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Subjects
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Page
Index
Links
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Link:
1795 HalfEagle Off-Metal Strikes
Link:
1999 ANA Chicago Medals
Link:
1988 Bristol Renaissance Fair Medal
Link:
Texas Renaissance Festival Tokens
Link:
1796 14-piece Brilliant Uncirculated Set
Link:
The Arkansas Traveler's roadside distractions
Link:
DiscussionGroup or BulletinBoard?
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Enlargement scans available on WWW and ScrapBook CD-ROM.
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| 11/3
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1795 HalfEagle Off-Metal Strikes
GMM may no longer strikes gold dies on less noble medals...but...they
certainly struck quite a few of their first gold dies on copper and brass
planchets. Ron told me that they used any handy die of an adequate size
for the reverse of their trial strikes. So you see here cent reverse
dies and a seal reverse die in addition to the half eagle reverse die.
These pieces are in two different collections so the scans were done by
their owners and do not match each other in color. In both the top and
bottom scans the first piece is brass and the other two are copper.
1) Struck on an undersized goldine (brass) planchet with plain
edge. Reverse is the same the BU 93Wreath.
3) Struck on a normal copper 93Chain planchet with vine&bars
edge. Obverse is early but not Prooflike and the reverse is a Proof
strike of the GMM seal similar to a 93Wreath.
5) Struck on a normal copper 93Chain planchet with vine&bars edge
and COPY on reverse. This one is lovely, double-struck at top obverse,
early state of both dies, but not Prooflike. First star is much farther
from date than on any of the others.
6) This is the owner's favorite -- broadstruck on a slightly
clipped copper 93Chain planchet with vine&bars edge. Both dies are
Prooflike. He doesn't know a breakdown of Proof versus BU dies of
these.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 11/2
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1999 ANA Chicago Medals
I noticed that Ron had used the Winged Mercury Head on both the 2000 ANA
Exhibitor's Medal and the 2000 ANA Convention Token/Medal and thought
that was a really neat idea. Now I discover that he did a similar thing
for the 1999 ANA medals.
Shown above is an example of the 1999 ANA Exhibitor's Medal. It is
unusual because it did not receive the artifical toning Ron normally
adds to his "ancient style" creations. This stunning piece looks just
like ancient silver coins would have looked the day they were struck.
Wonderful lusterous surfaces...the scan really doesn't do the piece
justice!
Shown below are three examples of the 1999 ANA Convention Token/Medal.
On the left a normal strike with lettered edge. In the center a strike
on a straight clipped planchet with a plain edge. On the right a double
struck specimen with lettered edge. Ron really does a SUPER job with the
Minerva bust.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 11/2
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Click on image for enlargement
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1988 Bristol Renaissance Fair Medal
Ron Landis created quite a body of work while traveling the Renaissance
Circuit and most of those creations were broadcast to the winds. Those
pieces normally end up with non-numismatic collectors. Some pieces are
very simple designs that a "numismatist" would reject out of hand. Many,
likely most, were unsigned and undated which makes them difficult to
attribute when encountered.
Shown above is a Bristol medal that is both dated and signed. The
readily recognizable "RL" is present, if a bit weak. So this piece
becomes a valued addition to my GMM/Landis collection.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 11/2
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Click on any image for enlargement
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Texas Renaissance Festival Tokens
The strip of tokens shown at left and right were created entirely for
the purpose of demonstrating roller milled coining at the Texas
Renaissance Festival. The rolling mill was actually powered by an eight
foot undershot water wheel (see Good For $1 In
Trade...Royal Mint ScrapBook Subject on Page9.)
The rolls of the mill were engraved to print a continuous strip of three
different types of $1 tokens and a $2 token. The tokens were then cut
out of the strip in a screw press tooled with a punch and die. Shown
above left are examples of the four 25.5mm tokens (slightly larger than
a U.S. quarter.)
The three $1 tokens can be easily distinguished by the positioning of
the dollar sign; type1 points to the N of IN,
type2 points between the N of IN and the T of TRADE and
type3 points to the T of TRADE.
Mating the impressions was difficult using this technique. The gears
have to be "timed" exactly right. Miscued rolls were used to create the
strip shown here. The picture shown above right is a closeup so you can
see how far misqued this particular strip is.
Just for the record and your edification... In the 1997 FUN public
auction there was a strip of these tokens unpunched which sold for
$85. By way of comparison, here are three other pieces that sold
in that same auction for less money than the token strip;
1) $45 for a 1787 New Jersey Cent
Maris62.5 No Die Crack <20 struck,
2) $65 for a Silver
Proof 1795 Half Eagle one of three struck and
3) $70 for an "In God We Trust"
Pattern 1995 One Concept Dollar <20 struck.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 11/1
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Click on image for enlargement
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1796 14-piece Brilliant Uncirculated Set
Neither the above small scans nor the larger scans, that you get when
you click for them, allow you to really appreciate the beauty of the
individual specimens in this set. However, I think it is worth showing
this set to you here because you do get the overall impression of the
wonderful quality Joe and Ron insist on for all their creations.
Now I reckon it is time to start down through the treasure trove I have
accumulated from Eureka Springs, and various other sources, during
October 2000. Have to get some of this done before Ron and Joe ship me
the other creations I requested.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen...Wed, 1 Nov 2000 03:33:04
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| 11/1
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The Arkansas Traveler's roadside distractions
Russell T. Johnson has created a personal-but-public travel scrapbook at
Link:The Arkansas Traveler's
roadside distractions.
As Russ tells it, there you will find stories and photographs of
things peculiar and fabulous, silly and true concerning his travels
throughout the state of Arkansas. He has devoted a page,
Link:Gallery Mint Museum,
to his visit to our favorite private mint with some nice pictures for
our enjoyment. The photo of the mint building shown here and the photos
of Ron and Joe on the "Table Of Contents" page are the property of Mr.
Johnson and are used here with his permission. Be sure to drop him a
line to thank him for his efforts.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen...Wed, 1 Nov 2000 01:01:11
I enjoy finding an unusual attraction that's well off the beaten track.
Here's one in Eureka Springs that goes very nearly unpublicized. The
name of the place is the Gallery Mint Museum, and their business is
minting reproductions of antique coins...
EMail:Russell T. Johnson...Mon, 1 May 2000
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| 11/1
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DiscussionGroup or BulletinBoard?
I encountered an occasional viewer who thought that "Discussion Group"
should be a "chit-chat" type website and who subsequently took me to
task because our website didn't work. I had selected that name because I
wanted to make it clear that we both welcomed and actively sought input
on GMM related subjects from the viewing/collecting public. So... I sent
out EMail asking if we should change "Discussion Group" to "Bulletin
Board", the only other title I could think of at that point in time.
Boy! NOBODY liked that suggestion!!
This has been a real eye opener for me! I never saw so many
opinions. I asked the 20 most regular visitors and have gotten about 14
different opinions from 15 different people. The only two to agree
said..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" The best suggestion so far, in
my opinion, is:
Gallery Mint Museum ScrapBook
However, I'll wait until early November to make any changes so all this
has time to soak in a bit. Feel free to comment as the mood strikes you.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen...Mon, 23 Oct 2000 23:57:23
I like the GMM "scrapbook" idea.
Ron Landis...Tue, 24 Oct 2000 11:05:40
I actually got a majority of the survey group to agree on "GMM
ScrapBook"! So... I've made the change in all code and, regardless of
any future opinions on the subject, I have zero expectations of making
ANY more changes of such a sweeping nature.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen...Wed, 1 Nov 2000 00:23:45
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