(Sneak preview for Politicook members, one of the advantages of being on this site).

The United States is a recent entry in bullion coin production. England started producing bullion coins in 1489! The US started in 1986 with the Silver and Gold Eagles, with nominal face values of $1 up to $50.

Bullion coins are designed not to be circulated, but rather held for their intrinsic value. Except in rare situations, they have little collector value. One notable exception is the 1995W Proof Silver Eagle, worth around $5000. This is because only about 30,000 were minted, and Proofs for this series generally run in the hundreds of thousands.

Since bullion coins are not speculative, other than for their metal content, they are eligible for holding in tax sheltered retirement accounts, unlike collectible coins. Well know bullion coins from other countries include the Chinese Panda, the South African Krugerrand, and the Canadian Maple Leaf. There are others, but this series is about US coins.

As I said, the Silver Eagle (along with the Gold Eagle) was the first US bullion coin. It is 99.93% silver and 0.07% copper, thus higher in silver content than standard US coin silver at 90% / 10%. The coin is 40.6 mm in diameter and has a mass of 31.01 grams, working out to one ounce Troy of fine silver. Silver is today (23 October 2008) down to $9.35 per ounce Troy, according to Bloomberg.com. Unlike gold and platinum US bullion coins, only the one ounce size is minted.

This is a strikingly beautiful coin, since it uses the design that A. A. Weinman created for the Walking Liberty Half Dollar (see previous installments). The reverse is a rather nice heraldic eagle, hence the term Silver Eagle.

Both normal strikes and proofs can be purchased directly from the Mint or from dealers. Pawn shops are often pretty good places to find bullion coins.

Here are pictures of the coin (this one is a Proof, normal strikes are uniform, that is, the background and images are not in such contrast):

Obverse of US Silver Eagle
Designed by A. A. Weinman
1986 – Present

Reverse of US Silver Eagle
Designed by John Mercanti
1986 – Present

The United States produces two three series of gold bullion coins. The first series is called the Gold Eagle, and comes in four denominations (all of the dollar values are pretty much meaningless, but if the value of gold ever falls below face value, they will at least be worth that). They all have the same obverse and reverse (except for the size identification) designs and are 22 karat gold (91.67% gold, 5.33% copper, and 3% silver). The denominations are:

$5, 16.5 mm diameter, mass 3.393 g, which comes to 0.10 ounce Troy in fine gold. Today the gold in them is worth $71.07.

$10, 22 mm diameter, mass 8.483 g, which comes to 0.25 ounces Troy in fine gold. Today’s value is $177.68.

$25, 27 mm diameter, mass 16.966 g, which comes to 0.50 ounces Troy in fine gold. Today’s value is $355.35.

Finally there is the $50 one, 32.7 mm diameter, mass 33.931 g, which comes to one ounce Troy fine gold, worth $710.70.

Originally, only Proof strikes of these coins could be bought directly from the Mint, but regular strikes had to be purchased from dealers. The Mint had deals with several large distributors, and they in turn sold them to other dealers, who then sold them to the public. I do not know the politics behind that. If anyone does, please explain in the comments. This policy evidently has changed, since the online catalog from the Mint offers both proof and regular strikes to the public.

These coins are also very attractive. The obverse design is the beautiful Saint-Gaudens one used on the double eagle circulating coin (see earlier installments), arguably the most beautiful US coin design. The reverse is a nest of eagles. I post only pictures of the $50 one, since the others are identical except for denomination lettering and size. Here is the picture:

$50 Gold Eagle
Obverse designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Reverse designed by Miley Busiek
1986 – Present

The second gold series is recent and is designed to compete with the Canadian Maple Leaf, in that it is a 24 karat (0.9999 fine) gold coin, a first in US mintage. Since it is not intended for circulation, being very soft is not a disadvantage, and many investors prefer 0.9999 fine gold to alloy.

The coin is the design used on the Indian Head Five Cent piece from 1913 to 1938 (see earlier installments) by James Earle Fraser. It has a diameter of 32.7 mm and a mass of 31.11 g. This comes to one ounce Troy, worth $710.70 today. The mint also issues a coin of half the mass, but only in a special set. There is talk of doing the same insofar as smaller sizes go as is done with the Eagle series, but that has not yet happened.

Here is a picture of the coin:

$50 Gold Buffalo
Designed by James Earle Fraser
2006 – Present

The Mint could not keep up with demand for this coin recently and suspended sales in September of this year. With the price of gold easing, I look for them to get started again soon.

There is actually a third gold bullion series, but it will expire. In the last installment I talked about the Presidential Golden Dollar series, and there actually is a gold bullion companion series. These are half ounce Troy 0.9999 fine coins, worth $355.35 today. These coins have too many varieties to list pictures of them all, but are designed to honor the spouses of corresponding Presidential Dollars. I was unable to find the diameter of the coin, but its mass has to be 15.555 g, which is equivalent to 0.5 ounce Troy.

You historians are already saying, “But, but, but some Presidents had no spouse!”, and you are correct. In those cases, a depiction of Liberty from a coin design of the period in which the particular President served is used instead. The one set of pictures from this series that I include is from the one that corresponds to Andrew Jackson:

$10 First Spouse, Jackson’s Liberty
Obverse designed by John Reich (this design was originally on the Half Dollar during Jackson’s time)
Reverse designed by Justin Kunz
Series 2006 until we run out of Presidents

The last series of bullion coins that the United States produces is in platinum. This is a very complex series, with various reverses, differing from regular strikes and proof strikes, and four sizes. All are composed of 0.9995 fine platinum, and so are very soft. An aside about platinum:

Most people are familiar with platinum jewelery, which is very hard. Actually, this is normally a 90% platinum / 10% iridium alloy, and is indeed hard (the standard kilogram and standard meter in Paris are made of this alloy because of stability and wear resistance). In pure form, and 0.9995 fine is pretty pure, platinum is easy to bend and scratch. You chemistry laboratory types can back me up on that.

This series comes in the following denominations:

$10 nominal, 16.5 mm diameter, 0.10005 ounce Troy, giving 0.1000 ounce Troy fine platinum. Today’s value is $84.35.

$25 nominal, 22 mm diameter, 0.2501 ounce Troy, giving 0.250 ounce Troy fine platinum. Today’s value is $210.88.

$50 nominal, 27 mm diameter, 0.5003 ounce Troy, giving 0.500 ounce Troy fine platinum. Today’s value is $421.75.

$100 nominal, 32.7 mm diameter, 1.0005 ounce Troy, giving 1.000 ounce Troy fine platinum. Today’s value is $843.50.

