JR Newsletter: 12 July 2015 (249)

We have LOTS of information in today's JR Newsletter.

First, from the editor:

Thank you for the feedback on the changes to the weekly JR Newsletter.  It seems that we have fixed the problem of many people receiving multiple copies of the newsletter in their email inbox.  We are now working on a better way to present documents in the form of PDF files.  Many readers reported difficulty accessing, reading, and downloading David Finkelstein's article from last week, so we will give that another shot this week.

Richard Meaney
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David Finkelstein's article, "The Workflow Of The First United States Mint – Part 4," is linked here:

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/74a0e3c37d154d935bdeb2daf/files/DJF_MInt_Workflow_Part_4_01.pdf

We trust the new method of attachment will make it much easier for you to enjoy this article, download it to your computer, or print it.
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Steve Tompkins wrote with an announcement about a new book:



It’s at the printer!
Now taking pre-orders at a discounted
price for delivery in August…

A NEW Book on the
Early Half Dollar Series...

The first all new work on the subject since 1970!

In this exciting new hardbound work, proudly printed and bound in the U.S.A., you will find over 500 pages covering each known die marriage for the years 1794-1807. This is surrounded by sections covering design, manufacture, new theories, and explanations for why certain things were done, based on Mint documentation and evidence found on the coins themselves. Included are quick finding charts and pictorial identifiers for each year; detailed listings of die stages; as well as, oversized color photos of every die marriage. New updated rarity ratings are included, as well as pedigrees & a pictorial condition census for all R-6 to R-8 rated die marriages.

Every die marriage is now listed in emission sequence (the order they were struck in) and therefore a new numbering system was needed and was incorporated, with a handy conversion chart in both the front and back of the book for ease in transition from the older designations.

The appendices contain interesting information on, among other things, patterns, die trials, private re-strikes, error coins, counterstamps, etc., along with many useful charts, die re-marriage listings, master die/hub listings, reproductions of original Mint documents and much, much more! This is the first volume of several that will cover the entire lettered edge half dollar series from 1794 through 1836.

The pre-order price for one copy is $79.00 delivered. This price is only good for a limited time (see below). Copies can be ordered by either sending payment to:

Steve M. Tompkins
P.O. Box 844
Peculiar, MO 64078

Or you can go to my web site www.earlyunitedstatescoins.com and send payment via secured checkout from a PayPal account.

Orders will be filled as soon as the finished books are received from the printer, currently this should be the first week in August.

Order yours now before the price goes up!
(The regular cover price is $89 plus shipping after August 5th...)

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The next two contributions come from W. David Perkins and will be of special interest to collectors of Capped Bust Half Dimes and Early Dimes.

First, the half dime announcement:

2015 ANA Extraordinary Half Dime Sale

 A note was sent out yesterday, Saturday, July 11, 2015, to all JRCS Members, JR Newsletter readers, and others that are on our early half dime distribution list regarding the 2015 ANA Extraordinary Half Dime Sale.  If you are not on this distribution list and would like to be, please send your name and e-mail address to me at wdperki(at)attglobal.net and I will add you to the list.  I will also forward a copy of the note sent yesterday, along with the preliminary copy of the Sealed Bid sale catalog was attached in PDF format to the note.

At the 2015 ANA there will be a Sealed Bid Auction Sale (SBS) of Capped Bust Half Dimes 1829-1837, with between 17-20 lots.  The half dimes in this sale tend to be the rarer die marriages and die states (including cuds!), Condition Census specimens, plate coins in the LM Half Dime book, and coins with better pedigrees.  Lots will be available for viewing at Tables 617 and 619 at the ANA Convention next month in Chicago.  Bids will be accepted until 6:00pm CST on Friday night, via phone, e-mail, fax or in-person.  Collectors are welcome to have a fellow collector or trusted dealer view lots for them at the ANA Convention.

There are over 60 Capped Bust Half Dimes on the Extraordinary Half Dime Fixed Price List, all grading from XF45 to MS65.  In addition, there is a second “Standard Fixed Price List” with 20 coins grading XF40 and below, and half dimes in PCGS and NGC Details holders.  All in all close to 100 Capped Bust Half Dimes will be offered in the 2015 ANA Sale.  Fixed price lots will be available for sale just prior to the ANA Convention, as in past sales.

 All coins are photographed and described in detail in the catalogs.

