Ron Landis' Workbench ScrapBook  
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I absolutely LOVE your idea of creating this scrapbook.
This is a great way of answering questions that come up a lot.
Ron Landis
2007
 		ScrapBook Subjects
Page
Index
 Links
 		Link... Air-Tite Capsule Measurements
 Link... Back to the Body Shop
 Link... Four Women in a Bathtub
 Link... Concept Dollar Patterns Featured in Coin World
 Link... Striker Announces New 1794 Patterns and Fantasy 1815 Large Cent
 Link... The First GMM Customer Projects “Out the Door” Under Striker Management
 Link... A Tribute to Master Engraver Ronald W. Landis
Enlargement scans available on WWW and ScrapBook CD-ROM. 
9/5
 2007
  • V-Dubya recommends “Air-Tites” wholeheartedly without reservation or compensation! • 
Click to visit www.air-tites.com websiteClick to visit www.air-tites.com website Address and Phone Number
Air-Tite Capsule Measurements
Holder Type Inside Diameter Outside Diameter Depth
A16 .65" · 16.5mm · .1ozGold{$5} 1.218" · 30.93mm .062" · 1.57mm
A18 .7" · 17.9mm · 10¢ || ||
A19 .75" · 19mm · 1¢ || ||
A21 .83" · 21.2mm · 5¢ || ||
A22 .86" · 22mm · .25ozGold{$10} || ||
A24 .957" · 24.31mm · 25¢ || ||
A26 · “A” 10-19mm Ring Holder 1.043" · 26.49mm · Small$1 || ||
T30 · “T” 20-25mm Ring Holder 1.204" · 30.6mm · 50¢ 1.437" · 36.5mm .08" · 2.03mm
H27 1.06" · 27mm · .5ozGold{$25} 1.75" · 44.45mm .125" · 3.17mm
H32 1.28" · 32.7mm · 1ozGold{$50} || ||
H38 1.5" · 38.1mm · Large$1 || ||
H39 · “H” 26-32mm Ring Holder 1.535" · 39mm || ||
H40.6 1.598" · 40.6mm · 1ozSilverEagle{$1} || ||
I · “I” 33-42mm Ring Holder 1.818" · 46.17mm 2.031" · 51.59mm .115" · 2.92mm
X1.75 1.75" · 44.45mm 2.118" · 53.8mm .156" · 3.96mm
X3 1.855" · 47.11mm || ||
X6 · “X” 38-44mm Ring Holder 1.875" · 47.62mm || ||
Y63 2.48" · 62.99mm 2.81" · 71.37mm .216" · 5.49mm
Y65 · “Y” 47-50mm Ring Holder 2.559" · 64.99mm || ||
Z10 3.024" · 76.81mm 3.264" · 82.9mm .286" · 7.26mm
BAR 1.158"x2" · 29.41x50.8mm 1.375"x2.197" · 34.92x55.8mm .098" · 2.49mm
 I use T30 holders with black 21mm rings to house my carved nickel collection but to each their own of course. ~ V-Dubya 
8/8
 2007
“Back to the Body Shop”
Ron Landis' personal Kellogg $50 Restrike specimen obviously needs some TLC from the fine folks at PCGS!
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
7/9
 2007

“Four Women in a Bathtub”
Edwin Johnston just pointed out this Ron Landis Concept Dollar sketch/design, shown in the “Elgin Coin Club Newsletter” of May 1998, which I did not know existed. I immediately called Ron and he confirmed that he had done this sketch/design but that he never did care for it. Trying to put four busts in such a small area just didn't feel right to him. I agree but it is great to discover something that I had never known about my idol and good friend Ron!
  Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
  Ron was asked to create this Concept Dollar sketch/design by governmental officials who were inspired by a marble statue of three suffragists; Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902), Susan B. Anthony(1820-1906) and Lucretia Mott(1793-1880), by Adelaide Johnson(1859-1955).
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
This marble statue was moved to the Capitol Rotunda and rededicated on June 26, 1997 ~ V-Dubya
 

