ANACS and Daniel Carr announce a new program to certify all coins, tokens, and medals designed and minted by Daniel Carr and Moonlight Mint. Qualifying items are listed in the Daniel Carr catalog, which is available at: http://www.moonlightmint.com/coin_catalog.htm . submitted items must not be larger than 40.6mm in diameter. all collectors and dealers can submit qualifying items directly to anacs.

When certified, a special ANACS label will be used which features a Moonlight Mint logo and a hand-written signature by Daniel Carr.

Services and fees for this program fall under the ANACS tokens and medals submission guidelines.

For more information about ANACS programs, visit www.anacs.com .

Daniel Carr is the designer of the US Mint New York and Rhode Island state quarters, as well as his own controversial “Amero” fantasy coin series, among others. He currently operates Moonlight Mint which specializes in the design, sculpting, engraving, and minting of his designs. His company also goes by the name “Designs Computed”. Moonlight Mint uses a Denver Mint surplus Grabener coin press for striking all issues.

With this new service, Daniel Carr will consult with ANACS regarding all authenticity questions. This is doubly important now that counterfeit copies of some Daniel Carr coins have appeared in China and Canada. Descriptions of these fakes are posted on Moonlight Mint’s “Alerts” page: http://designscomputed.com/coins/fakes.htm

ANACS is a well-known and well-respected independent provider of coin certification services, based in Englewood, Colorado.

ANACS, America’s oldest grading service, recently certified a rare 1792 silver center cent. According to early American specialists, only 14 of the pattern pieces are known.

ANACS graded the coin VG10 Details, Scratched and attributed it as a Judd-1. According to Dr. J. Hewitt Judd’s classic study, United States Pattern Coins, Experimental and Trial Pieces, America’s Rarest Coins,the coin is this country’s first pattern piece, hence the designation Judd-1.

The piece was struck at the Philadelphia Mint the same year the Mint was established, 1792. That year, the Mint struck nearly a dozen different patterns. The patterns were created to illustrate various designs and to test possible metallic contents for future coins.

The 1792 Silver Center Cent was an attempt to make a convenient sized coin with an intrinsic value of one cent. The alternative—the one that was followed–was a coin containing one cent worth of copper, thereby requiring the piece to be significantly larger and less convenient. The Silver Center Cent features a small copper planchet with a small hole in the center into which a silver plug was inserted. It’s thought the silver plug had an intrinsic value of ¾ of a cent.

The pattern’s obverse design features a flowing hair Liberty, facing right, the inscription LIBERTY PARENT OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY and the date, 1792. The reverse has a wreath with a ribbon at the bottom enclosing the words ONE CENT. Outside the wreath is UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and the fraction 1 / 100, located at 6 o’clock. It is widely accepted that the pattern is the work of Henry Voigt, one of the Mint’s first employees. As Dr. Judd wrote, “Today, this is a famous and highly desired issue.”

The owner of the coin is an anonymous collector and long-time ANACS submitter from California. He purchased the coin at a local police auction for $400, the amount he insured it for when he sent it to ANACS. It is estimated today to be worth at least $300,000. (more…)