Three Cent Feuchtwanger Arrived, take a Macro Tour!
ambro51
Posts: 13,952 ✭✭✭✭✭
The TripleWanger has arrived! First impressions....a strongly struck coin with a medium grey appearance with the portraits outlined in darker patina. The high points have a brightness, probably due to its being in a flip at present...and the old patina taking a dusting. Also, it is a very thin coin. The reeding is precise and very small in size. It is maybe a half mm larger than a quarter in diameter, but lighter in heft.
As I learn more about these coins, a period publication refers to the Three Cents coming first, then the One Cent coins. Perhaps this is true since obviously Dr. Feuchtwanger had difficulty making and striking this large thin planchet, and went on to the smaller cent coins and had more luck. A good portion of the existing three cent coins have planchet cracks, a few extending half way into the coin! Laminations are common, and now that I see this coin in hand, its pretty obvious that the issue on this piece is Mint Made, and not an attempt at a hole. That is good GOOD news since now I can forsee this in a PCGS slab! That will make a total of 31 in the population.
Some Macros, note the detail in the scales
The Lovely Bird
Well Detailed, but some wear on the high points
Nice engraving down here
Thin Coin, delicate reeding
And the Planchet has some problems, some are minor laminations
...and then there is that planchet problem on the obverse top, after really looking at this its pretty obvious this is a complex planchet issue, maybe a inclusion of foreign matter or alloy impurity, that worked into a lamination too, and a crack, all in that area. There is no actual hole in the coin.
S0.....Next Step here after I admire this rarity a bit is to pack it off to PCGS and have it graded and encapsulated.
oh, and I bought....are you ready?
www.feuchtwangers.com
As I learn more about these coins, a period publication refers to the Three Cents coming first, then the One Cent coins. Perhaps this is true since obviously Dr. Feuchtwanger had difficulty making and striking this large thin planchet, and went on to the smaller cent coins and had more luck. A good portion of the existing three cent coins have planchet cracks, a few extending half way into the coin! Laminations are common, and now that I see this coin in hand, its pretty obvious that the issue on this piece is Mint Made, and not an attempt at a hole. That is good GOOD news since now I can forsee this in a PCGS slab! That will make a total of 31 in the population.
Some Macros, note the detail in the scales
The Lovely Bird
Well Detailed, but some wear on the high points
Nice engraving down here
Thin Coin, delicate reeding
And the Planchet has some problems, some are minor laminations
...and then there is that planchet problem on the obverse top, after really looking at this its pretty obvious this is a complex planchet issue, maybe a inclusion of foreign matter or alloy impurity, that worked into a lamination too, and a crack, all in that area. There is no actual hole in the coin.
S0.....Next Step here after I admire this rarity a bit is to pack it off to PCGS and have it graded and encapsulated.
oh, and I bought....are you ready?
www.feuchtwangers.com
0
Comments
--Severian the Lame
<< <i>Quite Feuchting! >>
President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay
Lane
See http://www.doubledimes.com for a free online reference for US twenty-cent pieces
I dont really know. What I did find out was that the three cent coins were struck FIRST, before the cent coins. The New York style, with the coat of arms HT-262, was the first issue. All were struck at 2 Cortlandt Street in New York City. The Metal was the big thing....the coins were a test of it, and a pattern which did circulate with the blessings of teh US Government. Everything was upside down in 1837 (sort of reminds you of this year) and anything that worked as a coin was eagerly used in commerce. Being a coin stuck in New York by a prominant businessman with name recognition.....assured the coins acceptance in New York.
A good portion of these coins have really bad planchet cracks, some well into the middle of the coin....and this is looking at the small number of remnant survivors. So, Dr. Lew must have had a difficult time with the thin planchet, and the pressures required to strike it up....not a good thing when your whole purpose is to sell your alloy to the US Govt for coins when you YOURSELF cant even make it work. I just reading into the one cent coins but it looks like the planchet cracks are in those too...but not the the same degree.
The Alloy, German Silver...has a nice bright silvery/pewterey look to it when its new and fresh, these coins must have looked a lot like quarters, very possibly causing a LOT of ill will when some merchant discovered hed taken one and given change back based on a .25 cent piece offered. But over time they tone, some of the MS cents look amazing....but only few of the 3C survive in high MS. In time, this metal tones down to a grey/walnut/ dark greenishbrown hue that is really unlike any American coin. I suppose this color change made it unattractive for drilling a hole in and wearing around your neck. Which is a good thing (for us collectors). The Heritage group only turned up one holed coin, and that was in an odd place. Its melt value....well, there was none. Since its never been a "rock star" of the numismatic world, despite having a low mintage, famous family name and well known brother....a distinctive look..being in the REDBOOK.....it never has caught on probably DUE to the small mintages and lack of collector awareness.
Fun to a Specialist who likes to delve into these little niches, Im glad I found them and glad I can share this with the rest of the coin club here.
Great coin, but dude, go wash your hands!!
~
"America suffers today from too much pluribus and not enough unum.".....Arthur Schlesinger Jr.