All four sizes share a common design for the year and type, just like the gold eagles. The reverse differs within a type only by the lettering for weight and denomination. Here is a picture of the most common one:

$100 Platinum Eagle
Obverse designed by John M. Mercanti
Reverse designed by Thomas D. Rogers, Sr.
1997 – Present (with reverse design variations)

That is pretty much the story on US bullion coins. Next time I will talk about the properties that make a “good” coin, and whilst there are some in common between circulating and bullion coins, there are also some significant differences. In the installment after that, I will discuss the coin manufacturing process. Other ideas for topics are always welcome.

As always, comments and questions are welcome.

Warmest regards,

Doc

I decided to post this today even though the debate is coming up because of a new development in gold. I have been working on this off and on for several days (one does not just sit and type this kind of detail), but today the Mint announced that is has suspended the striking of the 24 karat, 1 ounce Troy Buffalo bullion coin. More in a minute.

So far we have covered the history of United States coins pretty much from the first strikes to 1933, but I have mentioned gold only in passing. There was a reason for that, and it was that no one has the chance to see, even less handle, gold US coins, with a few exceptions.

Previous diaries cover the laws that dictated our monetary policies, and I will refer you to them rather than repeat them. This diary will concentrate on the more well known gold issues, and some of the history surrounding them.

Here is the breaking news: the US Mint has run out of gold. Thus, it has suspended striking the Buffalo bullion coin. I am sorry that this link is to Breitbart, but I can not find it anywhere else, although it is an AP feed. I intend to cover US bullion strikes in a future diary.

I tried to link to the story, but it completely messed up the other links, so I’ll try again. Try this.

This is not good. The demand for honest gold is through the roof, something that has not happened since F. Roosevelt removed gold from Americans in 1933. Here is a picture of the coin being suspended from production:

Gold was the original standard for US coins, bound to the hip with silver at different rations. Please hit my profile and see the pertinent laws that governed that.

Everything rocked along fine until the Great Depression, and everything changed. By decree (actually, an Executive Order, most likely unconstitutional), ownership of gold except for jewelery and teeth became illegal in 1934. All of a sudden you were a criminal if you had gold coins, legal tender the day before. There was a grace period to turn them in to the government.

Gold certificates were were no longer good for exchange for gold, but remained legal tender otherwise, but silver certificates were still good for exchange into silver. This Order had the effect of keeping the United States on the gold standard, but outlawing the ownership of gold, either in coin or bullion form, for anyone except the Federal government. Industrial, medical, dental, and jewelery uses were not affected. Gold producers could sell only to the federal government, and legitimate uses of gold had to buy from the federal government.

The price was set at $20.67 per ounce Troy (actually that was the value given to gold by the Act of 1837), but was reset to $35 per ounce Troy in 1934, essentially devaluing the dollar. The $35 official price held for a long time, until 1972, when it was reset to $38 per ounce Troy, then again in 1972 to $42.22. By that time it was realized that gold was no longer useful for foreign exchange, and the value of gold was allowed to fluctuate, essentially removing any remaining tie to the dollar, so the last vestige of the gold standard expired on 31 December 1974 under Gerald Ford’s watch, for good or ill, when all restrictions against ownership were removed and gold became a commodity, really for the first time, for Americans.

So Fort Knox was constructed, the largest depository for any precious metal ever. And it remains that to this day. There is a very large amount of gold there, and the government will not say how much. With almost no exception it is the most secure facility in the Nation.

Here is what happened. The Great Depression caused the devaluation of the currencies of the entire world, and the United States were not spared, but our suffering was small compared to other counties. Germany printed 10,000,000 Mark postage stamps. People there demanded wages to be paid hourly so they could buy food before the next devaluation of the Mark. Literally, people would bring in wheelbarrows of notes for a loaf of bread.

It got even worse. The Great Depression gave rise to fascism and communism, because the people were hurting. As my friend’s dad told me (he was a GI in the occupation force in Germany after World War II), one of the German citizens said something to the effect as this: “If he offers to feed your babies, would you oppose him?”

Interestingly, in 1975, after the gold ownership ban was eliminated, tens of thousands of previously “lost” gold coins appeared on the market. Since they had been out of circulation for so long, some of them are in quite good condition.

Gold, like silver, is way too soft to make a coin with decent wearing properties unless alloyed. The Mint has used three basic alloys in its gold coins, and now strikes a pure gold bullion coin to compete with the Canadian Maple leaf. Since these coins are not intended for circulation, being soft is not a problem.

The first alloy was 22 karat gold, which works out to be 91.67% (0.9167 fine) gold. That was a carryover from British practice and is the so-called “Crown gold”. The remaining 8.33% is silver and copper, and I regret that I do not have the exact amounts of each. The reason for the silver was to “brighten” the gold, since it becomes redder upon the addition of copper. This alloy was used in all US gold coins from 1792 to 1834.

The Act of 1834 changed the alloy to 0.8892 fine gold, the rest again being silver and copper. That is a bizarre figure, and works out to be 21.341 karat. This was changed by the Act of 1837, which standardized all US gold coin alloy at 0.9000 fine, the other 10% being copper. Our gold coins got a little redder after that.

Before we look at specific coins, a little terminology is in order. In the early days of the Republic, 10 dollars was referred to an an “eagle”. Therefore, a $2.50 coin is a “quarter eagle”, a $5.00 one is a “half eagle”, and $10.00 an “eagle”, and finally, a $20.00 one a “double eagle”. The double eagle was the highest denomination gold coin regular mint issue by the United States, but there are some oddball higher denominations that were not sanctioned because of California gold.

The first US gold coin was the 1795 half eagle. Not many of them were made, only 8,707, and all are rare and expensive. Even fewer were struck in subsequent years, except for 1798, until 1800, when more were minted. I will show pictures of it later.

With that notable given its due historical mention, let us go by denomination from least to greatest. There are so many varieties within series, and so few people ever see these coins, that I will include only representative pictures, unlike the treatment I gave the transition to modern coins in Part 2.

The United States had a $1 gold coin from 1849 to 1889. Some of them are incredibly rare, and others are rather common. The composition remained the same (90% gold and 10% copper) and the weight remained the same (1.672 g) for a gold content of 0.04837 ounces Troy. The diameter varied from 13 mm to 15 mm, the 13 mm ones being thicker than the others. All of these coins had a representation of Liberty on the obverse, but in 1854 Liberty got a feathered headdress, so after then they are referred to as the “Indian Princess Head” series. I have included pictures of both so you can see that it is pretty much the same Liberty on later issues, just with a different hat. As of Thursday, 25 September 2008, the gold content is valued at $42.76. These coins are unusual in that the date is on the reverse, whislt most dates are on the obverse.

