Panama Pacific Fifty Dollar Octagonal Gold in MS 65 from PCGS

Ever since Balboa first gazed winning the Pacific Ocean in 1513, Europeans had dreamed and schemed of conduct to relate the Gulf of Mexico with the large ocean to the west. Four hundred living later that daydream was realized with the cavity of the Panama Canal. It took ten being and many millions of dollars to construct the giant curls through Panama’s deadly jungles, but completion of the monumental scheme assured America’s figure as a world weight. It had been evident since the Spanish-American War that suspended a two-ocean armada was logistically overwhelming, and curtly after the conclusion of hostilities, campaign began in earnest to connect the two bushel.

Congress felt the duct was of such importance that in 1915 it appropriated 50 million dollars for an exposition celebrating its completion. San Francisco was elected as the spot of the festivities, bountiful that city an opportunity to cabinet the rebuilding undertaken since the devastating earthquake of 1906. Congress also authorized a cycle of commemorative coins to smudge the induce: a silver half money, gold dough and house eagle, and an extraordinarily impressive brace of $50 gold pieces. One unusual quantity of the legislation provided that of the 3,000 fifty-buck coins authorized, half were to be series and the other half octagonal in influence. These weighty gold coins were modeled after the fifty-dollar gold octagonal “slugs” struck in Gold Rush California by Augustus Humbert and their curved counterparts struck by the Wass-Molitor secure in 1855. Although the coins formed by Humbert at the U.S. Assay agency at San Francisco were officially authorized issues, the Pan-Pac fifties would be the first coins of that denomination issued by a U.S. Mint.

New York dancer Robert Aitken was selected to sketch both the rotund and octagonal fifty-dollar coins. Aitken was an accomplished sculptor, but the Panama-Pacific commemoratives were his first work at coin designs. Critics had a tackle day with his handiwork, ignoring the aesthetic qualities of the point and complaining that “there is nothing American about the coin except the inscription.” On an artistic turn, however, Aitken’s work is a pretty successful challenge to blend classical Greek motifs with modern currency. He worn the same shape for both coins, but somewhat cheap the plan rudiments on the octagonal pieces to fit within the border. His subjects were the Roman divinity Minerva (after the Greek spirit Athena) and an owl, symbols, as he put it, “packed of beauty in themselves,” that would also prompt “the larger import of the Exposition, its influence to the intellect.” Aitken’s benefit to the intellect, however, vital some interpretation, which fortunately was included on the packaging accompanying the five-piece sets consisting of the two fifties, a sector eagle, gold dollar, and silver the dollar.

To the Romans, Minerva was the spirit of wisdom, talent, contemplation, revolving, weaving, agriculture and horticulture, all undoubtedly admirable qualities. Ironically, she was also the goddess of war, albeit representing the more reflective and urbane region of conflict. As the essential draft of the Panama-Pacific $50 pieces, she wears a crested helmet, pushed back to show peaceful intentions—an icon of American sentiment towards europe deeply involved in the butchery of World War I. The meeting appears in Roman numerals—MCMXV—at the top of Minerva’s defense. The whole vital intended is surrounded by a “Morse program” circular border, actually a long and abrupt-beaded motif, also adapted from Classical Greek drawing. Although some critics of the day remarked about the dolphins encircling the border of the octagonal pieces, sarcastically commenting that it seemed as if the vessel was built for their gain, the dolphins pretty suitably denote the uninterrupted waterway formed by the canal. The coins’ reorder depicts an owl floating on a Ponderosa Pine, surrounded by cones. Owls were sacred to Minerva, and the bird is regularly recognized as an image for wisdom as well as for watchfulness, alluding to America’s must for vigilance on the eve of its door into the European war. The beaded border is frequent again on the setback, separating the main outline from the statutory legends that surround the outside each side: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and FIFTY DOLLARS on the face, PANAMA-PACIFIC EXPOSITION and SAN FRANCISCO on the rearrange. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST appears above Minerva’s start, while E PLURIBUS UNUM is to the right of the owl. Aitken’s initials are tucked away on the reverse in the grassland above the R in FRANCISCO, while the S mintmark is located between the lowest right pinecone and the beaded inner border.

