The Stacks 73rd Anniversary Sale upcoming on October 22nd has an items in the Patterns” section that many people may never have seen before: 1759 (1965) dime-sized die trial of Martha Washington

Reeded edge. Cupro-nickel and copper “sandwich” composition. Head of Martha Custis Washington to right, VIRGINIA arcs above, name low in right field, date below. Mount Vernon at reverse center, HOME OF THE WASHINGTON FAMILY around. NGC MS-65 Finest Known

This coin is the finest of two examples certified thus far by NGC, the other called AU-58 by that firm, the PCGS population report does not show any with this Judd number. This design also saw the light of day in larger sized “denominations” which are eagerly sought by specialists in today’s pattern series and related areas. The present “dime” sized issue is seen far less often than the other “denominations.”

In May of this year Coin World had an article on Pattern and Experimental coins. Experimental coins are struck from any convenient dies to test a new metal, new alloy or new denomination; those testing a new shape; those testing a standard metal for a new denomination; and those representing changes in planchets for the purposes of combating counterfeiting.

Often the Mint tests compositions with what officials call “nonsense dies.” These dies may bear designs similar in format to designs used for circulating coinage but the designs are not being considered for regular production use, such as a pattern might be. Nonsence Dies are useful in testing things as metal flow and die wear, and the Mint has used various designs for decades. The Martha Washington Design is one of these Nonsence Dies.

Martha Washington “nonsense dies” were used to strike experimental pieces on a number of planchets including on a copper-plated zinc cent planchet; on a copper-nickel clad quarter dollar planchet; on a manganese-brass clad dollar planchet; and of course the above Cupro-nickel dime planchet. (more…)

1915 50C Panama-Pacific Half Dollar, Judd-1960 (previously Judd-1793), Pollock-2031, R.8, PR64 NGC. Die trial issue of the 1915 Panama-Pacific half before the S mintmark was added. Struck in gold with a reeded edge. This remarkable coin is one of only two pieces known and its illustrious pedigree goes back as far as Virgil Brand.

The story of this coin is best related in the Pollock reference. Pollock had carefully examined the #1 specimen, the Farouk-Norweb coin, but the same history and mysterious circumstances apply to this piece: “…planchet file marks and traces of an undertype, indicating that the half dollar dies were impressed on a cut-down $20 gold coin, which had been filed to remove high-relief details.

This piece is remarkably thick: 2.4 mm at the edge versus 2.1 mm for a regular-issue Panama-Pacific half dollar.

“The characteristics of the coin suggest that it was made clandestinely. Since the piece is overstruck instead of being made using a new planchet of normal thickness, it can be inferred that there was a desire on the part of the manufacturer that no mention of the piece be made in the bullion account books, and thus if may have been produced secretly at the Mint in the same manner as the 1913 Liberty nickel or the Class III 1804 dollar. The only other known example of the variety, listed as No. 2 in our census (this piece), is reportedly also struck over a cut down $20 gold piece.”

Close examination shows fine file marks that presumably would have effaced the design of the double eagle. However, a small remnant of the undertype survives on the reverse with a faint trace of what appears to be an O and a period to its left, located between the H in HALF and U of UNITED.

Ex: Virgil Brand; B.G. Johnson; Celina Coin Co.; A. Friedman; 1979 ANA Sale (New England, 7/79), lot 1365, where it realized an amazing $27,000.
From The Sound Beach Collection. (#62267)

Sold in the Heritage 2003 November Signature Sale #334 Lot 11252 for $165,000

Editors Note: Every now and then we come across a numismatic items that we might have heard about but never seen, or in some instances had no knowledge of at all. This of course may be more of a function of our limited expertise than the fact that the item(s) is truly unique. So at the risk of being called a “dumb ass” (not the first time), we are going to create a new News category called “Unusual Items“. This will be an eclectic collection of the not-so-common items we stumble across during our daily search for worthwhile news and articles, and we hope that you will find this as informative and entertaining as we do.

These impressions in yellow cardboard measure 40 x 32 mm and show the obverse imprints of both the Jefferson and McKinley gold dollars with a slightly different pattern reverse.

