| 2003
| ScrapBook Subjects
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Page
Index
Links
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Link:
"Cupid Tuning A Banjo"
Link:
"Eureka South" Krugerrand
Link:
Chain Cent On Brass RenFest Planchet
Link:
Plain Edged Chain Cent Pocket Piece
Link:
"Circus Elephant"
Link:
[ Sonny's "Baker's Dozen" - 3 early carved Buffs ]
Link:
RARE Wrong-Sized 1787 New Jersey Cent
Link:
A 1796 "With Pole" HalfCent SILVER Proof
Link:
[ Sonny's "Baker's Dozen" - 3 later carved Buffs ]
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Enlargement scans available on WWW and ScrapBook CD-ROM.
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1995 Ron Landis #091
1921P
Silver 25.8g 38.1mm
"Cupid Tuning A Banjo"
Ron has this wonderful TreasureTrove carving entered in his
Link:Log of Hobo Nickels Hand Engraved by Ron Landis
with the title "Cupid Playing Banjo." When I showed him this TTcarving he
immediately said he had forgotten doing this "Cupid Tuning A Banjo" and
was really pleased to see it again. If you look you will notice that
Cupid's left hand is indeed behind the Banjo and not wrapped around the
front as it would need to be if the Banjo was being played.
I personally like this TTcarving because it uses so much of George T.
Morgan's Lady Liberty originally on the silver dollar. Her chin as Cupid's
right knee, her nose as part of Cupid's wing, her neck as the sheet music,
her hair... I could go on and on but you get the idea by now so I'll quit
writing before you decide to quit reading.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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1995 Ron Landis #098
1978
Gold 32.2g 32.7mm
"Eureka South" Krugerrand
#098 Hallmark
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I must have failed to record this piece. The number is correct, but
since I failed to record it as soon as I finished it, I most likely forgot,
and just kept the sequence going. This happened one or two other times but
were corrected in the log. I will make a note in the log to add it in as
#98-A. I try to record them the minute they're done, but sometimes get
distracted, and forget. Thanks for clearing it up.
Ron Landis... Monday, November 24, 2003 10:39AM
This fantastic TreasureTrove carving is a strong competitor for the title
of Best Of Show ...or perhaps I should say Best Of Trove! This
TTcarving is the only carving on gold mentioned in Ron's
Link:Log of Hobo Nickels Hand Engraved by Ron Landis
and clearly he put quite literally days of work into this artistic jewel.
This piece is likely the most valuable TTspecimen followed closely by the
carved silver dollar mentioned in the previous SBsubject. That is why they
got top billing... the two lead-in SBsubject on these two TreasureTrove
SBpages.
You can see from the scan of the 1978 Krugerrand shown below that Ron
changed the SUID-AFRIKA o SOUTH AFRICA legend to EUREKA
o SOUTH which shows his normal insight and inventiveness/creativity.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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Brass 17.4g 29.5-30mm
CoinDieAlignment
Chain Cent On Brass RenFest Planchet
The TreasureTrove has four chain cent specimens. In my haste I
picked out two of the four specimens to scan because they had
unusual placement of the COPY counterstamp and I have learned that
most generally this is an indicator that something unusual is afoot.
One cent I didn't select turned out to be from the "DoubleDie
HighNine" / AMERICA uncirculated (U2) dies... 1 of only 50 struck.
It was so "prooflike" that I first took it to be a proof specimen...
particularly since it has AMERICA and not AMERI. on the reverse die.
The TTcent shown above is from TheGuys' "WideDate" / AMERI.
uncirculated (U4) workhorse dies... 1 of 3,860 struck. It is quite
interesting however because it was struck on a previously existing
RenFest brass planchet with the infamous "Moon and Stars"
engrailed edge. A really cool specimen but it begs the question
of why it was struck. It is common practice at GMM to accomplish
trial strikes of their dies prior to placing them into normal
production. When TheGuys do that they normally don't have the
proper planchets prepared for the creation yet and simply grab
up any existing planchet laying around that is generally of the
proper size. Without documentation we can't prove it but this
TTcent "feels" like a trial strike for TheGuys' workhorse chain
cent dies.
I believe a 1995 Con$ept exists struck on this same type of planchet.
Using these brass RenFest planchets for one of the three first
experimental chain cent dies would also have been logical. Something
else to keep my eyes pealed for! Those first strikes were done in
small batches of 50, 50 and 40 pieces. The four different uncirculated
chain cents are described in
Link:"Direct Carved" UNCIRCULATED Chain Cent.
Click for
Enlargement
on CD-ROM
In addition to having an unusual edge this cent was also quite
distinctly double struck which adds to its interest to the Ol'
FatMan anyway. For those of you who haven't seen the "Moon and
Stars" engrailed edge you can see it here below. If you have
good eyes you can see... from left to right ...two stars, the
moon, two stars, Saturn and one star.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
Click for
Enlargement
on CD-ROM
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Copper 13.9g 27.9mm
CoinDieAlignment
Plain Edged Chain Cent Pocket Piece
Here is another TTcent from TheGuys' "WideDate" / AMERI. uncirculated
(U4) workhorse dies... 1 of 3,860 struck. It is unusual because it has a
plain edge which is something I have never seen as far as I can remember.
TheGuys are really careful to create "perfect" products. Very few of
their customers would "special order" a cent with something so trivial
as a plain edge. The fact that this piece appears to have been carried
as a "pocket piece" would give further credence to the assumption that
this wasn't a pièce de caprice. It "feels" more like a die trial that
was then pocketed since it didn't have the correct edge. A bit of
supposition here obviously but not too big a stretch I reckon.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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1995 Ron Landis #127
1938D Nickel 4.8g 21.2mm
"Circus Elephant"
#127 Hallmark
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When I first saw this carving in the TreasureTrove I held it with the
"FIVE CENTS" down in the normal 6:00 position. I couldn't figure out what
I was looking at... a buffalo with his head in a basket? I laid it aside
for later study under a magnifying glass and better lighting.
