 1936), and brilliant (after July 1936) Buffalo nickels.

Lots of "price guides" are imaginary as to both "Price" and "Guidance." TPGs should NEVER be involved in buying, selling or pricing coins that they authenticate and grade. This is an obvious conflict of interest.

RE: 1927 Experimental nickels. See pages 35-36 in United States Proof Coins 1936 – 1942 by Roger W Burdette. Here is the opening paragraph of the section ---- “Chromium Plating of Working Dies. Mint Engravers and Coiners were constantly looking for ways to increase die life and reduce maintenance time. Throughout the mint’s existence, the primary emphasis has been on improving the quality and hardness of die steel, and reducing the amount of pressure necessary to strike good coins. The steel used for coinage dies during the 1930s was approximately 0.97 percent carbon, 0.21 percent silicon, 0.18 percent manganese, 0.019 percent sulfur, 0.016 percent phosphorus and 98.605 percent iron. This is similar to general purpose machine tool and die steel used in other industrial applications although the absence of nickel is curious. Changes in die hardening, especially the use of better furnaces and improved temperature control, resulted in better dies. But ideas for further improvement came from an unexpected source.” As for the illustrated coins, nothing in the photos indicate anything unusual or special; common date, circulated nickels.

Yeah,.... But the "butts" are listed under "hardware." Not a pleasing thought.

Neither you nor I know what fabric is in the holders or where it came from. If one looks at the items in Fentucky Mike's posted link, the samples are inconsistent. If NGC said they were burlap, then that is at odds with the promoter's descriptions and the truth about US Mint bags. Hence, my thought that NGC's writer simply used whatever word came to their mind, and that was it. The complete "package" is good evidence that nobody at NGC cared to research anything, or get an affidavit from the promoter. You can believe all the lies you want.

Interesting.

Update -- The same coin seller was pushing 1932 Eagles for $2,495 (MS-64) Friday, and had a copy of my Saint-Gaudens DE book on the table as a prop. This is the book published by Heritage Auctions with a large S-G HR DE on the cover. (There's no comparable S-G Eagle book....it never got written.)

Even the promoter says "canvas bag." (Presumably an observational assumption. Photos on the linked site show inconsistent samples - including some that differ from the appearance of normal canvas coin bag material.) Nice digging Fentucky Mike !

"Trust" is not the issue. It is "truth." Present your evidence, your data, your documents, your facts to support your claims -- otherwise there is no basis for believing what you claim. So far, you've done nothing but shown copycat blabbing. Your comment, "Your research while commendable is not the final say on the history of the mint, not by a longshot," merely shows an absence of understanding. There is no "final say" in science-based research methodology - all we can do is gather and present the facts as available. At present, my research is the best available, and actually is the "final word" for now. That is simply because I have reviewed more original US Mint documents than possibly anyone except Bob Julian, correlated data, and published it (complete with original sources) as no one else has. Neither NGC not PCGS have performed or sponsored careful original research. Additionally, they seldom present facts to back up claims. They print labels and publish occasional hyped-up opinions as if they were hard facts. (When David Lange was around NGC had an in-house check on facts, and someone who was not afraid to ask for outside help. Now, there's nothing. PCGS never had that -- just a list of rumor repeaters who have no scientific research experience.) Consider this: my NARA Mint archive database contains more than 500,000 documents, nearly all are searchable. Out of that there are 439 references to "bag," 35 to "cotton bag," 30 to "duck bag," and 21 to "cotton duck bag." For the word "burlap" there are 4 references, and for "burlap bag" there are -0-. Again - and for the final time - I ask you to show your evidence and sources.

Your circulated DE has been defaced with a punch. There is nothing to suggest why this was done. Some US gold coins were stamped with an "L" at sub-Treasuries to indicate light weight as part of the post-1870 recoinage of light gold. A few escaped melting. Your coin is NOT one of them.

I have no means of knowing what the tiny sample in a holder is made from, or who provided the samples, or any other information. It could be a slice of homemade ladies pantaloons from the Prairie Home Companion. That something is in a plastic holder attests to very little.

Show your evidence. Documents, sources, etc. Contracts for bag manufacture only refer to cotton Duck. No US mint ever used burlap for coin bags.

"Roasters" "Sunday dinner when the preacher shows up and the whiskey is out of sight."

PS: No US Mint or Treasury coin bags are known made of burlap. The source of your information - which is not given - likely picked a word that came to mind rather than checking facts. You should try the same.

Your source is wrong. Here are a couple of letters identifying coin bag material. Cotton Duck fabric, 8oz weight was normal. Rough burlap was tried in the Philadelphia M&R Dept in hopes of catching gold or silver vapor before it went up the chimney flues. It was also used as temporary insulation around ice and to wrap steam pipes. Burlap is never mentioned in mint documents relating to coin bags. Burlap is a rough, loosely woven cloth made of fibers from jute and sisal plants. It was commonly used for holding farm animal feed with the bags used for barn netting, seedling plant frost protection and wrap for transplanted ornamental plants. It is far too abrasive for packaging coins, and it lacks durability. Duck is heavyweight tightly woven fabric, made from 100% cotton often referred to as canvas. Treasury Department, Bureau of the Mint, Washington, D.C., September 19, 1885 Hon. Daniel M. Fox, Superintendent U.S. Mint, Philadelphia, Pa. Sir: - Your letter of the 18th instant giving the result of proposals received to supply your mint with duck canvas of not less than 8 oz. to the yard, has been received and the award made by you to John Welsh at 8 3/8 ¢ per yard, is approved. Very respectfully R.E. Preston Acting Director. James S. Gary & Son. Baltimore, May 14, 1894 Eugene Townsend, Esq., Supt. United States Mint, Philadelphia. Dear Sir: My contract for furnishing your Mint with 8 oz. Cotton Duck for Coin Bags for the year ending June 30th next is approaching an end. I will be obliged if you will let me know if the material furnished exactly suits your purposes, and if not, in what way you would like to have it changed. I can make almost any width up to 44” and any class of fabric you might want. Our business is making specialties and I would be glad to alter the fabric to suit. I have seen no advertisement for your next year’s supply, but if you have gotten up the schedule will be glad if you will send me a copy. Yours respectfully, E. Stanley Gary

Early Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) [January 1918 until December 1922] coins in gold, silver and brass were collectible although not especially popular. It was succeeded by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in December 1922. The Soviet era coins before 1941 are difficult to locate in Unc condition.