A new Making the Grade

Justacommeman

find it here



mark

2ltdjorn

nice read. just signed up for this subscription.

Justacommeman

Originally posted by: 2ltdjorn

nice read. just signed up for this subscription.

My only complaint is that he writes them too infrequently



mark

Sonorandesertrat

Originally posted by: Justacommeman

Originally posted by: 2ltdjorn
nice read. just signed up for this subscription.

My only complaint is that he writes them too infrequently

mark

JC: Mind Your .... Business

Boosibri

Good read and I bought something too!

Tibor

Concerning the lost coins, I read somewhere that as the Large Cents

were being pulled from circulation because of the new smaller cent,

barrels of them were sent to refineries to be turned into church and

school bells.

AMRC

Yes, in the example of the large cents, I believe the government would have made an effort to pull them back, but the Shield Nickel example is a head scratcher for sure.

Yorkshireman

Originally posted by: Boosibri
Good read and I bought something too!

You need that awesome 1861-C for your half eagle set.
Was that it?

keyman64

I very much enjoyed reading it when it hit my email earlier today.

TopographicOceans

So where did 97% of the large cents go?

leothelyon

That is 660 tons of lost shield nickels since 1883. And that is just 1 design in 1 denomination made for less than 20 years in the 1800's.

The fact is – those 95% of shield nickels struck really did go somewhere. There is a right answer, or a right series of answers. I just don't know what those answers are. And thinking about it makes my head hurt.
.............Jars? Landfills?


Leo

jhdfla

Originally posted by: TopographicOceans
So where did 97% of the large cents go?

Used as washers on slate roofs?

TwoSides2aCoin

Ooh nice. The writing ? It inspires. I consider myself one of the first 1000 readers.

kaz

I wonder if a lot of the old nickels wound up being processed for the war effort in WWII? People were asked to turn in all sorts of things, old aluminum pans, worn out tires, toothpaste tubes...

EagleEye

Actually the Shield nickel was doomed because its diameter was smaller than the Liberty nickel. It didn't work in 1900's era coin machines. Shield and 3c nickels both saw the same fate. Melted into Liberty nickels.



Large cents were melted from 1857 to 1861 in exchange for small cents (all of the 1861 production was due to the large cent - small cent exchange).



CN cents were melted into Shield and Liberty nickels and 3c nickels.



Pre-1874 cents were melted into post-1874 cents.



Pre-1853 silver was melted into Post-1853 silver.



Pre-1904 Morgan dollars were melted into silver, sold to India and then replaced with more silver dollars in 1921-1925



What will we ever do with the SBA dollars?

291fifth

The velocity of use of coins in the 19th century was much higher than it is today. In the case of Shield Nickels we have a coin that was available for use when many many items were priced at a nickel including drinks at a tavern (think of the recent PBS episode titled "A Nation of Drunkards"). These coins saw heavy, heavy use and wore out. They were then returned to the treasury through the banking system for destruction. In the 1880's, Shield Nickels that had been returned to the treasury were apparently sorted as usable or unusable (the usable ones simply being filthy, apparently a common problem with coins at that time.) The nickels that were deemed usable were subjected to a mild acid bath to remove the dirt and were then returned to circulation. It is my theory that the reason for the low survival rates is due primarily to very high usage rates that caused the coins to become worn out. How many of you remember the old time coin shops that had boxes filled with very low grade and damaged 19th century coins? Eagle Eye's comment on the effect of the vending machine industry is also quite interesting and adds additional explanation for the low survival rate.

TwoSides2aCoin

There is one particular line written on a coin that interests me that I cannot deny , made me laugh out loud.…
To wit : " This fact is so little known that it is almost like I made it up "

lkeigwin

DW is a clever guy, with a talent for writing and a great eye for coins.

Lance.

BryceM

His point about coins that photograph well being more liquid and selling for more is an interesting one. I recently sold a very nice, original Seated Quarter that was a joy to look at, but did not photograph well at all. I felt fortunate to sell it to someone who appreciated how it really looked.

OldeTowneCoinShoppe

About a year ago, I saw a similar counterfeit 1924-S/S quarter being shown around the bourse floor in... Indianapolis (ISNA Show) I think it was? The coin was certified as genuine and, if memory serves, was graded EF-40 by *ahem* a top-two major grading service. The owner knew it was a counterfeit coin, though, and didn't want to sell it, unfortunately.

Walkerfan

Good article.



I am always looking for interesting numismatic literature.



Thanks for posting.

golden

A good read. Dave is one of the good guys.

sparky64

Interesting articles. Fun to read.

The one about photogenic coins is telling.



Diverese selection of coins offered as well.

Bayard1908

I agree about photogenic coins.



As someone who took up metal detecting a few years ago, I can also say that many old coins were lost over the years and are still waiting to be found.