Sunday, March 15, 2015

JR Newsletter: 15 March 2015 (232)



The JR Newsletter has an excellent variety of interesting contributions this week!

First, H Craig Hamling wrote with an opportunity for those planning to attend EAC:

Greetings Silver collectors!
I will be coordinating the silver happening on Thursday evening at the EAC convention in Dallas this year.

If you have any particular item you would like to be included please let me know. My email is hcraig@hcraig.com

I don't know of any specific varieties that have been shown in the past so I am starting from scratch.  Bust quarters with E and L counterstamps intrigue me so lets put them out there for starters.

Maybe someone has (another) new theory about why they exist.

I hope to hear from you.

H Craig Hamling
------

For collectors of early dollars, here is your chance to contribute to the census:

Input for 2015 Early Silver Dollar Census
I am working on the 2015 JRCS Early Dollar Census which will be published in the next issue of the John Reich Journal.  If you have not sent in your information please do as soon as possible to me at wdperki(at)attglobal.net

In particular, members # 893 and # 716 had early dollar collections included in the last Census but have not yet sent in their current collection information to me.  I would like to get this information if you are still collecting the early silver dollars. 

Thanks.
W. David Perkins
Centennial, CO
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New (to us) contributor Lance Boiselle wrote with some thoughts about collecting and a picture of a cast counterfeit bust dime that he recently acquired (an image of the dime is below):

There has to be more collectors that have an interest in the area. I started a few years ago with bust coin die marriages, now hooked on them. The hunt is what its all about. In my mind's eye I can almost imagine the die sinkers at work. The tedium of art and conditions they were under while accomplishing such is fascinating. A wonderful book on this that I highly recommend is "From Mine to Mint" by Robert W. Burdette. 

Lance

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John Okerson wrote with an inquiry:

I am hoping that someone may have started down a path towards gathering early and bust dime rarity for those issues with cuds like Richard Meaney’s work on half dimes in 2011, Volume 21, Issue 1 pp 12-14.  Hopefully, as David Quint or other authors prepare the next Draped Bust and Bust Dime census, there will be a provision to include the cud coins as separate entries.  Since it appears that such a listing has not been done for dimes yet, it might take several iterations of the census before an accurate estimate of rarity can be made.

John Okerson
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David Kahn wrote about the upcoming Baltimore Coin Expo:

I will be offering the next portion of “selections from an Eastern Collection” of Capped Bust half dollars on my website and at the upcoming Whitman Baltimore Coin Expo, March 26th through 29th.  The Eastern Collection has been formed over a long period by a serious collector who started buying Bust halves in the 1980’s.  Recently, he has asked me to help thin the herd, something that is not unusual…generally.  In this case however, the process has real meaning, since this collector has never, until now, sold a coin!  There are duplicates, triplicates and more!  His focus has always been on early dates.  And, virtually every coin is or has been slabbed. The quality of this first group (yes, it is likely there will be more in the future) is mixed, with wonderfully choice, high end coins sharing company with those resting in Genuine holders.  But all are priced to sell!  Please visit my website when you can, at www.DavidKahnRareCoins.com.   You will find the Eastern Collection coins, noted as such, listed among the Bust Half dollars.  There are many other new items listed for sale as well, including great coins and a small but high quality group of Library of Coins albums.  Plus, please check my Numismatic Literature section for new as well as used books and catalogs.

 
A couple of other items to note as well - the first being a major change in the Baltimore show mentioned above. This show is normally held in Halls A, B and C, but this time around, it will be in Halls F and G.  Thus, the floor plan will be different and dealer’s table locations will be changing.  My table number will be 1030.  At the table, Richard W. Irons will be signing copies of his two recently published books, one on Contemporary Counterfeit Bust half dollars (the 2nd edition of “Davignon”) and - though it doesn’t fit in with the subject matter of JRCS - a completely revised and expanded 2nd edition of David Schenkman’s Civil War Sutler Token book. Please stop by on Friday March 27, when Rick will be at my table.  You can buy a copy of either book there or bring your own…either way Rick will be pleased to sign.
 
I look forward to seeing or hearing from you!
 
David Kahn David(at)DavidKahnRareCoins.com
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JR Newsletter readers are getting spoiled by now, I'm sure of it, because David Finkelstein wrote another article for us!  He wrote, "Coin Deliveries vs. Red Book Mintages." 



