Unused Dies

The_Dinosaur_Man

Hey all,

I thought I'd make a rare post concerning unused dies at the Mint. Is there a master list anywhere that details all the dies that were created and sent to the various mints?

My curiosity stems from writings on several coins that are either debated to exist, hypothetical, or not even considered at all. For example:

1873-S Seated Liberty Dollar. Six pairs of dies sent to San Francisco. According to the records, 700 silver dollars were struck in 1873 and one is presumed to have been sent in for assay.

1870-S Half Dime. Six pairs of dies sent. No recorded mintage, one known example, and another coin assumed to reside in the long lost cornerstone.

1871-S Gold Dollar. Two pairs of dies sent. Never used.

1854-C Three Dollars. One pair of dies sent. Never used. Similar to several dies likewise sent to New Orleans after 1854.

I'm sure there are more. What do you guys think?

AUandAG

1869cc dollar dies were sent and received, but never used as there was not enough time left in the year, supposedly (received in early November).
bob
vegas, baby!

sellitstore

I'm not aware of such a list but it's an interesting topic.

CaptHenway

Lots of dies were sent to various Mints and never used for various reasons. Apparently it was considered worth the cost of making the dies that might be used on the theory that it was better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.

For example, in my research for the book I have written on the cents of 1922, I can tell you that the Denver Mint received ten obverse dies for 1922-D cents, dimes, quarters and half dollars, and probably nickels though those pages are missing, even though the Treasury Dept. had absolutely no intention of striking any of those denominations in CY 1922, other than commemorative halves. All Denver was going to strike were dollars (the gold refinery was offline.) However, when the Peace dollar design went into production in Philadelphia on Dec. 28, 1921, and was found to be too difficult to strike up properly, the Denver Mint was able to keep busy on the first business day of 1922 (the 3rd) by striking existing cent planchets with the cent dies previously sent until the revised Peace Dollar dies were ready.

Some information on dies made and either kept in Philadelphia or sent to the branch mints can be found in Mint Reports. Many Mint Reports can be found online at the Newman Numismatic Portal.

The_Dinosaur_Man

I appreciate the feedback thus far. My line of thinking was along the lines of discovery pieces in the future and quickly verifying their authenticity, as well as being able to postulate other possible pieces that are waiting to see the light of day. This goes with knowing that Mint workers were not consistent nor thorough in making their reports but made the coins anyways.

And of course, there is the whole process of sending coins in for assay. Were sent dies used for this basic purpose?

Some other examples that come to mind in this regard:

1870-S $3 gold. One recorded struck, one known, a second presumed to be in the cornerstone.

1895 Morgan Dollars, Uncirculated. 12,000 struck, none known.

1913 Liberty Nickels. No mint records, five known.

2020-W Jefferson Nickel, Uncirculated. No mint records, specimens reported to exist, none actually known (?).

sellitstore

I believe that the assay process only applies to the precious metal coins and that the law required one assay coin per a set number of strikes. So assay coins weren't required by law unless circulation or collector pieces were also struck. However, I believe that there may have been a few examples of assay coins being set aside while no other substantial quantity was struck.

CaptHenway

Mint records are sometimes wrong because sometimes various mints struck coins in one year and released them the following year. That is why the Mint Reports mentioned a small issue of Quarter Dollars in 1797. They were of course dated 1796.

See an article by me and Dan Owens in the July, 2019 The Numismatist on the 1873-S Seated Dollars where we give mathematical evidence why the 700 pieces reported out for 1873 must have been dated 1872-S.

See the May, 2023 issue of The Numismatist where the wonderful research team the Kellys show that the first two deliveries of gold eagles in New Orleans in 1842 MUST have been dated 1841-O, because the first 1842-dated obverse had not yet reached the New Orleans Mint before those coins were struck and released. Most importantly, some of those belated 1841-O Eagles were sent to the Assay Commission as products of 1842, regardless of the actual dates on the coins. I believe that the same thing happened in 1873, with a leftover 1872-S Standard Dollar sent to the Assay Commission in 1873 when the 700 leftover 1872-S dollars went on the books.

TD