| 2001
| ScrapBook
Subjects
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Page
Index
Links
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Link:
If At First You Don't Succeed...
Link:
A Glimpse Into A Superlative GMM Collection
Link:
CoinFlip Inserts: After The Fact Confusion
Link:
Blind Edge Test Planchets
Link:
Auction For America
Link:
Isn't That Double Jeopardy?
Link:
Didrachm (2 drachms) are COOL!
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Enlargement scans available on WWW and ScrapBook CD-ROM.
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| 10/23
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Click for
Full CUD
on
1stObv
UpperLeft
or
on
1stRev
LowerLeft
enlargements
on CD-ROM
Click for
Retained CUD
on
1stRev
UpperRight
or
Close-up
LowerRight
enlargements
on CD-ROM
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If At First You Don't Succeed...
GNA/MCCA COUNTERSTAMPED GEORGIA QUARTER ERRORS:
When Ron Landis (Gallery mint Museum) struck the
counterstruck Georgia Quarters with the obverse and reverse dies he replicated
from the official 2001 convention medal, both original dies quickly developed
"cuds" (where a piece of the die broke away, leaving an unstruck portion on the
coin).
The obverse cud appeared at the base of the Georgia Dome, and on the reverse die,
a small cud developed over the "T" in CONVENTION, and a larger one over "110th
ANNIV". This larger cud was preceded by a "retained cud", where the broken portion
of the die was still intact, but "outlined" on the coin with a large die crack.
Interestingly, when Ron recut the obverse (dome) die, he inadvertently reversed
the official medal design, putting the dome on the right, instead of on the left.
There was only one coin struck with the proper alignment without an obverse or
reverse cud (1stObv/1stRev). There were three (3) coins struck with the first
(correct) obverse and reverse that have full ends on each die, and three (3)
coins struck with the second obverse (reversed design) and first reverse with
the full cud. Five (5) coins have the retained rev. cud.
Here's a breakdown on how many of each were produced:
One (1) coin with proper alignment on obverse (dome to the left) with no cud on
obverse or reverse (lstObv/lstRev) retained for future auction.
Three (3) coins with dome normal with Full Cuds on both obverse and reverse
(lstObv/1stRev). One (1) retained for future auction. Two (2) distributed at the
banquet.
Five (5) coins with dome reversed (on right) with small cud over "T" in CONVENTION
and retained cud over "110th ANNIV" on reverse (2ndObv/lstRev). One (1) retained
for future auction. Four (4) distributed at the banquet.
Three (3) coins with dome reversed with small cud over "T" and full cud over "110th
ANNIV" (2ndObv/lstRev). One (1) retained for future auction. Two (2) distributed at
the banquet.
There are also 198 coins with the small cud over the "T" in CONVENTION distributed
at the the banquet.
GNA and MCCA thank you for attending the 110th ANA in Atlanta!
Bill Fivaz...Aug 2001
I took a few editorial liberties with Bill's wonderful description of the
counterstruck Georgia quarter distribution which he created for the presentation
of these pieces at the 2001 ANA banquet in Atlanta, Georgia on August 11, 2001.
I feel quite comfortable that I did not change any pertinent information in my
fiddling around.
A previous SBsubject on these counterstruck Georgia quarters is:
Link:The Wealth Of The South.
While I remember I want to thank David Crenshaw for sending me the scans and text
used in this SBsubject! I have a fast forgetter so often these sorts of details
get past me never to be heard from again. THANKS Dave!