Coin Deliveries vs. Red Book Mintages
By David Finkelstein

By reviewing the delivery warrant entries in the Bullion Journals, and entering the number of coins, by denomination, delivered from the Chief Coiner to the Treasurer of the Mint into a spreadsheet, yearly delivery warrant totals, by denomination, can be calculated.  Yearly delivery warrant totals (see the Delivery rows in Table 1) would be irrespective of the date on the coins.  Consider the following:

·       If the Mint struck coins in December, but the delivery of the coins from the Chief Coiner to the Treasurer of the Mint occurred in January, the delivery warrant totals for the year would include coins dated with an earlier year.

·       If the Mint struck coins with a head (or obverse) die dated with an earlier year, the delivery warrant totals for the year would also include coins dated with an earlier year.

Mintages for United States coins first appeared in “A Guide Book Of United States Coins” or The Red Book in the 16th edition dated 1963.  The Red Book’s mintages are an attempt to quantify the number of coins dated with a specific year, regardless as to when they were delivered from the Chief Coiner to the Treasurer of the Mint.  See the Mintage rows in Table 1.  If a specific quantity of coins delivered in one year were believed to have been dated with an earlier year, those coins were subtracted from the delivery totals for the current year and added to the delivery totals for the earlier year.  Consider the following:

·       The Half Dollar delivery warrant total for calendar year 1794 was 5,300 coins.  The Red Book’s 1794 Half Dollar mintage is 23,464 coins.  The contributors to the Red Book assumed that the 18,164 Half Dollars delivered from the Chief Coiner to the Treasurer of the Mint per Delivery Warrant #3 on February 2, 1795 were all dated 1794.  Were they?  We will never know.

·       The $10 Gold Eagle delivery warrant total for calendar year 1795 was 2,795 coins.  The Red Book’s 1795 $10 Gold Eagle mintage is 5,583 coins.  The contributors to the Red Book assumed that 2,788 $10 Gold Eagles delivered from the Chief Coiner to the Treasurer of the Mint in calendar year 1796 were dated 1795.  Were they?  We will never know.

·       There were no deliveries of Half Dimes in 1794.  1794 dated Half Dimes exist, so they were most likely delivered from the Chief Coiner to the Treasurer of the Mint during calendar year 1795.  The Red Book does not specify a 1794 Half Dime mintage.  Instead, it specifies a combined 1794/1795 Half Dime mintage of 86,416 coins.  Were the 7,756 Half Dimes delivered on March 30, 1795 per Delivery Warrant #5 all dated 1794?  We will never know.

All delivery warrants in the Bullion Journals are dated, therefore delivery warrant totals, by denomination, by year can be calculated.  Mintages were subjective because best guesses were made to subtract coins from one year’s deliveries and add them into the prior year’s deliveries.  Since we were not at the Mint to eyeball the dates on every coin delivered from the Chief Coiner to the Treasurer of the Mint, we will never know if the Mintage numbers are correct.  These are some of the issues that the contributors to the Red Book dealt with in the early 1960s, and what I am dealing with 50+ years later.

