Coin Trivia......

longtimecollector

No prize involved, just something I never realized before.........

Name a NON-COMMEMORATIVE circulating U.S. coin for which the PROOF mintage EXCEEDED the BUSINESS STRIKE mintage in 3 consecutive years......... This DOES NOT apply to PROOF ONLY years

LanLord

I believe some of the three cent silver pieces in the sixties meet this criteria

mojorizn

The wife's asleep and I can't get to my Redbook (it's in the bedroom) so I'll guess the SBA dollar.

mojo

mojorizn

LanLord

Actually my three cent silver guess was wrong, but the three cent nickels in 83, 84, 85 fits.

longtimecollector

Lanlord is correct !!!!!!!!!!

richbeat

Good question! Here's another one that I did not know until recently. If you would rather I make a separate thread, I will, but I thought I'd put it here since the thread is titled "Coin Trivia."

What is the only year in U.S. Mint history in which cents were not struck?

Sorry, no prize. I just wanted to see how many know this.

GoYankees

1792?

richbeat

Not 1792, but a good guess. I may not have worded the question very well. I'm referring to the time since regular Mint operations began, which would be 1793-present.

northcoin

Here is another one.

What denomination of U.S. coinage was established for the purpose of making it easier to buy stamps?

GregTheGreat

I believe it was the 2 cent piece correct?

-Greg

northcoin

Think bigger.

GregTheGreat

20 cent piece?

-Greg

northcoin

Go for the gold.

GregTheGreat

<< <i>Good question! Here's another one that I did not know until recently. If you would rather I make a separate thread, I will, but I thought I'd put it here since the thread is titled "Coin Trivia."

What is the only year in U.S. Mint history in which cents were not struck?

Sorry, no prize. I just wanted to see how many know this. >>



WAY TO EASY:

Everybody knows thats the 1815.... or maybe I have just read the redbook about a dozen times to many...

Fun Question.

-Greg

GregTheGreat

Hmmm....

Gold???

Lemme think for a minute.

GregTheGreat

Liberty Head Type Gold Dollar

or

It might be a quarter eagle.

-Greg

northcoin

OK, here is the answer. Note another denomination might also qualify but the non gold coinage came out the same time as the stamp so the better answer to the question as asked is the denomination of gold coin that followed the subject stamp's availability.

Answer for those who don't want to keep guessing


If you go to the link for the answer - no fair posting the answer for those who want to keep guessing.

GregTheGreat

You even got me with that one.... and I thought I knew it all.

Time to start brushing up on the good old fashoned coin trivia....

Thanks for the GREAT question.

-Greg

Ed62

Three dollar gold? - - - -one could buy a roll of stamps from a vending machine??

Conder101

<< <i>What is the only year in U.S. Mint history in which cents were not struck? >>


1823 There are cents of that date but they were all struck in 1824.



<< <i>What denomination of U.S. coinage was established for the purpose of making it easier to buy stamps? >>


Two of them three cent piece (Specificly three cent silver) and three dollar gold. Thee cent to buy one stamp three dollar gold to buy a sheet.

northcoin

Correct except for the vending machine. Sheets were the order of the day back in the mid 1800's. I think the first "vending machine" was the Automat in Times Square New York. That is my most vivid memory of my visit to New York City as a 5 year old in 1953. All those little glass windows with food items (pieces of pie as I recall) in them just like rows of post office boxes, all being fed by the attendants behind the wall.

Conder101

Actually the first vending machine was in ancient rome. It dispensed a small quantity of holy water when coin was deposited. Source: Ripleys Believe it or Not.

richbeat

Conder got my question correct. It's not 1815 because there WERE cents struck in December 1815, they just weren't DATED 1815, possibly 1816 but more likely 1814. Cents that were dated 1823 WERE NOT struck in 1823. They were struck in either 1824 or 1825.

Conder101

No they were most likely dated 1816 fo these reasons.

The new maton head 1816 dies were on hand because they were intended to be used in just a few days anyway, the 1814 dies would have been over a year old and would probably have been discarded by now especially since a new design had been approved, and the best evidence are the coins themselves.

The copper used for the 1814's (In fact all classic heads) and 1816 cents are very different in appearance. The last of the copper on hand was struck in 1814 and no other planchets were available until late in 1815. If 1814 cents had been struck in December of 1815 they would have been stuck on the same planchet stock that the 1816 cents were struck on. 1814 cents do not come on planchets of that type, there fore the cents struck in 1815 were dated 1816.

richbeat

Conder:

As always, your knowledge is impeccable, and I do not doubt you. One of us probably needs to relay that info to R.W. Julian, as that's where I got it from. I'll excerpt a few lines from "The Cent Coinage of 1815," an article he wrote that appeared in the September 2004 issue of COINage. You might find some interest in it:


"Considering that there were two engravers--Robert Scot and John Reich--at the Mint, one would think that at least one of them could have carried out the rather simple task of hubbing an obverse die and dating it 1815."

"If that date was not used, then which date was used in 1815? It seems more likely to have been 1814, although it is possible that Patterson (then Mint director Robert) had ordered new dies dated 1816 in the belief that the five tons of planchets would not arrive in 1815."

"The dating confusion is complicated by the fact that there was a new head of Liberty on the 1816 coinage."

And this:

"It would not be too much of a stretch to assume that an 1816 obverse die was used in the last half of December 1815, but 1814 is still the more likely date."

You also mentioned that the 1823 cents were struck in 1824, and I mentioned 1824 or 1825. Here's an excerpt from the same article:

"There are cents dated 1823, but these were struck in 1824 or 1825 using outdated dies that had originally been prepared for an expected coinage in 1823."