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
The die with the date to the right of the dome only
lasted 2 strikes before cracking. I goofed when I forgot to reverse the
image for the replacement die. I think both dies had to be replaced to get
through the 500 strikes. Ron Landis...Wed, 24 Oct 2001 10:28:07
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| 10/18
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A Glimpse Into A Superlative GMM Collection
Two GALLERY MINT 1796 14 STAR PROOF Dollars:
The first normal piece serves as a comparison for the
second error strike example. The multistruck error example has a second off
center strike which clearly shows the obverse's left side 7 star die impression
instead of correct 8. Less than 60 normal 14 Star Proofs were made before the
obverse die was destroyed. This error multistrike is certainly unique. Made by
the Gallery Mint in Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Ron Landis and Joe Rust's Private
Mint Museum. Lindy Stone...Oct-14-01 19:11:21
GALLERY MINT 1995 CONCEPT ERROR DOLLAR PAIR:
An Uncirculated Denver made Mercury Dime was placed on
top of a Concept planchet and they were then struck together using the popular
1995 Con$ept Dies. This 1995 Concept Dollar mated pair error set was (re)made
at the Gallery Mint in Eureka Springs, Arkansas; Ron Landis and Joe Rust's
Private Mint Museum. Lindy Stone...Oct-14-01 18:19:13
GALLERY MINT 1793 1 & 1/2 Cent Error Strike:
A 1793 Large Cent was overstruck with 1793 1/2 dies.
"Copy" stamped reverse. Made by the Gallery Mint in Eureka Springs, Arkansas;
Ron Landis and Joe Rust's Private Mint Museum. Lindy Stone... Oct-14-01
19:27:29
These SUPER creations speak for themselves! Lindy has many really unusual GMM
specimens in his "time capsule" and I'd sure like to have a front row seat when
it is opened. Since Lindy is younger than me I expect he will get to paw through
my midden heap rather than the other way around. By-the-way... these COOL
specimens are being offered for sale on eBay as I write this SBsubject.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 10/17
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11-ray insert
13-ray insert
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CoinFlip Inserts: After The Fact Confusion
The further we get away from the U.S. Small Dollar design flurry of
activity the more confused some of the details have become. I recently
saw a 2000 Media 11-ray Con$ept dollar with a "Distributed at..."
insert. The "Mintage - 100" on the insert confused me because I had always
understood there were only 55-70 11-ray Con$epts struck. I am currently
working under the assumption that the guys intended to create 100 11-ray
Con$epts and pulled up short when Ron decided to change the 11-rays to
13-rays of which some 100-110 specimens were struck.
In God We Trust
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Large Date Mintmark
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1995 Lady Liberty
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Click on any of the 1995 Con$ept images
above for a SUPER sized close-up.
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1998 Lady Liberty
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11-ray SOL
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13-ray SOL
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2000 Lady Liberty
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Modern Portrait
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Click on any of the Con$ept Reverse images
below for a SUPER sized close-up.
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1995
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1998
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2000
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Since these issues are VERY difficult to acquire not many of us have seen
enough of them to be certain which inserts belonged with which Con$epts.
This is further complicated by people discarding or mixing up the inserts.
Ken Bressett tells me that he does not recall any special packaging with
the 1998 Con$epts he distributed at the 1997 ANA convention. Ron Landis
has confirmed that the "Distributed at..." insert was used with the
11-ray Con$epts. I have an Adam Hardcastle specimen of the 13-ray Con$ept
with the "Produced for..." insert signed by all the GMM staff members
at the time of striking.
So far I have seen both styles of inserts that were created by pasting the
text printed on a sheet of paper to the reverse of regular blue GMM insert.
Additionally I have seen the "Produced for..." style of insert that
was printed on a single sheet of paper with the blue GMM on one side and the
text printed on the other side.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
Modern
Portrait insert
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| 10/16
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Successful
test planchet and corrected/flattened test planchet.
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Click for
Enlargement
on CD-ROM
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Blind Edge Test Planchets
Let me try to explain the problem we had
trying to do this in the Castaing machine/edge mill.
(The Castaing machine is a device invented by French engineer Jean
Castaing, which added the edge lettering and devices to early U.S.
coins before they were struck. This machine was used until close
collar dies were introduced which applied the edge device in the
striking process...vrw)
Most edge dies we use have continuous letters
and/or design the length of the die tracks, and the planchets run
through these with relative ease and continuity of pressure. The dies
used to create the partial reeds are radically different as you have
one spot sticking up quite far for the reeded portion. If two reeded
portions of the dies are exactly opposite each other when rolling the
planchet through, there is too much pressure, and the planchet tends
to bend in the shape of a potato chip.
