Croesus of Lydia was responsible for one of the greatest innovations in coinage, but he did not invent coinage itself, an act with which he is often credited. If we assume that coinage was invented in 650 B.C. (of course we know it was only approximate), we take Croesus’ accession as 561 B.C., and then we relate Croesus’ times to our times in 2001, then on a relative basis, coinage would have been invented in 1907 during the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt. What Croesus was responsible for was the introduction of pure gold and pure silver as coinage metals (instead of electrum) and the invention of the first bi-metallic interrelated coinage system in the Greek world with denominations going from 10.75 gram gold and silver staters to fractions weighing as little as 0.36 grams in gold and silver. Croesus’ coinage type is familiar to most of us: a bellowing lion facing a seemingly placid bull. It seems that a fair amount of experimentation was done before final types were settled on, and I would not be surprised if more prototypes than I have identified yet exist in the earth or may have existed but not survived.

The earliest prototype in the Croesus series is a heavy gold stater (#120/1) of which I have owned two examples. It is such a perfect missing link that I would have been fearful of it had I not discovered a worn example in the Ashmolean Museum collection, placed there almost 100 years ago. In a way the Ashmolean specimen has been a negative for me personally as dealers in Europe and the U.S. have plagerized this idea by quoting the Ashmolean and stating, “Like Ashmolean must be the earliest Creosus gold Stater”. The prototype is of somewhat rough, crude style with the lion in a stretched, leaping position resembling the silver staters of Caria which had been found in hoards with coins of Croesus. The bull has a head similar to that of an Uncertain Ionian silver tetrobol (Rosen 376). The crowning glory that establishes this missing link is the fact that the lion has a wart on the bridge of the nose, just like the 1/3 staters of Lydia that preceded the coinage of Croesus. It is important to note that on the prototype piece the protomes are extremely animated in lifelike poses. On the regular issues (#120/2), while the protomes are well done, they are somewhat immobile and the front leg of the lion, as well as the front leg of the bull, are rather stiff acting like pedestals. (more…)

The new Plain Edge or “Godless” Washington and Adams Dollar are all the rage lately, but did you know there not the first Plain Edge coins the US has minted? Here, the author will write about the first “No Edge Lettering” US Coin, and hope to enlighten a few on Plain Edge Varieties.

The coin in question is a 1797 Liberty Cap, Facing Right, Half Cent, and their varieties are attributed using Cohen Variety System. The COHEN System is the most accepted method of designating or attributing a letter and number to each Half Cent variety. Some examples of how a Half Cent would be attributed are C-3a, C-1, C-5b, etc. Obviously, the C stands for COHEN and the number designates a die state.

The man who coined the system is Roger S. Cohen, Jr., in his book “American Half Cents: The Little Half Sisters”. Roger Cohen is deceased but his legacy will live on every time a numismatist attributes a Half Cent variety.

The Liberty Cap Half Cent where minted from 1794-1797, and during these times there where copper shortages. So, many of these coins where struck over a Talbot, Allum and Lee Token, because they where a cheaper acquisition of copper. Many of the “Plain Edge” varieties are due to this overstrike, because the tokens didn’t have edge lettering.

However, in response to the copper shortage President George Washington made a Proclamation on December 27, 1795 reducing the weight of Cents and Half Cents. So, many of theses coins where made much thinner and didn’t have the edge lettering. However, a total of 25,600 lettered edge Half Cents were struck during this year. It is speculated that an additional 114,090 plain edge half cents dated 1795 were struck in 1796. Obviously, this resulted in the Plain Edge Half Cents being more numerous than Lettered Edges. (more…)

The decade between 1834 and 1844 was the beginning of the modern era at the United States mint. The second half of this decade was especially interesting. A number of experiments and acts of legislation provided some of most attractive and popular issues in the history of American coinage.

A combination of factors occurred in the early to mid 1830’s that led to these design changes and the introduction of new mints and new denominations. Large quantities of gold were discovered in North Georgia and western North Carolina in the early 1830’s. This led to the establishment, in 1834, of branch mints in Charlotte, New Orleans and Dahlonega. These mints opened in 1838 and by the end of the 1830’s, all three were producing gold coins.

An important technological advance was the introduction of the steam press in 1836. Coins were now able to be struck using a close collar which allowed for a thicker edge and a more precise diameter and sophisticated designs. It also meant that the quaint, “folk art” designs of John Reich were to be replaced with more modern, technologically savvy renderings.

Christian Gobrecht was named the new Mint Engraver in 1835, after the exodus of John Reich. Gobrecht was a talented artisan whose skill enabled the Mint to modernize its gold coinage. Beginning in 1838, he attempted to create a uniform Liberty Head design for all three of the current gold denominations. This design would remain, with minor changes, until 1907.

One of the first assignments that Gobrecht was given was to design a new gold dollar. A small number of experimental pieces were produced in gold (Judd-67) as well as in a gold alloy, silver and copper. Despite an attractive design, this experiment did not produce any immediate results and the gold dollar denomination was shelved until 1849.

As more and more gold was discovered in the south, the importance of the yellow metal in coinage increased. Conversely, large discoveries of silver in Mexico and South America meant that the price of gold bullion rose. The Classic Head quarter eagle was introduced in 1834 and it featured a design by William Kneass and John Reich. The weight of these quarter eagles was reduced to 258 grains (from 270) and the diameter was lessened from nineteen millimeters to 17.5. Most importantly, mintage figures rose dramatically. Between 1829 and 1834 around 25,000 quarter eagles were struck. In 1834 alone, over 112,000 of the new Classic Head pieces were produced. (more…)

One of the more interesting (and lesser known) gold coin auctions that I’ve attended was the sale of the Stetson Collection which was conducted by the old Bowers and Merena in May, 1993. This was an instance where the back story (or stories in this case) was nearly as interesting as the coins themselves.

Beginning in 1992, an amazing hoard of gold coins started to quietly enter the market. This hoard consisted of tens of thousands of coins dated from the late 1830’s through, I believe, the 1920’s. It included large quantities of semi-key St. Gaudens double eagles, extensive runs of Carson City eagles and double eagles, large quantities of New Orleans eagles from the 1880’s through the early 1900’s, sizable quantities of San Francisco rarities and much, much more. It has never been revealed where these coins came from (although it is widely rumored that they came from an Eastern European central bank; given the time they were sold it would suggest that they were dispersed by a former Soviet bloc country in an attempt to infuse some Western capital).

This incredible hoard was dispersed over a number of years in a quiet, orderly fashion. Some of the coins went to dealers who sold them to marketers or specialists. Other coins were sold at auction. The first group of these coins to sell at auction was at the aforementioned Bowers and Merena sale and I can remember being extremely excited to have the chance to purchase some very important and very fresh coins.

Before I discuss the sale (and some events leading up to it) I’d like to discuss the appearance of the coins themselves. Because of the massive size of this hoard (and the intelligence of the individual who was masterminding its dispersal) these coins were, for the most part, kept original and dirty. Many of them had the prototypical “euro-Grime” appearance which I describe as follows: extremely deep almost brassy orange-gold toning with a noticeable two-ton e appearance from blackish grime or dirt on the high spots. This appearance was almost certainly the result of the environmental conditions in which these coins were kept. On some coins, the look was very attractive. On others, it was pretty ugly and the coins needed to be dipped (or washed with soap and water at the very least). (more…)