| 2001
| ScrapBook
Subjects
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Page
Index
Links
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Link:
Copper/Brass/Silver Burned Die Cent Set
Link:
Silver Doe Brothers Dough
Link:
Not exactly!
Link:
Still Counting... Con$ept Dollars That Is... :-)
Link:
News from Segovia
Link:
Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten us into!
Link:
As of Forelithe 28, SR 1401, the Shire has begun minting coins.
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Enlargement scans available on WWW and ScrapBook CD-ROM.
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| 8/3
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Click for Copper
Obverse/Reverse, Brass
Obverse/Reverse or Silver
Obverse/
Reverse enlargements.
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Copper/Brass/Silver Burned Die Cent Set
Copper:
This is a Gallery Mint Museum COPY of a 1796 Liberty Cap With Pole Half Cent
(reference Cohen 2). When the obverse die for this coin was being prepared,
it was damaged. After all of the devices and lettering are sunk into the die,
it must be hardened before it can be used to strike coins. This is done in a
furnace, with an anti-scaling compound being brushed onto the die before it is
placed in the furnace. On this particular die, the anti-scaling compound
actually burned away, and part of the surfaces of the die were damaged by the
extreme heat of the furnace. Not too many pieces were struck by the Gallery
Mint from this "Burned Die". As with all Gallery Mint products, these were
struck using the same technology as that available to the U.S. Mint in the
late 18th Century (i.e. a Screw Press).
Mark Honea...Aug-02-01 13:33:03
Brass:
This piece is even more special because it was struck on a Brass, rather than
the usual Pure Copper, planchet. Mark Honea...Aug-02-01 13:44:24
Silver:
This piece is even more special because it was struck on a Silver, rather than
the usual Pure Copper, planchet. Mark Honea...Aug-02-01 13:47:28
I have never seen this wonderful presentation set offered on eBay before. They are,
as I write this, available on eBay for you to bid upon.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 8/3
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Silver Doe Brothers Dough
For a number of years, the "head honchos" at the Gallery Mint
Museum, Ron Landis and Joe Rust, have performed as a Blues/Jazz duet known as the
"Doe Brothers". Somewhere along the line, they came up with the notion of creating
tokens, referred to as "Doe Dough". These were struck over Lincoln Cents, and were
given to patrons when they tipped a dollar or more. The obverse of the token features
Ron and Joe as the "Doe Brothers", and the reverse has one of Eureka Springs' famous
Trolley Cars on it. What makes this example special, is that it was struck on a
planchet intended for one of the Gallery Mint's 1796 Draped Bust Dime reproductions.
As with all Gallery Mint products, these were struck using the same technology as
that available to the U.S. Mint in the late 18th Century (i.e. on a Screw Press).
Gorgeous Prooflike Example! Mark Honea...Aug-02-01 14:58:52
There isn't much I can say about this SUPER creation. It is one of my favorite Landis
dies and not regularly issued on silver. Oh yes... it is, as I write this, available on
eBay for you to bid upon.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 8/1
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Click
on Bill to visit his homepage!
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Not exactly!
So what the heck does this peculiar subject title mean? Well... I was thinking
of the fact that these subjects are always Gallery Mint Museum related
and this time it really isn't.
Then that car rental advertisement kept running through
my head so I ended up with "Not exactly!". When I saw the title here above Bill's
latest hobo nickel carving's image I almost changed it because his carving "Is
exactly!"... exactly PERFECT that is!
I just HAD to share Bill's latest carving of a fellow Hobo Nickel carving collector.
To really appreciate how wonderful this creation is you simply must
click on the image
(shown here on the left) to see the larger version. I've stored it in the normal
image directory so you don't have to purchase the GMM ScrapBook CD-ROM to view it.
Be sure to EMail Bill...
EMail:Bill (Jameson) Zach
...and tell him what you think of his hard work and talent.