The dies have to start at a point where a reeded portion is exactly
opposite a smooth part in the opposite die, so the pressure remains
somewhat the same through the tracks. When this happens, the planchet
sort snakes itself through, going back and forth through the edge mill.
I know this is somewhat confusing and hard for me to explain in writing,
but I think you get the idea.
Of course, this method was in vain since the reeding was obliterated
in the collar during striking. The partial reed collar that Joe Rust
made for the project was abandoned before completion since Phillip Diehl,
then Director of the Mint, was informed from the American Federation of
the Blind that blind people would prefer a totally smooth edge to
distiguish this coin from a quarter dollar.
It appears that planchet #2 in your scan was a bent piece that was
flattened out by lightly pressing it between two smooth dies.
Ron Landis...Tue, 16 Oct 2001 11:05:20
Only once previous to this weekend had I seen a specimen of the proposed
edge for the then yet to be created golden U.S. small dollars. That was
Mike Wallace's unique example which was applied to a copper test planchet.
So it was a tremendous thrill to find these two different specimens on
brass planchets as intended for the actual small dollar issue; 1) a test
piece that is totally normal/successful and 2) a test piece that had to
have corrective surgery/flattening. Mike Wallace has just added the number
2) "flat cat"... which is what we call road kill kitties in our neck of the
woods ...specimen to his wonderful Small Dollar collection
Link:United
States Small Size Dollar Coins and Related Items. Check out Mike's
generous sharing of his very specialized knowledge.
Previous SBsubjects on these Blind Edge Test Planchets are;
Link:Small Dollar Edge Test Specimen Found,
Link:Rings From Resizing Planchets and
Link:Experimental Blank Planchets.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 10/15
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1804
Proof Draped Bust Dollar
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Click for
Obverse
or
Reverse
enlargement
on
CD-ROM
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Auction For America
I just returned from a quick trip to Eureka Springs to visit the guys at the
Gallery Mint and, like everybody else in America, they are concerned for the
victims of the New York tragedy. On Tuesday, October 16th, I will post eight
Gallery Mint creations on eBay's Auction For America to benefit the
American Red Cross. I thought you might like to see the pieces being
offered... I know, a lot of pictures but they are wonderful specimens even
though my scanner really doesn't do them justice.
Check out eBay, come back regularly and bid often.
It is for a good cause and your payment will go directly to the American Red Cross.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
2001
BU "Walking Hobo" Silver Hobo Token
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Click for
Obverse
or
Reverse
enlargement
on
CD-ROM
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2001
BU "Bo Washington" Silver Hobo Token
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Click for
Obverse
or
Reverse
enlargement
on
CD-ROM
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1794
BU Liberty Cap Half Cent
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Click for
Obverse
or
Reverse
enlargement
on
CD-ROM
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1794
BU Starred Reverse Liberty Cap Cent
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Click for
Obverse
or
Reverse
enlargement
on
CD-ROM
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1794
BU Flowing Hair Half Dime
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Click for
Obverse
or
Reverse
enlargement
on
CD-ROM
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1794
BU Flowing Hair Half Dollar
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Click for
Obverse
or
Reverse
enlargement
on
CD-ROM
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1794
BU Flowing Hair Dollar
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Click for
Obverse
or
Reverse
enlargement
on
CD-ROM
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$313.79
earned and sent to the American Red Cross
$60.59 ... 1804 Proof GMM Draped Bust Dollar
$45.00 ... 1794 BU GMM Flowing Hair Dollar
$51.00 ... 1794 BU GMM Flowing Hair Half Dollar
$18.05 ... 1794 BU GMM Flowing Hair Half Dime
$34.00 ... 1794 BU GMM Starred Reverse Liberty Cap Cent
$25.50 ... 1794 BU GMM Liberty Cap Half Cent
$13.15 ... 2001 BU GMM "BoWashington" Silver Hobo Token
$15.50 ... 2001 BU GMM "Walking Hobo" Silver Hobo Token
$51.00 ... 1793 CoinWorld Chain Cent Canceled Die Wax
1793
CoinWorld Chain Cent Canceled Die Wax
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| 10/7
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50th
and 75th WRNC counterstamps on Kennedy half dollar.