Andrew Pollock assigned two numbers for this piece, apparently believing the obverses were on one card and the reverses on another. They should have received only one number.

There are two examples known, but the second is very different from this piece. The other contains both obverses and six different reverses. That piece is permanently impounded in the Smithsonian.

This is the only cardboard impression available to collectors.

Cardboard impressions are obviously rare but they date back to 1849 for the gold dollar. Other impressions include the 1851 three cent silver, and the Isabella quarter (obverse and reverse). The reason for the Isabella strikings is evident from the writing on the back of each card: They are first strikings from the new dies. One might easily assume the gold dollar and three cent silver impressions were for the same purpose.

The purpose here is somewhat more enigmatic. With a pattern reverse included on this card, it is likely this was produced before the first day of issue, as a first day of issue would surely have included the adopted reverse.

The cardboard has a rich, deep gold color, obviously meant to suggest the gold dollars that were soon to be struck. Deeply impressed. Regarding condition, this piece is essentially as struck with no scratches or surface problems worthy of mention.

Used with Permission from CoinLink Content Partner Mike Byers - Mint Error News 

By Laura Sperber of Legend Numismatics

As we stated in our last Market Report, we were having trouble gauging where the market is. From our vantage point we see some very interesting happenings. It is still hard for us to see the exact direction the market is going. BUT we do NOT see it crashing or making a major overall adjustment right now.

Big money collectors are still in the game-however they are clearly shifting their goals. We have seen many cashing out “lesser” coins and reinvesting (for lack of a better word) in to rarer more quality orieinted coins. By that we mean if a player had a $1 82CC in MS66, he sold it and bought something like a GEM Bust Quarter (if one had been around). In the past 2 weeks since the ANA, we have been able to outright purchase (or recieve on consignment) at least $2 MILLION dollars worth of coins. That is something we have never experienced at this time of the year. It was weird, we’d do one deal then the next day out of the blue another would come up and we’d be flying out. Of course right after ANA is usally the worst time to sell, but people didn’t seem to care as they questioned the future or had other coins they wanted to buy now. Not one person who sold told us they needed the money to pay bills (although one person did mention taxes). Most were shifting focus or assets.

Collectors seem very skeptical about buying unless a coin is super rare, has over the top quality for the grade, and is a must buy for their specific collection. We do not see many impulse purchases happening right now from collectors. The real danger, is we do see substantial INVESTOR purchasing occuring. We can sell MILLIONS to the telemarketers who deal with them or the 2 big funds that are out there. We have had several INVESTORS call us direct and requested we build them portfolios. INVESTORS are funny, they won’t just buy anything, but when they find the “right” coin or hear the ‘right” numbers about it, the checks fly! Our sales since ANA have been incredibly strong-but then we also have a supply of fresh, truely rare, and neat coins, while many other dealers do not. We still will pay what it takes to buy certain coins because we know what is NOT available. And yes, we are still looking for that NON 1926/1932 PCGS MS65 CAC stickered $10 Indian. (more…)

What about rarity? This is the only example ever graded by NGC—in any grade!

What about grade? Consider Proof-67 Cameo!

What about fame? The $4 Stella is one of the most heralded of American rarities, and among the two designs, the Coiled Hair, by George T. Morgan, is the rarer.

All set to cross the auction block in Stacks Baltimore sale is this rarest of the rare pattern, Judd-1640, a glittering Proof in aluminum—a rare format even more elusive that an gold impression.

Here is some background, from Dave Bowers’ Whitman book on type coins (excerpt, adapted):

The $4 Stella

The Stella or $4 gold coin is among the most famous and desired of American rarities. The vast majority were struck in gold, with just a few in other metals. The presently offered aluminum striking provides the opportunity for some historical information:

The $4 piece was the brainchild of Hon. John A. Kasson, who had served as a minister to Austria. In Europe coins of slightly less value than the American $5 piece (the British gold sovereign being but one of many examples) were popular in trade. Kasson thought that an American $4 piece would serve as an international medium of exchange. This stands as one of many such notions that reached pattern coin form, but never resulted in issues made for general circulation. Others include the international $5 of 1868 and Dana Bickford’s impressive $10 of 1874. (more…)