Speaking of the GMM ScrapBook CD-ROM... I have had to blow away most of the graphic
images for the first ten ScrapBook pages (70 subjects) that are posted on the World
Wide Web. So the only way to get a complete set of ScrapBook subjects now is to
support our CD-ROM effort. You won't believe how FAST the ScrapBook operates
in that environment. The speed alone makes the small investment of $20 worth it
many times over. The graphic images for the second ten ScrapBook pages (for a total
of 140 subjects severely brain damaged!) will shortly follow their brethren into
nihility... limbo... oblivion... extinction! Order a GMM ScrapBook CD-ROM
today while it is fresh in your mind!
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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As a special treat to those shrewd individuals who carry through and purchase
the
Gallery Mint Museum ScrapBook CD-ROM
You may use the link below
to view all available scans of Bill's carvings.
Link:Bill (Jameson) Zach's Nickel Carvings
Archive of available scans as of 8/1/2001
There are something in the neighborhood of 200 scans
here so I can't post them on the WWW.
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| 7/30
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Still Counting... Con$ept Dollars That Is... :-)
The spate of GMM small dollar related specimens arriving on eBay continues. Feast
your eyes on these additional gems my friends...
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2000 Concept Dollar 11-ray Statue Of Liberty PATTERN:
one of the Gallery Mint Museum's patterns for a new small-sized dollar coin.
Less than 20 pieces were produced with a date of 2000, for distribution to the media
and members of Congress, and they are the same size and thickness as the Susan B.
Anthony dollars that they were intended to replace. The obverse of this piece has a
depiction of the Statue of Liberty, with a rising sun with eleven (11) rays behind it.
The die which produced this piece was later reworked to make the SOL Concept
Dollars with thirteen (13) rays on the sun. The legend "LIBERTY" appears above
the Statue, the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" is in the left field, and the date, 2000,
appears in the right field. On the reverse, there is an Eagle with outstretched wings
standing on a rocky bluff with the word "PEACE" inscribed on it, and a rising sun
behind the bluff. The legend "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and the motto
"E PLURIBUS UNUM" are above the Eagle, and the denomination "ONE CONCEPT"
(i.e., Ron Landis' "concept" of what a new smaller dollar coin could look like) is under
the Eagle's left wing (viewer's right). Again, these patterns were struck in a quantity
of LESS THAN 20 PIECES! Mark Honea...Jul-22-01 15:12:12 (Actually... I
believe that there were more like 55-70 of these 11-ray patterns struck but it is an
exceptionally rare creation regardless. VRW)
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1998 Concept Dollar Flowing Hair PATTERN:
one of the Gallery Mint Museum's patterns for a new small-sized dollar coin.
Approximately 130 pieces were produced with a date of 1998, and they are the same
size and thickness as the Susan B. Anthony dollars that they were intended to replace.
The obverse of this piece has a bust of Liberty with lovely long flowing hair, and a
wreath of leaves and berries to hold it in place, loosely inspired by the flowing hair
coinage of 1794 (with this being a much more sophisticated and attractive, in my opinion).
The legend "LIBERTY" appears above the bust, the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" is
below, and the date, 1998, appears in the field before Liberty's bust. On the reverse,
there is an Eagle with outstretched wings standing on a rocky bluff with the word "PEACE"
inscribed on it, and a rising sun behind the bluff. The legend "UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA" and the motto "E PLURIBUS UNUM" are above the Eagle, and the
denomination "ONE CONCEPT" (i.e., Ron Landis' "concept" of what a new smaller
dollar coin could look like) is under the Eagle's left wing (viewer's right). Again, these
patterns were struck in a quantity of ONLY 130 PIECES! Mark Honea...Jul-22-01 14:59:16
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The flurry continues but here are the prices realized on these two specimens:
2000 Concept Dollar 11-ray Statue Of Liberty PATTERN
$374.69 Jul-29-01 15:12:12
1998 Concept Dollar Flowing Hair PATTERN
$202.49 Jul-29-01 14:59:16
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EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 7/28
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Apartado 315, 40080, Segovia, Spain
Link:http://www.SegoviaMint.org
EMail:info@SegoviaMint.org
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News from Segovia
Verne... A friend mentioned to me that he saw the Segovia
Mint plans and drawing Ron Landis did for me back in 1989 on your web site. I
went to have a look and saw you mentioned you would like more info.