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Click for
Obverse
or
Reverse
enlargement
on
CD-ROM
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Isn't That Double Jeopardy?
Gene contacted Terry recently and got the above scan of a unique... yes,
truely unique ...Western Reserve Numismatic Club counterstamped specimen.
This Kennedy half dollar suffered the indignity of being counterstamped
twice... 25 years apart in two different states but with the same coin
press. Now THAT is COOL! The three WRNC counterstamps are shown at
Link:Western Reserve Numismatic Club Counterstamps.
This half dollar is the only specimen struck by GMM with the 75th
anniversary counterstamp that had already been struck with WRNC's 50th
anniversary counterstamp according to the
Link:OFFICIAL Listing.
Terry also has one of the gold specimens that received the 75th anniversary
counterstamp. We may be fortunate enought to get a scan of that specimen also.
I understand that Gino has some wonderful specimens himself. So... I have
hopes of sharing more interesting WRNC specimens with you.
Almost forgot... THANKS! Terry!
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 10/4
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Click for
ANAseminar,
AthensDidrachm,
JohnsonCounty OBVERSE
enlargement on CD-ROM
Click for
ANAseminar,
AthensDidrachm,
JohnsonCounty REVERSE
enlargement on CD-ROM
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Didrachm (2 drachms) are COOL!
Perhaps HOT would be more descriptive
than COOL as these are HOT struck and
really HOT (magnificent) creations. They are roughly U.S. dime sized, a
lot heavier than dimes, and take considerable extra effort to strike.
The regular didrachm issue is a bit less expensive than GMM's dime
reproductions. To me they should be more expensive not less. I LOVE
Ron's hot struck medals! By the way, the illustrations show above
are all identical in scale... the pieces themselves are quite variable
in size depending on the heat of the planchet and the force applied
during the strike. Here is what I know about them at this writing:
ANA Summer Seminar MCMXCIX (1999):
This may well be the first ancient coin reproduction that Ron created at
GMM. He did create some "Mercury - Messenger Of The Gods" and other
demonstration dies before he and Joe started the Gallery Mint but they
weren't specific ancient coin reproductions as far as I know. This head
of Athena die is different from that used for the other two pieces. It
was struck with medal/book die alignment and has no COPY c/s on it. I
have seen this piece offered on eBay four times recently but this may
not be an indication of their rarity since two of the specimens were
from the Adam Hardcastle hoard.
Greek Didrachm Reproduction (February 2000):
This piece is the smaller of GMM's Ancient Greek three piece set of
reproductions; a Didrachm (2 drachms), a Tetradrachm (4 drachms) and
a Decadrachm (10 drachms). This head of Athena die is shared with the
Johnson County piece. It was struck with medal/book die alignment and
has a COPY c/s on it. This piece was available from GMM for $15 the
last time I checked.
Johnson Co Numis. Soc. 4-30-MM (2000):
This head of Athena die is shared with the regular Didrachm reproduction. It
was struck with coin die alignment and has a COPY c/s on it. I am of the opinion
it may have been struck very early in 2001 in spite of the April 30, 2000 date
in the legend because the first time I saw it was on a February 2001 trip to
Eureka Springs. I have never seen this piece offered anywhere. GMM does not
have any specimens for sale. As usual they sent all their production to the
customer who comissioned the pieces.
All these pieces are hot struck in .999 fine silver from hand engraved dies and
tumbled to achieve a more natural look. Although the three reverse dies are quite
similar they are all different and feature classic Owl designs. The ANA and
Johnson County pieces are both quite scarce to the best of my knowledge.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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