Here are representative pictures of $1 gold pieces:

$1 Gold 1849
Designed by James B. Longacre

$1 Gold 1854
Designed by James B. Longacre
Note that the face is the same
as the previous coin, just a
different head dress

The quarter eagle was the third denomination minted in gold. The original one was 22 karat, had a mass of 4.37 g, and was 20 mm in diameter. This works out to 0.1288 ounces Troy, valued Thursday at $113.87. Of course, these very old coins are worth far more in collector value. This denomination was minted off and on until 1929. In 1908 the most radical design change in US coins ever was made: the striking of the marvelous “Indian Head” series of quarter and half eagles. These coins were radically different than any others before or since in US history.

First of all, these coins had no rims (look at any change handy and you will see that the edge — the “rim” — is higher than the detail on the coin. That is prevent wear on the details). Even more radical, but a requirement of having no rim, was that the entire set of details was struck “incuse”, meaning that the design was sunken into the coin rather than being raised. Another radical departure is that these two coins were the first to feature something other than a depiction of Liberty. In 1909 the Lincoln cent featured Lincoln (please see the previous installment). No other coin other then the Indian Head nickel has ever depicted a person not real or Liberty, although the recent Sacajewea dollars come sort of close since there exists no comtemporary depiction of Sacajawea, although she was a real person. The face was made up, essentially.

I find these coins to be hauntingly beautiful. Bela Pratt designed them, and Pratt was a student of probably the greatest coin designer in US history, Augustus Saint-Gaudens (more on him later). The eagle on the reverse looks a whole lot like the owl on ancient Athenian coins, by the way. The composition and size of quarter eagles remained the same from 1840 until 1929, 90% gold, 10% silver, 18 mm diameter, and 4.18 g. This works out to a gold value of $106.91 as of 25 September 2008.

Here are pictures of the first quarter eagle and the last one:

Quarter eagle 1796
Designed by Robert Scot
Note that no denomination is indicated

Designed by
Bela Lyon Pratt
This is one of the incuse coins

Whilst the term “three dollar bill” is usually used in a bigoted and derisive manner, the $3 gold piece was very real. They were first minted in 1854 as a result of the 1853 Act. No one very much liked them, and not too many were made. As a matter of fact, 1854 was the biggest strike year (138,618) until they were discontinued after 1889 (only 2,300 struck that year).

No one really knows why these coins were commissioned, since there were quarter eagles and half eagles. This is another example of a Liberty wearing a feathered cap coin, because if you look very closely (hard to tell if it came across in the posted photograph), the word “Liberty” is inscribed on the hatband. Because this was such an odd denomination, lots of good ones have been preserved. They were of the same standard throughout its life: a diameter of 20.5 mm, mass of 5.015 g, and 90% gold and 10% copper. That amounts to 0.14512 ounces Troy of fine gold, worth $128.29 on 25 September 2008. Since so few were minted and a comparitively large fraction of surviving coins are in good shape, the collector’s value is higher than the gold content for all but messed up ones.

Here is a picture of a typical $3 gold piece:

$3 Gold 1854
Designed by James B. Longacre

There was an experimental $4 gold piece, but it never went into production due to lack of interest. Fewer than 500 gold ones are known to have been struck, and never placed into circulation. One interesting fact is that our old friend from the previous installment, Charles E. Barber, designed the obverse of the one pictured. Here is a picture of one just for the sake of being complete:

$4 Gold 1880
Commonly called a “Stella” because
of the star on the reverse
Designed by Charles E. Barber

In contrast to the $3 and $4 pieces, the half eagle was wildly popular. The first US gold coin minted, as mentioned above, it appeared in one form or another from 1795 to 1929, although there were gaps. There are lots of varieties, along with different sizes and gold content. One of the most interesting facts about this denomination is that it is the only one to have been struck at every mint in the United States that ever existed, although the recent West Point ones are bullion coins, so do not count as business strikes.

The first half eagle was 22 karat gold, with a diameter of 25 mm and a mass of 8.75 grams, giving us a gold value of right at $228 dollars as of Thursday. Even badly worn coins are worth much more as historical objects than they are in gold content by a factor of 50 or so. Here is a picture of our first gold coin:

Half eagle 1795
Designed by Robert Scot
Notice that there is no indication of denomination

Beginning in 1908 the Indian Head incuse design was used (please see my discussion above) and was struck until gold coinage was suspended by the Mint in 1929. Those coins were 21.6 mm in diameter with a mass of 8.359 g and 90% gold and 10% copper. That comes to 0.24187 ounces Troy of gold, worth $213.81 as of Thursday. Here is a picture, and it looks pretty much like the quarter eagle:

Half eagle 1908
Designed by Bela Lyon Pratt
This is the other incuse US coin

The eagle was the second gold US coin minted, and was very popular, especially after the 1848 California gold strike. The first one had sort of a poor looking eagle on the reverse, and of course Liberty on the obverse. I think that the artist should have fattened up the eagle on the reverse a bit, but you can be the judge. These were pretty good sized coins. The 1795 one was 33 mm in diameter, weighed 17.50 g, and was 22 karat gold, amounting to 0.51583 ounces Troy of fine gold, worth $455.99 as of 25 September 2008. Any recognizible coin of that era is worth much more than its gold content for the collector’s value.

Here is a picture of our first eagle:

Eagle 1796
Designed by Robert Scot
Note that no denomination is on the coin

There were many different eagle designs, and the gold content varied over the years. Since 1838 they, although with different designs, all were 27 mm in diameter and had a mass of 16.718 g. The alloy since then was the standard 90% gold, 10% copper. This amounts to 0.48375 ounces Troy of fine gold, worth $427.64 in gold as of Thursday. Many of the coins are rather common and their value is mainly in the gold content, but of course there are exceptions.

In 1907 a new design was introduced by the gifted designer Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Whilst this was a beautiful coin, he was not done. This coin shows Liberty in Native American war headdress, and, with a nod to history of US coins, had 46 stars on the edge of the coin to represent the number of states. Of course that changed in 1912 when two more states were added.

One interesting feature is that in 1908 there were two varieties, one of which showed the motto “In God We Trust”. As I mentioned in previous installments, T. Roosevelt did not like the word “God” on coins, and by Executive Order had it banned. The Congress passed a law requiring it in 1908, and it has been on all of our money since. Would that they grow such a spine today!

Here is a picture of a typical “Indian Head” eagle:

Eagle 1908
Designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

We now near the end of our journey in regards to gold coins. The gold strike in 1848 caused lots of coins to be minted, and the Act of 1849 commissioned the double eagle, the largest denomination ever to be authorized by Congress. These are huge coins, and demand respect both for their heft and the beauty of the last ones.

All double eagles were the same in size, weight, and gold content. They were a whopping 34 mm in diameter, had a mass of 33.436 g, and were 90% gold, 10% copper, giving us 0.96750 ounces Troy of fine gold. With the price of gold at $884 per ounce Troy, they are worth $855.27 in gold alone. Many are common enough that they are worth more in gold than in historical value, but of course there are many exceptions.

