| 2003
| ScrapBook
Subjects
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Page
Index
Links
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Link:
"Direct Carved" UNCIRCULATED Chain Cent
Link:
"Special Finish" PROOF Chain Cent
Link:
Man Is All This Ever COOL! and Right On The Money!
Link:
Cliff's DoubledDie Chain Cent
Link:
Proof Chain Cent Die Trial Strike, P1 Extended and P1 Terminal Moraine
Link:
Uncirc. Chain Cent Hardcastle Experiment
Link:
Uncirc. Chain Cent Mystery!
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Enlargement scans available on WWW and ScrapBook CD-ROM.
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This WebPage Dedicated to GMM's Chain Cents
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Presented here are seven Chain Cent SBsubjects.
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| 4/30
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U1
Click for
Obv.,
Insert or
Rev. on CD-ROM
50
"DirectCarved"
/ AMERICA Uncirc.
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U2
Click for
Obv. or
Rev.
on CD-ROM
50
"DoubledDie HighNine"
/ AMERICA Uncirc.
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U4
Click for
Obv. or
Rev.
on CD-ROM
3860
"WideDate"
/ AMERI. Uncirc.
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U3
Click for
Obv.,
Insert or
Rev. on CD-ROM
40
"CoinWorld (NarrowDate)"
/ AMERICA Uncirc. (medal/book die alignment)
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"Direct Carved" UNCIRCULATED Chain Cent
Acquisition of a specimen of Ron's FIRST
Chain Cent (U1 above)... "DirectCarved" / AMERICA Uncirc. ...here in
2003 gives me the opportunity to show all y'all all four different
GMM uncirculated Chain Cents in this SBsubject. (Sorry about all the alls
but I couldn't resist the word play.)
I don't recall the precise wording of the fellow who sold me the four
chain cents... shown on this webpage with Ron's hand written inserts
...but it was something to the effect that Ron had a number of these
sets of four chain cents at a coin convention when he purchased his set.
This means that there are certainly more sets out there in several
Landis fan's collections. Keep your eyes open!
Note:
The uncirculated AMERICA die has an
off-center 100 with the last "0" being LOW.
This die is NOT the same one that was used for proof chain cent strikes.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
1793 Liberty Flowing Hair Cent -- Chain Reverse
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Reproduction
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Type
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Variety
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Obv.
|
Rev.
|
Mintage
| |
Direct Carved Dies -- AMERICA Reverse |
Unc. |
1 |
1st |
1st |
50 | |
Doubled Die Obverse with Periods -- AMERICA Reverse |
Unc. |
2 |
2nd |
1st |
50 | |
with Periods -- AMERICA Reverse |
Unc. |
3 |
3rd |
1st |
40 | |
AMERI. Reverse |
Unc. |
4 |
4th |
2nd |
3,860 | |
AMERI. Reverse |
Unc. |
5 |
4th |
3rd |
Incl. Above | |
Cancelled Obverse Die -- AMERI. Reverse |
Unc. |
6 |
5th |
4th |
<20
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Czapla Summary Of Gallery Mint Reproductions
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| 4/30
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P1
Click for
Obv.,
Insert or
Rev. on CD-ROM
251+69
"WideDate"
/ AMERICA Proof
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P2
Click for
Obv.,
Insert or
Rev. on CD-ROM
150
"NarrowDate"
/ AMERICA Proof
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P3
Click for
Obv.,
Insert or
Rev. on CD-ROM
30
"SpecialFinish"
/ AMERICA Proof
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"Special Finish" PROOF Chain Cent
I really love Ron's "Special Finish" / AMERICA Proof Chain
Cent (P3 above) so I thought I'd show you all three different GMM
proof Chain Cents in this SBsubject. Personally I liked the brilliant
bust with matte finish field but Ron decided not to go that direction
after striking only 20 specimens. I picked the best struck obverse
and reverse from my collection so you probably aren't seeing both
sides of the same specimen here.
Czapla documented 320 P1s, 150 P2s and 30 P3s for a total of 500 PROOF
Chain Cents. I suspect the reason he counted 30 of the "Special Finish"
pieces is that he included the 10 strikes TheGuys always include in
their 10 Archival Sets. You will note the P2 insert says 140 struck
while Czapla counted 150 and I'm certain that increase of 10 if for
the same reason.
Note:
The proof AMERICA die has a
well-centered 100 with the last "0" being HIGH.
