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Index
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Link:
The Golden Dollar Coin Design Finalists
Link:
1796 25c Proof...Just for your enjoyment!
Link:
2000 Concept Dollar eBay Sale Brings Good Results
Link:
1796 "No Pole" HalfCent Complete With Die Crack
Link:
1793 Liberty Cap 1c Jewelry Pendant
Link:
1796 Draped Bust 1c Double Struck Proof
Link:
1796 14 Star $1 GMM strike
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Enlargement scans available on WWW and ScrapBook CD-ROM.
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The Golden Dollar Coin Design Finalists
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As usual, there are wonderful resources on the WWW just waiting for our
discovery. What is obvious to one individual comes as something
brand-new and wonderful to another person.
Link:The Golden
Dollar Coin Design Finalists webpage was such a discovery to this
old man! This page belongs to
Link:The United States Mint
website and is a part of
Link:The
Golden Dollar Coin
documentation presented there. Just in case the subject webpage "goes
away" without warning I have captured the wonderful description of our
friend Ron Landis. It reads as follows:
About the Artist: Ron Landis, Chief Engraver, Vice President, Gallery
Mint Museum
Ron Landis received a diploma in 1979 from Gem City College, Quincy, IL,
for a hand-engraving course. He is a designer of tokens and medals, and
is also well known in the field of hand-engraved coins known as "hobo
nickels."
From 1981 to 1984, Mr. Landis was a hand engraver for the jewelry trade
in Denver, CO. From 1987 to 1989, Mr. Landis joined Project Segovia, an
effort to restore the 16th Century Mint of Segovia, Spain, to a working
museum of early minting technology, as a technical consultant, and will
soon return to this post.
In 1992, Mr. Landis founded the Gallery Mint Museum with partner Joe
Rust. The museum helps to demonstrate the evolution of coin-making
technology from ancient Greece through the Industrial Revolution.
Mr. Landis received the 1995-1997 Presidential Award from the American
Numismatic Association for outstanding contributions to the coin
collecting community. He is a member of the NAAEMS Committee of the
American Numismatic Association; a co-instructor for the Art of
Engraving course offered at the American Numismatic Association Summer
Conference at Colorado College; and an editor, writer, and photographer
for the Gallery Mint Report.
Mr. Landis has also designed and produced prototype dollars that were
distributed to congressional committee members prior to the recently
passed dollar coin legislation. He is a member of the American
Numismatic Association, American Numismatic Society, American Medallic
Sculptor's Association, Arkansas Numismatic Association, Token and Medal
Society, FIDEM, Society of Paper Money Collectors, and the Original Hobo
Nickel Society, among others.
Mr. Landis specializes in the reproduction of rare, early United States
coin types. His long-term goals are to build a museum that will provide
workshops and apprenticeship programs so that these historic trades can
endure as a living part of our culture.
If you find other interesting WWW resources we should point out to other
folks interested in GMM esoterica please let me know. Thanks-
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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1796 25c Proof...Just for your enjoyment!
This beautiful Proof Quarter, #522 of 1,000 struck, is being offered for
sale on eBay as I write this and has yet to get a bid. I mostly just
wanted to share this beauty with all y'all. These are clearly, as
expected since they are Proof dies, a different set of dies than the
four sets discussed previously. Maybe there is more than one set of
proof dies for this piece and you will need this specimen since your
piece is from different dies. Let me know if this is, in fact, the case.
Happy collecting -
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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2000 Concept Dollar eBay Sale Brings Good Results
On July 25th a pair of the 2000 Piedfort Concept Dollar strikes sold on
eBay for $406 plus $2 shipping. The Seller wrote (in part);
(2)Limited Issue 2000 U.S. Concept Dollars
These patterns for the new dollar coin were produced in 1998 to provide
the Washington decision makers an example of what the new golden dollar
could look like. By many accounts, these pieces made a significant
impact on the passing of legislation for the new coin.
Engraver (Ron Landis) first designed the flowing hair type and mated it
with a reverse to symbolize peace in the new millennium. Rep. Michael
Castle, then Chairman of the International Monetary Policy Committee,
decided that the more familiar statue of liberty would be more
recognizable. He found this statue design in the mint archive designed
earlier by James Ferrell, a mint engraver.
To help promote this design, Gallery Mint made this second type of
pattern that was distributed to members of the House and Senate. This
design was actually written into the original bill. The bill passed with
the exception that the design be left to the Secretary of Treasury.
Robert Rubin formed a selection committee, and the rest is history.
Only 2500 of each design type to be offered to the general public. These
patterns are double thick piedforts.
