Conder101

With that much weight missing, and no visual evidence of etching from and acid, I would strongly suspect a missing clad layer.

It's a D&H 1b, listed as common.

I'm not sure but I believe one of the reasons the insurances companies got such a small award was because manyof the firms saying they paid claims on the wreck no longer had the policys/documantation.  The policy's had been paid and they never expected the cargo would be recovered so they had disposed of the paperwork.

On 3/24/2022 at 10:14 PM, RWB said:

I suspect, but have not seen, that Treasury had a list of repeat purchasers.

I think they probably did, because they did send out lists of what coins were available.

Nickel and copper are basically the same density so without it being thicker the weight for a coin made of nickel would be the same weight as a copper one.  It doesn't appear to be thick like a FE cent, so I can't explain the weight unless there is a higher density material in the alloy.

I strongly suspect a fake.

And if they strike bullion issues at San Francisco those dies are made in Philadelphia as well.  There is no difference between the bullion dies used at Philadelphia, Sn Francisco,or West Point.

In this case they have just placed a sticker on the coin.

Yes but putting them on display calls for creating new displays and they are a greater security risk and cost while on display,.  Most museums have limited resources and would rather put them to use displaying items of broader appeal while keeping the very valuable coins locked away.

On 3/22/2022 at 6:32 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Apparently, the DuPoint 1854-S is still missing decades later:

Yes, the DuPont coin has never resurfaced.  There is still hope though.  Several of the major rarities from the robbery have turned up over the years.

On 3/22/2022 at 8:10 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Didn't collectors by the 1950's realize that large COLOR photos -- including close-ups -- were important for catalogs, records to ID specific coins, etc. ?

Sure but color images in catalogs were very costly at the time.  Even B&W images could be costly which is hy as you go further back in catalogs you see fewer and fewer images and then only of the most important pieces. Most of the B&W images would be halftones. Early plated catalogs would have single inlaid photo prints of important coins and mostly made from life size contact prints.

On 3/23/2022 at 11:20 PM, The Neophyte Numismatist said:

I will have to look into Bugert's books

One of the nice things about his books is that all but the most recent are available for free download online.  The first five can be found here http://www.lsccweb.org/BillBugertBooks.php  Volume VI on the issues of the Philadelphia mint after 1852 isn't out yet.  They really are a fantastic reference.

On 3/24/2022 at 1:03 PM, BillJones said:

If you have all of the die varieties, why collect all the dies states unless it's something that is really striking, like a spectacular terminal die state? Why not start another collection?

Well if you are fixated on a particular series it give you an excuse to keep buying them.  First you try and get all the date/mints, then you try to get all the varieties, and if you are looking at a coin and you have that date, and you have that variety, do you have that die stage?  (John Wright expressed a similar thought "I have that date, and I have that variety, and I have that die stage.......But I don't have a GREEN one!"  Any excuse is a good excuse.)

On 3/23/2022 at 10:39 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

The color of his label is tough to see if it's faded light green or white.

Don't put a lot of faith in label color, the colors weren't stable until their generation 3.1  The generation 3.0 is best known for the unstable color.  Labels can be white, several shades of yellow, several of green and all the way through sky blue depending on whether the yellow or blue dye was breaking down, or both.  At one time I had over a dozen different "colors" of labels for that generation holder.

On 3/22/2022 at 3:58 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

If these were sent to museums or librarys, presumably they'd be on display and we'd know about them ?

Many museums don't display or only display a small part of their numismatic holdings.  So there could be a good chance we wouldn't know about them.

There are plenty of videos on Youtube about how to recover gold from PC boards.

If I remember correctly they had a similar opinion back around the turn of the 20th century when they were of the opinion that any coins that did not conform to the specifications in the coinage act of 1873 were illegal and subject to government confiscation.

On 3/17/2022 at 10:41 PM, Woods020 said:

Seems unlikely any slab that even a questionable TPG used would do that, but who knows. 

The early NGC slabs ("no line fatties") used to tone white silver.  Crescent toning  on the coins closest point to the label.

On 3/19/2022 at 12:38 PM, Coinbuf said:

Just semantics, whether the submitter or NGC cracks the coin the result is the same,

Not quite.  If a non-PCGS coin is submitted for crossover it has to be cracked out and there is no guarantee that it will cross at the same level.  With a PCGS coin it will be examined in the holder and if it won't cross over then it will be returned in the same PCGS slab and you don't lose the PCGS grade.

What is interesting is it definitely isn't real, but the diameter seems right and the thickness to small, yet the weight is right.  A little lead in the alloy?

Part of the problem is that the planchet manufacturers want to keep ALL of their clients happy, so when they get swamped and can't keep up with production they ration planchets to all of their clients.  No one gets all they want, but no one gets shut out either.

Unless there is a huge demand, or for some reason the West Point mint has to close (as they did briefly due to Covid) all the bullion coins are struck at West Point.  If they do have to strike them at another mint then the strapping on the green minster boxes identify which mint they are from, and the boxes get shipped unopened to the TPG's and slabbed with a (S) or (P) on the label so they can be hyped as rare issues.  (But if you were to ever be cracked out they would suddenly become just generic West Point coins, so the only value is in the label.)

On 3/21/2022 at 10:14 PM, VKurtB said:

Unfortunately, the bullion strikes also now look burnished.

To me the business strikes and the "burnished" coins have always looked the same.

On 3/17/2022 at 10:01 AM, Stackerdude21 said:

Since no one has addressed my question (instead diverting to the 2007-8 ASE, [and other "Goop"] which, I already know about,) I must ASSUME no one has ANY answer.

I responded to the question on March 11.

On 3/14/2022 at 10:12 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

Why would the Mint have a problem getting silver blanks/rounds ?

There aren't that many places that produce the planchets, and they are making them for mints all over the world.  They get overwhelmed by demand, and they may still be shorthanded due to covid.

Nice coin.  Off-center not broadstruck.  Personally I see no reason to send it in.

On 3/16/2022 at 3:22 PM, VKurtB said:

. This stinking fetish you have for “documents” leaves me astounded to no end. Go speak to the people DIRECTLY, as I do. 

Sounds like a good idea.  Can you put me in touch with James Ross Snowden?