May 1998
Coin of the Month -- The New Dollar
−by Mike Metras
The law has been passed. We are finally going to have that new dollar. What will it be?
The traditional Liberty that harks back to our first coins, to the beginnings of a new land dedicated to the fresh new ideas and ideals like this idealized young woman, Miss Liberty?
Or will it be the Statue of Liberty that accents our heritage as being the land of freedom and opportunity and our ties with France?
But we have been recently commemorating people who have done things to make the country what it is. We are no longer commemorating the ideals that drive us all to greater good, but rather we are commemorating people who do those things. If that is our aim, the women are due their moment on a coin. Maybe a dollar like this is what we will have.
And then there is the thought of looking forward to the many technological triumphs that are in front of us and to draw ourselves toward them. The astronaut of this concept dollar carries us that way.
Some say we should keep the Susan B. Anthony dollar as it was made in 1979, 1980, and 1981. Maybe change the shape and color a bit but keep the design.
Armed with these possibilities, I made up a survey using images from the Gallery Mint Museum and Daniel Carr and took it to friends, coworkers, and coin clubs and asked what they thought. Their thoughts are summarized in the table.
One other thought. I unfortunately matched the reverses with the original coin proposals. I say unfortunately because I think the reverses caused problems in the choices some made. Many liked the stunningly beautiful soaring eagle on the astronaut dollar while preferring the Liberty or Statue of Liberty obverse. And since the vote was for the obverse mainly, the soaring eagle lost out. Perhaps, another vote is due, just for the reverse.
N e w   D o l l a r   D e s i g n   S u r v e y
 Do Not Like Any 
Elgin CC12342
Hillside CC94511
Chicago CC132421
Fox Valley CC711
Coin Club Totals 411014322
Work62114
Family211
Non-club Totals66125
All Totals 471626822
Images courtesy of Gallery Mint Museum and Daniel Carr.                 Article courtesy of Elgin Coin Club.
7/2
 2007
Concept Dollar Patterns Featured in Coin World

 ...in a Paul Gilkes article
Click to read 7/2/2007 Coin World page 82. Click to read 7/2/2007 Coin World page 84.
Click to read 7/2/2007 Coin World page 86.
Click on thumbnail to read article page.
    ...with research help from Mike Wallace.    
5/2
 2007
 Striker Announces New 1794 Patterns and Fantasy 1815 Large Cent

Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
Former Gallery Mint introduces five new coins
   (Eureka Springs, AR)—Striker Token and Medal announces the release of five new reproduction coins in the company’s growing line of numismatic rarities. The museum-quality coins include a Ron Landis reproduction of the 1794 pattern half disme (Judd-14) and a fantasy Large Cent dated 1815, the only year between 1793-1857 the U.S. Mint did not strike the popular denomination.
   “The half-disme was one of the most important denominations in the American series,” said Striker president Larry Lee, who noted that the only known copper specimen of the 1794 denomination is in the National Coin Cabinet at the Smithsonian. “Now every collector can own an exact reproduction of this significant type coin.”
   The hubs for the new half-disme were engraved by former Gallery Mint owner Ron Landis and represented the first collaboration between Landis and Striker, the company he sold Gallery Mint to in January. “We are thrilled to continue our association with one of America’s premier coin engravers,” said Lee.
   The other new issues include 1794 pattern coins that finish out the series started by Landis and his partner Joe Rust several years ago. They include the half-dime (Judd-15), the half-dollar (Judd-17), and the 1794 dollar with stars (Judd-19), all in copper. All pattern coins are exact reproductions in design, size, alloy and method of manufacturing as the original specimens issued by the Federal Mint over two-hundred years ago.
   The 1815 Large Cent mimics the size and alloy of the original Large Cent series but the design was a matter of some debate. Striker’s Mint-master Timothy Grat noted there was discussion on whether to issue the mythical 1815 penny with a classic Capped-bust design as on Large Cents dated 1808-1814, or to use a Coronet-head like that on the coin from 1816-1836. “Most of the other denominations issued in 1815 used the Capped-bust motif,” explained Grat. “But the Large Cent itself was in transition: a better design and a higher quality planchets demonstrated that the Mint was moving to improve the coin. For those reasons we decided to go with the design as in 1816.”
   Grat reminds the Large Cent purists that the 1815 is, after all, a fantasy, and as such “it fills a hole that never existed.” He explained that the new coin will still carry the word COPY on either the obverse or reverse, even though no such coin actually exists. “The copy stamp forestalls any question if a discovery 1815 cent is ever made,” said Grat.
   Sales of the new coins are expected to be brisk as these are the first new coins to be engraved by Landis in over two years. For that reason, a backlog is expected and customers should allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Pricing and ordering instructions for the new coins can be found on the Striker website at www.striker-mfg.com. Coins may also be ordered by calling 888-688-3330 or by mailing Striker Manufacturing, PO Box 6194, Lincoln, NE 68506. All sales are by check or money order—no credit card sales.
I found out last week that there were original typographical errors in this pricelist.
I have been unable to get specific feedback to make corrections. ~ V-Dubya ~ 8/8/2007

