RWB

If the "extra"star is raised, then that is the most likely option, unless there is some way for and impressed coin to be forced into the edge of another with enough energy to depress hard bronze.

In MTM-2 I included a section that defines and explains US Mint usage of several common terms. I'm considering a USB with each book....we'll see.

You can buy all the ancient bronze coins you could possibly want off ebay auctions, etc. Most are from Romanian hoards and not worth $5 each. Stuff in the condition of your coin might as well be.....

The only "error" is thinking this is an authentic coin. It is a counterfeit and of absolutely no value. Consider: Do you have expertise with US coins, specifically Trade dollars or Seated Liberty dollars? Do you have any authentic Trade dollars? Do you know how to detect 90% silver alloy? Did you acquire this "thing" from a trusted source? Do you have $50 to donate to NGC or PCGS so they can have a good laugh? When you find something strange or odd, go the the Guide Book of US Coins and look for it. Compare the photos -- details, not generalities. Go to the NGC listings and look at authentic coins - again, compare details. If you remain confused, then post the coin and ask for opinions. Allow members to help you understand what you have, rather than you declaring what you think. The members know a lot more than you do about coins. (Compare the obverse to the one Sandon posted, below. They must be identical.)

My penmanship is illegible without having to invent new letter forms. Of course, there is always Icelandic which uses some of the archaic letters Majuscule forms (also called uppercase or capital letters) A Á B D Ð E É F G H I Í J K L M N O Ó P R S T U Ú V X Y Ý Þ Æ Ö Minuscule forms (also called lowercase or small letters) a á b d ð e é f g h i í j k l m n o ó p r s t u ú v x y ý þ æ ö

If you, or anyone else, want some fascinating page flipping, go to the NNP website and look for NARA Philadelphia Entry-1 Box 002 1792-1817 Warrants. Here's the first page of warrants. The Warrant Journal shows purchases of materials, supplies, horses, horse food, copper, iron and steel for making dies and machinery, guard dogs, skilled and unskilled labor, and on and on. A glance through just this first page offers some new words to search for: perches, scantling, castings, warrant....Then there's figuring out use of the archaic "long-s" that looks like an "f" without the crossbar....How were firebricks made out of clay, etc? This journal might be one of the single most fascinating volumes in American numismatics -- and your little half-cent is, and came from, the very heart of the period, events and people.

Glad the book is generating questions. Please send them along to me. I'm in the final 20% of the follow-on book and want to answer as many questions as I can in it. At the moment there are 20 sections over about 400 pages. It will have the same 6x9 format. The draft cover looks like this:

PS: "Millions" is unlikely, but if genuine a very nice nest egg.

Seek out a reputable auction company (AH Bladwin & Son) that has past experience with Byzantine and Islamic Caliphate coinage. The ones in the group photo appear that be dinara. Try this site for starters. https://www.vcoins.com/en/coins/world/islamic-1806.aspx Retail prices are about $400 to $1,400, but there are limited collectors due to language and the "boringness" of many issues. Fakes are abundant. Here is a genuine UMAYYAD, TEMP. AL-WALID (AH 86-96 / 705-715 AD), Gold Dinar being sold by Baldwins for about $1,300.

Excellent early copper! Your coin oozes history and character....From which of several suppliers did the copper originate, or did it come from a batch sold the mint by Chief Coiner Voigt? Was this copper imported or native from New Jersey? Might David Rittenhouse have handled this coin when it was new as he inspected the coinage? [Table of copper purchases 1792-1798]

All sorts of people collect coins, and one of the nice things about the hobby is that there is no definition of what to collect. It's a matter of personal interest and enjoyment not necessarily related to any kind of monetary value. Certainly, share your interests and discoveries with others; but don't expect others to react the same way you do to a particular piece. Just a thought.

Bronze shell casings (mostly 50 cal) from US training bases were used as raw material for 1944-1947 cents. However, the melted bronze was "sweetened" with pure copper to bring the alloy to normal 95% copper. Thus, "shell case" cents are completely indistinguishable from any other normal cents. (See my book United States Pattern and Experimental Pieces of WW-II, for additional information.)