The original ones were pretty much standard designs, with a nondescript Liberty on the obverse and an eagle with a shield on the reverse. These come in two main varieties, ones with “In God we Trust” on the reverse, above the eagle, and those without it. The ones without were struck from 1849 to 1866, and the ones with it from 1866 to the end of the series in 1907.

Here is a picture of a typical one:

Double eagle 1850
Designed by James B. Longacre

But in 1907, Boy Howdy! Liberty became not an abstract lady, but a beautiful woman, a warrior with a bare thigh and a torch to enlighten us. To Her credit, she holds the olive branch for discussion of peace (UNLIKE some of our purported “leaders” are willing to do). The eagle on the reverse seems to be better fed than one of the previous ones, too. What a beautiful piece of art!

This design is so good that the current US bullion gold dollar uses the obverse artwork. I can not even suggest any improvement. Sometimes perfection does not need to be second guessed.

This was also the first US coin to use Roman numerals for the date, but that only lasted for part of 1907, and those are very rare. In 1908 Arabic numberals were introduced, and later in the year “In God we Trust” became standard.

I agree with most coin lovers that this was the most beautiful coin ever minted. I offer this picture for your decision:

Double eagle 1920
Designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Like the Walking Liberty half dollar, these coins have to be seen to be appreciated. Hie thee to your nearest coin dealer and feast your eyes! That is a nice diversion for tomorrow since it is Saturday.

As always, any feedback is appreciated. Next week I will catch us up with current strikes, but had to talk about gold coins for historical and artistic reasons.

Warmest regards,

Doc

Last time we were beginning to enter the “modern” era of US coinage. We shall complete that transition this time, and put us into the early modern era, which I define as until 1933. Next time we shall try to get to the present. Even though coin design is similar to the early modern era, many things have changed and this diary would be much too long if we tried to take it in one chunk.

The next significant coinage act in Congress after the Act of 1864 was the Act of 1871. This Act really did not do too much except declare that token coins (1, 2, 3, and 5 cent) could be traded on par with silver in lots of $20 dollars face value. It mainly was for the relief of merchants who had small coins running out of their ears that were not considered fully legal tender. It had little effect in the grand scheme of commerce, just opened up storage space in shops.

Unlike the Act of 1871, the Act of 1873 had huge ramifications in commerce. The Act of 1873 was a revolutionary change in how US monetary policy worked, and the effects were wide and long lasting. The Act eliminated the silver dollar (remember that the silver dollar had been designed to be pegged to gold, and the smaller silver coins were subsidiary), and replace it with what was called the “Trade Dollar”. The Trade Dollar was intended to be used for overseas commerce, especially in Asia, and had actually more silver than the US silver dollar had had, but just by a fraction. Due to that oversight, that caused Trade Dollars to be worth more than an equivalent face value of gold, and so market instability once again occurred. In fact, the Trade Dollar is the sole US coin ever to have its legal tender status revoked within the US borders, although it still was used for foreign trade.

Another consequence was that, with the demonetization of silver, gold became the absolute single standard, since silver was no longer pegged to gold. You have to remember that people did not trust the government to do right thing in those days (sounds familiar, huh?) and wanted “specie”, real precious metal, in their coins of a known value. Commerce was immediately affected adversely, because there simply was not enough gold available and silver coins had an actual value less than their face value, so the big money interests had no interest in silver. A general depression followed as deflation ensued. Actually, this was a no-win situation as was discussed in previous installments because of the market fluctuations in the difference in price in gold and silver. The situation rapidly deteriorated. The silver content in subsidiary coins was increased by a tiny amount, and the the 2 cent, and the silver 3 and 5 cent coins were discontinued.

Things got so bad that a new Act, the so called “Bland-Allison Act” was passed in 1878. This once again monetized silver, and mandated the coinage of silver dollars at a 16:1 gold:silver value ratio at the rate of 2 to 4 million dollars a month. The problems discussed in previous installments began all over again. The silver dollar became very unpopular, in part because of their large size, and went back to the Treasury as people did not want to carry them, but rather preferred gold. At this time, the first issue of paper silver certificates was made. This was the first time that Americans began to become comfortable with paper money since the debacle after the Civil War.

This approach sort of quieted the markets for a while, and in 1890 the approach was expanded by the so called “Sherman Act” which provided that the Treasury could buy silver for notes redeemable in either gold or silver. Well, the large silver producers promptly traded silver for notes, then traded the notes for the same face value in gold, and sent it out of the country, again reducing the number of coins in circulation. That provision was repealed, but the effect was to replace much of the circulating gold with silver. It amounted to a bailout for the big silver producers, and as most bailouts do, it had unintended consequences, this time removing gold from circulation. Even though the Congress repealed that part pretty quickly, speculators move at warp speed compared with Congress.

In 1900 Congress once again put the United States on the gold standard, but there was a curious provision that the silver dollar was a standard coin. No one believed it, and silver dollars were then thought of as a subsidiary coin, like dimes, quarters, and half dollars. As a result, not many silver dollars were coined since no one really wanted them. As a matter of fact, none were minted from 1905 until their return in 1921. Dimes, quarters, and halves were coined and used for normal business change operations, with either gold or paper money for higher denominations.

Coin design rapidly evolved during this era. The old “Indian Head” cent was replaced by the familiar Lincoln cent in 1909. (Actually, both were struck in 1909, is it is not uncommon to have more than one design struck in the same year). According to the designer, the “Indian Head” was actually a depiction of Liberty with a feathered headdress. The Lincoln cent was intended to be a commemorative coin to celebrate his 100th birthday, but it caught on and became very popular. It was also the first US regular strike coin to feature an actual person, and this set a precedent that only very recently has been excepted . Here are pictures of the old and the new. Both are the same size, weight, and composition as pre-1952 cents: 19 mm diameter, 3.11 grams, 95% copper, 3% tin, and 2% zinc (in 1952 the alloy was changed to 95% copper and 5% zinc). A pre 1982 cent is worth (neglecting the tin and zinc) 2.096 cents at today’s copper price.

1 cent,
Liberty in a
feathered Headdress,
designed by James B. Longacre
1864 – 1909

1 cent,
Lincoln Wheat Ear,
designed by Victor D. Brenner
1909 – 1958

The nickel five cent piece has been of the same size, weight, and composition since it started in 1866, and our current ones are the same specifications. They are 20.5 mm diameter, 5 grams, 75% copper and 25% nickel. The Shield variety was first, and both Shield and Liberty pieces were struck in 1883.

By a horrible accident (some say contrived), a few Liberty pieces were struck with a 1913 date, and the latest figures that I have show one selling for $3 million in 2001. The first part of the issue in 1883 (the picture here) did not have the word “CENTS” on the reverse, just the Roman numeral “V”. A deaf mute swindler gold plated some of them, since they were very close to the size of the current $5 gold piece. He was tried and acquitted of theft because his attorney argued that he only used them to purchase items worth less than five cents, and if the merchant chose to give him change for five dollars he could not speak to protest. The jury agreed. The Mint immediately added the word “CENTS” under the apex of the “V” later in 1883, so both varieties exist.