STRIKER TOKEN AND MEDAL
Reproduction Patterns and Coins

 COIN METAL COPYSTAMP PRICE
Reduced!  1794 Half Cent copper obverse $9

 1794 Half Cent copper reverse $15

 One of each

$22
Reduced!  1794 Cent (Starred rev. variety) copper obverse $9

 1794 Cent (Starred rev. variety) copper reverse $15

 One of each

$22
NEW! 1794 Half Disme (Judd-14) copper obverse $15
NEW! 1794 Half Disme (Judd-14) copper reverse $15

 One of each

$28
NEW! 1794 Half Dime (Judd-15) copper obverse $15
NEW! 1794 Half Dime (Judd-15) copper reverse $15

 One of each

$28
Reduced!  1794 Half Dime silver obverse $12

 1794 Half Dime silver reverse $20

 One of each

$30
NEW! 1794 Half Dollar (Judd-17) copper obverse $25
NEW! 1794 Half Dollar (Judd-17) copper reverse $25

 One of each

$48
Reduced!  1794 Half Dollar silver obverse $20

 1794 Half Dollar silver reverse $30

 One of each

$45
NEW! 1794 Dollar w/ stars copper obverse $35
NEW! 1794 Dollar w/ stars copper reverse $35

 One of each

$65
Reduced!  1794 Dollar w/ stars (Judd-19) silver obverse $30

 1794 Dollar w/ stars (Judd-19) silver reverse $40

 One of each

$65
Reduced!  5-Piece Boxed Set Business Strikes
obverse $75

 1/2 ct, 1 ct, 1 disme, 1/2 dollar, dollar
reverse $125
NEW! 1 each of all 5 new 1794 pattern coins
obverse $115

 list $125 
reverse $115
STRIKER TOKEN AND MEDAL
Fantasy Reproduction Coin

 COIN METAL COPYSTAMP PRICE
NEW! 1815 Large Cent copper obverse $20
NEW! 1815 Large Cent copper reverse $20
SPECIAL! One of each

