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.

Jefferson Nickels 1938 to present

Still in production nowadays, the Jefferson Nickel has become a relaxed coin to generations of Americans. Introducing in 1938, it is the only one of our nearby coins being made in its previous composition, however this continuity was interrupted sketchily by the crisis of World War II. After more than six decades of minting, this humble coin continues to principle the realm's third leader.

Thomas Jefferson was a man of countless talents, and he possessed an unceasingly snooping life. His achievements in architecture (his own home, Monticello, being but one example), pooled with his triumphs as a statesman, scientist and philosopher, have earned for Jefferson a lasting bequest as one of the greatly great records in American memoirs. It was seemingly inevitable that once George Washington had been grateful with a circulating coin in 1932, Jefferson could not be far behind in achieving such recognition.

Thomas Jefferson was natural in Virginia, in what was then Goochland (now Albemarle) County. Raising in a prosperous home, he took occupied advantage of the educational opportunities this untaken him. Though he was proud to explain himself as just a gentleman planter, he began a long and illustrious career of community sacrament in 1769 by joining the Virginia House of Burgesses. The arrival of the American War of Independence six time later found him an organ of the Second Continental Congress. In this volume he became the principal dramatist of the Declaration of Independence. Returning to Virginia to operate as its governor during the dying time of the war, he later rejoined the Continental Congress for the designate 1783-84.

Among the most urgent issues of the day was settlement of the land's war debt and the establishment of fiscal logic. Jefferson devised decimal currency logic, the principal points of which were ultimately adopted some days later. Jefferson then became America's minister to France in 1785, frequent home winning the choice of George Washington as the first head of the national republic. Jefferson's idiom as secretary of royal found him regularly at odds with the dominant Federalist gang, and this only intensified during his vice presidency under President John Adams (1797-1801).

A Republican, Jefferson succeeded Adams, serving two terms head of the USA (1801-09). Highlights of his presidency included the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and America's battles against the Barbary pirates. Retirement for Jefferson was anything but subdued, and among his achievements were the founding of the University of Virgina and the fabricate of its buildings. He maintained a lively and stimulating correspondence with numbers around the world, awaiting fall claimed him at his beloved home of Monticello in 1826. In a remarkable coincidence, his temporary chop on July 4, fifty days to the day after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In an even better twist, old rival John Adams also succumbled on that very same day.

Early in 1938, the Treasury Department announced an open competition for designs to return those of the tide five-cent case. No persuade was given for retiring James Earle Fraser's Indian Head/Buffalo Nickel, but that object had achieved its lawful least production of 25 existence, and therefore no legal barrier stood in the way of replacing it. The new coin would prize Thomas Jefferson, and the competition system specified that its facade was to star "an authentic likeness" of the third president. The system auxiliary essential that the transpose of the coin represent "a representation of Monticello, Jefferson's historic home near Charlottesville."

The contest was open to someone who could provide models that would work within the Mint's practical requirements, and these specifications were provided in the broadcast announcement. Of some 390 models submitted, those of German-American sculptor Felix Schlag were elected, and he was awarded the $1000 prize in April of 1938.

Felix Schlag's portrait of Jefferson was based on a limestone bust sketched from life by famed French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. Schlag's dramatic perspective spectacle of Monticello was discarded by the Federal Commission of Fine Arts, which acted in an advisory gift on all matters of open art. Besides recommending a more conventional, altitude scene of Jefferson's home, the commission suggested that Schlag's stylized, Art Deco print be replaced with a more traditional Roman draft. Schlag complied with its requests, submitting revised models for reassess in July of 1938. After a few more changes were made to the print, principally enlargement of the worth FIVE CENTS, the models were official. With all these delays, production of the new coins did not begin awaiting September, and the first examples were free to circulation two months later.

The Jefferson Nickel skinned a left-facing bust of the president, dressed in a coat of the interlude and draining a peruke wig. Arranging in arcs around the border are the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to the left, with LIBERTY and the year to the right, separated by a sole star. On the reversal is a front elevation notice of Jefferson's home, with the name MONTICELLO beneath it. Around the border are the folklore E PLURIBUS UNUM above and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA below. Beneath MONTICELLO is the assess FIVE CENTS. Beginning in 1966, Schlag's initials FS happen below the truncation of Jefferson's bust.

The mints at Philadelphia (no mintmark pending 1980), Denver (mintmark 'D') and San Francisco ('S') the coined Jefferson Nickels from 1938 onward. Mintmarks appeared to the right of Monticello through 1964, when their use was hovering due to a nationwide coin famine. Mintmarks were restored opening in 1968, however since that year they have been located beneath the time, to the right of Jefferson's peruke. San Francisco poised coining operations after 1954, but Jeffersons posture the trendy 'S' mintmark were again made for circulation in 1968, 1969 and 1970. Beginning in 1971 and continuing to the present day, San Francisco has struck only proof examples for collectors.