Thanks.
W. David Perkins
Centennial, CO
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Perkins' announcement concerning Early Dimes:

Announcing the W. David Perkins Sale of the Kirk Gorman Capped Bust Dime Reference Collection - First Session Scheduled to be Held at January 2016 FUN Show in Tampa

W. David Perkins will be offering for sale the Kirk Gorman Reference Collection of Capped Bust Dimes 1809-1837 beginning at the January 2016 FUN Convention in Tampa, Florida.  As in the early half dime and other sales Dave has conducted in the past, the dimes will be sold in a combination Sealed Bid Auction and Fixed Price List Sale or Sales at the January FUN and Summer ANA conventions.  Many JRCS members and JR News readers know Kirk personally, and that Kirk has collected and researched the Capped Bust Dimes for nearly two decades.

The Gorman collection has 122 of the 123 known die marriages, missing only the 1827 JR-14, an R-8 marriage.  According to the 2013 JRCS Capped Bust Dime Census, the average grade of the collection is “AU-51,” the second highest average grade in the Census.  There are a total of 130 Capped Bust dimes consigned to the sale.  The collection includes LM book Plate Coins, and dimes pedigreed to Eliasberg, Subjack, Lovejoy, and others.

Approximately two thirds of the dimes in this “old time” collection were “raw” when I received them, and the other one third were in PCGS and NGC holders.  All 130 coins were sent by me to PCGS this week for PCGS Trueview photography outside of the holders, grading, attribution (attribution confirmation, as all of the dimes are attributed), and crossing into new PCGS holders.  The die marriage numbers will all be included on the labels of the new holders.  A number of the Capped Bust Dime die marriage photos are currently missing in PCGS Coin Facts – the Gorman collection importantly should fill in all but one of the missing photos.

 It is unlikely any of the Gorman dimes will be back from PCGS in time for viewing at the 2015 ANA Convention in Chicago.  Photographs for most of the collection should be available shortly after the ANA Show in Chicago.

 If you would like to be included in my Capped Bust Dime Collector and Dealer Distribution List for this sale as well as future offerings, please send me a note at wdperki(at)attglobal.net with your name and e-mail address and I will add your name to the list.  You can also see me at the ANA Convention in August in Chicago at Tables 617 and 619 (under W. David Perkins, Numismatist).

Those on this Distribution List will receive information and the sale catalogs for this and other early dime sales in the future.  You do not have to be a JRCS member or JR Newsletter reader to be on this distribution list – you are welcome to pass this information on to your friends and fellow collectors so that their names can be added to this list. (Please note that if you are already on my early Half Dime Distribution List you will still need to send me a note asking to be included on the dime list).

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or would like additional information at this time.  I can be reached via e-mail at wperki(at)attglobal.net, or Cell Phone 303-902-5366.  Or you can see me at the ANA Convention in Chicago at Tables 617 and 619.  Thanks.

W. David Perkins
Centennial, Colorado
 

JR Newsletter: 5 July 2015 (248)

We have one contribution this week.  David Finkelstein wrote, "The Workflow of the First United States Mint -- Part 4"

You can view and then download his work by clicking on this link:  http://pdfsr.com/pdf/djf-mint-workflow-part-4.pdf

JR Newsletter: 28 June 2015 (247)

The sole contribution this week comes from Dave Rutherford:

On my site www.busthalfprices.com, Draped and Capped Bust Half price information from over 962 auctions and over 59,655 transactions dating back to the late 1980s is available for $20 per year (a portion of the subscription price will be donated to the JRCS and the BHNC). 

 

This information can be sorted and limited in various ways. New information is added as it becomes available. The public part of the site has information such as “errata” for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions of the Overton half dollar reference.

 

Thanks,

Dave Rutherford

JR Newsletter: 21 June 2015 (246)

We have two contributions this week.

First, David Finkelstein penned an original article, "The Workflow Of The First United States Mint – Part 3"

David's work is linked here:  http://pdfsr.com/pdf/djf-mint-workflow-part-3.pdf

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Second, Steve Herrman wrote:

Now Available! - Auction Prices Realized for Certified & Graded Bust Half Dollars 1794-1839 (Summer 2015 revision)

Distributed as a softbound copy or in PDF file format, the APRCG contains a listing of all certified and graded Bust half dollars sold in major auctions during the last three years (June 2012 through May 2015).

Softbound copy is $25.00 postpaid. Softbound copy plus PDF file is $30.00 postpaid. PDF file by itself is $20.00.

$1.00 shall be donated to both the BHNC and the JRCS for each copy sold.

Please contact Steve at Herrman102@aol.com

Note: This is an annual publication. PDF file requires Adobe Reader for Windows OS or Mac OS.