This die is NOT the same one that was used for uncirculated chain cent strikes.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
1793 Liberty Flowing Hair Cent -- Chain Reverse
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Reproduction
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Type
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Variety
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Obv.
|
Rev.
|
Mintage
| |
Wide Date |
Proof |
1 |
1st |
1st |
320 | |
Wide Date |
Proof |
2 |
1st |
2nd |
Incl. Above | |
Wide Date |
Proof |
unlisted |
1st |
3rd |
Incl. Above | |
Narrow Date |
Proof |
3 |
2nd |
3rd |
150 | |
Periods On Obverse -- Special Proof Finish |
Proof |
4 |
3rd |
3rd |
30
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Czapla Summary Of Gallery Mint Reproductions
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| 4/29
|
Click for
Enlargement on CD-ROM
Cancelled "CoinWorld"
Obv. Die Impression On Paper.
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Man Is All This Ever COOL!
Unless Ron pulls me up short this week I am convinced that I have
solved a mystery that has puzzled me from the very beginning of my
Gallery Mint Museum research project. I had never seen a "proof"
CoinWorld specimen even though they are documented to exist by virtue
of Ron punching "30P" into the cancelled "CoinWorld" obverse die.
It happened almost accidentally... by working with all my GMM chain
cent specimens to get them scanned and SBsubjects built here for all
to share. While doing this I first noted what I took to be a coincidence
that there were 30 "SpecialFinish" proofs documented by Czapla and there
were 30 proofs noted by Ron Landis on the cancelled "CoinWorld" obverse
die. Previously I always took it that the "CoinWorld" proofs and the
"SpecialFinish" proofs were two separate creations.
U3 40
Click for
Uncirc. or
Proof on CD-ROM
P3 30
"CoinWorld" Uncirc.
(left) "SpecialFinish" Proof (right)
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My first response was... "Naw... it couldn't be that simple!" So I
laid my two enlarged scans for U3:CoinWorld and P3:SpecialFinish
side-by-side and "voilà"... it now seems quite obvious to me that
they were struck from the same die just reworked significantly
between the uncirculated and proof strikes. So... I conclude that;
The "SpecialFinish" proof chain cents and the "CoinWorld"
uncirculated chain cents are the creations referred to by the
"30P" and "40BU" on the cancelled "CoinWorld" obverse die! Now
I need to get both confirmation from Ron and "the rest of the story."
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
Right On The Money!
Ozawkie - 1 May 2003:
I had a great visit with Ron Landis today and he confirmed that my
stated conclusion in this case is right on the money. The
only thing he could add to this story is that ONLY the "CoinWorld"
uncirculated chain cents were sent to the Coin World staff as
presents. The "SpecialFinish" proof chain cents were a separate
experimental project that simply used the "CoinWorld" uncirculated
chain cent obverse die as a starting point by converting it into a
proof die. I was aware of GMM proof dies that had been converted
to strike uncirculated specimens but this is the first time I've
found the reverse case. Another milestone in our study of Ron
Landis' creations over time!
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 4/28
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U2
Click for
Enlargement on CD-ROM
50
A Clifford Bolling photograph.
"DoubledDie HighNine"
/ AMERICA Uncirc.
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Cliff's DoubledDie Chain Cent
Cliff and I describe this AMERICA reverse die as the bungled 1/10 die
because it appears that Ron had a momentary lapse and punched in 1/10
instead of 1/100 and had to come back and "hang on" an extra "0". Ron
called this die "...not good enough." so it is no wonder that
he only used it to strike a total of 140 uncirculated chain cents.
What really makes things difficult... and exciting of course ...is that
Ron paired three different obverse dies with this reverse die. This makes
the three pieces... U1, U2 and U3 shown above ...terribly difficult to
round up in one corral all at once.
Cliff has this "DoubledDie HighNine" specimen... NICE closeup
of the die doubling Cliff. Thanks! He used to have the "CoinWorld"
specimen that is now in my midden heap but he has yet to lay hands on
an example of the "DirectCarved" issue. Keep looking Cliff... there
are 49 more of them out there somewhere.
U2
Click for
Obv. or
Rev. on CD-ROM
50
"DoubledDie HighNine"
/ AMERICA Uncirc.
Struck over a Washington Clad Quarter.
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We have seen this pair of uncirculated chain cent dies before in
SBsubject
Link:Keep
A Sharp Lookout For Treasury Agents!
but I didn't realize how rare they were when I was bidding on the
overstruck quarter. Too soon old... too late smart!
