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A Few American Lovelies

One of my personal favourite coins, one I have owned for a long time, and one which have appreciated considerably in value in the intervening time which have passed since it's acquisition. This is my earliest coin issued by the United States of America, it is special because of the symbolism of having been manufactured during the nascent stages of the creation of the American nation in the 1790's.

A call late in the evening, whilst I was out of town at an airport, brought my attentions to this lovely in AU-55, this is the very scarce lettered edge variety cent that only 37.000 examples were minted during 1795. The edge of this particular cent was lettered using collars, and had "One Hundred For A Dollar" incused into the edge. Problems with the production of the collars and their shattering with frequency meant that the lettered edge varieties were a shortlived issue, to be replaced that year by a plain edge coin.

The large cent had largely become unprofitable to mint during the course of the 1850's. The rising price of copper, and manufacturing, coupled with rising demands created by a growing economic structure necessitated a solution being found, so 1857 marked the final year of the large cent's minting. This example being one of the last minted in that momentus year.

At one time I endeavoured to collect Civil War era coinage of the USA however I never realised the goal of it's attainder. But I did find a rather nice 1865 3cent coin at a nice price, curiously this piece has traces of a die clash on the reverse, notably to the left of the Roman numeral III Die clashes were not an all too uncommon occurence during this era and this piece is fairly typical of the sort.

Despite the fact that the three cent coin was ostensibly created to facilitate purchasing postage stamps and eliminating the usage of excessive one cent coins the coin never proved popular and after 1873 was only minted in small numbers with the exception of the 1881 dated coins. Of the pieces with small mintages high proportions of the coins seem to have been collected early on as they are usually found in better grades. Curiously the US mint in Philadelphia continued to mint the coins until 1889 when they, the gold dollar, and the three dollar gold coin were discontinued finally. Circulated coins from 1889 are rather scarcer, there were only 18,125 coins minted in the last year of production - and a lot of them seem to have been collected early on, as circulated examples like this one are more difficult to find.

The devasting social and economic crises initiated by the Civil War were consequential long after the conclusion of hostilities in 1865. One such consequence was inflation and the erosion in the value of the dollar, especially the newly released Federal paper money, ie the Legal Tender notes. But minor coinage disappeared because of hoarding also, necessitating the Treasury to print small pieces of paper money called Fractional Currency which supplanted coins during this time. The US mint looked at viable alternatives to minting lower value, ie 3¢, 5¢ and 10¢ in metals other than silver. The 3¢ piece was minted in a new cupro-nickel composition from 1865, whilst the 5¢ was minted in cupro-nickel from 1866 and was positioned to replace the previous Half Dime which was a silver coin. The next denomination in the scenario was the 10¢ coin. This denomination was prepared in copper, and cupro-nickel patterns beginning in 1868, using James Longacre's Large Cent hubs from the 1857 issue of Large Cents. Some curious pieces were prepared with the 1868 date, but everything else common to the Large Cent, including the denomination. Approximately two dozen each were prepared with "Ten Cents" on the reverse, in copper, and cupro-nickel. This particular piece is a toned cupro-nickel that is PF-62 as graded by PCGS. I have been fascinated with these unusual patterns, the size of them, the metal composition, the denomination, but most importantly the connection with the previously issued Large Cents of 1855-1857 since I was a kid and read about them in a coin magazine.

The popular Seated Liberty design replaced the earlier Bust design on the half dollar in 1839. This design served a long time, until 1891. But late in the design of this coin, after 1878, mintages dropped precipitously because of lowered demand for this denomination, and possibly due to the minting of large quantities of silver dollars beginning in 1878. In 1880 only 9,755 coins were minted and 1355 of them like the above coin were minted as proofs for collectors. The toning of this coin is a deep pink, but hard to pick up by scanning it.

I don't usually collect commemorative half dollars from the classic series from 1892-1954, but the Texas Centennial Half is an exception. In an era when commemoratives were issued in crazy numbers, designs often suffered because of the frequency with which they were issued. This one is an exception, it just shouts "TEXAS!" and is very emblematic of the wonderful state. The eagle with the Lone Star background, coupled with the reverse with the Angel of Liberty and the Alamo flanked by medallions with Sam Houston and Stephen Austin makes for a wonderful design. It was often opined early that the design was "busy", but I like it and find it so tantamount to describing Texas. This coin is in a PCGS MS-67 holder, and is one of the finest known examples of this coin available.

I have always liked Bust Dollars, but never found one which truly and unequivocally appealed to my discriminating desires for such a piece until I occasion upon this piece. Indeed, these particular coins because of their appeal to collectors of fine United States coinages, have been altered, tooled, cleaned, plugged etc. to the point at which nice choice original coins which have none of the former flaws are indeed quite scarce a find. Curiously this coin also has a very characteristic die crack, that identifies this coin as B-10, BB-163, a Rarity 2 die marriage and, along with B-9, one of the most common varieties.

1200dpi image of the 1799 dollar.