Still Available - Complete Edition of Auction & Mail Bid Prices Realized for Bust Half Dollars 1794-1839 (2015 revision)

Distributed as a searchable PDF format file on CD-ROM. The Complete Edition of the AMBPR includes two complete, sorted and formatted listings of the more than 51,700 records in the AMBPR database.

R3+ to R8 die varieties, overdates & other popular varieties, proofs, mint errors & patterns, countermarks, contemporary counterfeits, and condition census specimens are listed for most major auctions held since 1984!

  -- Full listing in order by Die Variety Number

  -- Full listing in order by Sale & Lot Number

Distributed via CD-ROM, 1,782 pages, $50.00 postpaid.

$5.00 shall be donated to the JRCS for each copy sold.

Please contact Steve at Herrman102@aol.com

Note: This is a once in every 5 years publication. Requires Adobe Reader for Windows OS or Mac OS.

JR Newsletter: 14 June 2015 (245)

We have two contributions this week, with the first from Winston Zack:

Dear JR Newsletter readers,

Our great friend Kirk Gorman, noted researcher, author, dedicated contributor to the JRCS, and all around wonderful guy is not well. He was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. The most recent information from his oncologist is that it is no longer operable, although alternative treatments are being investigated. Rory Rea has been a wonderful friend helping out and looking after Kirk at this time.

In better news, we are happy to announce that Kirk's girlfriend Sophie gave birth to their first child this morning. Henry David Gorman was born early in the morning on June 14, weighing 7 lbs 1 oz, and 19 inches long.

At this point in time, Kirk is spending a lot of time with his family and is very thankful to have the love and support from his numismatic friends.

If you would like to send any "get well" or "congratulations on the birth of your son" messages or cards to Kirk and Sophie please feel free to contact me at my email address: stoneman101(at)gmail.com

Regards,

Winston

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Alan V. Weinberg wrote about a recently closed eBay auction:

Go to eBay and check item 331568951596, a 1787 contemporary counterfeit half dollar at $1525.

Link to closed eBay auction:  LINK to eBay

Variety 4A (1 previously known), noticeable obverse horizontal die crack; the other in Mark Glazer's collection. This eBay item likely won by "an East Coast dealer" (name omitted by editor).  I was 3rd underbidder. Few people knew about it due to its obscure categorization. Mark Glazer only knew about it as I checked with him days before it sold to guesstimate its value. We both assumed $1500+ would buy it but I lowered my sniper bid to $800+ out of concern over the black residue.

You can read it was found in an old estate house and was sold by a non-numismatist who evidently checked out its value before listing it at $599.

The seller told me that the black encrustation was hard tar-like. Likely the copper leaching to the surface of the German Silver planchet and corroding. Problematic it can be dissolved in acetone.  The so-called test cut is more likely a planchet split as German Silver is a hard brittle metal. One of the other pictured 1787s also has a similar edge split.

Alan

JR Newsletter: 7 June 2015 (244)

The sole contribution this week is an original work from David Finkelstein:  "The Workflow of the First United States Mint, Part 2."

 The link to the document is here:  http://pdfsr.com/pdf/djf-mint-workflow-part-2.pdf

JR Newsletter: 31 May 2015 (243)

This week's JR Newsletter starts with a response to Winston Zack's inquiry from last week.

Dick Johnson wrote:

In answer to Winston's inquiry about sinking a design into a die and the kind of press used to do this.

Surprise! The press used to sink a device into a die is the same as one which could be used for striking coins.

The answer is the screw press. A very brief background of the screw press.. The first such press was developed 1st century BC to press grapes into wine. In 1506 an Italian engineer developed a screw press to blank lead sheets to make seals for the pope.

In the mid 1500s screw presses were in use in European mints. In 1652 John Hull obtains a screw press to strike his Pine Tree shillings in America. A collar and ejection mechanism is added to the screw press at the Bologna Mint by Francesco Camrlli in 1786.

Matthew Boulton, father of the private mint, and his partner James Watt add Watt's steam engine to their screw press enabling them to strike coins in quantity (instead of hand feeding).

In 1792 David Rittenhouse obtains a screw press for the Philadelphia Mint, and Adam Eckfelt builds additional screw presses biased on that first one. In 1851 the London Mint adapts a screw press just for their hubbing needs. In America the Philadelphia Mint acquires a screw press specially for hubbing in 1892.

Screw presses can be found in machine shops today for use in moderate pressing work.

