1974-p Aluminum Cents: Who got them and didn't return them?
DMWJR
Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭✭✭
I was reading about 1974-p and 1974-d aluminum cents, and ran across an article on this site describing the requested return of the cents distributed to congress and officials. Surely there was a list of those who received them.
Does anyone have that list?
From the article:
The missing aluminum cents gained national attention on April 21, 1975 when syndicated "Washington Merry-Go-Round" newspaper columnist Jack Anderson reported that "some distinguished members of Congress may have sticky fingers." He wrote that 14 of the 1974-P aluminum cents were missing from Congressional committee members who received them in March 1974 but did not return them to the Treasury Department.
The Los Angeles Times and other newspapers later reported that 13 coins were missing and that only four of the coins had been returned by Congressmen and other government officials who had received them. Weinberg says the estimate today on the number of missing coins ranges from five to 13.
The United States government closed its investigation of any missing 1974 aluminum cents by February 1976 having found, in the government's own words "no evidence of criminal intent" by anyone possessing any of the coins, according to a February 21, 1976 story in Numismatic News.
Comments
Justice is for "just us." Silly voters........
Can you believe it
If you were a Congressman in that room where the coins were distributed, what would you have done? Would you have grabbed off a little souvenir? Since they are made of aluminum, they felt cheap and probably looked cheap. The cost of production wasn’t much since they were struck with standard dies and on aluminum planchets.
When the fuss started returning them would be the ethical thing to do. If you just threw the thing in a drawer and never tried to sell it, I don’t see much harm.
At any rate compared to the other questionable things that members of government have be caught doing, this is small stuff. Here Florida local politicians exchange favors with developers all the time for campaign money and support. It’s the nature of politics unfortunately.
I have no doubt the coins are out there... some, I am sure, closely held, a few may be in unknowing hands... Cheers, RickO
Surely there was a list of those who received them.
I doubt it. What we as coin collectors consider important can be completely different than what some random bureaucrat is thinking about.
The one's that did not come back, were likely held by the few that realized their potential future value.
Cheers, RickO
Or it goes down like this......
Thought I had the BIG TICKET. I got the coin hundreds of miles away after sending pics to a Heritage Auction "Numismatic Specialist". I was told that I was looking in upwards of $350,000.00!!
Heritage sent it to PCGS. (Yeah..look into how much it cost to insure a 350 thousand dollar coin) I INALLY hit the big find...
WRONG
WRONG
WRONG
PCGS corresponds with this. "Cannot grade - Counterfeit Coin". Talk about raining on a parade. SMH,,,
.89 grams
Getting colder...9 year old thread.
Dateline 2014:
On Jan. 28, 2014, it was announced that the Professional Coin Grading Service had authenticated the piece and graded it MS-63.
It was slated to be sold at a Heritage auction at the Central States Numismatic Society convention in April.
The 1974-D never went to auction.
Two years later the legal dust has settled and the Mint has claimed victory.
“The Mint’s recovery follows an agreement to resolve a lawsuit over the ownership of the piece,” said a Mint statement.
Wall of HONOR transaction list:WonderCoin, CoinFlip, Masscrew, Travintiques, lordmarcovan, Jinx86, Gerard, ElKevvo, PROMETHIUSS88.
"Cleaning is just in the nature of coins"
Shouldn't tolerate in either case
I wonder what goofball added the 74-D coin to his set inventory 🤪
@MarkFeld did you get wind of the coin from “CoolCoins” above being sent to PCGS by Heritage?
The ones certified by PCGS are .93 grams, but if yours looks worn down a bit so if it was genuine I could see it being .89 grams.
I had heard that an example was submitted to PCGS several weeks ago and that it was returned as not genuine. I don’t know who owned it and if I did, I wouldn’t be at liberty to disclose that information.
Editing to @MFeld for those who want to ping me.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
Thanks Mark.
I'd make a terrible Congressman. If the mint was having a free samples day, I would wear my suit coat with the extra large pockets to fill up. First stop PCGS.
Did anyone see the Strange Inheritance tv show a few years back about an aluminum penny someone got from his dad? I think you can still watch it on YouTube..they made it sound like they recovered the very last one
I miss @ricko
Proud follower of Christ! I love the USA! Land of the Bright and Beautiful! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Don't forget, the entire point of the distribution of these "free samples" was to try to persuade congressmen to vote for legalizing the change in composition. The mints had already produced a few million coins, in anticipation of Congress saying "yes". If, hypothetically, the congressmen had actually said "yes", then production of aluminium cents would have likely proceeded right then in abundance in 1974, and the "free samples" would have become commonplace coins worth one cent, indistinguishable from all the other 1974 aluminium cents out there. The Mint didn't think it would need to track those coins when it gave them out, because the Mint clearly anticipated a "yes" vote.
Look also at the story of the Toven coin, the "only officially issued aluminium cent", deemed "official" (or at least not worth the hassle of pursuing through the courts) because the congressman gave it to the police officer who picked it up when the congressman dropped it. But that congressman was presumably happy to give it away either because they (a) genuinely forgot it was the special sample and thought it a regular dime they'd dropped, or (b) knew it was the special sample but assumed that a "yes" vote would soon win and the coin would soon become a cheap and commonplace 1 cent piece, not worth recovering.
They only became rare items and "stolen US Mint property" after Congress decided to not support the composition change, forcing the Mint to melt down its already-produced stockpile and recall all the free samples.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
Same here, he was great to work with to
RickO was a real gem. I don't think they'll ever be another with his personality and genuineness.
Pete