1918 Swiss pattern 10 rappen aluminum
ProofArtworkonCircs
Posts: 4,223 ✭
Is there a pattern 10 rappen aluminum piece of Switzerland. I don't see it listed in Krause, but I found this interesting report that I posted on the other side.
<<Nickel is impractical for coin production, as its hardness is conducive to laminations, die breaks, poor strikes, and many other problems. >>
True, but the final product is very long lasting. Consider the quarters in ciculation today. 40 year old quarters from the 1960's show wear, but they still have much life in them. Speaking of the 1960's, the 30 year old silver quarters from the 1930's back then were very worn indeed.
Pure nickel wears much longer yet. I remember Canadian nickels of the earlier 1920's looking brand new in circulation in 1960. About that point they disappeared from circulation. A friend at work went to Switzerland in the early 1960's on his honeymoon. He brought me a handful of circulating coins. There was a pristine 20 rappen pure nickel coin from the 1880's in the batch. That was still the same design as the current cupro-nickel coin.
Now here is an official Swiss experiment reported in the 1921 "The World Almanac" page 493.
"Abrasion of Coins - It is reported officially in Switzerland that the comparative abrasion of various coins was tested by placing equal weights of many varieties inside a drum which was revolved for forty con-continuous [sic] hours. The results were as follows in percentages:
Ten-rappen piece of alum. alloy, 11.27; [I can't find this in Krause; there is a brass issue listed for 1918-1919][ * ]
1-franc piece of 0.835 silver, 0.165 copper, 7.79;
5-rappen piece of brass (100 rappen = 1 franc), 4.01; [coined only in 1918 - WW I nickel shortage?]
10-rappen piece of copper-nickel, 2.45;
1-rappen piece of bronze, 1.23;
20-rappen piece of pure nickel, .59."
What a wide variation in abrasion rates! 11.27% versus .59%. It might be worth a little die aggravation for that long life.
Note 5 franc pieces and gold were not used. Note what a rich variety of alloys- 8 different if you include gold and .900 silver 5 francs.
edited to add note on the 10 rappen aluminum alloy piece. Incidently notes within brackets [....] are my comments.
edit #2 * Perhaps this was an 1918 experiment with proposed pattern aluminum pieces. The results were such that they switched to brass for their emergency composition for the 10 rappen piece.
Edited: Thursday November 06, 2008 at 1:50 PM by ProofArtworkonCircs
<<Nickel is impractical for coin production, as its hardness is conducive to laminations, die breaks, poor strikes, and many other problems. >>
True, but the final product is very long lasting. Consider the quarters in ciculation today. 40 year old quarters from the 1960's show wear, but they still have much life in them. Speaking of the 1960's, the 30 year old silver quarters from the 1930's back then were very worn indeed.
Pure nickel wears much longer yet. I remember Canadian nickels of the earlier 1920's looking brand new in circulation in 1960. About that point they disappeared from circulation. A friend at work went to Switzerland in the early 1960's on his honeymoon. He brought me a handful of circulating coins. There was a pristine 20 rappen pure nickel coin from the 1880's in the batch. That was still the same design as the current cupro-nickel coin.
Now here is an official Swiss experiment reported in the 1921 "The World Almanac" page 493.
"Abrasion of Coins - It is reported officially in Switzerland that the comparative abrasion of various coins was tested by placing equal weights of many varieties inside a drum which was revolved for forty con-continuous [sic] hours. The results were as follows in percentages:
Ten-rappen piece of alum. alloy, 11.27; [I can't find this in Krause; there is a brass issue listed for 1918-1919][ * ]
1-franc piece of 0.835 silver, 0.165 copper, 7.79;
5-rappen piece of brass (100 rappen = 1 franc), 4.01; [coined only in 1918 - WW I nickel shortage?]
10-rappen piece of copper-nickel, 2.45;
1-rappen piece of bronze, 1.23;
20-rappen piece of pure nickel, .59."
What a wide variation in abrasion rates! 11.27% versus .59%. It might be worth a little die aggravation for that long life.
Note 5 franc pieces and gold were not used. Note what a rich variety of alloys- 8 different if you include gold and .900 silver 5 francs.
edited to add note on the 10 rappen aluminum alloy piece. Incidently notes within brackets [....] are my comments.
edit #2 * Perhaps this was an 1918 experiment with proposed pattern aluminum pieces. The results were such that they switched to brass for their emergency composition for the 10 rappen piece.
Edited: Thursday November 06, 2008 at 1:50 PM by ProofArtworkonCircs
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