I had a brainstorm about an unopened U. S. Mint Coin & Die Set.
MWallace
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In 1998 the U. S. Mint offered Coin & Die Sets for sale. The sets included a defaced die and a coin struck by that die. A COA that included that had information such as the number of coins struck by that die, the date the die was put in service and the date it was removed as well as and the reason it was removed from service.
Even though I already had several coin dies in my collection, I remember being excited about acquiring this particular item because it was the first time a coin struck from that die was included in the set. The Mint had a limit of one per household so I recruited my brother-in-law to order another set for me.
In time, my set came in. I opened it, looked it, and put it in its place in my collection. When I got the one from my brother-in-law, I never opened it and just put it away.
Earlier this year I had a brainstorm. I knew that NGC would authenticate and holder coin dies. I contacted them to see that if I sent the UNOPENED box from the Mint, would they holder the included coin as having been struck by that die. Their response was non-committal as I expected, but it wasn’t negative.
I sent the unopened box to them with a letter stating what I wanted and if they were not willing to do it to please return the box unopened. A week or so later they notified me that they would do as I requested. I am more than thrilled with the results. As a note, I was told to submit the die and coin on separate submission forms. I would have preferred they had the same submission number, but since that was not possible, I used two consecutively numbered forms.
Comments
That's amazing! A whole new area of collecting was created because you bothered to ask them.
I recall the state quarter die/coin sets but I don't remember these. I'd assume that 99%+ were opened so the chance to have a set like this is very rare.
I wonder at what point in the life of the die they set aside the sample. It might have been even more interesting if they saved one of the last coins struck.
Mike - that’s SPECIAL! Thanks for sending that out!
Ken
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
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NGC should have done it for free considering that you just opened up a new opportunity for collectors and for them.
Same for ANACS and your slabbed DCarr edge-lettered dollar. That initial venture quicky led to 20 more submissions (will post a thread on that soon).
And I think you also had a unique paper money encapsulation from those guys.
@MWallace is a trailblazer in the fields of slabbing and encapsulation.
Very cool!
That is very cool... a whole new avenue opened!
Wow! Nice piece of artifact.
Can we still see the bottom of the die where the coin get pressed? If not, maybe NGC could improve on its "slab" design?
The part that struck the coin has been defaced. You can see it in the 2nd and 3rd photos. I can take a photo straight on if you'd like.
That's a way cool set, I like 👍
The smaller diameter end (visible in the photos) is the striking end.
How KEWL is that!!
WTG Mike!!!
“We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”
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nice set
That is awesome! Glad to hear that they can still be accommodating to requests from collectors.
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I always felt the US Mint just threw in a coin of same denomination but not from that specific die. Can you see any evidence on the cent of the reason they cancelled/retired the die? the Piece Out Border ?
No evidence on the coin that it actually came from that die. The only evidence is the COA that states it's basically from early in the run.
BTW, i confirmed my suspicions that prior to @MWallace 's brainstorm that made this dual slabbed item a reality, there was no reason to keep these boxes sealed. I searched ebay and found no sealed coin & die sets offered.
I think that unless the mint offers similar die sets again in the future, this will be a very rare example.
When NGC said they'd holder them as a set, I did the same. I too looked for some unopened boxes. Found none of course.
If my research is correct, NGC didn't start authenticating coin dies until 2018. And if my memory is correct, they did so via a suggestion from @FredWeinberg .
So, then, the only potential opportunities for adding to the population of this item are cases where people are bad about opening their mail.
Correct, and who would think of that. In fact, my flawed memory was that a State Quarter was in the unopened box. When NGC agreed to holder them as a set, they contacted me to let me know it was a 1998 Cent and to get my permission to still holder it. My assumption was that in case I had recently bought it from someone as a Quarter, that I still wanted it.
Miles Standish came up with the idea of using the silver eagle tubes to hold and certify my defaced coin dies that I bought directly from the Denver Mint 30 years ago.
Dave Camire, about the same time, also at NGC – started certifying the rare US coin dies that showed some detail, and uncancelled and canceled US and foreign coin dies also.
Mike, that was a great idea to see if NGC would certify the coins that came with those defaced dies the US mint sold starting around 1998. 20–25 years ago – I would buy unopened boxes of cent and quarter Dies from dealers around the country that bought them back from their customers, and I never had that thought – congrats to you for the forward thinking.
Thank you @FredWeinberg .
I like to think outside the box and come up with unusual ideas related to my collection. That's why I got started collecting error coins in the first place back in the day before they became mainstream. Thanks again for the history and kind comments.