cpm9ball

For Morgan and Peace dollar varieties, try the VAMworld.com site first. Some of the VAMpires there are willing to help new collectors, but try to keep it simple and stay focused. (The VAMpires are now working on 4th-level identifiers: 1922 VAM 2BZ2, and similar stuff.)

That is why I stopped collecting VAM's. Rusty dies was bad enough, but "Squiggles" was the last straw.

Chris

Be careful of the VAM books....there is good info and there is a lot of obsolete info, also. The background information is old and has not been corrected/updated.

Yeah, the "Bible" was last printed in 1992. At that time there were about 1,800 varieties. Now, there are about 4,000 or so. Some of the old theories no longer apply.

Chris

Also, Roger's From Mine to Mint goes into great detail on Mint operations from 1837 to 1937.

You might also try Van Ryzin's The Crime of 1873: The Comstock Connection, but I have to warn you that it is a "slow read".

Chris

Clarity begins at home?

 

Another weekend gone by with no new finds.

Tom, I hope you aren't putting notches on the edge of your dining room table.

Chris

Coin World just added this to their news section. Let the wide-scale searching begin!

 

http://www.coinworld.com/news/new-doubled-die-obverse-found-on-1919-dime.html

 

I am surprised that they did not mention Jeff Sam's name in the bulletin.

Would they have needed his permission to release his name?

Chris

Do you mind sharing that?

Chris

Drum roll..........

And......?

Chris

Got the pictures today of the possible Specimen #3. It is NOT the doubled die. Just machine doubling.

 

That takes the population back down to one confirmed by Fivaz and one on the way to Fivaz. He should have it Tuesday. This one I am very sure of because the guy had it in his hand while I asked him "Does it have this" and "does it have that" and everything matches Strikeout's pictures.

 

Tune in tomorrow!

 

TD

Roger that!

Chris

The SMS coins are listed together with the proof issues.

Chris

Chris, I would love to see a picture of that!

Unfortunately, I'd need my stereomicroscope hooked up to do it justice, but where I'm currently living, I don't have room.

Chris

That Jeff is really cool!

My favorite strikethrough is on the reverse of an 1889 Morgan I acquired in a Scotsman auction many years ago though the strikethrough isn't noted on the slab. It appears to be a sliver of cloth which begins near the "n" of IGWT, runs diagonally across the eagle's breast, crosses the arrows and then splits in two directions across the wreath and "LL" of DOLLAR.

Chris

The value depends on the type of strikethrough. Grease-filled dies are very common, but for some error collectors, coins struck through some foreign object such as a piece of wire, dropped element, etc. can sell for some premium. It also depends on whether the object is retained or not. Just recently, a collector on another forum posted a coin with a retained strikethrough. It was a complete staple believed to have come from one of the bristle brushes that are ordinarily used to clean machinery.

Chris

I don't want to rain on your parade, but since it appears that it isn't a DDO or DDR and it appears to have some condition problems from circulation, I would put it's value at 25c.

Chris

It doesn't look like a doubled die. It is either machine doubling or quite possibly a strike from worn out dies.

Chris

As near as I can tell, they are a private company engaged in production of medallions and souvenir coins for businesses and some military organizations. We have one here in Washington State known as the NW Territorial Mint that does the same kind of stuff. Some of the coins they turn out are quite nice. I like this one as it complements some other medallions I have. I don't like it enough to pay $120 for it mind you as Mr. Jones indicates the current value to be, but at melt plus dealer markup, I like it.

I think it is a very nice medal, and you got it for a pretty good price.

On a side note, I believe that Medallic Art Company and Northwest Territorial Mint either merged or one bought the other. I don't know which.

Chris

You could study grading coins for 10 years, and I doubt you could spot a PR70. THe majority here couldn't, including myself.

 

When it comes to proof sets directly from the Mint, it's really easy. If it ain't a PF69UCAM, it's a PF70UCAM!

 

Chris

Virginia had always been "frugal" when I was growing up in the DC Metro area. I remember when the Capitol Beltway (I-495) was being constructed. Unlike Maryland, Virginia didn't want to spend the money for a third lane on their 25-mile stretch. It was always a bottleneck if you had to travel into Virginia from Maryland during rush hour. Ten years later, when they realized it would be necessary to add two more lanes, it costed Virginia more for those two additional lanes than it did, originally, to build the entire 52-miles in both Maryland and Virginia.

Fast forward to the year 2000 and the VA SQ. I guess they're still cheap!

Chris

Boiler - you certainly have a good eye -

nicely toned coin - very acceptable grade -

and an old Doily Holder to boot. Nice Pick Up.

 

You haven't done too badly yourself, Mike! How have you been?

Chris

BTW, does anyone know what to multiply the face value of 40% silver to get the approximate melt value? Thank you!

 

The ASW for a 40% IKE is .3161..simply multiply .3161 x spot price = silver value ( of course mixed metal coin silver should sell for less than .999 because of the more complex process of extracting the silver from the other metals)

Halves - .1479

Dollars - .3161

I think these are the correct numbers.

Chris

James Garcia

Mark Hooten

Tom Wnuk

Rey Brown

Hayden Tubbs

Greg Margulie

David Lange

There are others, but I can't remember their names.

Oh, yes!

Shane "Whatshisface" Canup

Since bois durci wasn't patented until 1855, I can only assume that your medallion is a restrike, probably from one of Wyon's 1837 dies.

Chris

I'm still researching this 113mm medal of young Victoria in bois durci to determine the engraver (W. Wyon?) and manufacturer.

 

 

 

 

 

Yarm,

Is this a uniface medal? I'm wondering if it isn't a trial piece for one of the other medals or some of the coinage.

William Wyon (British), 1795-1851, was born in Birmingham and was the eldest son of Peter Wyon. As you can see from the genealogical chart, he came from a large family of designers, engravers and medallists.

His credits for coinage and medals is quite extensive and covers 35 pages in Forrer's Biographical Dictionary of Medallists. The only listings for medals of Queen Victoria date to 1837 and are:

"Accession of Queen Victoria"

"Queen Victoria: Medallions, Models and Trial pieces for the coinage"

"Queen Victoria at the Mayoralty Banquet at the Guildhall, London"

"Guildhall, London Medal (Queen's Visit to the City)"

Chris

I got this in a trade with one of our esteemed members, but my photos don't do it justice.

Thanks, Jaime!

Chris

Why not!

Chris

Irvin, is that one from Shane's auctions?

Chris