U2
Click for
Obv. or
Rev. on CD-ROM
50
"DoubledDie HighNine"
/ 1995 Con$ept
Con$ept Reverse Die Trial Strike
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We have also seen this uncirculated chain cent obverse die before in
SBsubject
Link:Kansas
City Hey Hey Hey
and in this case I was smart enough to pay what it took to acquire
this great trial strike. There may be hope for the ol' FatMan yet!
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 4/27
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P1
Click for
Obv. or
Rev. on CD-ROM
251(some portion)
"WideDate"
/ AMERICA Proof
30.0-31.0mm diameter PlainEdge (medal/book die alignment)
Czapla First Reverse
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Proof Chain Cent Die Trial Strike
The first pair of chain cent proof dies on a
centered broadstrike is interesting. This strike is probably a die
trial before the proof run. Centered, multistruck, not on a specially
prepared planchet and no vine and bar edge. Ron would polish and
repolish his proof dies every 25 or so strikes unless they needed it
sooner. This one is not a polished die strike, thus it has no proof
surface. Lindy Stone ...Wed, 21 Feb 2001 13:24:01
It is my understanding that both the dies and the planchets are
polished prior to striking GMM proofs. I watched them polishing
planchets with jeweler's rouge and a buffing wheel for the 1804
proof dollars on an early trip to Eureka Springs.
Another supporting observation for this being a Die Trial Strike
is that the AMERICA reverse is in a very early Stage1 die-state. It
hasn't been lapped down weaking the links as evidenced with the P1
specimen shown above in
Link:
"Special Finish" PROOF Chain Cent.
This piece was broad struck and well centered on a plain edged
planchet. Yeoman's RedBook tells us that original Chain Cents measure
26-27mm. I measured a P1 proof cent and it was 26.9-27.2mm. So that
makes this piece significantly oversized as one would expect with a
broad struck specimen.
What really tickles me here is the strike of the
PROOF dies in a non-proof style/presentation. It seems
clear to me that this strike was created during the production
process but I certainly can't prove this assertion. I generally
prefer actual production errors to custom order errors and true
trial die strikes to presentation strikes. However, as Lindy Stone
so eloquently states the case, this specimen is a wonderful piece
no matter if it is a pièce de caprice or not.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
1793 Liberty Flowing Hair Cent -- Chain Reverse
All GMM Chain Cent proofs were struck with the same AMERICA
reverse die.
We are describing die-states of a single working die here folks.
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First Reverse
The chain links show no sign of any retouching like the second reverse.
The second 'A' in AMERICA and the 'N' of UNITED show no signs of doubling
like the third reverse.
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Second Reverse
Many of the chain links and some letters have been worn and polished off.
The ends of the chain links are somewhat crudely retouched.
The second 'A' in AMERICA and the 'N' of UNITED show no signs of doubling
like the third reverse.
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Third Reverse
A majority of the letters in the legend were repunched.
Extensive work was done on the chain links.
The links are smooth and more uniform.
The second 'A' in AMERICA and the 'N' of UNITED are noticably double punched.
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Czapla Proof Chain Cent Reverse Die Commentary
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P1
Click for
Obv. or
Rev. on CD-ROM
251(some portion)
A Clifford Bolling photograph.
"WideDate"
/ AMERICA Proof
Czapla Second(?)
Reverse
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P1 Extended
The constant polishing of Ron's proof dies rapidly wore away a lot
of the finer detail as one would expect. According to Czapla the
"First Reverse" die-state was modified to become the "Second Reverse"
die-state by Ron doing some slight retouching of the ends of the chain
links. Without several specimens to lay side-by-side for comparison
purposes such a small change is difficult to ascertain unequivocally.
We have no documentation as to how many WideDates were struck before
this change took place... thus the "(some portion)" notation used with
the illustrations here-in. You can readily see the reduction of hair
detail on the WideDate obverse die as the proof issue advances.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
P1
Click for
Obv. or
Rev. on CD-ROM
69(extrapolated)
A Clifford Bolling photograph.
"WideDate"
/ AMERICA Proof
Czapla Third Reverse
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P1 Terminal Moraine
We know from Ron's coinflip insert note that TheGuys struck 251
WideDate proofs before doing heavy reengraving thus changing the
"Second Reverse" into the "Third Reverse." Since Czapla tells us
the total mintage of WideDate proofs was 320 we are left with 69
WideDate proofs that could only have been struck with the "Third
Reverse"... thus the "(extrapolated)" notation used with the
illustrations here-in.
