Sunday, February 23, 2014

JR Newsletter: 23 February 2014 (180)

In response to Winston Zack, Byron Reed wrote:

Thank you for the picture of the elongate, more because of what it isn't than what it is.  My preconception was that it would be some startling early example of souvenir elongate, rather than just a plain old dime used to test out somebody's set of roller mills.  The humble "squished" dime speaks to me.

I suspect that this happened thousands of times as the local jeweler or watchmaker needed some thin coin-silver stock, or the occasional curiosity. Without much else going for them, most made the melt pot years ago.  I've seen many a "cull" bustie meet the scrap pile.  Yours is a survivor.

As a part of my numismatic adventures I have placed great numbers of silver coin through rolling mills on way to becoming hand-hammered re-enactment coins. I've never had the opportunity or desire to run a dime of this vintage through a mill, but the difference between how this one flattened and retained detail compared to its modern counterparts is substantial.  The modern pieces have no relief; the price of mass production.

Byron L. Reed
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David Lange wrote:

In answer to Louis Scuderi's questions about the deluxe JR book, I have Number 30 that was purchased by me at the time of publication. The number was applied in black ink using very neat calligraphy. The book was signed in black ink by Davis, Logan and Lovejoy, one of whom presumably applied the number. It was then signed in blue ink by McCloskey and Subjack.
When I joined NGC a few years later and began attributing varieties on a frequent basis I did not have a copy of the regular edition and could not easily locate one. Thus, my deluxe edition became my working copy, and it is now filled with my scribbled variety notes and updates. I suppose that will hurt its collector value, but then it will probably not be for sale during my lifetime.

David W. Lange
Research Director
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation
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Finally, as a reminder, a note from the editor:
 
JR Newsletter will take a hiatus in March 2014, most likely after the March 2 newsletter.  My family and I will be moving everything out of our house as we move into a new house.  I don't know exactly how long the hiatus will be.  I encourage readers to continue to send in contributions, but be mindful that contributions may not be published for a few weeks.