I am still working on the project, which is hopelessly bogged down in small town
politics while the poor Mint building continues to crumble. The plans are drawn
but the entire project seems to be waiting on the expropriation process of the
building. I have always dreamed of bringing Ron back over here, but until things
truly get off the ground, I am avoiding needlessly spinning my wheels.
I work for the Spanish National Mint in Madrid (though I live in Segovia) and am
writing the book about the Mint. I still use Ron's Plans as the ultimate goal
and he will eventually be acknowledged as a designer, other than the fact that
I want to bring him back over here. Unfortunately, I spend 95% of my time battling
politicians, opening cases with public defenders, and feeding articles to the
local media about the destruction of the Mint. It is truly sad to see this
fantastic Mint crumble and I could really use some outside expertise, such as
Ron's... but I am still operating on too restricted of a budget to bring him over.
We recently started giving mint tours, quite to the aghast of some of the local
politicians, as now the public can see the mess they have created. I hope the
restoration can start soon... but I am hopelessly an optimist and have been saying
that for 13 years now.
Ron... I'm still over here slugging it out. I haven't forgotten about you and
don't think we have made much progress since you were over here, because we
haven't!
EMail:Glenn Murray...6 Jun 2001 23:21:58
Glenn sent me a SUPER brochure which I know was expensive to have printed. It is
a really informative piece of literature with 25 color photographs, 2 historic
plans, and an interpretive map of the building. Here is a
Link:glimpse of the
brochure which tells us cool things; like the fact the mint building passed
into private hands in 1878 and operated as a flour mill until it was abandoned in
1973 ...and... that today the historic Royal Coin Mill of Segovia is considered to
be the oldest industrial building still standing in the entire world. Why was
it called a Coin Mill? That's really COOL... while all of the other Spanish
mints produced coins by the primitive hammer-struck method until 1700, the German
technology brought to Segovia in 1584 used giant waterwheels, which powered
rolling mills equipped with two roller-dies in parallel, which applied
the coin impression onto strips of metal.
Glenn enclosed a membership application which states that annual dues are 12 euros,
or $15 US, and it sure sounds like Glenn could use the help. To do this you will
need
Link:Printable
Application Form and Airmail Letter postage to Spain of $0.80 US.
Glenn also informs me that;
The bank charges us a minimum fee of around US$15 to cash
personal US checks in dollars into pesetas, so you can see its rather pointless
to send small checks. A $5+$10 bill will arrive safely if tucked and hidden well
into an envelope and sent postal mail. We can change US paper money to Pesetas
with no fee at all via friends here.
It clearly is a tremendous uphill battle for Glenn and I certainly wish him well.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 7/25
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Click for
1994 or
1995 enlargements.
Baseball Cap Hobo Tokens
1994
OHNS strike on a specially prepared nickel planchet and
1995 Britt
Hobo Convention strike on a copper planchet.
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Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten us into!
First, I purchased a 1994 Baseball Cap Hobo OHNS nickel token made by GMM in
1995 and noted what was clearly an overdate, 1994 over 1995. I put it away and
gave it no further thought. Then, I visited the Britt Hobo Museum and saw a
copper strike of what appeared to be the same OHNS token however it was dated
1995. The mystery deepens! All this is somehow related to the unissued
1994 Trimmed Beard Hobo OHNS nickel token that was, for some unknown reason,
replaced by the 1994 Baseball Cap Hobo OHNS nickel token.
Jeff Daniher has advanced the theory that the Trimmed Beard design (shown here
on the left) was rejected in favor of the Baseball Cap design because Ron
didn't want the OHNS tokens to be too similar to "real" hobo nickels. Perhaps
expecting that they might not sell as well or maybe fearing that they could be
altered to pass as a "real" hobo carving. Ron has mentioned this latter concern
on more than one occasion. A Trimmed Beard design struck on copper would never
look like a "real hobo" but one on nickel could, maybe, just pass.