When Cliff obtained the Craig Sholley specimen shown here he speculated
that... because of the extreme wear to the WideDate obverse die and the
lack of documentation of this die combination by Czapla ...that this
specimen might be unique. He wondered if TheGuys might have broken their
ironclad policy and dug out the WideDate obverse to strike "one last
piece" for Craig combined with the "Third Reverse".
After careful study... with apologies to Cliff ...I think that scenario
is highly unlikely. TheGuys are adamant about NOT doing such things!
Based on the logic and facts previously presented here... I hold the
opinion that there are 68 more specimens floating around in the Collector
Community for us die-state collectors to acquire an example from. One must
remember that many of GMM's chain cent production runs created less than
100 pieces so it is not surprising that most die combinations are extremely
difficult to find. That... and the fact that most folks are perfectly
happy with a single GMM chain cent and could care less what specific dies,
let alone which die-states, were used to create it.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
The CraigS piece is the only 3rd reverse I have seen. The only clues
that make me think it was a very late strike is the late state of
the obverse and the rather non-proof surface of both the obverse and
reverse, so there is a good chance that I am missing something. I
have two other P1's, and they are both paired with the 2nd reverse, and
both show better detail and highly mirrored proof surfaces. I might
reach a different conclusion if I get to see more pieces with the 3rd
reverse. For now, I am happy to think that the CraigS piece is a
special strike for a special patron of the GMM... probably unique.
Cliff Bolling ...Thursday, May 08, 2003 10:41PM
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| 4/26
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U4
Click for
Obv. or
Rev. on CD-ROM
3860
"WideDate"
/ AMERI. Uncirc.
31.5-32.8mm diameter PlainEdge (coin die alignment)
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Uncirc. Chain Cent Hardcastle Experiment
Concerning the multistrike chain cent, personally I do not think it's
a die trial but instead, Adam having fun. Those two underlying strikes,
both off center in different positions, is Adam's "saddle strike". He
did the same for me on wreath dies. I explained to him that a saddle
strike was a planchet simultaneously struck by two die pairs. You see,
you need a least a dual or quad press to do "saddle strikes", I informed
him back then. So, to me it's a "Adam Hardcastle saddle strike" that was
then center struck a third time.
There are really four groups of GMM oddball stuff; 1) "die trials", 2)
real errors that they call "naturals", 3) "Adam Hardcastles", and 4)
"special orders". Lindy Stone ... Wed, 21 Feb 2001 13:24:01
This piece was struck off center and then flipped over and struck off
center again diametrically opposite the first strike. Then the double
struck piece was struck a third time well centered. This plain edged
specimen is about 5mm oversized (roughly 20%) and overweight.
While it certainly is possible that this is a custom order strike, there
are two strong reasons that I am disinclined to believe such to be the
case. First... I found this piece in the MintMaster's TrashCan which is
where I have found mostly pieces that were clearly die trials and other
production flotsam. Second... this really isn't as "spectacular" as most
custom order pieces tend to be. It would appear that Adam was experimenting
and didn't like the result so pitched it in his TrashCan.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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| 4/25
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U4
Click for
Enlargement on CD-ROM
3860
"WideDate"
/ AMERI. Uncirc.
Extremely thin pewter sheet (coin die alignment)
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Uncirc. Chain Cent Mystery!
We first wondering about this mysterious thin pewter chain cent well
over two years ago in 11/27/2000 SBsubject:
Link:
"Bromwell"
Cent Error Investigation. At that time Ron Landis had the
following to say about this specimen:
The pewter piece was an early part of an
experiment to figure out how the "Bromwell" cent was made (a very rare
kind of error on Lincoln cent.) I ended up reproducing the error on a
Lincoln cent over NJ copper which was published in Coin World some years
back. Ron Landis ...Thu, 16 Nov 2000 10:31:34
Just a few months ago I showed you the Coin World article about Ron's
lamination experiment:
Link:
1/15/96 -
Mystery Solved! Private minter's experimentation points
the finger at lamination as cause of incused images on cents.
in 1/25/2003 SBsubject:
Link:
Once Upon A Time In Coin World.
Nothing in this article sheds any light on this thin pewter chain cent.
It was obviously struck with both obverse and reverse dies and was
not laid over a planchet and restruck... as was done with the ground
down, super thin, pseudo-laminate Lincoln cent.
I still don't have a firm grip on how this thin pewter chain cent specimen
relates to Ron's lamination experiment. I reckon that this leaves one more
GMM mystery yet to be understood... or at least puzzled over.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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