Adoption Center Was Open Last Week by CaptBrian1

[CSJournals-migration]

Three new babies. Boy are they cute!

 

In 1999, as the story goes, there were some folks at the mint who got some orders one morning to make some gold eagles. The orders were coming in faster than the mint had provided for so the boss harried the workers and they scurried around trying to fill the orders in the alloted time. In the rush, one of them reached up on the shelf containing the $5 dies and grabbed the wrong one from the 1999 pile. Seems it had a W on it. It was supposed to be used for the proof $5 but before the run was over, 266 of them slipped out the door. I suppose the worker figured no one would know who precisely did it, the coins were fine in all respects except it had a W on it. Reminds me of the old movie, ITS A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD with all the big named stars. The money was buried under a big W. Well this little W, also seems to be stirring up quite a furor as collectors vie for one of them. Seems a buddy of mine wanted something else and he had two to sell. I always check and found another one. ( I have buddies all over ). So, I made my offer, and picked them up and the rest is history. Below is a, perhaps, more accurate story,but I like mine better.

BTW, the ones I got are all MS70. I include one picture for now as my good camera is off to the hospital.

 

Below is another version, probably more to the fact, but I like mine better.

 

1999 was the run up to the Y2K hysteria and there was a great deal of concern about whether or not the computers of the world would function properly when the date changed from December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000.

 

Many people bought gold and silver coins so that they would be able to barter if the monetary systems all became unusable.

 

 

Tenth ounce

1998 1,344,520 were made

1999 2,750,338 were made

2000 Only a little over 500,000 were made. See?

 

In late 1999, there was unprecedented demand for smaller denomination American Gold Eagles. Some people are of the opinion, the US Mint had run out of regular dies for these coins and because of the demand, reached up on the shelf and utilized some dies that were prepared for Proof Only strikings. They used these dies to make commercial strikings of the $5, tenth-ounce, and the $10, quarter-ounce coins.

 

Some people refer to these coins as errors, but my friend prefers to call them Emergency Issues, like the 1942/41 dimes.

 

The third version: ( and I promise the last )

 

1999-W $5 Gold Eagle - NGC MS70 With W Unfinished Proof Die Error - VERY RARE! <---[notice the different story emerges]

 

In 1999, the U.S. Mint made a drastic mistake by producing the first Mint State $5 and $10 Gold Eagles bearing a "W" mint mark. In 1999, only Proof Gold Eagles were intended to bear the "W" mint mark. This mistake has left us with a lot of puzzling unanswered questions about the production and existence of the 1999-W $5 and $10 Mint State coins.

 

The year 1999 turned out to be a very busy year for the U.S. Mint. It received a tremendous and unexpected demand for American Gold Eagles. Many believe the Mint was in such a rush to produce 1999 Gold Eagles that in an attempt to meet the public's demand, it inadvertently mixed a proof die into service. Another possible theory is that the Mint may have intentionally put a proof die into service in order to meet the public's demand. Whatever the case may be, we can be certain the coins should not exist today.

 

The huge demand for 1999 Gold Eagles was more than likely created by collectors and investors who were worried about the upcoming Millennium year and some of the potential issues that could have been created by Y2K. Many decided to purchase American Gold Eagles as a safeguard to any potential problems arising due to the upcoming Millennium year. In return, many purchasers of 1999 Gold Eagles decided to purchase mainly fractional issues, since they are much cheaper and more affordable.

 

Going forward, sometime early in the year 2000, some of the first 1999-W Mint State Gold Eagles were discovered. The Mint did not provide any clues or give any indications as to how many of these coins were produced or why. It wasn't until years later that the Mint would give a very important clue as to how many coins could have actually been produced.

 

In 2005, a U.S. Mint spokesman issued a statement indicating that an estimated 6,000 Mint State Gold Eagles are produced from each pair of dies. If this was the case for the 1999-W Mint State Gold Eagles and only one pair of dies was used, a 6,000 production figure for each would not be unlikely. As of this writing, 14 years have passed and there has been no indication or supporting evidence that more than one pair of dies was used to produce this modern key issue. Therefore, if only one pair of dies was actually used and about 6,000 coins were made, this would make both coins very scarce in the Mint State Gold Eagle series. There is a good possibility that some of these coins are still out there unrecognized by collectors as being the elusive 1999-W Mint State Gold Eagles, because they can be confused with Proof coins since Proofs also bear the "W" mint mark.

Fred Weinberg, a U.S. coin dealer specializing in major error and U.S. coins, indicated he bought hundreds of the 1999-W Mint State Gold Eagle coins from a major mint distributor at one time. This distributor had already sent the majority of these dates and denominations to Japan for jewelry purposes. Julian Leidman, also a major dealer, buyer and seller of these coins, indicated he owned hundreds of these coins all at once and he mentioned he still buys and sells these coins because he believes they are a great modern issue.

 

The most recent total population figures do not match or even come close to matching the 6,000 possible figures, even if one pair of dies was actually used. With many 1999-W gold eagles going overseas, tucked away in rolls, IRA accounts and even in private collections, we may never know the actual amount of coins in existence. So for now, we can only speculate.

 

In the future, there is a possibility the supply of these coins may increase if some of them ever show up from the above mentioned sources. However, many years have gone by and the supply has not significantly increased. So far, the demand has exceeded the availability

 

So folks, those are three scenarios, of course mine maks the most sense, [doesn't it?] Anyway, I have three of them and they will be on display at the Florida United Numismatics convention in January, 2014 with all the stories I can find, (or dream up haha).

 

Happy collecting

BTW: What do you think is the real story? Only the mint master knows for sure.

 

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