The Indian Head (often referred to as the “Buffalo”) five cent piece began in 1913 and was the first non-gold US coin to have neither a representation of Liberty or a specific person featured on it. (The Indian Head quarter and half eagles that first were struck in 1908 were the first US coins with this distinction). The designer indicated that images of three different native Americans were composited for the rendering. Whilst it is a very attractive coin, it was poorly designed from a technical standpoint, because the date is very prone to wear. A modern coin with a worn off date is worth exactly face value, with the notable exception below. Both this coin and the Jefferson piece were minted in 1938, but we cut this discussion at 1933, so no picture.

All nickel five cent pieces are worth almost as much in metal now than face value. They are 21.2 mm in diameter, weigh 5 g, and are 25% nickel and 75% copper. At today’s metal prices, that works out to 2.105 cents in nickel and 2.661 in copper, for a total of 4.766 cents. Here are some pictures of them:

5 cent Shield,
designed by James B. Longacre,
1866 – 1883

5 cent piece,
Liberty Head,
designed by Charles E. Barber,
1883 – 1912

5 cent Indian Head,
designed by James E. Fraser,
1913 – 1938

Ten cent pieces, or dimes, evolved a great deal from 1873 to 1933. For the Seated Liberty one, the size and weight varied slightly over the years per our discussions here and in previous posts due to the gold/silver situation. By 1873 the specifications were the same for modern silver dimes.

In 1892 the Liberty Head design was adopted, often called the “Barber” dime after its designer. There was no overlap between the two designs, so there are no 1892 Seated Liberty dimes.

The Winged Liberty Head dime was adopted in 1916, as the Liberty Head design was being decommissioned. There are specimens of both designs for 1916, unlike the five cent piece situation of 1913. This design is often called the “Mercury” dime because of the resemblance of Liberty in a winged cap to the Roman god. The designer indicated that the wings were to indicate freedom of thought. Interestingly, on the the reverse is a fasces, a symbol from ancient Rome to indicate unity. Not too many years later Benito Mussolini would adopt that symbol for his new nationalist movement, and now the word “fascist” has taken on a whole new meaning.

Since 1873 all of these coins are 17.9 mm in diameter, have a mass of 2.5 grams, and are 90% silver and 10% copper, giving a silver content of 0.07234 ounces Troy of pure silver. According to Bloomberg.com, that was worth 99.8 cents today. Here are some pictures:

Dime,
Seated Liberty,
designed by Christian Goldbrecht
1837 – 1891

Dime,
Liberty Head
designed by Charles E. Barber
1892 – 1916

Dime,
Winged Liberty Head
designed by Adolph A. Weinman
1916 – 1945

Quarter dollars are likely the most popular current coin, and they have always been popular, if people could get them. The Seated Liberty one was coined from 1838 until 1891, with variations in size and silver content. By 1873 the modern size, weight, and composition was used.

In 1892 the Liberty Head quarter was adopted, just like the dime. There was no overlap in design over 1891 and 1892.

In 1916 the Standing Liberty design was adopted, but some Liberty Head ones were minted with that date as well. The original design (the one in the picture) was extremely controversial, because Liberty had a bare breast. By 1917 she got covered up (reminds me of John Ashcroft for some reason), but there are both varieties in 1917. I personally find this to be a very attractive design, in either variety.

In 1932 a commemorative quarter was authorized to recognize the bicentennial of George Washington’s birthday. This was the second coin to feature an individual person on US coins. This proved to be a popular coin, and, with a few modifications, is still the one that we use. After the 50 States series is done, the original plan was to revert to the traditional design, but who knows? Just as long as there is not a Reagan one I will be OK with it.

All quarters since 1873 are the same in size, weight, and composition (remember, we are only going up to 1933 here). They are 24.3 mm in diameter, have a mass of 6.25 grams, and are 90% silver and 10% copper, which works out to 0.18084 ounces Troy of fine silver. Once again, Bloomberg says that, as of today, that is worth about $2.47 in silver.

Here are some pictures of the evolution of the quarter:

Quarter,
Seated Liberty,
designed by Christian Goldbrecht
1838 – 1891

Quarter,
Liberty Head,
designed by Charles E. Barber,
1892 – 1916

Quarter,
Standing Liberty,
designed by Herman A. MacNeil,
1916 – 1930

Quarter,
Washington,
designed by John Flanagan,
1932 – present with variations

The half dollar was never very much a popular coin, and many specimens in excellent condition are available, since many of them were just sewn into bags and used for bank transactions. The Seated Liberty one was used, in different weights and sizes, from 1839 to 1891.

In 1892 that design was replaced with the Liberty Head one, and that one was struck until 1915. There was no overlap in design in 1892.

In 1916 the fabulous Walking Liberty design became current. In my opinion, this was the most beautiful silver coin ever minted in the United States. It is a striking coin, both in heft and artistic expression. This is the only picture that I am posting large, and it does not do it justice. Go to a coin shop and see a nice one for yourself. The obverse design is now used on the dollar bullion strikes. It is truly a classic. Just beautiful.

Since 1873, all half dollars are the same in specifications. They are 30.6 mm in diameter, have a mass of 12.50 grams, and are 90% silver and 10% copper. That works out to 0.36169 ounces Troy of fine silver, which is worth, again according to Bloomberg, $4.94 in silver. Please do not let me catch you melting down one of these beauties!

Here are some pictures of half dollars:

Half dollar,
Seated Liberty,
designer Christian Goldbrecht,
1839 – 1891

Half dollar,
Liberty Head,
designer Charles E. Barber,
1892 – 1915

Half dollar,
Liberty Walking,
designed by Adolph A. Weinman,
1916 – 1947

As I indicated in the text of the this and the past few posts, the silver dollar has a very brutal history in the United States, and I think that this historical memory may have something to do with why we hate dollar coins. Nevertheless, some of them are pretty.

The Seated Liberty dollar is representative of similar designs. It changed size and weight several times depending on the whims of Congress and the market. By 1873, it had the same composition that other silver dollars had until the end.

The Morgan dollar was of the same specifications as the Seated Liberty one. There is no possibility of overlap in design years, since there was a break in minting silver dollars between the two.

The Peace silver dollar is another beautiful US coin. The Morgans were minted into 1921, and the Peace ones began there, so there is overlap. Many more Morgans were minted than Peace ones in 1921, so a 1921 Peace is rather unusual. Interestingly, several hundreds of thousands of them were struck in 1965, dated 1964. They were decommissioned and melted, and even the Smithsonian does not have a specimen. There are rumors that some were stolen and so still exist, but anyone in possession of one likely will go to Gitmo if found.