The 1994 nickel token has the OHNS Buffalo reverse while the 1995 copper token
has the OHNS "ALL ABOARD" reverse. The Buffalo die was created in 1995 and used
to strike the 1992, 1993 and 1994 specially prepared nickel planchet tokens. The
"ALL ABOARD" die was also created in 1995 and used to strike the 1992, 1993,
1994 and 1995 copper planchet tokens plus the, previously unmentioned in this
article, 1995 Indian OHNS tokens. The 1995 Indian tokens were struck in a
variety of metals; silver, brass and nickel. The production issue was on nickel
but it was a different planchet than that specially prepared for the Buffalo
reverse tokens. Beginning in 1996 the OHNS token issues were struck over
Jefferson nickels.
It took me a while but I finally tracked down an example of the 1995 Baseball
Cap Hobo Britt Hobo Convention copper token. Careful study reveals that both
Baseball Cap token issues were struck from the same working die that had the
date modified between press runs. This is verified by the heavy "scratch"
behind the hobo's ear. This die damage is a cut or dent which could result from
dropping the die on something. Working dies are heavy little critters and pack
quite a wallop when dropped. The field "behind" the ear would be the highest
point on the surface of the working die.
I made a trip to Eureka Springs and Ron could not provide me with any additional
information about the copper token strikes that he took with him to the 1995
Britt Hobo Convention. We did find "a" 1994 Baseball Cap Hobo working die in his
shop but there was no apparent overdate on that die. I did not know to look for
the scratch behind the ear at that point but it seems fairly obvious that there
may have been more than a single working die involved in the creation of the
1994 Baseball Cap Hobo tokens that were struck on specially prepared nickel
planchets. Study continues... so look at your collection and tell me what you
find there please.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
My baseball cap (94) clearly shows traces of a five
underneath. It also has the ear marking. Jeffrey Daniher...Wed, 25 Jul 2001
05:59:23
Thanks for everything Verne, your scrapbook web site
keeps looking better and better. I'm learning a lot about my own past that I've
forgotten about. Keep up the good work. Ron Landis...Sun, 05 Aug 2001
09:48:02
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The Trimmed Beard design is distinctly different than the design used for the
obverse of the 1995 Britt Hobo Token that Ron
also struck for distribution at the Britt Hobo Convention. In fact, you can
see here why we called the first design "Trimmed Beard". We were contrasting
it to this design which has a nice bushy beard. You can read about that
particular token issue at
Link:National
Hobo Convention in Britt, Iowa.
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Postscript: Oliver Hardy's most famous catchphrase is the often misquoted,
"Well,
here's another nice mess you've gotten us into."
The incorrect "another
fine mess" comes from the title of a 1930 Laurel and Hardy short film.
I've just submitted a slight reworking of this "Nice Mess"
ScrapBook subject
to OHNS for possible publishing in a
future issue of BO TALES.
You can view my draft article here:
Link:Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten us into!
I encourage you to follow my example and submit your own article(s).
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| 7/23
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Click for
Obverse or
Reverse enlargements.
One Shire Copper Penny
(die 3)
struck on a Gallery Mint half cent planchet
with the
appropriately lettered edge
TWO HUNDRED FOR A DOLLAR
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As of Forelithe 28, SR 1401, the Shire has begun minting coins.
Talented people seem to gravitate toward Arkansas. We now have a second mint producing
interesting, albeit purposefully crude, fantasy coinage from the fertile and creative
mind of Will Whitfoot, Mayor/Postmaster. OK... so the Hobbit name is an alias for
EMail:Tom Maringer who has an extensive website at
Link:shirepost.com. You may prefer to go directly to Tom's
coinage webpage at
Link:Shire Coinage.
You don't even have to be a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings",
to enjoy Tom's stamps, coins and website. Of course it certainly helps if you are a fan.
I spent a couple interesting hours with Tom one Saturday past. While I was there
I found that he had visited Ron in Eureka Springs (about a half hour drive) and
Ron had given him half a dozen GMM half cent planchets. Tom normally strikes his
copper pennies over US or Canadian copper pennies but he had tried his third die
on Ron's planchets. As you can see above, I talked him out of a couple and they
sure came out neat!
Be sure to check out Tom's farthings, pennies, three pence, six pence and
shillings (silver pennies). He mades only very small production runs and is
successfully selling his creations on eBay.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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