$35

3/4
 2007
 The First GMM Customer Projects “Out the Door” Under Striker Management
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph. 		Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph. 		Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph. 		Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
Finding examples of these pieces is likely to be quite challenging! They are all small issues
for members of the clubs that ordered them. I've tried contacting the “Ozarks' Coin Club” folks several times
over the years without success. I Googled “Half Cent Varieties Club” but didn't get any hits. These HCVC pieces
are meant to be engraved as club membership tokens. I lost my EMail contact with the “Western Reserve
Numismatic Club”, in the Cleveland area, when I changed computers recently. This trial strike was created
using a blank planchet but WRNC ordered their counterstamp applied to an existing GMM copper issue.
3/1
 2007
A Tribute to Master Engraver Ronald W. Landis
−by   Verne R. Walrafen
Prior to the sale of “Gallery Mint, Inc.” to “Striker Token and Medal” I had reached an agreement
with Ron Landis for a project with the goal of striking museum grade gold medals from a group of
his historic “non-COPY” medal dies. Since none of these dies had ever been struck in gold this project
met Ron's long standing policies of not restriking previous issues and not striking anything “down metal”.
We started this project with 44.5 t.oz of Alaskan gold dust but quickly discovered that there were enough
silver and other impurities in the dust to make it impossible to create usable buttons or planchets.
Results of attempting to create “Gold Dust” 6t.oz button Unusable “Gold Dust” 6t.oz button Unusable “Gold Dust” 6t.oz button
                →
A low resolution hand−held digital camera takes an extremely poor close−up picture!
So it was “off to the refiner” and eventually we got back 33.8 t.oz of 24K pure gold casting grain.
On 1/9/07 Timothy Grat and I melted 10.5 t.oz to form two huge “buttons” to hot strike
the “Medusa • Perseus” and “Gallery Mint Museum” “5 ounce” Landis medals shown here:
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
Medusa and “Perseus”
49.6-51.1mm • 6.01t.oz 24K • Struck:1/9/07
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
“Gallery Mint Museum” Winged Lady
“Dedicated to the Preservation of the Numismatic Arts”
49.4-50.4mm • 4.54t.oz 24K • Struck:1/9/07
A U.S. nickel for size comparison with Ron's medals. A U.S. nickel for size comparison with Ron's medals.
U.S.Nickel for size comparison
The remaining 23.3 t.oz of casting grain was melted and cast into a single flat ingot that was smaller
than one would expect for something with so much intrinsic value. I left this ingot with Timothy to run
through the rolling mill so he could create dollar sized planchets for five sets of large medal dies.
On 2/8/07 I returned to Eureka Springs and we struck the five largest medals shown below:
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.   		Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
“.999 Pure Silver”
“R.W.Landis ~ Engraver • Punched & Struck by Hand”
32.4-33.5mm • 2.01t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
 “1992 Renaissance”
“Discovery • Exploration”
36.3-37.8mm • 2.28t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.   Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
“1492-1992 • Museo De La Mondea”
“Projecto Segovia” (Spanish)
29.0-29.5mm • 1.54t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
 “1492-1992 • Museo De La Mondea”
“Project Segovia” (English)
29.5-30.7mm • 1.54t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.   Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
“MCMXCII” (1992) Royal Mint Drop Hammer Medal
“Texas Renaissance Festival”
“1492-1992 • Celebrating the Discovery”
38.9-39.8mm • 1.26t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
 “MCMXCIII” (1993) Gallery Mint Annual Medal
“Gallery Mint Museum • Dedicated to the Preservation
and Advancement of the Numismatic Arts”
38.9-39.6mm • 1.25t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.   Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
“1994 • Eureka Springs Arkansas”
37.2-37.8mm • 2.05t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
 “MCMXCIV” (1994) Gallery Mint Annual Medal
“202nd Anniversary • United States Mint”
38.4-38.9mm • 1.26t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
A U.S. nickel for size comparison with Ron's medals. A U.S. nickel for size comparison with Ron's medals.
U.S.Nickel for size comparison
Timothy cut up the remaining “scrap” plate into small paper cups to match the sizes of an additional
five sets of smaller medal dies we had picked out in January. We found we had a considerable
amount of gold remaining so we dug out Ron's set of three “Drachms of Athena” “COPY” dies.
Even after all that we had a bit over 1.5 t.oz left over and we didn't want to throw it out of course...
being the frugal sort of folk we are. I did a quick pass over Ron's collection of dies and the cancelled
“Coin World” chain cent dies caught my eye so we finished up the left-over gold with that die.
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.  
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
“MCMXCV” (1995) Gallery Mint Annual Medal
“American Folk Art Tradition • The Hobo Nickel”
38.1-38.1mm • 1.25t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
 “Coin World • July 5 1995” Chain Cent
{ Except this was struck from cancelled dies }
33.0-34.3mm • 1.54t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
“30P” (bright bust/frosted field proofs) sold to clients • “40BU” were given as appreciation gifts to C.W.Staff • Paper 'proofs' were struck on coin-flip inserts using the cancelled obverse die
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.   Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
“1997 • C.O.A.C. • American Numismatic Society”
Coinage of the Americas Conference demonstration die
40.4-40.6mm • 1.26t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
 Decadrachm of Athens
36.8-39.8mm • 3.41t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.  
Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.Click to view an enlargement of this photograph.
Tetradrachm of Athens
29.2-31.0mm • 1.69t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
 Didrachm of Athens
21.6-21.8mm • 1.00t.oz 24K • Struck:2/8/07
A U.S. nickel for size comparison with Ron's medals. A U.S. nickel for size comparison with Ron's medals.
U.S.Nickel for size comparison
 I consider this medal set a tribute to my 24K friend Ron Landis and his 24K talent! 
I remain hopeful that we will see more of Ron's engraving genius on down the road. ~ V-Dubya
You most certainly will have noted the different colors exhibited by the scans shown above. If you
were to look at the medals themselves you would see only the very slightest differences in coloring
between them. My scanner is highly sensitive to the texture of the surface. Hot strikes create a
different texture than cold strikes on rolled planchets. The cold struck medals have highly polished
surfaces that have a significant impact on my scanner's color results. ~ V-Dubya