For a long time I collected Morgan Dollars, most collectors of USA coins do have at least a few of them. I have more than a few, but they are common compared to their predecessor, the Seated Liberty Dollar. These coins in their nascent stages were issued in small numbers beginning in 1836 with Christian Gobrechts design. Beginning in 1840 they were issued in larger numbers, but curiously many of these never saw circulation in the United States, because of the close relative value of silver to the face value they were often exported. Only for a moderate period during the 1850's did these coins see some degree of circulation in the USA, but not for long as the Civil War of 1861-65 removed much of the coinage from circulation because of hoarding. Seated Liberty Dollars are perhaps the most commonly counterfeited coin coming from China currently, perhaps it is the scarcity of the real pieces coupled with less knowledge of authentic examples.

Gold monetarists had long advocated the adoption of a coin in the form of gold, in fact it was legislated as far back as 1836. Whilst patterns were then created no examples were minted for circulation. In fact it was up to private minters, the Bechtler's in North Carolina's gold country to mint a gold dollar coin beginning in the 1830's. The Federal government did not finally get around to minting a dollar coin in gold until 1849, amazingly progressional matters were as slow then in the mid 19th century as they are to this very day. The resulting dollar coin in gold became what would be the United State's smallest diametre coin, measuring in at a paltry 13mm.

This coin was probably more popular as a novelty, and they often ended up condemned to service in jewelry instead of commercial interests. The dimunitive size of the coin created an inconvenience also, and it was redesigned in a larger format with a new portrait beginning in 1854 as a 15mm diametre piece.

Because of the diminutive size of the previous gold dollar coins, the design was changed and the coin was minted in a new 15mm size beginning in 1854, but this coin also had it's issues, the small head of Liberty caused some striking issues and the so called Type 2 of the dollar coin would only be minted during the years of 1854-1856. Later in 1856 a new gold dollar coin was designed and released for circulation, this with a larger head.

These coins are often referred to as "Indian Head" type coins, but actually this is a depiction of Liberty. Some also refer to these as the "Princess Head" dollars. These coins usually had small mintages under 10,000 pieces, but a couple of years, 1856 and 1862 had mintages that exceeded one million coins. This particular coin was minted in 1862, but likely did not circulate if at all until much later as gold had pretty much disappeared from circulation during the Civil War of 1861-1865 due to hoarding. The value of one greenback or paper dollar was minimal compared to the value of a gold dollar.

A bit of a seemingly unusual denomination for a coin nowadays, back until the USA went off of the Gold Standard in 1933 the Quarter Eagle or $2.50 was the smallest coin commonly seen in commerce. The gold dollars were minted from 1849-1889, and still saw limited circulation up to the 1930's but they were mainly curiousities and a lot of them were made into jewelry etc. leaving the $2.50 coin as the lowest denominated coin that actually circulated. This particular coin was minted in the Denver mint and was the last of this denomination to be minted in a branch mint of the United States Mint.

This stirring design was executed by Bela Lyon Pratt, and features a unique incuse design, where the coin has no rims and the design is set into the relief of the piece, these coins because of this unique design feature actually saw remarkably less wear than the earlier "Liberty" coins of 1837-1908. Curiously a Native American is the subject of the piece, quite remarkable in a period whence the Native Americans had by then been completely subdued and forced onto reservations, a 19th and early 20th century American version of what we would now refer to as ethnic cleansing. These pieces are the first coins to feature actual Native Americans, and not allegorical ones represented by Caucausians wearing Native headresses, ala the so called Indian cent of 1859-1909.

The "Roaring Twenties" went under with the demise of the boom in stock prices etc. in October 1929 and the collapse of the Stock Market. The US Mint minted far fewer coins beginning in the late 1920's because of lower demand, by the early 1930's demand for new coins was practically non existent. Gold coinage slowly trickled out, but the last of the small denomination gold coins were minted in 1929, whilst the $10 and $20 pieces continued to be minted and put into US Mint vaults right up to 1933. The last coins legally released into circulation were small numbers of 1933 $10 Eagles, but the last collectible year for most collectors is 1932 also with the $10 Eagle. This remarkable $2.50 Quarter Eagle is the last of these Mohicans to be released in this denomination, as no further coins in this denomination were minted or released to circulation.

The 19th century saw numerous denominations released into circulation that seemingly had a purpose for commerce, but they didn't last long, nor were they popular. The United States Mint at one time minted 1/2 cents, 2 cent, silver and cupro-nickel three cent pieces, half-dimes, twenty cent pieces, and this fascinating $3 coin. The denomination was thought to be convenient for the purpose of purchasing one hundred first class stamps which were 3 cents each. The denomination was first issued beginning in 1854, which would also be the largest mintage year of the whole series with 154,000 coins minted at three mints, Philadelphia, Dahlonega, and New Orleans. After 1854 the $3 continued to be minted, but in ever declining mintages, until 41,000 were minted in 1874, then 82,000 in 1878, the year this coin was minted in Philadelphia. Despite the unpopularity of the denomination, it soldiered on, being minted for an incredible 36 years! The last 2,400 coins were minted in 1889, then this denomination, along with the Gold $1 coin were finally discontinued. The unusual denomination and low mintages of these pieces made them scarce even in the late 19th century, and they were often kept as momentoes and placed in jewelry etc. which now makes collectable coins such as this one all the scarcer.