Since 1873, all standard silver dollars are the same in specifications. 38.1 mm in diameter (they are BIG coins), 26.73 grams in mass, and 90% silver/10% copper alloy. This amounts to 0.77344 ounces Troy of pure silver, worth about $10.56 today. Note that a silver dollar has more silver than two fifty cent pieces, and so is worth more than twice as much. That is because silver dollars were “standard” money, pegged to gold in theory, whilst smaller coins were subsidiary.

Here are some pictures of silver dollars:

Dollar,
Seated Liberty,
designed by Christian Goldbrecht,
1840 – 1873

Dollar,
Liberty Head (Morgan),
designed by George T. Morgan,
1878 – 1921

Dollar,
Peace,
designed by Anthony Di Francisci,
1921 – 1935 (with caveat above)

Finally, there is the Trade Dollar. It was just a little larger in silver content than the domestic one, and is the only coin in US Mint history to carry a guarantee as to content struck on it. It was the experiment by the Administration, along with the Congress, to dominate world trade. Like most schemes, it backfired. Not a whole lot of them were made, and this issue has the dishonor of being the only legal coin ever renounced by the government. It was minted to compete in Asia with the Mexican “dollar”, which had a bit more silver in it than ours did. Even in 1873 we were trying to replicate the Spanish dollar, the model for ours. This did not end well. There is more upthread about it in the diary. It was 38.1 mm in diameter, weighed 27.22 grams, and was 90% silver and 10% copper, making it have 0.7874 ounces Troy of fine silver. Today it is worth $10.76 in silver.

Here is a picture of a representative sample. Many existing ones are heavily mutilated with Chinese characters on them, as they were used essentially as ledgers for account in Asia.

Dollar,
Trade,
designed by William Barber,
1873 – 1885

Well, that pretty much catches us up until 1933. Hold on to your hats if you want more. No poll tonight, just will wait for comments.

Questions, comments, slings and arrows, and anything else are always welcome.

Warmest regards,

Doc

This time we will talk a little more history, then about the alloys used in coins, past and present. Last time we discussed the problem with using both gold and silver for coins, and numerous attempts were taken to address that.

In concert with these changes, and partially because of them, the alloys in coins have changed over the years. In 1964, the last business strikes of silver coins were produced, and in 1965 all US business strike became tokens, worth less than their face value. Some collector strikes are still produced in precious metals.

In June of 1834 an act was passed that reduced the weight of standard gold, in an attempt to alleviate the problem of gold coin leaving the country mentioned last time. This boosted the amount of coins remaining in the United States, which helped commerce.

Another act was passed in early 1837 that redefined and clarified the entire operation of the Mint system, including alloy changes. The coinage system became much more stable and the gold eagle ($10) was resumed in 1838 and much larger quantities of silver dollars were minted beginning in 1840. Things went along fairly smoothly until gold was discovered in California in 1848.

The large amounts of gold coming onto the market again shifted the relative values of gold and silver, now making silver coins worth more than the same face value in gold. Then all of the silver disappeared from commerce channels, the opposite to what had happened last time, but a problem nevertheless.

In 1851 the postage rate was increased to 3 cents, and and act authorizing the minting of a 3 cent silver coin was passed, but with a twist: until then gold and silver coins were intended to be worth their face value (obviously the intention was not often realized), but the new 3 cent piece was designed to be worth less in silver than in face value. That coin stayed in circulation.

That worked so well that in 1853 all silver coins except the dollar were reduced in weight, making them “subsidiary” to gold. These stayed in circulation, too. To mark these coins so that speculators would leave them alone, arrows were added on either side of the date to identify them. This was the first significant move towards token coinage.

Also, remember that the Mint was required to accept silver and return an equal value of silver coin to the owner. Since the value of the coins was now greater than the value to the silver, the Act of 1853 eliminated that and authorized the Mint to buy silver, just like it already did copper. Finally, a stable circulation of coins was attained.

In 1857 another Act was passed that eliminated the half cent and reduced the size of the large cent to near what it is now. Because of the political influence of nickel producers, the cent became an alloy of 88% copper and 12% nickel. These “nicks”, as they were called, were produced in huge quantities (for the day) and thus began the disdain for the cent by merchants, since there were so many of them and they were worth so little. The Spanish silver dollar was also no longer recognized as legal tender.

Then the Civil War dried up the coin supply, since the Union printed so many paper dollars (because of the bright green ink of the backs of them, there were called “greenbacks”) and quickly deteriorated in value. Even the subsidiary silver coins were worth more than an equal face value of greenbacks, so they went out of circulation due to hoarding.

An Act was passed in 1864 that reduced the weight and size of the cent (and the alloy) to modern specifications. It also created a bronze 2 cent piece. Most significantly, it stated that these two coins were legal tender up to ten times face value, making them in a gray zone between subsidiary and standard. To this day many parties will not accept cents in payment for sums over a dollar or two. The 2 cent piece is noteworthy as being the first coin bearing “In God We Trust”, partially because of the religious fervor associated with the Civil War and the Abolition movement. So, the US had 1, 2, and 3 cent coins circulating at the same time.

The government had printed a bunch of 3 cent notes, and the nickel lobby successfully won the creation of a nickel-copper 3 cent coin (the same alloy as our modern 5 cent piece). Now we had 1, 2, and two different 3 cent pieces. The silver one was discontinued in 1873, the nickel-copper ones in 1889.

A nickel-copper 5 cent piece was also authorized in 1866, and was minted along with the silver one until the silver one was discontinued in 1873. The Comstock Lode in Nevada was discovered in this same era, and a new branch mint was established in Carson City to mint the silver. It closed in 1893 as the silver played out.

The 1870′s are significant because that era is the transition zone between early US coins and modern ones. More will be said in a future installment, in there is interest.

Now, lets us shift gears and discuss the alloys used in coins.

What makes a good coin alloy? Back in the old days, the first consideration was the alloy have intrinsic value. Obviously, this is not a factor, actually it is an anti-factor these days. The second factor is appearance. The alloy has to make an acceptable specimen. Copper, silver, and gold all do. The third factor is corrosion resistance. Those metals fill the bill there, too. They do not rust and last for years. Of the three, gold is most resistant, silver the next, and then copper. The forth factor is good wearing properties. Pure metals are not very good, at least of those three, so copper was alloyed with silver and gold to harden then. For example, pure gold is easily cut with a knife, but coin gold can only be scraped.

Originally, half cents and cents were pure copper (well, as pure as could be had at the time). Half cents weighed 6.74 grams, and cents weighed twice as much, 13.48 grams. A modern quarter weighs 5.67 grams and a half dollar 11.34 grams for comparison. Why did they use pure copper when I just told you that it was soft? Who knows! Brass and bronze were well known at the time. As far as I know, that is lost in history. One speculation that I will make is that half cents and cents were subsidiary coins (worth more in face value than in metal), so wear was not as much as a factor as with precious metal coins.

