RWB

If you will buy or borrow a copy of From Mint to Mint these things are discussed and illustrated there. Also look in JNR Issue #1 which discusses and illustrates ate 19th century toggle press from Ferrachute Co.

Law required a certain percentage of total gold deposits to be struck into coins. These were the backing for gold certificates. The certificates were essentially "warehouse receipts" redeemable on demand. All of this was calculated before striking coins. Coining cost money and the less that was done the better. This is one of the underappreciated effects of circulating gold coinage and so-called gold exchange standards.

Very slightly off center. Not unusual and not worth anything.

Yep. It also began the US coinage concept that convenience was more important to consumers than intrinsic value when dealing with non-specie coins. This had developed from public acceptance of copper tokens in Britain, etc. and US tokens used as coin substitutes in 1837 and later.

That was my very own, original, copyright typo, which has since been "adjusted for clarity."

Striking pressure was determined by the spacing of dies in a toggle press. This was done using a pair of adjustable wedges between the upper die stake and the die chuck.

A considerable part of our difficulty in examining 19th century coin practices is our distorted perception of "value." At the time most were made and distributed, the market value of proofs, patterns and other non-standard items was only a little above face value. Coin collecting was a "fad" and those paying a premium for Master or Proof coins were "crazy" or "extravagant" in pursuit of shiny baubles. Contemporaneity objections roamed around equitable distribution and not cost. (Medal making was a different situation.)

Florida? In the summer? Why? To watch your prized coins rot? Iguana tacos?

If I remember correctly, mechanical counters were not used at the Mints until. the 1920s. Treasury and Sub-Treasuries used them beginning around 1910.... A fresh-looking silver dollar with "wheel marks" is possibly one that was in the Treasury clear out and might have been purchased, picked over and returned several times. Each time, it was subject to mechanical counting and bagging.

The small cent decision took 2+ years to resolve. There was no need to mention past efforts. Snowden was concentrating on passage of the coinage bill.

I suspect there was discussion from the Coiner right from the beginning of 1857 production. The alloy was harder to work and coin than anything the US Mint had used in the past. Reducing relief was a good excuse for yielding to public complains.

Buying or selling I would grade it AU for the abrasion on shoulder and cheek. A TPG might call it MS-63 - too many dents and marks to go any higher, even from them.

Here are director Snowden's reasons for replacing the flying eagle design on small cents, and his description of the obverse portrait. [Mint of the United States Philadelphia] November 4, 1858 Hon. Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury Washington City Sir, I have caused sever al experimental dies to be prepared with a view top an improvement in the cent coinage. The alloy of which this coin is composed is harder than gold or silver of standard fineness, and it is a more difficult coin to strike than the others, that is to say, it does not come up as well. Our experience has shown that the present devices of the cent are in too high relief taking into view the size of the eagle, and the largeness of the wreath. I am induced to recommend a change not only because of the difficulty just mentioned, but because the present devices do not seem to be very acceptable to the public. I think this in great part arises from the fact that the pubic are not accustomed to see the Eagle drawn from nature, and do not know him when presented to their view. They are accustomed to see the heraldic eagle, namely the “eagle displayed,” which bears [little resemblance or likeness] of our bald eagle of America or indeed to any eagle. The specimens which I herewith send you have been stuck from dies prepared in lower relief than the present ones, and with devices which will probably be more acceptable to the public. The obverse, it will be seen, presents an ideal head of America – the drooping plumes of the North American Indian, giving it the character of North America. It contains the usual legend “United States of America,” with the word “Liberty” [xxxx]. The reverse is a plain laurel wreath surrounding the denominations of the coins – “One Cent.” I hope these devices, and the general appearance of the coins will receive your approbation. If so, I propose to adopt the dies on the first day of January next. I name that time, because it will take several weeks to prepare the number of working dies, that we require, and besides, I think it best, as a general policy, to avoid changes during the current [calendar] year. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Your faithful servant, James Ross Snowden, Director of the Mint

Well, it's a "classic" MS-60 coin with lots of bag marks/scrapes.

Put a bright new nickel on the scale. It will weigh 5 grams, on average. Also put a piece of paper on your scale, then zero it. The paper will protect the scale platen from damage. You want to make 10 consecutive measurements and average them to get a reliable weight on these cheap Chinese scales.

Yeah, that's a quandary faced by anyone with deteriorating packaging -- when to act and what to do. Does the quarter haze remain and possibly alter the surface, or remove it and "change" the present appearance? [Added aside -- Funny that the same thing happens with people.]

There were few "shenanigans or under-the-table payments" until the mid-1860s and early 1870s under James Pollock and a succession of coiners and employees who bought/sold coins to Philadelphia and NYC dealers. Much of the "standard story" is false or highly distorted. That will be dealt with in my book.

Prior mint practice was to allow the Engraver and others to do private work on their private time - so long as it did not interfere with Mint work. Longacre started his job in the dog-house and remained there because of delays with the double eagle. He was not really hired to design and cut dies - he was there to touch up and sink dies from hubs prepared by the reducing lathe. The mint's insular approach to almost everything meant that main Treasury and the Auditors were largely unaware of past off-the-clock work by engravers and mint staff. There was also sensitivity about past medal contract fulfillment where all the work was on private time but used govt equipment, and was managed by the Chief Coiner. Dir Snowden was strongly biased against Franklin Peale and anything that resembled the former coiner's medal making practices (as did the Navy medal) must have been automatically suspect by Snowden. The Sec Treas, Guthrie, had to depend on Snowden for information.

Take good photos of the packaging so you (and others) have clear documentation on both packaging and the slabbed coins matching those in original cellophane. So-called "original" sets are abundant - sets that were actually kept together are unusual. (PCGS will not quibble about the eagle's leg.)

Check to see if there is PL in that area. If the planchets were "always polished" for proofs, then any un-struck or incompletely struck area might show residual polish.

Unless an authenticating organization will publicly present its data, the slabbed item is just a wood chip off the coal bin. The burden of proof is on the authenticator. See: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/10-facts-lees-headquarters-gettysburg

All the sets were shipped in small boxes originally intended for medals. The size of box depended on the customer's order. Envelopes might have been used of one or two-coin orders, but I've never seen one. A box protected the coins - an envelope did not. (RE: Half dollar. I should have said " left leg" not "breast." )

Nice descriptions....photos not displaying in Firefox. Looked at it on PCGS board. Excellent preservation. What's on the rev of the half -- eagle's breast? The cellophane is 80+ years old. Keep in a cool, dry place with a sulfur trapping pad.

The director (Snowden) asks the Sec of Treas(Guthrie) of the director can have the Mint Treasurer pay Longacre the salary that was withheld, or if Treasury continues to object. (One becomes accustomed to reading this stuff quickly - at least if anything is to be accomplished.)

Will need sharper photos top help.