Now that the selection is complete and the Sacagawea Dollar is now in
circulation the remaining patterns, are available while supplies last.
Only about 250 of each style remains to be sold.
The reverse design was one of four designs that made it to the final
round and was very close to being accepted. The design selected was the
work of Thomas Rogers, an outstanding mint engraver, and friend of
Gallery Mint.
If the Seller and/or the Buyer wants to be identified in connection with
these two fine pieces please contact me and I'll comply...otherwise they
will remain anonymous in respect for their privacy.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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1796 "No Pole" HalfCent Complete With Die Crack
In the September 1998 Gallery Mint Report, on page 3, it
says;
Of the recently completed 14 piece set,
there was none more easily executed than the "with pole" variety half
cent, but probably none more technically challenging than the "no pole"
variety. All 12 known examples of this rare variety display a
horizontal, bisecting die crack. So, to reproduce this coin accurately,
we not only needed to produce a cracked die, but this crack had to be of
a particular shape so as best to represent the original.
We wouldn't settle for just scratching a line in the die. That just
doesn't look the same as a real die crack, and besides, that would be
too easy. We like doing things the hard way.
Our first attempt almost worked, and was the method we used to create
the final working die. The second attempt actually yielded a working die
by splitting a hardened die, and we were able to get 150 strikes from
this die. These were offered as a show special at the recent ANA
convention in Portland. But the crack in this die did not look right.
The shape was wrong, and it also developed an additional cud that is not
seen on the original coin. So a third die was created that so far has
managed to stay in two pieces.
The "crack" was created by cutting the steel die blank in half using a
very fine jeweler's saw, following the shape of the original crack. The
two pieces were then pressed in a retaining ring, and the whole mess
went into a heavier iron "collar". Then, the entire design was hobbed
into this three piece die in a single operation, closing the seam very
tight as to mimic a genuine crack. It worked so well that the two pieces
stayed together through the hardening and tempering process, even though
it fell out of its retaining ring that was intended to hold it together.
This is also the only die so far created entirely by our machinist, Joe
Rust. Like the original, the unc. version is mated with the same reverse
die as the "with pole" variety. Our somewhat idealized proof version of
this piece shown at right does not display the crack, and in fact,
served as the master die that was "cloned" to produce the more realistic
cracked die uncirculated version.
So...our friends at GMM will obviously stop at absolutely nothing to
make their strikes true to the originals. Good work guys!
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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1793 Liberty Cap 1c Jewelry Pendant
On July 29th a unique GMM piece sold on eBay and should be recorded
for future students of the history of GMM. The Seller wrote;
Gallery Mint Museum Error/Pendant
As a former employee of the GALLERY MINT MUSEUM, I was a witness and
sometimes a participant in creating intentional errors. We had a few
customers that would specifically custom order error pieces for their
collections. One day, (former chief coiner) Adam and I had been making
custom errors, and when we finished, we decided to create a few for
ourselves. The result here is a pendant/error that was created using the
brass of a 1995 Concept Dollar and a silver coin-blank while striking
both sides at the same time with the 1793 One Cent dies. The One Cent
reproductions were usually struck on copper, so this silver and brass
really make an interesting statement! My wife wore this with a silver
chain around her neck for a few months, and then we noticed the silver
piece loosening from the brass, so we put it away for about 5 years.
Now, the struck silver piece has detached from the brass. However, with
a some good eyesight and a little glue, these two pieces could be joined
again for a tight fit. This piece was copy stamped (on the reverse) in
accordance with the Hobby Protection Act. Actual size is approximately
32mm wide by 35mm height.
If the Seller and/or the Buyer wants to be identified in connection with
this unusual piece please contact me and I'll comply...otherwise they
will remain anonymous in respect for their privacy.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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1796 Draped Bust 1c Double Struck Proof
This is Proof #728 of an unknown number struck. It was not a special
order error. I purchased it from GMM out of their stock so I suspect,
but have no proof, that this was a production error. In any event I
would guess that even special order errors are less often done in the
proofs because of the additional expense that would involve. Perhaps by
showing this Proof Error we will learn more about their availability in
some general terms.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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1796 14 Star $1 GMM strike
In the July 1997 Gallery Mint Report, on page 4, in
Auction News it says; The die for
this 14 Star Proof 1796 Dollar reproduction was made in error. (Should
have 15 stars.) and Only 61 were
produced of which 58 were released before the error was discovered by
our photographer. The recipients were notified of the error, and only
two were returned for replacement. Just a note for those who
might be interested.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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