Because of the coins’ large array, an exclusive 14-ton hydraulic depress used for salient medals was sent from Philadelphia. Although officials considered salient the coins on the fairgrounds, the absolute resolve kept production in the San Francisco Mint. The first coins were struck on June 15, 1915, and an entirety of 1,509 octagonal and 1,510 cycle the end formed fifties of the summer. The odd 19 pieces that exceeded the authorized mintage were distant for evaluate. The first 100 coins struck were distributed to numerous dignitaries and Mint employees. Despite the popularity of the coins’ large dimension and appealing drawing, only 645 of the octagonals and 483 of the rounds were sold. The remaining pieces were melted in November, 1916.

Intimately associated with the promotion and distribution of the Pan-Pac fifties, as well as some other commemorative issues from the early 20th century, was Farran Zerbe. Zerbe’s numismatic reputation and following whack was such that he was sited in accuse of the Exposition’s Coin and Medal Department, which he incorporated into his own wandering exhibit called “Money of the World.” As a brisk promoter of numismatics for some decades, Zerbe did more to popularize coin collecting in this country than any other individual, with the probable omission of B. Max Mehl. Zerbe marketed the five Pan-Pac commemorative issues in assorted combinations: distinct coins, short sets of three, detailed sets of five and amplify sets of ten coins that showed both sides of each coin. He vacant the coins to collectors through the transmit, to the universal free at the adequate and in exclusive mailings to bankers. Although his marketing methods were valiant, decision buyers at $100 for a $50 gold coin when wages were low, interest in numismatics was insignificant, and political and financial uncertainty high, was a grim task at best.

The artistic beauty, magnitude, and scarcity of the Pan-Pac fifties place them among the few commemorative issues that are widely recognized and wanted by non-specialists. The net mintage figures mirror both their absolute and relative rarity: the decrease-mintage series class is the scarcer of the two. Many existing Pan-Pac fifties bear from minor treatment friction on the cheek and helmet of Minerva and on the high portion of the owl’s breast. Often the corners of the octagonal pieces will show rim bumps and nicks. Most examples will stretch from AU-55 to MS-63: gem examples are quite erratic and seldom existing for auction. Almost as coveted as the coins themselves are the earliest-number holders: The gear made for single $50 pieces have sold in the $400-$800 range, while the hammered frames for five-piece sets convey some thousand dollars each. The really bloody lookalike-set, framed pocket is even dearer: one example sold several time ago at auction brought an astounding $18,000!

SPECIFICATIONS:

Diameter: 1.74 inches

Weight: 83.55 grams

Composition: .900 gold.100 copper

Edge: Reeded

Net Weight: 2.41757 ounces authentic gold

Photo Copyright Anaconda Coins.

Indian Head n Buffalo Nickels 1913-1938

It was a tricky time for Charles Barber, chief engraver of the United States Mint. Although Theodore Roosevelt was no longer in staff, his entreat to have more classical designs on our coins, as expressed to Augustus Saint-Gaudens over feast in 1905, was very much bustling.

Barber's uninspired Liberty Headed nickel had been in production since 1883. Under the Coinage Act of 1890, a change in the, its construct was allowable after 25 time. Secretary of the Treasury Franklin MacVeagh, originally a Roosevelt appointee, wasn't about to outdo up the opportunity. Reminding by his son in May, 1911 that a new nickel would be "A permanent memento of the most attractive mixture," MacVeagh, pointedly bypassing the competent but middling Barber, happening the manage for a new invent.

The Buffalo nickel became an actuality minus than two existence later. On March 4, 1913, coins from the first bag to go into circulation were unfilled to outgoing President Taft and 33 Indian chiefs at the groundbreaking ceremonies for the National Memorial to the North American Indian at Fort Wadsworth, New York.

