1945 2½ cent pattern in gold struck by US Mint
Zoins
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Mike @Byers has this great 2½ Cent pattern struck in gold by the Philadelphia Mint using US Mint made dies. How great is it to see a US Mint made gold pattern, especially for a cent denomination!
- Anyone know the reason for striking a cent denomination in gold?
- It's also interesting that there is a "227" punched into the obverse. Anyone know the reason and meaning of this?
Here's the PCGS cert: 33509917, and another from HA: PCGS 81376333 mentioned below.
1945 Netherlands East Indies 2½ Cent
STRUCK IN GOLD
At the U.S. Philadelphia Mint
Regular Issue is Bronze
PCGS Proof 64
1 of 3 Known in Proof
This is a proof pattern gold striking of KM-316. The regular issued coin was struck in bronze. This proof gold pattern weighs 13.2 grams and is 31 mm wide.
It is unlisted in Krause. There are only 3 known in proof. This specific coin is in gem proof, certified and authenticated by PCGS as Proof 64.
The obverse portrays a crown and shield with a lion and the reverse shows Jawi script that translates to “One fortieth Rupiah.”
The Japanese Empire occupied the Netherlands East Indies during World War II from 1942 through 1945. Subsequently, the Dutch Government had the U.S. strike bronze coins in the 3 U.S. Mints during this time period.
A 1944 decree authorized the striking of the 2½ cent gold patterns. This half-dollar-sized proof gold pattern of an issued bronze coin is a fascinating part of the history of U.S. Mint.
The dies were produced inside the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. This is an extremely rare proof gold pattern, with 3 known surviving examples to date.
Comments
Has the US Mint done this kinda thing for other governments?
Yes, as of 2006, the US Mint has struck coins for 43 countries according to Tim Ziebarth.
Here's a partial list:
Wow, I had no idea. I wonder how much of the coining for these countries was paid for by US taxpayers.
Documents supporting this very unusual piece? "227" means? The central obverse does not look like US Mint work -- more like London, but anything was possible then.
Gold was not struck for all those countries. US Mints produced regular issue coins for them during the war. (See "Foreign Coins Struck at the United States Mint.")
The description and claim are from Mike Byers so he may know more about supporting documentation for this piece.
Great question.
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** I wonder how much of the coining for these countries was paid for by US taxpayers.**
man, this is a pretty pessimistic point of view. the US Mint has historically contracted to strike coinage for other countries.
Coinage made for other countries would have been done under contract and paid for according to such terms. Was the compensation equitable? Well... that could be found by research. Cheers, RickO
Sorry for the 'aggressive' questioning.....The piece is interesting, but I wonder "Why?"
Also, it is not a pattern coin. There was never a proposal for Netherlands to make a gold coin for circulation. It is an off-metal fantasy piece.
RE: ** I wonder how much of the coining for these countries was paid for by US taxpayers.**
None. Other countries paid 100% of the expenses for everything related to their coinage including hubs, dies, boxes, shipping and insurance. I happen to have a complete accounting of the Saudi silver and gold coinage, and the estimates seem to cover everything, with the possible exception of depreciation (which might have been built into the overhead figures). Other coinage files I saw but did not copy are similarly complete. Many of the foreign silver coins were made from Lend-Lease silver that was paid back in the early 1950s. Gold came from melted foreign gold at the New York Assay Office and countries paid $35/oz even if the US only paid $20.6767. The bottom line was that making coins for foreign governments was profitable.
I would assume that the original design was created by the Dutch mint, and that the U.S. Mint simply copied the design.
TD
RE: "I would assume that the original design was created by the Dutch mint, and that the U.S. Mint simply copied the design."
Yep -- yet even the visible coin does not have the "look" of a US-made die by Sinnock or reduction by Harry Blythe who ran the Janvier lathe..... Maybe there's something in the Philadelphia Archive....or College Park?
Yes, I can be a Negative Nelly at times. For all I know the US made money on the deal. More optimistic?
That does not look like a US Mint product to me.
I personally would not accept it as such without some significant evidence.
