One of the things we find most exciting about reporting on the numismatic marketplace is coming across those things we either didn’t know beforehand, or finding obscure and unusual numismatic items. Just recently we came across one such item, the Gold Disks produced by the US mint for ARAMCO oil payments to Saudi Arabia after World War II.

Below are excerpts from two different articles we located, one from 1981 and the other from 1991.

The Coins that Weren’t

“In Saudi Arabia, gold coins have always been important in the monetary system. For years, in fact, paper money was unacceptable, and to pay royalties to the government, Aramco once flew kegs of both gold and silver coins to jiddah. In 1952, when the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) was formed, the first coin issued was a Saudi sovereign – a gold coin equal in weight and value to the British sovereign – that was later demonetized and today sells for about $124.

To collectors, however, the most interesting Saudi gold coins weren’t coins at all; they were “gold discs” Similar to coins, they were minted by the Philadelphia Mint in the 1940’s for Aramco, and bore, on one side, the U. S. Eagle and the legend “U. S. Mint, Philadelphia, USA” and, on the other side, three lines on the fineness and weight. They looked like coins, they were used as coins, but, technically, they weren’t coins.

In the 1950’s, numismatists were puzzled by these “discs” until-in 1957 – the story emerged in The Numismatist. Aramco, required to pay royalties and other payments in gold to the Saudi government, could not obtain the gold at the monetary price fixed by the United States so the U. S. government specifically began to mint the “discs” – actually bullion in coin form for these payments. In 1945, for example, the mint turned out 91,210 large discs worth $20, and, in 1947,121,364 small discs worth $5, according to The Numismatist.

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The United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Gold Coin and Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Bronze Medal on March 18, 2010, at noon Eastern Time (ET).

The one-half ounce 24-karat gold coin, struck at the United States Mint at West Point, will be available in proof and uncirculated conditions.

Pricing for the coins will be based on the United States Mint’s pricing structure for precious metals products. Click Here For current pricing information. The bronze medals, which bear a likeness of the gold coin, will also be available for $5.50 each.

The coin’s obverse (heads side) features a portrait of Abigail Fillmore by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill. Inscriptions on the obverse are ABIGAIL FILLMORE, IN GOD WE TRUST, LIBERTY, 2010, 13th and 1850-1853, the period during which she was the spouse of the President.

The coin’s reverse (tails side), by United States Mint Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Susan Gamble, depicts Fillmore shelving books in the library she established at the White House. Inscriptions on the reverse are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, E PLURIBUS UNUM, $10, 1/2 OZ. and .9999 FINE GOLD.

The maximum mintage for the Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Gold Coin is 15,000 across all product options. Customer demand will determine the ratio of proof coins to uncirculated coins produced within the total maximum mintage.

Abigail Powers Fillmore was born in 1798 in Saratoga County, New York. She developed a passion for learning early in life. Financial circumstances forced her to begin working at the age of 16 as a teacher while she continued her own education.

While teaching at the New Hope Academy in Sempronius, New York, she met future husband, Millard Fillmore. (more…)

Heidi Wastweet of Seattle, Washington was appointed to the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) to fill the seat reserved for a specialist in medallic sculpture.

Ms. Wastweet is a leading American Medallist and sculptor who specializes in bas-relief bronzes.

In conjunction with a wide variety of private mints she has produced over 1000 coins, medals, tokens and rare coin replicas since 1987. She was chief engraver for Sunshine Mint for 11 years and lead designer/sculptor for Global Mint for 5 years.

In 2001 she opened her own studio (www.wastweetstudio.com) and relocated from Idaho to Seattle Washington in 2002. She served as treasurer for the American Medallic Sculpture Association from 2003-2009 and is current president and founder of Seattle Sculpture Guild as well as a member of FIDEM.

She has been featured in Coin World and Coinage magazine and exhibits her non-commission work regularly including the National Sculpture Society in New York and the Norwegian Heritage Museum in Washington.

Medal and coin credits include a 7 coin set issued by the Sultanate of Darfur, the Dean’s Award for Seattle University School of Law, Alumnus Award for Stephen F. Austin University, Mayo Clinic visiting physicians medal, Stanford University Alumni medal and Island records Willie Nelson portrait. In addition to medalic art she has also created a number of public art pieces including a recent commission for the University of Washington’s Medal of Honor Monument in Seattle and eight bronze relief panels for 12 foot high church doors for St. Paul’s in Pensacola, Florida.