Sandon's comment is correct as far as any information I have from the U.S' Mint Bureau. Post-strike edge lettering/ornamentation is much faster and cheaper than the tripart collar used for proofs. Maintenance costs are low and inspection is handled by machine. There is a greater percentage of defective edge lettering than during striking, but the QA system catches most.

Jeff has no evidence -- except money paid by the gullible - for these there are no documents except the ones where the mint director gave the Smithsonian fresh coins off new dies that year, as was done almost every year. The only controversy is how simultaneously greedy and ignorant can some "professionals" in this business get.

No. No. No. No. These are ordinary Indian cents pulled from circulation long ago. They are worth about 30-cents each.

Small dollar edge devices are not applied when the faces are struck. They are impressed by running the pieces through mill, and skips, over runs and other errors are known. As Sandon noted, only blank edge coins have any premium.

You're teasing us, aren't you? Say you are.... It's a circulated 1944-S (not "1844 s") in VF condition. A bright, original Unc coin of that date would be "kinda wonderful."

Not a doubled die coin. Worth 25-cents.

...and only dated 1965, 1966 and 1967.

No 1964 Special Mint Sets were ever made by the US Mint. They and the supposed coins from them do not, and never did, exist. Coins being touted as 1964 SMS are simply early strikes off new dies....a situation which occurs every time dies are changed in every year in every denomination.

Each bracelet took about a dozen of the little "silver fish scales" so it all worked out. I paid 25 or 30 cents each for them as junk from dealers, but I got a lot of value for the money and the girls had a really different looking piece of jewelry.

He had some really good insights, and was always helpful to new collectors. He was the kind of person you like from the beginning -- and miss very much at the end.

At present I have complete, or advanced drafts of 19 sections totaling about 400 pages. I'm still accepting suggestions for subjects, and have a large amount of data to sift through. Here's a list of the sections so far. They are not in final order and I realize the titles might not be very helpful. The comment "new page size" refers to adjusting text and illustrations to fit the 6x9-inch page that will be used. This is the same size book as From Mint to Mint. I might add a USB drive to the package in place of a CD. Mine to Mint 2 builds on the first book, so there is connection but not much repetition. 1 US Mint in City of Washington v10 new page size.docx 2 Metal to Money v05 new page size.docx 3 Engraving v07 New page size.docx 4 Distribution of Coinage v11 new size page.docx 5 Circulation of Foreign Gold and Silver Coins v09-new page size.docx 6 Laminar and Turbulent Die Metal Flow v03 New page size.docx 7 M-R operations v04 Resized.docx 8 Financial language of Mint 03.docx 9 How gold and silver were deposited at the Mints v05.docx 10 Getting a Job at the Philadelphia Mint v02.docx 11 Mint Machinery and Equipment v04.docx 12 Moore-Staford correspondence Questions regarding coinage v02.docx 13 18580701 DM Mint regulations v01.docx 14 Delivering Coins at End of Calendar Year v02.docx 15 Annual Assay Commission v02.docx 16 18470601 DeBow Review Branch Mints v02.docx 17 British view of American Mints 1884 US Mint description-Royal Mint.docx 18 New Philadelphia Mint 1969 v02.docx 19 Supplies v02.docx

Mint and Treasury accounts did not work that way. Plus everything was routinely audited -- literally down to the cent. However, in the 19th century off-metal coppers of many silver and gold pattern pieces were given to favored collectors, and used for Congressional examination for free. There was no accountable cost for the work time and the metal cost was just scrap. (See my book Fads, Fakes and Foibles for how the Mint charged members of Congress for Goloid patterns, etc.) If you read Renaissance of American Coinage 1905-1908 you'll see that Augusta's lawyer played an important role in getting the coin for her and in ensuring the Estate was paid for both designs.

No one got complimentary coins. Mint accounts had to balance and the director spent time during several months collecting from officials to whom Roosevelt had sent coins. Mint contingency accounts did not allow complimentary coins -- all had to be paid for. Augusta got one EHR only because the President ordered one of the two in the Mint Cabinet to be sold to her. The pieces in Barber's personal collection were acquired the same way -- he paid for them.