For collectors of 1896 proof gold ---
RogerB
Posts: 8,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
--- a nice little article will appear in the next issue of Coin World (print and on-line) on page 6. Here's a teaser photo courtesy of HA.com:
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Comments
Will all the denominations be included?
Nope; Just the double eagle.
So that will be the January issue coming out next week or the February issue coming out in January?
Large shiney gold, wow! I like it.
It appears in the December 18 issue, which we closed about two hours ago. The digital edition will go live tomorrow morning for subscribers and the print issue mails on Monday.
William T. Gibbs
Coin World was the weekly hobby publication that broke open coin collector information and news in the early 1960s - just when the popular collector boom began. I remember issues that must have been 200 pages filled with ads, articles and lots of classifieds for almost anything numismatic you can imagine.
Anyone who does not have a subscription might consider spending a few dollars. Frankly, it costs about the same a having a coin authenticated, but it lasts the whole year.
Just a thought.
I look forward to the article, but that teaser piece looks to me like it has fingerprints all over it. So I guess it has been teased.
An observation: some of the posts make this look like a blatant ad for Coin World.
Just a thought.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
My digital cameo album 1950-64 Cameos - take a look!
@Cameonut said: "I look forward to the article, but that teaser piece looks to me like it has fingerprints all over it. So I guess it has been teased. An observation: some of the posts make this look like a blatant ad for Coin World."
Fingerprints are not a characteristic of altered surfaces. It may be lasered but AFAIK, PCGS, ICG and NGC are pretty good at catching these.
Free Plug: if any collector does not subscribe to CW or Numismatic News they are missing out.
Understood. That was not the intention --- just wanted to let members know about an interesting article.
As for fingerprints, etc., I don;t know what was on the slab when Heritage made the photo. Presumably the buyer examined the piece. This coin is from Heritage sale #1166. lot-5073.
One reason for mentioning the article is that it is another example of what can be discovered in previously ignored archives, in this instance RG104 Entry 229 box 057. I'm hoping to spark interest in this kind of research and maybe find volunteers willing to digitize original materials.
So pretty!
I remember those huge CW papers, too. We also used to have a large monthly coin show put on by the Akron, OH coin club. Did a lot of cherrypicking there in the '60s. Club still exists but is only a shadow of what it once was. I really miss the old shows.
Indeed on CW. Glad to see a Dan Carr issue grace the December cover.
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
I like it !!!
OK... probably nothing to do with the article, but why do two of the stars seem to be 'added' or 'tooled' with a depression around them? Very obvious on the picture... Cheers, RickO
1896 proof coins, both gold and silver, have standout cameo contrast (DCAMs abound). They are the realization of your fantasy as to what Liberty proof gold and Barber proof might and/or should be. How did this come about? If I have a dozen ideas, maybe three of them are facts. If I lose three ideas and get one new one, I'm plus four for the read, so I'm looking forward to the article.
The coin was not altered in any way.
Stars were punched into a master die. Displacement of steel created minute raised distortion around the punch location - this is fairly common on coins but especially noticeable on proof dies due to polishing.
The outstanding appearance of mid-1890s proofs comes from careful polishing of planchets and dies with high quality rouge free of contamination. But, this took time and attention to be sure none of the design was polished. This also exaggerated metal around stars and other features which resulted in the field (or 'table') becoming slightly curved near small features. The photo exaggerates the effect.
That was a monumental year and many of the events surrounding 1896 support the value of that rare valuable token from another critical year in US history. With Grover Cleveland at the helm of the government (Adlai Stevenson as vp), the nation was at the apex of the gilded age (the "gay nineties"), with William Jennings Brian delivering his "cross of gold" speech. Later in the year McKinley defeated Brian for Presidency.
All in all looks like a PQ example that few of our ancestors could have afforded.
I worked there from late 1973 to late 1978. As I recall we had to do issues in multiples of 24 pages. The largest one tabloid section could be was 96 pages. A typical "slow week" issue was 96 pages. Quite often we did two sections totalling 144 pages. For the big convention issues, like the ANA, we did two 96-page sections.
The printed papers went through a machine that folded them in half and printed a mailing address on them, though I am not sure in which order. The mailing labels were applied by embossed metal rectangles that changed with each paper. When I started working there I went over to Circulation and cancelled my subscription. A few days later somebody from Circulation came by my desk and dropped off my metal address slug. I still have it somewhere.
And I agree that Coin World is still worth getting, even if it is just the online issue.
TD
Something good was happening at the Mint in the 1890s. If you look at the annual reports in that period you see extra content and other good stuff. The leadership must have had political pull also, because they got the 3rd Mint construction approved in the same time frame.
Both Preston and Roberts were respected by Executive and Legislative leaders. Preston was a career Mint official who returned to those duties when George E Roberts was appointed director. Roberts, in particular, was a favorite of McKinley partly for Roberts' "Coin at School in Finance." He was also exceptionally competent and less politically active than some of the successors or predecessors.
By 1896 the new hydraulic medal press was also fully broken-in and the staff were comfortable operating it.
Just saw the list of purchasers in the Coin World article. Makes me glad I used an assumed name when I used the Wayback Machine to go back then and buy them!
I haven't received the latest weekly yet; looking forward to the article. This subscription is by far the "best" in the hobby- my shameless plug. TY Coin World!
The original document is 13 pages and covers 1892-1896, although 1896 is the only year with nearly complete purchaser details.