To be continued…




Table 1 – 1794/1795 Silver & Gold Coin Delivery Warrants / Totals

Year
Warrant Date
DW #
½ D
10C
25C
50C
$1
$2 ½
$5
$10
Value












1794
10/15/94
1




1,758



1,758.000
1794
12/01/94
2



5,300




2,650.000












1794
Delivery

0
0
0
5,300
1,758
0
0
0

1794
Mintage

*
0
0
23,464
1,758
0
0
0





































1795
02/04/95
3



18,164




9,082.000
1795
03/03/95
4



60,660




30,330.000
1795
03/30/95
5
7,756


46,808




23,791.800
1795
04/11/95
6



58,193




29,096.500
1795
04/30/95
7



35,640




17,820.000
1795
05/06/95
8



56,000
3,810



31,810.000
1795
05/16/95
9



39,312
15,268



34,924.000
1795
06/05/95
10




10,917



10,917.000
1795
06/05/95
11



3,067
10,430



11,963.500
1795
06/12/95
12
13,100







655.000
1795
06/17/95
13




10,000



10,000.000
1795
06/20/95
14




5,986



5,986.000
1795
06/26/95
15




6,000



6,000.000
1795
06/29/95
16




4,000



4,000.000
1795
07/02/95
17




5,243



5,243.000
1795
07/09/95
18




5,000



5,000.000
1795
07/13/95
19




7,000



7,000.000
1795
07/17/95
20




4,500



4,500.000
1795
07/21/95
21




6,000



6,000.000
1795
07/21/95
22




4,876



4,876.000
1795
07/30/95
23




1,184



1,184.000
1795
07/30/95
24
5,000







250.000
1795
07/31/95
1






744

3,720.000
1795
08/10/95
25




3,500



3,500.000
1795
08/11/95
26






520

2,600.000
1795
08/14/95
27






1,000

5,000.000
1795
08/18/95
28






105

525.000
1795
08/22/95
29






380

1,900.000
1795
08/22/95
30




4,385



4,385.000
1795
08/29/95
31




6,500



6,500.000
1795
08/31/95
32




1,106



1,106.000
1795
09/01/95
33




830



830.000
1795
09/01/95
34






1,634

8,170.000
1795
09/03/95
35






1,054

5,270.000
1795
09/12/95
36






2,400

12,000.000
1795
09/12/95
37




4,260



4,260.000
1795
09/16/95
38






870

4,350.000
1795
09/22/95
39







1,097
10,970.000
1795
09/24/95
40







200
2,000.000
1795
09/24/95
41




4,000



4,000.000
1795
10/03/95
42




15,000



15,000.000
1795
10/07/95
43




6,000



6,000.000
1795
10/10/95
44
10,000



14,500



15,000.000
1795
10/10/95
45







387
3,870.000
1795
10/17/95
46




23,368



23,368.000
1795
10/22/95
47
16,660







833.000
1795
10/24/95
48







200
2,000.000
1795
10/24/95
49




19,370



19,370.000
1795
11/26/95
50
33,900







1,695.000
1795
11/27/95
51







911
9,110.000















½ D
10C
25C
50C
$1
$2 ½
$5
$10

1795
Delivery

86,416
0
0
317,844
203,033
0
8,707
2,795

1795
Mintage

86,416
0
0
299,680
203,033
0
8,707
5,583





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Finally, from Richard Meaney:

I promised a report from the ANA Show in Portland, OR and almost was unable to deliver…some sort of nasty cold virus had a hold of me until Saturday morning.  Fortunately, I have recovered enough to piece together my thoughts and recollections of the show.

As many of you know, I live in a near-wasteland for numismatics:  Alaska.  I had heard from a friend that there is a coin store in Anchorage in the mall, but that's too far away for me (an hour in the Spring and Autumn, maybe an hour and fifteen minutes in the Summer when the RVs are all over the roads, and maybe too far to even venture out of the house in the Winter!).  In fact, I checked the Certified Acceptance Corporation (CAC) website to see where the nearest CAC-authorized submitting dealer was and learned that there are zero in the nation's largest state!  So when I heard that the ANA Spring Show was to be in Portland, just a "short" flight away, I looked forward to getting back to some in-person numismatics.

The highlight for me, as with most coin shows, is seeing old friends, making new ones, and really "geeking out" by talking about coins, coins, coins for hours every day, day after day.  And that's pretty much what I got to do.  Sure, we talk about family, life in general, the Superbowl champion New England Patriots, and other topics, but the conversations always work themselves back to coins, since that's what we are all there for.  I enjoyed talking with folks like Bill Bugert.  I would refer to Bill's passion, Seated Liberty Coins, as "modern crap" and he would refer to my Capped Bust Half Dimes as "ancients."  We had good fun in doing so!  I also finally got to meet other people who I have only known through email and internet sources, sometimes for many years!  It is always good to finally put a face with a name.

I had the opportunity to work a little bit behind Rich Uhrich's table.  I let Rich know I would be at the show and available if he needed some help every now and then.  I always enjoy taking some time "on the other side of the table."  I found it interesting that on the first day of the show, very few collectors were wandering the bourse floor, but sales at Rich's table seemed to be doing very well…not very well for a slow day, but very well period.  I recall one collector came and looked at some sort of gold coin (I don't recall details), not something one normally thinks of when considering Rich Uhrich's inventory, and flat out bought the thing, saying something like, "where or when else am I ever going to get this chance again?"  Then the next day, it seemed that sales slowed down, but some really cool coins came in over the table from people who wanted to sell.  And if I recall correctly, the third day was a little bit of each.  I don't know the dealer aspect of coins too well, but it looked like things went as they should:  sell a bunch of coins, buy a bunch of coins. 

I searched the floor for half dimes for my set, but was unable to find any that I liked.  That is probably not a function of lack of quality inventory on the floor, but more a function of where my set is grade-wise and die marriage-wise.  There just aren't a lot of upgrades out there anywhere for my set.  For example, I sat at the table of Mark Emtman for 20 minutes or so and looked at stacks of quality half dimes.  All of the coins were pretty nice, but none would have been an upgrade to my set, which I think grades in the AU range, on average.  I thought for sure I was going to find something nice there.

I enjoyed the show, that's all that really mattered.  Good people, good times, and surprisingly good weather.  I would have brought shorts and t-shirts had I known it was going to be so warm!

Richard