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Rarest Denver Mint item ?

dcarrdcarr Posts: 9,063 ✭✭✭✭✭
In terms of the original mintage (not counting errors), this is perhaps the rarest item ever produced by the Denver Mint ?
Not very well known and apparently under-appreciated (my kind of thing).
The only gold minted in Denver between 1931 and 1984. They were given out to attendees at a gala dinner. Housed in a velvet box with no capsule, the recipients (who were not generally coin collectors) had a tendency to mis-handle and impair the medals. I suspect that many ended up being subjected to gold test cuts, sold at pawn shops, and/or melted.

34mm, smooth edge, medal-turn alignment, 40.4 grams .900 fine gold (1.17 troy oz net pure gold content).
These are listed in John Dean's "National Commemorative Medals of the United States Mint", catalog # D1976-1a .
They are also, I think, the only medals ever struck in Denver other than the 34mm bronze Presidents series and Denver Mint US Treasury series.

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Comments

  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,401 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That looks like a great piece Dan. A Colorado gold centennial piece minted by the Denver Mint is certainly very fitting in your collection.

    At a mintage of 100 pieces, it seems to qualify as one of the rarest issues produced by the Denver Mint, however there are other pieces to consider. One is the King Farouk 1907-D proof (or specimen) double eagle, of which only one is known, and another is the 1906-D specimen double eagle of which 6 are known.

    Of course, these are all gold, with small mintages and from the Denver Mint so they are all special.

    Congrats!
  • dcarrdcarr Posts: 9,063 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>That looks like a great piece Dan. A Colorado gold centennial piece minted by the Denver Mint is certainly very fitting in your collection.

    At a mintage of 100 pieces, it seems to qualify as one of the rarest issues produced by the Denver Mint, however there are other pieces to consider. One is the King Farouk 1907-D proof (or specimen) double eagle, of which only one is known, and another is the 1906-D specimen double eagle of which 6 are known.

    Of course, these are all gold, with small mintages and from the Denver Mint so they are all special.

    Congrats! >>



    Thanks.

    This is true. But I've always wondered if the 1906-1907 Denver "proof" Double Eagles are just the first strikes with new dies, set aside for presentation. And perhaps those dies continued to be used to produce a higher volume of coins with a diminishing proof-like finish.
  • AUandAGAUandAG Posts: 24,929 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sweeeeet!

    bobimage
    Registry: CC lowballs (boblindstrom), bobinvegas1989@yahoo.com
  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 29,178 ✭✭✭✭✭
    looks like ya did real good with that one. congrats
  • chumleychumley Posts: 2,305 ✭✭✭✭
    so can I expect a silver version of that piece on your site? he asked hopefullyimage
  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 32,708 ✭✭✭✭✭
    As far as surviving rarity is concerned, I think the 1927-D $20 might be the rarest.
    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • jonathanbjonathanb Posts: 3,752 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The 1905 Denver Mint opening medal probably qualifies as rarer, as long as you consider individual compositions separately. It's difficult but obtainable in copper. I also have one or two auction records each for pieces in silver, aluminum, and gold-plated. I'd be shocked if there were as many as 100 struck in silver, more likely 10 or fewer. NGC has slabbed 30 in copper, only 1 in silver.

    Oddly, the OP's box is far rarer than the medal itself. I've seen two examples of the medal sold in the last year. I think that only one of them had a box, and it was damaged.
  • pruebaspruebas Posts: 4,641 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nice! My kind of thing as well.
  • keetskeets Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭
    But I've always wondered if the 1906-1907 Denver "proof" Double Eagles are just the first strikes with new dies, set aside for presentation.

    that may also describe these medals which perhaps were struck prior to their Silver counterpart. still, a nice Gem that would be welcome in most collections and I suspect the survivors are quite few in numbers.
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,401 ✭✭✭✭✭
    After looking at it again, I should say I'm a big fan of the font on the reverse. It's artistic and distinctive. Many fonts used on coins are somewhat generic through time.
  • BryceMBryceM Posts: 11,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The 1964-D Peace dollar comes to mind, but ..... oh, never mind.

    image

    Nice piece!
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,401 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>The 1964-D Peace dollar comes to mind >>



    Well, that had an original mintage of 316,076 ....
  • That's a beauty!
  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,942 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I had the very similar but non-gold 3-piece set when I was a kid. They look perilously close to the real deal. I was only 7 years old at the time, but I LOVED them.

    image
    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • dcarrdcarr Posts: 9,063 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>so can I expect a silver version of that piece on your site? he asked hopefullyimage >>



    The mint already produced bronze, gold-plated bronze, and silver versions.
    So I won't be minting anything like this. But I might over-strike some of the original non-gold medals some time.
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,814 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The thread title asked about "item" rather than specifically about a coin so I'll guess that the rarest Denver Mint item is probably the surplus Denver Mint coining press that Dan is using to strike his medals and coins.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • giorgio11giorgio11 Posts: 3,936 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>As far as surviving rarity is concerned, I think the 1927-D $20 might be the rarest. >>



    I would certainly think they are the rarest surviving regular-issue Denver Mint coin.

    Best Regards,

    George
    VDBCoins.com Our Registry Sets Many successful BSTs; pls ask.
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,571 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wow , I'd just left for basic training in Nov '76. That brings back memories image
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That is a very nice medal.... thanks for sharing the coin and history...Cheers, RickO
  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 32,708 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>The thread title asked about "item" rather than specifically about a coin so I'll guess that the rarest Denver Mint item is probably the surplus Denver Mint coining press that Dan is using to strike his medals and coins. >>



    Didn't the Chinese buy the rest of them to make counterfeit U.S. coins on?
    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • ZoinsZoins Posts: 34,401 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm not sure about Denver, but Philadelphia provided a lot of equipment and know how to the Shanghai Mint around 1923 to make legitimate coins.

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