James Earle Fraser, a past junior to Saint-Gaudens and a plentiful dancer best known for his monumental "End of the Trail" Indian figurine, twisted a rightly sole object for the new coin. Up pending that time, excluding for Bela Lyon Pratt's matter and the eagle of 1908, the "Indians" portrayed on U.S. coins were primarily Caucasian with an Indian headress, epitomized by Saint Gauden's Greek Nike control on the 1907 Indian eagle. Fraser's proposal accurately portrays a gentleman Native American, and the face image was a composite of three chiefs who had posed for him living previous. Keeping with the distinctly American theme, he depicted an American bison on the reorder. The inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and E PLURIBUS UNUM are sneakily placed over the threaten, with the denomination FIVE CENTS below. The legend LIBERTY and the meeting are likewise well executed on the coin's face.

Fraser's outline was medallic and striking, and for secretary favored that purpose MacVeagh. Its charisma seemed completely to dodge Barber, who complained that the intention basics were too large and didn't tolerate for the polite post of inscriptions. Barber didn't get very far with this, as the goal remained unchanged over his objections.

Reservations also came from the vending machinery interest, whose campaign were planned primarily for accepting cents and nickels. Particularly persistent was the Hobbs Manufacturing Company, which marketed an android for detecting counterfeit coins. Mr. Hobbs was certain that Fraser's draft would not work in his mechanism, and he asked that significant changes be made to the models. After much bickering over this, Secretary MacVeagh instructed the Mint to proceed with the inventive fabricate and let the vending engine companies adapt their mechanisms to the coin.

Over 1.2 billion Buffalo Nickels were minted from 1913 through 1938 at three mints; Philadelphia (no mintmark), San Francisco (S), and Denver (D). The mintmark can be found on the reversal under the denomination, while the designer's early "F" is below the year.

There were two varieties made. Type 1 nickels, minted only during the first few months of 1913, had the denomination FIVE CENTS on a raised stack. As early as April, brisk erosion in this area became evident on the coins in circulation, so Barber finally got his chance to transform Fraser's intend. He cut away the mountain, creating an exergue into which the denomination was set. This solved the change abrasion conundrum, but then he reserved leaving. He smoothed out much of the designate and granularity in both the Indian's portrait and the bison's withhold. The ensuing Type 2, however, lacked much of the artistic contact of the initial.

Barber again made small modifications in 1916, and some specialists think this a third subtype, but most enter collectors only consider the Type 1 and 2 coins as actual varieties. It is foreign that during all his modifications, Barber never addressed the snag of the meeting bearing down too hastily.

No Buffalo nickels were made in 1922, 1932 and 1933. Some 5,967 dull proofs were made from 1913 through 1916, and 10,189 brilliant proofs in 1936 and 1937. Strike was an inherent trouble with this coin from the start, and many deceptively well struck business strikes have been incorrect for the matte proofs and associate versa. Many mintmarked coins, especially from 1918 through 1934, are almost unavailable well struck.

When grading these coins of this print, you must take the external into account, as many plump shine pieces will not show rounded relief specify on the high points of the horn or the fringe on the tail. Generally, the date and LIBERTY will be faint on feebly struck pieces. The points on the coin that clothes most willingly are the high instant of the Indian's cheekbone and the fleece near the part. On the reverse, the bison's hip, the fringe on its tail and the horn are the first areas to show scuffing.

Collectors of this string have a fascinating array of "tough" dates and rarities to pursue. The most intricate coin to gain is the very atypical 1918/7-D overdate. Another overdate exists for both the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints-the subtle 1914/3. Scarce to singular dates in high grade include all the San Francisco coins from 1913 through 1928, with 1918, 1920 and 1924 through 1927 being the rarest. Denver coins are generally weaker strikes than San Francisco pieces. The gift the aerial with challenges like the 1918 through 1920 issues and the 1925 and 1926 coins, along with the prominent 1937-D 3-legged Buffalo. This awfully current variety (caused by excessive die-polishing to eradicate clash-marks) was not discovered awaiting most of the coins had reached circulation, making well-struck gem specimens very uncommon today. Particularly in the holder of the "3-legger" or the overdates, authentication by experts is advised, as many counterfeits survive.