Mintages from all three mints have speckled over the course of the string, with some of these records being small by modern values. The dates considered "key" coins due to their low mintages compose 1938-D, 1938-S, 1939-D, 1939-S and 1950-D. None are correctly bloody, however, as the Jefferson Nickel chain coincides with the era in which Americans preserved rolls and even intact bags of uncirculated coins of every court. Instead of date rarity, the focus in collecting Jeffersons is on superb condition. Until the overdue 1980s, when lowering of this coin's relief resulted in consistently pointed strikes, most Jefferson Nickels were seldom found with all minutiae discreet. Specifically, the steps of Monticello are typically incomplete, and coins having "bursting steps" catch intense aerial relevance.

The novelty of the Jefferson Nickel caused most examples to be saved by a bizarre civic during its first few years, and coins of this category did not become an usual display in circulation awaiting about 1940. Shortly thereafter, the beginning of World War II prompted the rationing of many commodities, certain metals among them. Nickel was decidedly valued for use in armor plating, and Congress prepared the deduction of this metal from the five-cent slice, efficient October 8, 1942. From that date, and lasting through the end of 1945, five-cent pieces tire the expected invent but were minted from an alloy of copper, silver and manganese. It was expected that these emergency coins would be withdrawn from circulation after the war, so a prominent distinguishing facet was added. Coins from all three mints weary very large mintmarks above the field of Monticello, and the letter 'P' was worn as a mintmark for the first time on a U. S. Coin. These "war nickels" proved rather satisfactory in circulation, and they were not immediately withdrawn. Instead, they remained a customary view until the mid-1960s, when rising silver prices caused them to be hoarded for their gold merit.

While a generous coin in its own right, the Jefferson Nickel serves an additional intent in honoring a strictly great American. In this character, it is expected to continue for many years to come. For collectors, completion of the Jefferson cycle skeleton an inexpensive and attainable goal.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Diameter: 21.2 millimeters Weight: 5 grams Composition: .750 copper.250 nickel (1938-42, 1946-) .560 copper.350 silver.090 manganese (1942-45) Edge: Plain

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, New York, 1988. Taxay, Don, The U.S. Mint and Coinage, Arco Publishing Co., New York, 1966. Wescott, Michael, with Keck, Kendall, The United States Nickel Five-Cent Piece, Bowers and Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1991. Yeoman, R.S., A Guide Book of United States Coins, 52nd Edition. Golden Books Publishing Company, New York, 1998.

Coin Information Provided Courtesy NGC.

Lincoln Cents 1909-present

1909 was a year of many "firsts." U.S. Navy persuade Robert E. Peary became the first man to grasp the North Pole. The first transcontinental sedan chase took place between New York and Seattle, and up in the sky, French engineer Louis Bleriot made the first English Channel crossing in a heavier-than-air procedure. The United States Mint was preparing a first of its own: an usual-arise U.S. coin reverence an actual person. Defying a tradition that square back to George Washington's presidency, plans were made to venerate the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth with a new cent featuring a bust of the beloved head.

For more than a century, central officials had followed George Washington's hint and avoided the depiction of presidents, former or nearby-or any other recognizable individuals-on the people's circulating change. Thus, when the notion of a Lincoln coin arose, it encountered really resistance from traditionalists. Skeptics and critics were no match, however, for President Theodore Roosevelt. "TR" had a personal hobby in revitalizing U.S. penny. Having pressed through exciting new designs for the four gold denominations, he turned his notice to the cent, where the Indian Head motif had detained lean since 1859. He was steered in this objective by Victor David Brenner, a Lithuanian emigre with tremendous artistic talent and vast admiration for Abraham Lincoln. Their paths crossed in 1908, when Roosevelt posed for Brenner for a Panama Canal Service honor. The artiste had already modeled a tablet and medal for Lincoln's birth centennial and optional a Lincoln coin. The president easily approved and asked him to tender planned designs.

Brenner's frontage devised featured a sketch of Lincoln facing right, and for the first time on the cent, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. Flanking Lincoln's bust on the left was the inscription LIBERTY, with the meeting on the right. The invert conceive showed two sheaves of wheat, one on either wall, framing the inscriptions ONE CENT, E PLURIBUS UNUM and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The peak points on the face are Lincoln's cheekbone and jaw, on the invert the tips of the wheat stalks. These are the chairs to first show wear.