Off-metal fantasy pieces are recognized and cataloged as patterns by Dr. John Hewitt Judd, Don Taxay, USPatterns.com, and PCGS. Not only are fantasy pieces, aka pieces de caprice, considered patterns, the Harry W. Bass Jr. Foundation indicates that fantasy pieces are the "largest category in the pattern series."
Text from USPatterns.com with a quote from Dr. John Hewitt Judd on fantasy pieces:
Text from the Harry W. Bass Jr. Foundation indicating that fantasy pieces are the "largest category in the pattern series":
Here's Mike's photo showing the PCGS insert which says "Gold Pattern":
It would definitely be exciting to get some documentation on this piece. Of note, the standard metal piece has a "T" and a "P" that are not present on this gold specimen.
The item does not fit either description. I agree with the suspicions of Mr. Carr.
The fantasy piece descriptions specifically mention off-metal fantasy pieces with the addition that they were unauthorized. If not unauthorized, are you suggesting that these could be authorized as suggested by Mike Byers? If not, can you clarify what you mean by not fitting either description?
Regarding what Daniel Carr said about the US Mint striking these pieces, there seems to be widespread information saying KM-316 was struck by the Philadelphia Mint as well as information saying the US Mint struck coins for the Netherlands East Indies by Tim Ziebarth so it appears to be an area where more research would be useful. It may be interesting to see if any of the Netherlands East Indies coins appear to be struck by the US Mint by yourself and Daniel.
Here is a description indicating KM-316 is struck by the US Mint. This is posted on the NGC website as an "owner comment". I'm not sure if this is written by the author or by Krause. I mentioned above that the circulation version of this piece as a "P" that is not on the gold specimen. I've also provided Mike's photos for comparison. Since his photos are instructive here, here's a link to the coin on his site.
I have a spreadsheet showing what the US Mint produced for each country - All 11 Billion pieces (11,223,242,170).
It shows Philadelphia made 117,706,000 2 1/2 Centstukken (95% copper, 5% zinc) in 1945 and 82,294,000 in 1946 for Netherlands East Indies. There is no mention of the gold patterns in the spreadsheet.
Krause shows KM316 with a 1945P 2 1/2 cent in Bronze with a mintage of 200,000.
The only patterns for 2 1/2 cents listed in Krause was in Silver and Gold in 1902 of KM308, as well as 1908. Then a 1945 Trial Strike in Lead of KM316 with a mintage of 1.
Might be in a newer print version or the unusual volume - but don't have those at work with me.
But... a quick Google search found this article which states they are unlisted in Krause with some history:
http://minterrornews.com/features-6-12-16-netherlands-east-indies-cent-struck-in-gold.html
================================
EDIT:
Interestingly, when #250 was sold a few weeks back, it was catalogued as a "Restrike" and says it's speculated the few gold pieces were struck in the Netherlands after 1945. - It sold for $2200
http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=2595501&AucID=2525&Lot=31154&Val=f320ac2dacad21d5d1cdc7a70c45e957
When this one sold just a few weeks ago (Can't tell if it's #227, 250, or the "3rd known") as the close-ups are missing, it was described as:
http://db.stevealbum.com/php/chap_auc.php?sale=1&chapter=12&page=2
Lot 966
NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES: AV 2 1/2 cents PATTERN (13.2g), 1945, KM-316, gold strike of KM#316, Choice Brilliant Proof, RR.
Rare and unlisted for the type. Krause does list other gold strikes of this denomination for 1902 and 1908. Undoubtedly from a tiny, but unknown mintage, 1945 was the last year for the Dutch to issue coinage. In 1949 the Netherlands formally recognised Indonesian sovereignty. The reverse shows Javanese and Malayan text.
Realized $2,100
"You Suck Award" - February, 2015
Discoverer of 1919 Mercury Dime DDO - FS-101
the cert reads "serial number 227"
Good find. I noticed that on the insert when I posted it as well. Mike says only 3 are known in gold, so that adds to my question. Why would a serial number be 227 if only 3 are known? What happened to the rest?
