RWB

How about a list of dealers who didn't get robbed....or...maybe one of dealers who cheated customers, or bounce checks, or....... Robberies and thefts are nothing unusual, and rates are much lower now than way back when. Crooks change with the times and opportunities; honest people have to do the same.

Non-precinct voting has too many potential security problems where states have individual regulations. It works well in some European countries, but their jurisdictional systems do not align with that in the US, so making comparisons is difficult. Political party poll watchers are permitted in all Federal elections including primaries. If any of them think there is something wrong they have a responsibility to speak up; and there is a process for coordinating this.

Nope --- that's clearly a one-eared leprechaun who is out there trapping marsupials. He cut off one ear to put in the marsupial trap. because he was out of marshmallows which, as we ALL KNOW, are favorites of marchupials.

The coins in your photos are ordinary items pulled from pocket change. During the 1950s average circulation quality was approximately like your coins. Adding more photos does not change anything.

The only mintage for 1927 Experimental pieces I've found is an estimate of 5 pieces.

Bigelow donated his pattern piece to the Museum, which held it in its collection until most of the collection was sold 70 years later. If collectors will simply read modern research books they can find the answers themselves.

Pattern pieces were and are entirely legal, despite attempts by Dirs Kimball and Andrew to claim otherwise. (There is no relationship between pattern pieces and 1933 DE.)

Hubs and dies were made in December 1907, and patterns struck in January 1908. Then everything was suspended until Congress passed the IGWT bill, and TR decided to try Bigelow's goofy (and false) sunken relief idea --- about 3 months delay. (Lettering the edge was not so big a deal as often assumed. US Mint had experience lettering Mexican coinage.)

I don't recall exactly --- 1980s maybe ? The "received Holy Wisdom" prior to my research was that no S-G half eagles were made. This was accompanied by many 'learned' guesses, assumptions and blather based entirely on hot air and BS.

An article will soon be in my bi-weekly Coin Week column.

The Federal election rule is "vote where your legal residence is on election day." Many states allow those whose address has not been updated in the polling books to cast a "provisional ballot" which will be individually checked once the election day polls are closed, but before the final tally is certified. This cross checking always reveals 1 or 2 people who voted in the wrong place, and they have to appear in person at the Registrar's Office to verify by affidavit which is correct. Many states also permit same-day registration and voting with proper ID. In Virginia, where I am an Officer of Elections, everything is handled by closed systems - except paper ballots are used and counted by a scanner. There is no political party registration so voters in a dual party primary have to request a specific party ballot. Every electronic and paper system is verified by 2 or more officers before the polls open and this is repeated once they close. Nobody can leave until all numbers match, and no one has the ability to alter any electronic number. Once everything is completed, electronic and paper copies of the data are certified at each precinct, sealed with signed labels, and taken directly to the Clerk of the Circuit Court and held under seal. The states have somewhat different rules, so what applies in Virginia might not be the same in Idaho. Now, let's return to coins, medals, and other stuff.

Larger dies were more likely to have invisible defects due to improper hardening, annealing and tempering.

Info will be published in my bi-weekly Coin Week column. (The Barber Collectors' Group also has permission to reprint it in their newsletter later in the year.)

Moral ---- If you are a coin dealer, do not drive a car.

Blasphemy! Burn 'em at the stake in front of the Cathedral - just like Esmeralda ! TPGs are Sacred. They do not have an obligation to explain their decisions to anyone or anything.

Yep, it is. Please let us know when you try some. Many copper alloys have or acquire "pink" tones, so assuming an aluminum-bronze alloy does not tell us anything. BTW the obsolete term "wire rim" usually meant a "fin." There is no fin on your cent -- it's just struck a little off center. The "cud" is missing from the posted photos. Please add one or two.

I scrolled though the Heritage archives but did not find a 1907-D with a defect as described in the letter. It was a quick look, so I might easily have missed something.

Does anyone out there have a defective 1907-D half eagle as described in this letter.....?

Regarding dealer examination of unusual coins. Members are trying to help another person save a lot of money - it's not working. Very few coin dealers are "expert" at anything. An almost literal handful are recognized experts in certain designs or series. Unless "The Three Dealer Amigos" that member VasquezJ visited are recognized experts in buffalo nickels AND have researched and seen a 1927 experimental nickel, their opinion is no more useful than that of the guy gaping at his cell phone screen who just collided with a lamp post. The only meaningful suggestion is for VasquezJ to submit the coin to NGC and let us know the results on its return. That gives all of us a little bit of information which we do not, now, posses.

But ----- There will be a tractor pull and a beauty contest among dealers....

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.