Recent time had witnessed renewed collector interest in the Buffalo series, no mistrust stimulated by the wealth of new inquiries untaken by nickel specialists. An ever-budding number of numismatists are assembling finish sets of Buffaloes by date and mintmark. Demand is also clear from kind collectors, all whom seek this goal for their 20th Century-or more comprehensive-lettering sets. Although well struck, inexpensive nature examples such as 1938-D are available, many collectors wish to pursue one of the scarcer dates.

By the end of 1937 planning for the Buffalo nickel's successor was well under way, as the figure's mandatory 25 years would end the following year. It was to be replaced by the third coin to stand a likeness of one of our presidents, Thomas Jefferson. The Jefferson nickel continues in production to this day.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Diameter: 21.2 millimeters Weight: 5 grams Composition: .750 copper.250 nickel Edge: Plain

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I.Press/Doubleday, New York, 1988. Cohen, Annette R. and Druley, Ray M. The Buffalo Nickel, Potomac Enterprises, Arlington, VA, 1979. Lange, David W. The Complete Guide to Buffalo Nickels, DLRC Press, Virginia Beach, VA, 1992. Vermeule, Cornelius, Numismatic Art in America, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1971. Wescott, Michael, with Keck, Kendall, The United States Nickel Five-Cent Piece, Bowers and Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1991.

Coin Information Provided Courtesy NGC.

Roosevelt Dimes 1946 - present

Who really intended the Roosevelt Dime? Was it the U. S. Mint's Chief Engraver, John Ray Sinnock, whose initials figure on the coins first minted in 1946, or was it sculptor Selma Burke, whose bas-relief submitted as a gift to the President five days previous bears eerie resemblance to the portrayal actually worn? This irksome inquiry has been raised repeatedly during novel time, and it ashes a subject of ponder among numismatic scholars.

What is known for certain is that the American open in 1945 was clamoring for some cenotaph to their fallen chief, whose surface had come just as he was about to enjoy a musical victory after existence of struggle and disquiet. As World War II was looming its end in April of that year, Franklin Delano Roosevelt breathed his last, and the gratis world mourned. The people's only four-tenure president died at 63, aged afar his days by twin burdens of the maximum lucrative depression in the people's narration and the most devastating war of all time.

Within the Treasury Department, procedure were fast laid for the introduction of a new coin to prize Roosevelt. Since the deferred president had been afflicted with polio, or infantile paralysis as it was then generally known, it seemed only relaxed to place his depiction on the dime. This humbled coin was symbolic of the struggle to end polio through the "March of Dimes" fundraising operation, an envisage begun during Roosevelt's first term.

In a trip with its 40-year tradition of enlisting remote artists in the plan of new coins, the Mint assigned this brief to Chief Engraver Sinnock. His initial models were submitted to the national Commission of Fine Arts by Acting Mint Director Leland Howard on October 12, 1945. The Commission unwanted them on very exclusive argument and recommended an invitational competition for the outline of the new dime, naming five accomplished sculptors as candidates. Given the allowable time casing (the coins had to be keen for arise when the 1946 March of Dimes campaign kicked off on the belatedly president's birthday, January 30), this suggestion was abruptly rejected by Mint Director Nellie Tayloe Ross.

Instead, Sinnock went back to his workshop to make the beloved improvements. His small rule of Roosevelt with the now forward replaced large mottos, larger study with a miniscule IN GOD WE TRUST. As it fit the vacant opening, LIBERTY remained in large lettering but was moved to the left from its former opinion promptly above the portrayal. The year, and Sinnock's initials JS, were utterly small and appeared below the truncation of Roosevelt's stem. The repeal featured an upright torch, symbolizing openness, flanked by twigs of jade and oak, respectively denoting quiet and victory. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM was ineptly spaced between these elements in a release line. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE DIME were accepted in arcs around the fringe, separated from each other by ornamental dots. At the eleventh hour, these revised models were approved on January 8, 1946 by the Commission of Fine Arts and Treasury Secretary Fred Vinson. Accompanying this announcement was an order from Director Ross to begin the production of hubs and dies immediately and to begin penny as presently as workable.

