Denver Mint Token and Medal Errors
Zoins
Posts: 34,113 ✭✭✭✭✭
I have Denver Mint Token error and I've been interested to find out if it was meant for Dan / @dcarr's press.
Dan has the following awesome off-center medal on his website and says it is traceable to his press which was in service from 1986 to 2001.
http://www.moonlightmint.com/artifacts.htm
All the medals produced at the Denver Mint from 1986-2001 were made on this Grabener press. As such, this 38mm Denver Mint medal struck off-center is one of the few mint error pieces traceable to this particular machine:
My question is that since these medals were included in Denver Mint Souvenir Sets with coins dated fom 1974 to 1990, how does one tell if it was meant from Dan's press which was in operation from 1986 to 2001? Did the composition change? Are there different die die varieties for this medal that help date it? Were all these sets issued in 1986 or later, regardless of the date of the coins?
Here's a set from 1974 from the bay.
Comments
I would expect @dcarr to chime in with details...Cheers, RickO
When he refurbished his press he found a variety of things down inside the base. Perhaps this was one of them. He will tell us if it was.
Quite possible. If that's the reason, the text should probably be changed on the page.
I found a John Adams president medal in the oil pan. Those are the same size and composition as the medal in question. But I did not find the off-center medal in the coin press - I bought it from another source. So I can not be positive that it was made on my press, but there is a good possibility that it was.
PS:
The Denver Mint souvenir sets were apparently made until at least 1998.
The off center medal pictured above is 38mm and was not issued in the souvenir sets. The souvenir sets contained a 33mm version of the same design.
Many of the 38mm medals were struck on a press that was, supposedly, operated by visitors using a hand trigger. One would pay for the planchet, and a Mint operator would feed it into the press, and the visitor could press the hand trigger to strike the medal. That’s where I would assume that all or nearly all of the 38mm medals originated. I own about 15 blank planchets that were never struck. They look like this:
As for errors, I think I own this one (or maybe it was a different one. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it!):
Some of the Denver mint medals of this design have a die clash. I’ve seen one with a rather large die chip. And there is actually a very rare mule medal as well.
I went through the Denver Mint gift shop several times between 1976 and 1983 with ANA Summer Seminar groups. The strike your own medal setup was very popular. First time I was there I stood back and watched the guy manning the press. You got to press a button and your medal got struck, but the guy had a foot switch. It may have been merely a safety override so that you could not push your switch unless he was holding his button down or it may have actually operated the press. I never asked him when nobody was around.
@GoldenEgg Great point on the medal sizes and the blank planchets. I have a bagged blank planchet and thought it was rare, but perhaps less rare than I thought. Great off center medal!
Very nice history @CaptHenway! Thanks for sharing it
Does anyone have photos of this press in operation?
Check out this video of the one in Philadelphia circa 1993 @ 10:24.