Update--Pattern question--why were the dies for the J29-32 $5 thrown off a bridge crossing the Susqu

Longacre · November 20, 2005 11:13PM

I was reading through the new Judd Pattern book (edited by QDB), which I graciously received from Rick Kay. The book is great, and you get a lot of interesting detail in the footnotes. In particular, I was looking at J29-J32, which is private restrike of an 1804 $5. Being the student of numismatics that I am

, I always read the footnotes. For this item, the book notes, "These dies survived until the late 1950s, when they were acquired by an Eastern rare coin firm as part of a large transaction and were subsequently discarded by throwing them off a bridge crossing the Susquehanna River."

This seems quite bizzare. Does anyone have any more information on this?

lathmach · November 21, 2005 12:00AM

Never heard this story, but if you can find out what bridge it was, I'll dig out my frog feet and snorkel and meet you there.

Ray

RKKay · November 21, 2005 1:03AM

I have no clue. If Andy doesn't know, I'd ask Saul Teichman.

JadeRareCoin · November 21, 2005 2:13AM

Possibly to prevent the dies from being used again and again to strike more coins? Dumping them into a large body of water would probably be sufficient to have them lost for ever. IMO as a coin dealer i would think that cancelling the dies and then restrikeing coins for collectors would have been a more befitting end to the dies then dumping them in a river.

Andrew

Longacre · November 28, 2005 12:10AM

Update: I still don't know the answer, but I will see if I can track down Saul T. as someone suggested. However, I do have a little more information. On my drive down to DC over Thanksgiving, I crossed the Susquehanna River! I didn't even realize it was in Maryland (for some reason I thought it was in Maine). The bridge crossing the river is rather nice and provides a nice view. The nearest town (to my knowledge) is Havre de Grace, which my in-laws stop at frequently and dine by the river. On my next trip to visit the relatives, maybe I will do some fishing

I was going to tell Mrs. Longacre all about the river and the patterns that were thrown off, etc., but I didn't feel like getting the "I can't believe what a nerd you are" look.

sellsatan · November 28, 2005 1:02AM

Good to hear I'm not the only one that gets that look.

MrEureka · December 1, 2005 2:53PM

Anyone care to guess where I went for a swim last week? Here's a clue.

jayboxx · December 1, 2005 3:11PM

You went for a swim in the United States of America?

Update--Pattern question--why were the dies for the J29-32 $5 thrown off a bridge crossing the Susqu

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