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Friday, February 26, 2010

Wrong Date on Taylor $1 Edge
By Numismatic News


Discovery of a Zachary Taylor Presidential dollar with a 2010 date instead of 2009 has caused the U.S. Mint to recall 700,000 of the Taylor dollars already in the process of being released in hopes of preventing others from getting into public hands, Numismatic News error specialist Ken Potter reports.

Numismatic Guaranty Corp. announced Feb. 20 that it had authenticated a Zachary Taylor Denver Presidential dollar coin bearing the date 2010 on its edge instead of the correct 2009.

This is the first reported Presidential dollar with the wrong date. It might be the only one. The authentication process was overseen by NGC special consultant and mint error expert, David J. Camire.

NGC said, “This error coin was included in a roll of 2010-D Native American dollar coins that were purchased using the U.S. Mint’s Direct Ship Program. Since only this lone Zachary Taylor dollar was found in the roll, one can speculate that the same machinery was used to strike 2010-D Native American dollars after completing a run of 2009-D Zachary Taylor dollars. A coin was left behind somewhere between striking and edge lettering (and) became mixed with Native American dollars headed for the edge lettering process, and was thus inscribed with the wrong date.

“Because of where this coin was found, it does not suggest that a large run of error coins were made and, therefore, this type of error coin may remain a significant rarity.”

When asked what the value might be, Potter replied, “That’s a tough question.” If it remains one of a kind, he said, “I think it could be $10,000.”

NGC explained the Presidential dollar coin striking process this way, “The date on each Presidential dollar coin appears on its edge and is applied by an edge lettering die after the obverse and reverse are struck with a blank collar. Because edge lettering is an additional and subsequent step, it has been the source of several types of novel mint error coins. Most common among these errors is partial edge lettering, which occurs when a coin gets hung up in the edge lettering machine and part of the edge lettering is not impressed. Another error is missing edge lettering; that error occurs when a coin misses the edge lettering step entirely. A third error type that has been encountered is doubled edge lettering, which is created when a coin passes through the edge lettering machine twice.

“The error coins that result from a cross pollination of Presidential dollars and Sacagawea or Native American dollars are unquestionably some of the most exciting error coins coming out of any mint today,” Camire said.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Numbers Point to Melting of 1873-CC Dollar
By Paul M. Green


Mintages can sometimes be deceptive. Of course when the mintage in question is just 2,300 pieces it is hard for that to get too deceptive, but this is the case for the 1873-CC Seated Liberty dollar.

In early 1873 Congress was moving toward the authorization of a commercial or Trade dollar that would be larger than the standard silver dollar. While that was pending the mints could not simply stop, so normal production continued.

In Carson City normal production was not really a way of life. Since the facility opened for business in 1870, it had seen one problem after another. From the start it never produced the numbers of coins many expected. The problem was not a lack of silver. Heaven knows there was silver by the ton in nearby Virginia City, where the Comstock Lode was being mined. However, the owners of that silver did not want to send it to the local mint. The first superintendent of the Carson City Mint was Abe Curry, who apparently had more enemies than friends in the area. A number of owners shipped their silver all the way to San Francisco. Even when Curry left, the practice continued.

The silver dollar mintages in the early 1870s at Carson City had been well short of enormous. The 1870-CC, the first of the Carson City silver dollars, had a mintage of 12,462, and that was followed by the 1871-CC with a mintage of 1,376 and the 1872-CC had a mintage of 3,150.

Under these circumstances, the 2,300 mintage of the 1873-CC was not unusual. The production was stopped once the law authorizing the Trade dollar was passed early in the year.

The precise number of 1873-CC dollars to reach circulation is not known. Certainly the total was not large as is seen in the G-4 price of $6,000 today, and that price rises to $48,500 in AU-50. It lists for $225,000 in MS-63 and $625,000 in MS-65.

The high prices suggest that something went wrong with the mintage as the 1873-CC is more expensive than the 1,376 mintage 1871-CC in every grade.

The logical reason is that the 1873-CC was melted. The new Trade dollar would have more silver. It made sense that even though the Trade dollar in theory was made to be exported, the public would rather have the dollar made with slightly more silver. It is worth noting that Carson City has a history of melting down coins. The 1876-CC 20-cent piece was almost certainly melted. The Trade dollar would see some melting as well with 44,148 being melted in July of 1878.

As it stands today the 1873-CC is tougher than a date produced just two years earlier and with a 1,000-coin higher mintage. The differences in numbers may not be significant, but they are enough to make the 1873-CC Seated Liberty dollar the true king of the Carson City dollars.

Saturday, February 06, 2010

2010 Lincoln Shield Cent Release
in Springfield, Illinois

By CoinNews.net



The US Mint on Thursday announced the ceremonial release date for the newly redesigned 2010 Lincoln Shield Cent.

The official launch will occur on Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 9:30 AM Central Time at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois.

The city is a popular destination for those wishing to follow in the footsteps of Lincoln, as it is there where he spent most of his adult life prior to becoming the 16th President of the United States.

Along with a plethora of other Lincoln related sites, to include the museum and the historic site where he lived, Springfield is home to Lincoln’s Tomb.

The new Lincoln "Preservation of the Union" penny is emblematic of President Lincoln’s "preservation of the United States of America as a single and united country." The reverse features a union shield with a scroll draped across it bearing the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM. The 13 vertical stripes of the shield represent the states joined in one compact union to support the Federal government, represented by the horizontal bar above.
The union shield dates back to the 1780s and was used widely during the Civil War. In addition, the shield device is featured on frescoes throughout the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building by Constantino Brumidi, artist of the Capitol during Lincoln’s presidency. It was designed by Lyndall Bass and engraved by Joseph Menna.

Release Information

The ceremony in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is located at 212 N. Sixth Street,
Springfield, IL.

US Mint Directory Ed Moy will unveil the new cent.
Jan Grimes, Acting Executive Director, and Dr. James Cornelius, Curator, of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will be in attendance, as well as Elizabeth Wooley, News Anchor/Reporter, WICS TV.

Following the event, children 18 years and younger will receive one of the new pennies while adults can exchange cash for between two and six rolls of the coins.

On the same day, the cents will be available at the counters of Union Station in Washington, D.C., and at the U.S. Senate’s credit union. Both are open from 10 AM to 4 PM ET.