Shortly thereafter the TTowner was flailing around looking for their
"Circus Elephant On A Ball" carving and the lights suddenly came on. I had
it set aside because I hadn't looked at it from the correct perspective.
I knew of this carving because Ron had included a picture of it in one of
his early Collectors' Update publications. It sure was a thrill to
the Ol' FatMan to encounter the actual carving "in the nickel" as it were.
This is a "typical" high relief Superior Landis carving and a real joy to hold
in person.
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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Click on individual scans for
Obverse & Reverse
enlargements on CD-ROM
1996
"Country Girl" #007
(1935)S Nickel 4.4g 21.2mm
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1997
"Pete" #011
1936D Nickel 4.8g 21.2mm
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1997
"John T." #022
1935P Nickel 5.0g 21.2mm
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Sonny's "Baker's Dozen" - 3 early carved Buffs
Here are three of Sonny's early carvings on Buffalo nickels. Like virtually
all new nickel carvers he either started out on "no date"/"no horn" buffalo
nickels or he decided to blow the date away. He also did the same thing to
the LIBERTY legend. I don't hold this against beginning nickel carvers
because everybody has to start somewhere. Occasionally the subject being
carved simply doesn't leave room for the LIBERTY but generally most of us
collectors prefer the final carving to look as much like a "real nickel" as
possible.
Sonny apparently did one good thing right from the "get-go"... probably
from having observed Ron carving nickels. He signed (hallmarked), dated
and numbered his carvings! He also signed the coin holder in most cases
which is a great addition to the carving in my eyes. Way to go Sonny!
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
As a special bonus to all who purchase ScrapBook CD-ROMs...
...the provenance materials provided by Sonny for his carvings:
A signed handwritten
Image:note for "Country Girl."
An unsigned but numbered
Image:coinflip insert for "Pete."
A signed handwritten
Image:coinflip insert for "John T."
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on CD-ROM
Copper 8.2g 28.2mm
RARE Wrong-Sized 1787 New Jersey Cent
Michael L. Czapla, III, tells us that there were eighteen of these wrong-sized
cents struck so that makes this TreasureTrove find a rare bird indeed. Ron
has some "short runs" of 40-50 of such things as certain Chain Cent dies but
this particular creation is right up there close to the top in rarity. This
doesn't have the high dollar standing of an original work of art like the two
TTcarvings at the top of this page but it is certainly an attractive piece for
the serious collector of Landis/GMM creations. One of these eighteen wrong-sized
specimens is included in the upcoming
Link:Gallery Mint Museum Growth Fund Benefit Auction ...
Part I.
We have visited these interesting wrong-sized creations in previous SBsubjects
Link:Captured In Wax!,
Link:Nagy, Maris, NJNS Lot#7 And The Real GMM
Deerhead and
Link:Landis Sample Featured In Coin World.
Shown below are the two wrong-sized specimens in my midden heap. I have
no particular reason to show them to all y'all here other than I though
you might enjoy seeing them again here without having to follow the provided
links to our older SBsubject. Enjoy!
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
Click for
Enlargement
on CD-ROM
"Wrong Sized" 28.5mm 1787 New Jersey Cent
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Enlargement
on CD-ROM
"Wrong Sized" 1787/NJNS 700th Meeting Mule 28.5mm
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Silver 7.3g 23.6mm
A 1796 "With Pole" HalfCent SILVER Proof
This wonderful silver proof may well be unique. If it isn't... then
it certainly is "practically unique."
;-)
It always amuses me when I see/hear folks say "almost unique",
"virtually unique" or similar qualifiers attached to unique.
This is one word that simply can't be qualified... either something
is unique or it isn't!
Fortunately the TTowner kept the original coinflip insert so that the
provenance of this specimen is unquestioned. I absolutely hate it when
a coin's owner discards the original envelopes and such when they resell
a specimen. Both small dealers and large auction houses have been guilty
of this in the past. Some of the leading auction houses are now starting
to realize the value of provenance and keeping these materials for the
new purchaser. It all depends on who they have preparing a collection's
lots for resale.
Everyone should remember that none of us truly own numismatic specimens.
We are simply caretakers of them for future generations of collectors!
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
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Click on individual scans for
Obverse & Reverse
enlargements on CD-ROM
1997
"Ball Boy" #025
1936P Nickel 4.8g 21.2mm
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1997
Woman's Head #027
1936P Nickel 4.9g 21.2mm
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1998
"Abraham" #031
1934P Nickel 4.9g 21.2mm
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Sonny's "Baker's Dozen" - 3 later carved Buffs
#025 Hallmark
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As you can see from these three nickel carvings... Sonny improved
quite rapidly. These carvings are significantly more "finished" and
in less than a year! He wasn't up to the level of his Mentor but was
making noticeable improvement in this craft.
The small "Sun-E" hallmark was both a surprise and a pleasure to
discover on these TTcarvings. You need to turn the hallmark on
its side to see the "Sun-E". Additionally, I found this to be a
really clever hallmark... "Sun-E"<>"Sonny"!
Until I saw these carvings in the TreasureTrove I had never seen a
Sonny Carpenter carving. To find thirteen of them in one collection
was exciting. Does anyone reading this have
other examples of Sonny's work that they can share with us?
EMail:Verne R. Walrafen
As a special bonus to all who purchase ScrapBook CD-ROMs...
...the provenance materials provided by Sonny for his carvings:
A signed handwritten
Image:2x2 coinholder for "Ball Boy."
A signed handwritten
Image:2x2 coinholder for "Abraham."
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