Early silver coins were 1485/1664 silver, or 892.43 fine. This is close to Sterling silver, at 925 fine. The remainder of each is copper. Why not pure silver? It is too soft and wears very quickly. Adding the little bit of copper does not change the color much, but significantly hardens the metal. The Act of 1837 changed the alloy to 900 fine, and that remains the definition of coin silver in the US to this day.

Early gold coins were 11/12, or 22 karat gold, which works out to 916.67 fine. Same as with silver, adding some copper hardens the metal without changing the color much. The Act of 1837 also changed the alloy to 90% gold, 10% copper.

After the half cent and the large cent were discontinued, the new cent was made of 88% copper and 12% nickel. These were almost golden in color, much more pale than newer cents. Later the formula was changed to bronze (95% copper, 3% tin, 2% zinc) and they wore well and have the appearance of modern cents. That formulation continued until 1962, when the tin was eliminated and the zinc increased to 5%, except for 1943 when the way effort caused the coin to be made from zinc-coated (galvanized) steel, and 1944 to 1946 when they were the same brass formula used after 1962, from salvaged shell casings. In 1982 the “alloy” was replaced with coins having a 99.2% zinc core electroplated with copper. These coins are fine until the copper plating is compromised, then they corrode rapidly in moist environments. I look for the cent to pass from production in the foreseeable future.

After the silver 5 cent piece passed, is was replaced with the 75% copper / 25% nickel alloy, which is what is used to this day. It is wear resistant, attractive, and was, until recently, cheap. However the cost of the metals now exceeds the value of the coin. They have not disappeared from circulation because a new, strict law provides fairly severe penalties for melting down US coins for metal.

This alloy is also the one used for the cladding on dimes, quarters, and half dollars at present. Over a core of pure copper, thin sheets are bonded to each side. Originally, the bonding was done by explosives. My research has not turned up the current process, but I strongly suspect that a hot rolling operation is now done, since explosive bonding is slow and expensive.

I had better cut this here, before it gets even longer. As always, questions, comments, and corrections are welcome.

Warmest regards,

Doc

Next Sunday, Pique the Geek goes back to a more science and technology oriented format. However, there seemed to be a decent amount of interest in coins, so I will write occasional pieces on that topic.

We will begin by discussing how coins were and are made, and the locations where they are made in the United States. Future entries will include coins by denomination for current denominations, coins that have been discontinued (did you know that there were two, three, and twenty cent pieces?) and other aspects of numismatics (the technical term for all things to do with coins), and trends that I see coming.

To start this off, it would be appropriate to get some history. The Framers were very concerned about sound fiscal policy for the new Nation. President Washington was wise to have selected Alexander Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton was a fierce advocate of of sound policy, having seen the collapse of the paper currency during the Revolutionary War. (The paper currency was referred to as “Continentals”, and the term “not worth a Continental” is still used in some circles, like where I grew up in rural west central Arkansas). He insisted that the war debt be repaid (it was) and that US money would have intrinsic value, so it could not be devalued. This meant gold, silver, and, for low value coins, copper.

The basic unit of the new system was the dollar, based on the widely-circulated Spanish dollar, the most familiar unit of money in the Colonies, because the British were very stingy about providing Imperial coinage. Spain had been minting their dollars for centuries in the New World, and it was the model. Spanish dollars were often cleaved into eight equal pie pieces, and we still remember the term “piece of eight”, also called a “bit”. This usage has continued to the present, as a quarter is still referred to as “two bits”.

Several models as to the design of the money system were offered, and to two that were seriously considered were the one from Gouverneur Morris, who had an elaborate formula based on dividing the dollar into 1440 theoretical units, to correspond with the Spanish dollar (Morris was involved with funding the Revolutionary War) and the one from Thomas Jefferson (a Representative at the time) for a simple decimal system. Washington agreed with Jefferson, and if that had not have happened, we would have had an extremely complex monetary system, at least as far as coinage goes. Hamilton concurred with the decimal concept, and legislation to build a mint, for Washington to appoint artists under contract, and for machinery to coin money to be procured was passed in 1791. A year later, final legislation was passed. Here is a partial quote of the Act, with period capitalization:

“… that the Money of Account of the United States should be expressed in Dollars or Units, Dismes or Tenths, Cents or Hundredths, and Milles or Thousandths…”

So far, so good. But then Congress also established by law coins to be authorized and their composition. Ten different denominations were authorized: the $10, $5, and $2.50 gold coins; the $1.00, $0.50, $0.25, $0.10, and $0.05 silver pieces; and the one cent and half cent coppers. Cents have always been considered subsidiary coinage, with only token value. Hamilton did not like that, and wanted the cents and half cents to have a little silver plug in them to bring them to parity.

Then as now, many acts of Congress have unforeseen consequences, and a big one was the result that, then as now, the metals markets fluctuate, so gold and silver do not always have the same relative value. This had extraordinarily serious consequences, some not realized until over a century later. Congress valued the gold to silver value ratio at 15:1, and using the spot prices from Monday, 08 September 2008, the ratio is over 66:1. Capitalists of the time were as astute, if not as crooked as now, and as soon as the market price of gold versus silver fluctuated, found ways to make money.

In any event, Washington appointed David Ritterhouse (a scientist!) as the first Director of the Mint and construction and procurement began in the spring of 1792. Before the mint was completed, Washington himself provided about $100 worth of silver to me minted, and the first coin of the United States turned out to be the half disme, a 5 cent piece. This is the first official US issue, in July of 1792.

The Law of 1792 has one provision that we would call bizarre now. Gold and silver for coins was provided to the Mint by the public, and the Mint coined it (thus certifying its value) for free, returning the coins to the owner of the gold or silver. The thought was that the owner would put the newly minted coins into circulation in the process of buying things or paying for services. Copper was provided by the government, because it would have cost the government money to take, say 100 cents worth of copper and return 120 large cents to the owner, since cents and half cents were worth less than the metal.

The first copper (six pounds of used material) was purchased in the fall of 1792. Legend has it that this copper came from bands holding blackpowder kegs together supplied by the French for the Revolutionary war. If true, this is likely the first Federal contract for recycling.

Other than Washington’s $100 in silver, the first deposit was for $80,715.735 from the Bank of Maryland (in French coins, no doubt part of the assistance package from the French for the Revolutionary War). It is assumed that the bank received an equal value in silver coin.

Moses Brown, from Boston, contributed the first gold, worth $2276.22 in ingot form in February 1795. He took his payment in silver coin. Probably a bad move for him, as I will explain later. The first gold coins were delivered to the Treasurer on the last day in July 1795.

