1891 New Orleans dimes - Mint Director's comments about first issue. 2 more pages added.
RogerB
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Mint Director Leech had these remarks about the first production of seated Liberty dimes at the New Orleans Mint since the Civil War.
2
Comments
Was the writer unaware of the 1860-O dime??
Gerry Fortin's comments on the 1891-O dime are appropos here:
1891 New Orleans dimes have an uncommon occurrence of die cracks and severe die breakage while strike
quality is consistently strong. No other date in the Seated Dime series shows a similar level of repeated die
degradation and breakage.
The Director was likely referring to the time since 1879, when the N.O. Mint was reopened. There are several other letters to N.O. addressing the problem of dime quality although they focus on the rim and edge, not face designs.
Fun letter. Thanks.
Once again, an interesting bit of history...and I really enjoy the classic penmanship...Cheers, RickO
Here is one with a scarce retained cud
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
These are from the same volume and add to the 1891-O dime information posted earlier. The reason for producing dimes at New Orleans was a nationwide shortage of the denomination.
When the next volume (Vol 062) is digitized, additional material about New Orleans Mint dime questions might become available.