As they would decades later with the claims raised by Selma Burke, John Sinnock's initials JS on the dime provided controversy from the outset. Americans, newly awakened to the situation-war hazard posed by the Soviet Union, were opening to invent Communists behind every tree. A persistent tale expanded that the initials JS were those of Soviet organizer Joseph Stalin. As absurd as this may seem today, enough The possibility alarmed americans of Communist change that the Mint was affected to originate an invoice identifying the coin's architect and refuting the claims of "Reds" being harbored within its respected bulwark.

Coined by the millions every year from 1946 forward, the Roosevelt Dime chain has no unusual dates, and the only challenge in completing collection mendacity in locating scarce varieties or form rarities. Several teenager hub changes have occurred, the first appearing in 1946 when it was realized that parts of the obverse design were indistinct, plus the controversial initials JS. Other modifications are noted during 1964 and 1981. Since then, new hubs have been introduced frequently. This is to compensate for the costume which fallout from the frequent die sinkings vital to meet modern strain for additional change. These new hubs develop almost annually, but the changes are so feeble as to go unnoticed excepting by specialists.

Roosevelt dimes have been coined at three mints: Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco. From 1946 through 1964, the mintmark place was just to the left of the source of the torch. From 1968 onward, mintmarks appear above the year. Those struck in Philadelphia carried no mintmark pending a letter P was introduced creation in 1980. Roosevelt dimes coined at the mints in Denver and San Francisco have forever been identified by words D and S, respectively, except during the time 1965-67 when these mintmarks were gone. All three mints made dimes for circulation through 1955; in March of that year, San Francisco ceased the minting of coins, and for the next ten years its mint was worn exclusively as an attempt staff. The other two mints nonstop lonely pending 1965, when the West Coast facility was reactivated in a power to overcome a nationwide coin famine. Silver dimes square 1964 and carrying no mintmark were struck in San Francisco during the last months of 1965.

Although there are no singular dates in the Roosevelt dime chain and it is certainly fulfilled in mint confusion, some issues contain notable premiums, particularly in grades MS-65 and higher. These embrace all the 1948 and 1949 dimes, 1950-S and 1951-S. Despite their, much inferior to average mintages, the three issues square 1955 were commonly hoarded and pass only modest premiums. The only customary-gush coin appeal more than its silver gold help in circulated grades is 1949-S. Points to trial for costume on the Roosevelt dime include the highpoints of FDR's fleece and cheek and the flame and horizontal bands of the torch.

Proofs were coined at the Philadelphia Mint launch in 1950, and this date through 1955 are all worth more than subsequent proofs. Coinage of proofs was hovering with the adoption of copper-nickel clothed dimes in 1965. No proofs were coined with the dates 1965, 1966 and 1967, but "exclusive mint sets" were coined at the San Francisco Mint that have a prooflike class to their surfaces. These are not as gallantly struck as sincere proofs. In addition, less concern was full in their behavior, and they frequently display nicks and abrasion, even when found in their inventive packaging. Proof currency resumed in 1968, this time at the San Francisco Mint. The S-Mint dimes square 1968 to date are factual proofs course the letter S and were made exclusively for retailing to collectors. Since 1992, these have been coined in both the conventional clothed composition and at the old silver everyday. The Philadelphia and Denver Mint persist to yield copper-nickel clad dimes for common circulation.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Diameter: 17.9 millimeters Weight: 2.50 grams (silver) Composition: .900 silver.100 copper Net Weight: .07234 scrap wholesome silver Weight: 2.27 grams (CuNi-clad) Composition: .750 copper.250 nickel bonded to unmixed copper Edge: Reeded

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, New York, 1988. Tomaska, Rick Jerry, Cameo and Brilliant Proof Coinage of the 1950 to 1970 Era, R & I Publications, Encinitas, CA, 1991. Taxay, Don, The U.S. Mint and Coinage, Arco Publishing Co., New York, 1966. Yeoman, R.S., A Guide Book of United States Coins, 48th Edition. Western Publishing Co., Racine, WI, 1994.

Coin Information Provided Courtesy NGC.