The controversy over Lincoln's depiction shortly died away; most Americans found the design appealing. A new dispute urbanized when the first examples of the coin, released in August 1909, were found to produce the artist's initials V.D.B. in large words at the corrupt of the contrary. Public outcry led to their quick ejection, and that in transform resulted in the creation of a main find: Only 484,000 cents were minted in San Francisco with the initials, and the 1909-S V.D.B. cent has been the most popular coin in the sequence ever since. S-mint cents of 1909 without the V.D.B. are scarce, too, but, with a mintage of 1.8 million they're four times more "common." Brenner's initials were restored in 1918, in much slighter lettering, on the shoulder of Lincoln's bust.

Lincoln cent mintages were substantial from the outset. The Philadelphia Minted (no mintmark) was the major producer, with the San Francisco (S) and Denver (D) facilities augmenting production in most being, Denver not first until 1911. Philadelphia abandoned minted more than 100 million in 1909, and in 1941, absolute single-year crop topped one billion for the first time. Matte-evidence Lincoln cents were produced in Philadelphia from 1909 through 1916, and brilliant proofs were struck from 1936 through 1942 and again from 1950 through 1964. Brilliant proofs have been made annually since 1968 in San Francisco. Despite the admirable production levels, many Lincoln cents enjoy substantial premium value; for while the supply is great, the ultimatum is similarly so. Collectors frequently make this the very first string they pursue because of its high visibility and qualified affordability, and many weld with it even after graduating from the novice ranks.

Not counting errors or other scarce varieties, only two coins in the cycle have mintages below one million: 1909-S V.D.B. and 1931-S, a Depression-era release with a mintage of 866,000. S-mint issues commonly have had the buck mintages. One of the most coveted keys in the Lincoln series, though, is a Denver cent: 1914-D. Just 1,193,000 pieces were struck, and relatively few were preserved in mint term. Other scarce issues contain 1910-S, 1911-S, 1912-S, 1913-S, 1914-S, 1915-S and 1924-D.

Offbeat pieces rank among the most priceless in the series. One of these is the 1922 "Plain"-actually a Denver Mint product on which the D mint spot below the court is all but finished. This coined came to light only because no cents were minted in Philadelphia in 1922, the only time that's been dutiful in the series. Other Lincolns keenly required by collectors are "doubled-die" errors. These coins have apparent doubling in the date and/or inscriptions. Perhaps the most dramatic, and most helpful, error of this font occurred on the face of small figures of cents struck in 1955 at Philadelphia. Major doubling also can be found on the frontage of some cents square 1936, 1972, 1984 and on the switch of some cents square 1983.

In 1943, with copper urgently needed for combat-related purposes, the Mint made Lincoln cents from zinc-layered steel. The substitute proved unsatisfactory, and from 1944 through 1946 the Mint instead worn the brass alloy first tried in 1942; this lacked the small percentage of tin employed before, and after the war. At least a portion of this brass was obtained from salvaged cartridge bags, which did the job nicely. The one-year experiment left a lasting heritage when the Mint inadvertently struck minuscule records of 1943 cents in effigy and a somewhat larger number of 1944 cents in steel. Both are utterly unusual and priceless. Many time ago, a deceitful gossip expand around the country that Henry Ford would trade a new car in talk for the fabeled 1943 copper!

The Lincoln cent's 50th birthday, in 1959, also clear the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The Mint observed it by bountiful the cent a new repeal depicting the Lincoln Memorial. Frank fashioned this Gasparro, a junior engraver (and prospect chief engraver) at the Mint.

The Lincoln cent would go onto be issued longer than any other coin in U.S. chronicle and in far bigger numbers than any other coin in the story of the world. Looking back, it seems incomprehensible that such a household coin-one we take for granted today-was ever viewed as controversial.

SPECIFICATIONS:

1909-1942, 1947-1962 Diameter: 19 millimeters Weight: 3.11 grams Composition: .950 copper.050 zinc and tin Edge: Plain 1943 Diameter: 19 millimeters Weight: 2.70 grams Composition: Zinc-encrusted steel Edge: Plain 1944-1946, 1962-1982 Diameter: 19 millimeters Weight: 3.11 grams Composition: .950 copper.050 zinc Edge: Plain 1982 to date Diameter: 19 millimeters Weight: 2.50 grams Composition: .975 zinc.025 copper Edge: Plain

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, New York, 1988. Lange, David W. The Complete Guide to Lincoln Cents, Bowers & Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1996. Taxay, Don, The U.S. Mint and Coinage, Arco Publishing Co., New York, 1966. Taylor, Sol, The Standard Guide to the Lincoln Cent, 3rd Edition, published by the cause, Sherman Oaks, CA, 1992. Tomaska, Rick Jerry, Cameo and Brilliant Proof Coinage of the 1950 to 1970 Era, R & I Publications, Encinitas, CA, 1991. Vermeule, Cornelius, Numismatic Art in America, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1971. Wexler, John & Kevin Flynn, The Authoritative Reference on Lincoln Cents, KCK Press, Rancocas, NJ, 1996.

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.