In 1793, only half cents and cents were minted, and these were placed into circulation. Around $50,000 worth were injected into the economy. Not enough for commerce, and barter, foreign coins, and other means were used to make up for the lack of specie. This problem actually continued until 1857, when legislation was enacted to keep money in the country.

Part of the problem was that the original Law allowed free exchange of any Spanish dollar for a new, shiny US silver dollar. One problem with that was many of the Spanish dollars by that time were often over a hundred years old, and very worn. It would be sort of trading your worn $5 bill for a new $10 one. Speculators bought up large quantities of worn Spanish dollars and exchanged them. That was not lost on people from foreign countries, and remember, at the time, Spanish influence, whilst waning, was still large and there were millions of old Spanish dollars in use around the world. Thus, most of the new silver coins were sent to foreign countries, and were not available for domestic use.

It was as bad or worse for gold coins. Remember when I talked about unintended consequences? Congress pegged gold to silver in a 15:1 ratio (advocated by Hamilton, by the way), but by 1799 the relative value had shifted to 15.75 to one. In other words, you could take $10 in silver and exchange it for $10 face value in gold, but the actual value of the gold was $10.50 on the world market. Fifty cents was a big deal at the time, so silver was traded for gold, and the gold melted for bullion for a profit for the traders.

The situation got so bad that President Jefferson suspended the coinage of gold $10 pieces (“eagles” in the lingo) in 1804, and the silver dollar in 1806, although it appears that no silver dollars were actually minted after 1804. Dates of coins from that period did not necessarily correspond to the actual year of minting. Interestingly, some coins from the mid 1960′s are also not necessarily dated the year of minting, for some of the same reasons. We will talk about that in a later installment.

That left mostly half dollars, quarters, and smaller denominations for commerce. Barter, promissory notes, and other measures were used. Some experts believe that in 1830 there was only one coin, or even fewer, for each person in the Nation. Hard times indeed!

Next time I will continue the evolution of money here, but want to talk about the technology before this gets way too long.

Originally, coins were made by putting a piece of metal onto a rock and beating it into a convenient size. Other media of exchange included cocoa beans (Mayan), wampum (clam shell beads, Eastern Native American), and many others. The impetus for money evolved with the human fascination for mathematics, and the practical need to represent, say, a shipload of fish for something easier to handle for trade. The ancients did not like totes on a clay tablet as their compensation, so insisted on something more tangible that would be recognized by everyone in their trading community as having a standard value. Interestingly, as we move more and more towards electronic commerce, totes in a database are replacing tangible coins and currency.

Dies to put recognizable impressions came later, and a piece of metal of known weight was put into the die, and a slave or other worker would hammer the die to make a reproducible coin. Very early on it was discovered that unscrupulous people would shave a little gold or silver from the edges, reducing the amount of metal in the coin and accumulating the shavings for their value. That is why some of our coins are “reeded”.

“Reeds” are the lines struck into the edges of US coins from the dime up (excluding the new Sacagawea dollar). The reeding readily allowed people to feel whether the edge was smooth or not, and so not to accept silver or gold coins with smooth edges, since they most probably had been shaved. Since US coins are only tokens now, the reeding is preserved just for legacy, but the sight disabled still depend on it to identify coins, so its use had another unintended consequence, this time positive, at least to a relatively small segment of society.

The first US coins were pretty much made the same way, but the dies were better and better mechanical presses were used. Steam power soon took over, and the coins were pressed by heavy presses powered by steam. In modern times, the presses are hydraulic, and some can make an astonishing number of coins, too fast for the eye to follow. Multiple presses are used to keep up with production demand.

In the past, all individual die halves were hand crafted (you need two die halves to strike both the obverse and the reverse simultaneously). This makes for a very rich variation of defects and unique characteristics on older US coins.

Present practice is to produce a “master hub” from which all of the working dies are made. The master hub is steel, heat annealed to be soft enough to be engraved, but of high carbon content. This gets important in a minute.

The master engraver takes a large model of the coin that the artists have produced and uses an engraving machine to reproduce the model in each of the die halves. Most of this is done mechanically, but the final inspection and touchups are done by humans using magnifying devices. Once the image (in a positive aspect, and this is important in a minute) is made and accepted, the mint mark is added to the hub. This hub, actually two pieces, one for the obverse and one for the reverse, will make all of the coin striking dies for each mint.

The hub pieces are then subjected to hardening by heat and other processes, and the Mint keeps some of those close to the vest. The final product is a positive image, in three dimensions, of the exact coin to be produced. If you looked at a cropped picture of a hub, you could not tell it from the finished coin, except its features are sharper.

The hardened and perfected hubs are then put in presses and forced into softened steel dies. The dies produce a negative image of the coin to be produced. After inspection, the dies are hardened and cleaned, and handcrafted to eliminate any imperfections. One hub set can produce many dies sets with little loss of quality. That is important, because dies wear out, and can make only about half a million to a million coins until they have to be replaced. You can actually buy decommissioned dies from the Mint, but will not be able to make coins from them. The Mint grinds all traces of the coin image off of the die before it is offered for sale. Coin geeks like me like them anyway.

The dies are then shipped to the appropriate Mints. Philadelphia and Denver produce “business strikes”, the coins that we all handle every day. San Fransisco produces only “proofs”, very carefully crafted collectors items. There is also a small Mint at West Point that is dedicated to a limited series of gold, and I recently understand, platinum, coins.

The dies are engaged into the press, and a test run is made with new planchets. Oh, I should explain that term.

Except for cents, the Mint takes metal sheets and uses a press and die to cut out blank coins. A piece of metal of about the right size and exact weight is a “planchet”. Cents are a little different, because the Mint orders them already plated with copper. They are made in the conventional way, but after being cut out, the zinc alloy is plated with copper.

The metal left over is recycled (think of a rolling board of biscuits. The dough around the cutouts is still good), and the process continues. There is a special step for dimes and quarters, and I will talk about it in another post.

Automated equipment places the planchets onto a conveyor, and they are sorted into an “upsettor” or “rimmer” that produces the raised edge on them. The raised edge is important, because it reduces wear of the rest of the coin for years, until it wears away. For reeded coins, the reeds are impressed at the same time.

Then the rimmed planchet goes to the coin die set. Conveyors direct them, and modern electronic control equipment assures that one and only one planchet goes to the die (there are rare exceptions, highly prized by us collectors). Then the dies are impressed on the planchet by hydraulic presses, and the new coin is ejected. Electronic monitoring equipment looks for defects, and if any are found, they go to the recycling bin.

This is long enough for this installment. I always welcome questions, comments, or disagreements. I will not restrict myself the the Pique the Geek rules: if I do not know something, I will attempt to look it up and get back to you as soon as possible.

Warmest regards, and thanks for reading and commenting,

Doc