One of my earliest American gold coins, this $10 gold piece from 1849 is remarkable more for the eventful date of 1849 for gold bugs than any other such notion. This design served from 1838 until 1907 when it was replaced by the Indian Head design. This coin was designed by Christian Gobrecht, a German immigrant to the United States.

The gold from the California gold rush had to be sent back east to be minted into coin, or smelted into bullion. The distance from the East Coast of the USA to the West Coast was not measured in hours, but rather in months to travel that distance, usually by clipper ship to Panama, then overland, then by sea again to New York or Philadelphia. Beginning in 1854, the US Mint opened an office in the building of August Humbert and Co. that had previously manufactured private gold coinage. This Ten Dollar gold piece is one of the first coins minted in the new mint that year. It bears a large "S" mintmark on the reverse of the coin below the eagle.

A circulated example of a lovely coin, this $10 piece from 1908 was a part of Theodore Roosevelt's effort to revamp and classicise American coinage. Indeed, this era produced the most remarkable designs overall in American coinage ever. Engaging artists such as Augustus St. Gaudens for the $10 and $20 pieces and Bela Lyon Pratt for the $2.50 and $5.00 pieces the resultant pieces are memorable even today, and are emblematic of the best of American artistry and creativity in numismatics.

Incredibly the new coins created a bit of a stir whence they were released in 1907-8 as Theodore Roosevelt objected to the use of the motto "In God We Trust" on the coinage, so this motto of course was not included in the design. However public opinion superceded even President Roosevelt's objections and the motto was added beginning in 1908.

This design in it's nascency dates to 1849 with a single struck example of that date now residing comfortably in the Smithsonian collection. This piece was designed by James B. Longagre, whom also designed the most popular of American coinage, the Indian Head Cent. Curiously this denomination, known as the Double Eagle was not first coined by the United States Mint, but by the LDS in their state of Deseret, current day Utah. Increasing amounts of gold flowing into the economy from the newly discovered goldfields in California brought the material necessary for the creation of a monetary revolution. Gold coinage increased considerably after the gold strikes, and the new found wealth fueled a dramatic economic growth, however punctuated with depressions in 1857 and 1873.

Beginning in 1854 the San Francisco branch mint began minting gold directly into coinage to replace the motley collection of privately minted coinages thence circulating in California. Whilst the earliest coinages from the San Francisco mint were miniscule compared to the Philadelphia mint, with time they overtook the Philadelphia mint in terms of volume output of gold coinage. Just after the Civil War was concluded the motto "In God We Trust" was added to the reverse in 1866. Beginning in 1877 the denomination, Twenty Dollars was spelled out completely on the reverse.

The Carson City mint was opened in 1870 in response to a need for a mint closer to the famous Comstock Load in Nevada. Most of the coinage struck in this mint was silver of course, but gold was mined in smaller amounts and this made into coinage. The CC mintmarked $20 Liberties are some of the scarcer Liberties minted, the year 1893 saw only 18 thousand of them minted and was the last date for the Carson City mint.

For some reason I have a slight preference for the Liberty style $20 coins a bit more than the usually more desirous Saint Gauden's $20's introduced in 1907. Perhaps it is that it is a long used design, from deep into the gold rush era in 1849-1850, maybe I like the reverse a bit better too. 1907 was the last year this coin was minted, and 1907 would be one very very long year for the $20 denomination though.

For most American collectors the $20 Saint Gaudens is the pinnacle of lovely design in American coinage, this design was commissioned by then President Teddy Roosevelt, who being a numismatist with interests in ancients, wanted to draw parallels betwixt 20th century American coinage and the great coinages of the Greek city states. In this effort for this denomination he sought Augustus St. Gaudens for this work, and really wanted a very high relief coin that would be remarkable. However in the end, bankers one out and claimed that the coins could not be stacked properly, so that beginning in late 1907 lower relief coins were struck. For a coin this size, the denomination was popular and represented the largest denomination actually circulating, however the storm clouds of international financial ruin were becoming apparent to astute individuals and institutions beginning in the mid 1920's and they converted their funds to gold coin, usually these $20 coins and had them shipped to banks in Europe. When the defecant finally hit the fan in October 1929, and the consequences played out over the next four years, the fiat monetarists finally seized their opportunity and demonetized gold, took the United States off of the gold standard, and made gold ownership illegal for most individuals. Fortunately for 21st century collectors, the smelting pots of the 1933-1934 gold recall did not get all of the $20 coins, especially the large quantities which found a long term home in European banks.