I mentioned hubbing. The ancients knew of hubbing for use of copying dies as early as circa 530 BC. Because iron can be treated (by heating and rapid cooling) it can be hardened or softened at will. A hub would be hardened and pressed into a soften die blank by use of a screw press.

Now what the engravers did at the Philadelphia Mint was to engrave the device image only in the correct size. Some engravers like to work in the positive, having the image in front of the constantly, or carve the image negative. Hubbing changes polarity. You need a positive hub to make a negative die.

The device only was in this hub. All lettering, stars and dentiles forming the border were added individually by punches. Tap a punch (of hardened steel) into a soft iron die blank and it forms the image at the end of the punch.

This diesinking is tricky work as the position of the punch is critical. It must be in line (same base line) with other letters;. the distance from the proceeding letter is critical, as well as the rotation of the punch. Finally how hard the punch is tapped results how deep it sinks into the die (to become a raised letter when struck). This depth must be uniform for all lettering.

This method continued throughout the 19th century, at the Philadelphia Mint even though it had a die-engraving pantograph (the Contimin) in 1836, replaced by the Hill reducer in 1857. They obtained models from sculptors, made patterns from these first in iron, later in copper. The Mint  used these machines for the device image only, preferring to add everything else by punches.

It was not until 1920 and de Francisci's Peace Dollar, did the Mint cut the entire image --  device and all --  on their Janvier pantograph. Victor Janvier developed his machine in France beginning in 1892 and pattend in 1999. Medallic Art Company imported the first Janvier to America in 1902 and sold one to the Philadelphia Mint in 1905.

Were it not for the Janvier die-engraving pantograph we might still be engraving dies by hand.

Winston  can find pictures of screw presses on Google as well as Janvier pantographs.

Dick Johnson

Author, Editor, Senior Consultant

Cofounder - Signature Art Medals

Corporate Historian - Medallic Art Company

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And speaking of Winston Zack…

Winston wrote:

Congrats Bob Feldman on being the first reported person to reach 123/123 known capped bust dime die marriages. I'm sure there will be many more congrats coming your way. Certainly your accomplishment underscores the difficulty to reach such a goal. On average you added 2.5 new die marriages every month!

We all look forward to seeing you upgrading your set in the future. Not to mention, at the rate you acquired your capped bust set, you should be able to acquire all 30 draped bust dime die marriages by this time next year! And if you can do that primarily from eBay that will be all that more impressive!

Best,

Winston

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David Quint also wrote with his congratulations for Bob Feldman and other comments:

An excellent JR Newsletter last week IMHO. The Finkelstein article on early mint operations is excellent, I can't wait for the future installments. The best thing I have on early mint operations is the Taxay book on the US Mint and Coinage, which is quite detailed but hasn't been update for 50 years. The book does go into some detail as to how working dies were punched by "gravers" which Winston Zack will find helpful in answering his questions (the letters and stars were punched by hand, not machine).

I am blown away that Bob Feldman has built a complete set of capped bust dimes (including the R-8 1827 JR-14), and that he did it in only 4 years. In the last dime census, we had 8 collections of 122 coins, and there has never been a set of all 123 (Bob's capped dime collection was not even included in the last census due to a communications issue). This is really quite a feat and an event in the world of capped bust dimes. Congratulations to Bob!

I've attached a recent study I did of the 1798 JR-4 obverse die states. This variety exhibits a spectacular series of prominent die cracks that traverse much of the right obverse field (the JR-4 was the only use of this obverse die). I found all of the pics on the Heritage site.

David Quint

Editor:  David's study of 1798 JR-4 obverse die states is linked here:  http://www.docstoc.com/docs/173893104/1798%20JR-4%20Obverse%20Die%20State%20Progression.pdf

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Finally, Peter Mosiondz, Jr. wrote with some book offerings:

The Early Coins of America, Sylvester Crosby. 1983 Quarterman reprint. HB. DJ protected in Brodart Mylar®. New. $25.00

United States Copper Cents 1816-1857, Howard R. Newcomb. 284 pp. 11 plates. HB. DJ protected in Mylar®. New. $25.00

Illegal Tender: Gold, Greed and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle, David Tripp. SB. New. $15.00

Million Dollar Nickels: Mysteries of the Illicit 1913 Liberty Head Nickels Revealed, Paul Montgomery, Mark Borckardt and Ray Knight. HB. DJ protected in Mylar®. New. $20.00

Add $3.00 Media Mail Postage         

Peter Mosiondz, Jr.     JRCS #867

26 Cameron Circle

Laurel Springs, NJ 08021-4861

856-627-6865

choochoopete(at)comcast.net