I edited my post a few back, but I found when #250 was sold as well. Some speculation that they are restrikes, struck in the Netherlands sometime after 1945 too according to one of the links.
Actually, I searched Heritage, and there are more than 3 known . Heritage has #'s 250, 5, and 338 in their archives.
Interestingly, the 3 write-ups describe them all differently.
Gold Proof Restrike
Gold Specimen Pattern
Gold Proof Pattern:
"You Suck Award" - February, 2015
Discoverer of 1919 Mercury Dime DDO - FS-101
yes, i wondered that too. it certainly suggests there are more than 3.
I don't believe we ever minted coins for Mexico. We made blanks for them only.
Need to add Surinam, Curacao and Indo-China to this list.
bob
266,791,251 for Mexico between 1906-1970 (Some were just planchets as you said). Plenty of more countries as well. Let's see if this spreadsheet will attach:
"You Suck Award" - February, 2015
Discoverer of 1919 Mercury Dime DDO - FS-101
I'll take a look at NARA in College Park, MD next week. Part of the Netherlands coinage project file should be there.
The NARA Philadelphia Finding Aid shows many boxes of Netherlands documents in Entries 633, 646 and 647, including a complete list of silver sent to replace lend-lease silver. Here's a box label from NARA in College Park - 17 boxes of records.
Legitimate pattern and experimental pieces are only those produced by or with the authorization/concurrence of a legal government authority.
Thanks for the sleuthing @StrikeOutXXX ! I've added the additional TrueView for the coin you found to the OP.
Thanks for checking the Nara records @RogerB . Can't wait to hear what you're able to discover!
I do agree many coins classified as patterns were not created to test designs or compositions. For better or worse, a number of these have been cataloged as patterns and recognized as such.
The boxes in College Park, are probably less than half of the available data. Since most of the real work was done at the Philadelphia Mint (and others), the most detailed data is likely at NARA Philadelphia -- which is now more difficult to get to since they moved out of the city and to a suburban place with no Amtrak access.
Just to pick a nit, the design in gold is a 2-1/2 cent, while the bronze image is of a 1/2 Cent.
TD
I noticed that too. I'm not sure why it was compared to a ½ cent. Here are photos for a 1945 and 1920 specimens. Does the 1945 specimen look like it could have been engraved and struck by the US Mint more than the 1920 specimen.
Anyone know what the other privy marks stand for.
1945 with "P" mintmark (Catawiki):
1920 from foreign mint using privy marks.
To me (and the eyes are tired from looking through musty papers all day)....from the photos the 1945 looks more like typical Wartime coinage -- not quite a good as previously. During the War, the Mints were all stretched to the limit - insufficient and incompletely trained staff; 24/7 operation; old equipment. SF even hired high school boys to work on weekends.
That is an awesome coin! I wish I owned it!
CCAC Representative of the General Public
Columnist for The Numismatist
2021 Young Numismatist of the Year
During this morning I examined RG104 entry 328F box 12 of 17, “Case files on Foreign Coins.” The box contained fourteen (14) thick folders covering Netherlands coinage by U.S. Mints from 1941-1951. These include many carbon copies and possibly duplicate much of the content located in NARA Philadelphia. Outgoing letters from Mint HQ were largely originals, and incoming letters were predominantly carbon copies. Documents included cost estimates, die information, metal accounts (including WPB allocations), mintages and other information.
After more than five (5) hours of reading documents page-by-page the only metal references were to silver, copper and zinc. Further, the change to 1945-dated coins did not occur at the beginning of the year. Instructions from the Director were to use all 1944-date dies before requisitioning new ones. At that time, the 1945 hubs would be put in service. This did not occur until after approval of lead clichés by the Netherlands Ambassador on February 5, 1945. All hubs and dies were prepared at the Philadelphia Mint.
A few sample pages were scanned for record purposes. If anyone wants a free copy of these pages in low-resolution PDF file format, please PM me.
Those interested in the item mentioned in the original post, might wish to consider this information.
One sample letter relating to the coiner’s mark is shown below. A list of all hubs and dies being returned to the Netherlands includes more details.