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2016 1 oz. Gold Eagle Bullion High Relief Obverse variant
CollectorMan
Posts: 241 ✭✭
The below was taken from the Coin World email I received today. I was not sure if the link below would direct you to it, so I copied the text.
Question. Do you think this could be a key date with the bullion gold eagle being high relief on the obverse? Your thoughts.
CollectorMan
http://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/2016/03/thousands-of-2016-gold-eagles-struck-with-higher-relief.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=cw_editorial_digital-edition&utm_content=#
The U.S. Mint is probing what caused the obverse relief of thousands of 1-ounce gold 2016 American Eagle bullion coins to be above instead of below the rim.
Coin for original images for Coin World photography courtesy of SilverTowne
Manufacturing officials at the U.S. Mint are investigating what caused thousands of 2016 American Eagle 1-ounce gold bullion coins to be struck at the West Point Mint with the obverse relief higher than the rim.
The problem apparently prevents the coins from properly stacking on top of one another, and the coins damage each other when stacked. Mint officials were notified of the relief problem by a Mint customer.
Mint officials consider the anomaly to be a variant and not an error, according to Tom Jurkowsky, director of the Office of Corporate Communications. Jurkowsky said as many as 63,000 coins could have been struck with the higher-than-intended obverse relief.
The variant was first called to Coin World’s attention via email Feb. 24 from an anonymous sender. Coin World asked U.S. Mint officials for confirmation and an explanation detailing the cause of the anomaly and for images illustrating its appearance. The U.S. Mint has not provided images, and Coin World has not yet obtained images of the variants from private sources.
Get our free report: What to Know Before Investing in Bullion
Images accompanying this story were taken in-house at Coin World of a 2016 American Eagle 1-ounce gold bullion coin obtained Jan. 16 on loan from SilverTowne in Winchester, Ind., an hour’s drive from Coin World’s Sidney, Ohio, offices. The gold American Eagles went on sale to authorized purchasers on Jan. 11. SilverTowne is a secondary market distributor.
Coin World’s photography did not include images of the coin from all angles. The existence of the relief-above-rim variant was not yet disclosed.
(Individuals with images illustrating the variations in relief are invited to email them to cweditor@coinworld.com.)
Mint officials alerted
Seeking images to illustrate the normal obverse relief and the variant with relief above the rim, Coin World contacted several authorized purchasers.
Andrew Martineau, vice president of merchandising at APMEX in Oklahoma City, said the firm was unaware of the two variants.
Mark L. Oliari, chief executive officer of authorized purchaser Coins ‘N Things in Bridgewater, Mass., and president of Bay Precious Metals, told Coin World March 4 that he learned of the two variants not long after picking up his first shipment of American Eagle gold bullion coins the week of Jan. 11 from the West Point Mint.
Oliari said his first shipment included more than 10,000 of the 1-ounce coins. One of the sealed 500-coin monster boxes containing coins from the earliest production was sent to Professional Coin Grading Service for grading and encapsulation. Oliari said PCGS rejected all of the coins in the box because of scrapes on them caused by the higher relief, which prevented the coins from stacking safely. Oliari said he then notified U.S. Mint officials. He said his firm still has most of the gold American Eagles from that first order.
The Mint’s investigation into the cause of the obverse relief above rim variant is ongoing.
The bullion coins are picked up at the West Point Mint — by the U.S. Mint’s authorized purchasers who ordered them — in 500-coin plastic “monster boxes” containing 25 tubes of 20 coins each. Each box is strapped crisscross, with the strap imprinted with the name of the West Point Mint
Question. Do you think this could be a key date with the bullion gold eagle being high relief on the obverse? Your thoughts.
CollectorMan
http://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/2016/03/thousands-of-2016-gold-eagles-struck-with-higher-relief.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=cw_editorial_digital-edition&utm_content=#
The U.S. Mint is probing what caused the obverse relief of thousands of 1-ounce gold 2016 American Eagle bullion coins to be above instead of below the rim.
Coin for original images for Coin World photography courtesy of SilverTowne
Manufacturing officials at the U.S. Mint are investigating what caused thousands of 2016 American Eagle 1-ounce gold bullion coins to be struck at the West Point Mint with the obverse relief higher than the rim.
The problem apparently prevents the coins from properly stacking on top of one another, and the coins damage each other when stacked. Mint officials were notified of the relief problem by a Mint customer.
Mint officials consider the anomaly to be a variant and not an error, according to Tom Jurkowsky, director of the Office of Corporate Communications. Jurkowsky said as many as 63,000 coins could have been struck with the higher-than-intended obverse relief.
The variant was first called to Coin World’s attention via email Feb. 24 from an anonymous sender. Coin World asked U.S. Mint officials for confirmation and an explanation detailing the cause of the anomaly and for images illustrating its appearance. The U.S. Mint has not provided images, and Coin World has not yet obtained images of the variants from private sources.
Get our free report: What to Know Before Investing in Bullion
Images accompanying this story were taken in-house at Coin World of a 2016 American Eagle 1-ounce gold bullion coin obtained Jan. 16 on loan from SilverTowne in Winchester, Ind., an hour’s drive from Coin World’s Sidney, Ohio, offices. The gold American Eagles went on sale to authorized purchasers on Jan. 11. SilverTowne is a secondary market distributor.
Coin World’s photography did not include images of the coin from all angles. The existence of the relief-above-rim variant was not yet disclosed.
(Individuals with images illustrating the variations in relief are invited to email them to cweditor@coinworld.com.)
Mint officials alerted
Seeking images to illustrate the normal obverse relief and the variant with relief above the rim, Coin World contacted several authorized purchasers.
Andrew Martineau, vice president of merchandising at APMEX in Oklahoma City, said the firm was unaware of the two variants.
Mark L. Oliari, chief executive officer of authorized purchaser Coins ‘N Things in Bridgewater, Mass., and president of Bay Precious Metals, told Coin World March 4 that he learned of the two variants not long after picking up his first shipment of American Eagle gold bullion coins the week of Jan. 11 from the West Point Mint.
Oliari said his first shipment included more than 10,000 of the 1-ounce coins. One of the sealed 500-coin monster boxes containing coins from the earliest production was sent to Professional Coin Grading Service for grading and encapsulation. Oliari said PCGS rejected all of the coins in the box because of scrapes on them caused by the higher relief, which prevented the coins from stacking safely. Oliari said he then notified U.S. Mint officials. He said his firm still has most of the gold American Eagles from that first order.
The Mint’s investigation into the cause of the obverse relief above rim variant is ongoing.
The bullion coins are picked up at the West Point Mint — by the U.S. Mint’s authorized purchasers who ordered them — in 500-coin plastic “monster boxes” containing 25 tubes of 20 coins each. Each box is strapped crisscross, with the strap imprinted with the name of the West Point Mint
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Comments
TD
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
Do you think PCGS would grade one as such, if it were somehow free of damage and attribute it as a legitimate mint variety?
CollectotMan
be noted as a variety on the label. Cheers, RickO
If the rim is indeed lower (as opposed to the unlikely high relief obverse), I am sure it would
be noted as a variety on the label. Cheers, RickO
Thin rim.
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If the rim is indeed lower (as opposed to the unlikely high relief obverse), I am sure it would
be noted as a variety on the label. Cheers, RickO
If it is just the result of a poorly struck rim, which remains to be seen, I don't think it qualifies as a variety.
Do you think PCGS would grade one as such, if it were somehow free of damage and attribute it as a legitimate mint variety?
CollectotMan
Not unless it can be confirmed the rims are thinner than normal and the coin was not damaged during it's ride in the tube.
IMO the "scrapes" from stacking the coins are post mint damage and rightfully prevent them from being graded.
From your link:
"One of the sealed 500-coin monster boxes containing coins from the earliest production was sent to Professional Coin Grading Service for grading and encapsulation. Oliari (CEO Coins ‘N Things) said PCGS rejected all of the coins in the box because of scrapes on them caused by the higher relief, which prevented the coins from stacking safely. Oliari said he then notified U.S. Mint officials. He said his firm still has most of the gold American Eagles from that first order."
However, if the coin is the result of thinner rims due to a die issue, then they could become designated as a variety, even if they required a "PMD" label. Note that just because the relief is higher than the rim, the coin is not necessarily a "high relief" coin. In this case it would simply be a thinner rim coin. The fields, and not the rims, are used to determine degree of relief.
It would have been a more notable anomaly if it had occurred with the proof or collector versions that get immediately placed in capsules and not stacked in tubes.
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Debt
On the one I have examined, the obverse relief exceeds the height of the rim. For what it's worth.
Was the reeding long or short compared to an earlier year? If the reeding is shorter than normal, than you just have a coin with poorly struck rims on both sides.
On the one I have examined, the obverse relief exceeds the height of the rim. For what it's worth.
any surface damage to the higher details from stacking the coins in the tubes? I would imagine the reverse would show the same type damage (from the "high" obverse) even though the reverse relief is not above the rim.
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Debt
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.