By US Mint Director Ed Moy

Editors Note: Below are two speeches give by US Mint Director Ed Moy concerning the designs on US coinage and his desire to preside over a new period of design excellence at the mint.

On Sept. 19, 2007, Directory Moy gave the following presentation at the FIDEM “Art Of The Medal” conference held in Colorado Springs, Colorado and hosted by the ANA. Below are his comments from that speech.

Thank you, Ken, and good morning everyone. I am delighted to be here and want to begin by congratulating FIDEM, its President Carlos Baptista de Silva, and its Honorary President Lars Lagerquist on the 70th Anniversary of FIDEM and the 30th Anniversary of the FIDEM Art Medal World Congress.

I also want to say thank you to the ANA and its President Barry Stuppler for hosting this event and inviting me to participate. The United States Mint has enjoyed an excellent relationship with the American Numismatic Association for many years and is delighted to take part in the FIDEM Art Medal World Congress. This is my second visit to the ANA museum, and I am looking forward to attending the FIDEM show there and seeing your theme, Passages to Reconstruction, carried out in many beautiful medallic sculptures on display.

As the 38th Director of the United States Mint, I’d like to say “welcome” to all the artists from other nations around the world as well as to our American medallic artists, including Don Everhart and Jim Licaretz of the United States Mint. I also wanted to say a special hello to Don Scarinci, who serves on our Citizens Coin Advisory Commission. I have read Don’s treatise on arts medals and for those who will attend his seminar, you are in for a special treat.

I have been Director for more than a year now and am enjoying every aspect of it.

On a personal level, it has been wonderful to have my father stop complaining about my not going to medical school. Now he can brag to his friends that his son “finally has a job where he makes a lot of money.” And of course, my Chinese friends have renamed me from Moy Goon Fong to “Moy Ca-Ching.” My really hip friends have taken that a step further - “Moy Bling Bling.” (more…)

by Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

On May 26 and 27, Superior Galleries of Beverly Hills will auction a variety of numismatic items, mostly U.S. coins, plus some patterns, many British and other European coins, tokens and medals, and paper money. The topic here is the ‘Roadrunner’ collection of 133 items, the vast majority of which are U.S. coins.

A significant percentage of the Roadrunner collection consists of coins from the shipwreck of the S.S. Republic, including a startling sixteen Liberty Seated Half Dollars. An extensive run of Liberty Head Double Eagles ($20 coins) is newsworthy. The collector known as ‘Roadrunner’ has gold coins of all denominations dating from the middle of the 19th century. Most of his gold coins were produced at Branch Mints, though he has several Philadelphia Mint gold coins.

The most valuable coin in the Roadrunner collection is an 1879 Flowing Hair Stella ($4 gold coin). It is NGC certified ‘Proof-67 Cameo.’ He purchased it privately from Superior Galleries.

Overall, this collection is particularly strong in the series of Liberty Head Eagles ($10 gold coins). Eagles dated 1860-S are extremely rare, and Roadrunner has one of the highest graded ones, an NGC certified MS-61 1860-S from the S.S. Republic. It is one of only two that the NGC has graded above MS-60; the other, which is graded MS-61 is also from the S.S. Republic. The PCGS has not graded any of these above AU-55. It seems likely that fewer than fifty 1860-S Eagles are known.

The 1858-S Eagle is very rare. There are certainly less than 135 pieces known. Roadrunner’s 1858-S, NGC graded AU-55, may be one of the best. Jeff Garrett & Ron Guth write that the 1858-S “is nearly as rare as the more highly regarded 1858 Eagle, but unlike the 1858, no Mint State examples of the 1858-S are known” (Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins, 2006, p. 337). (more…)

By Tom LaMarre, Coins Magazine

Large cents dated 1793 have attracted collectors for at least 150 years. They were the first coins struck by the new U.S. Mint in Philadelphia, a city with a population of about 40,000 at that time.

Nothing involving the first cents came easily. Finding a skilled engraver was a challenge. So was the acquisition of the copper needed to strike the coins. Many 1793 cents are found dark or corroded.

Coming up with the right design for the cent was also difficult. It was a hit-or-miss effort involving a lot of trial and error. Designed by Henry Voight, the earliest cents had an obverse depicting Liberty with windblown hair. One critic said she appeared to be “in fright.”

The reverse was equally controversial. Its circular chain of 15 links - one for each state at the time - was supposed to symbolize unity. But the chain’s association with slavery made it a poor choice for a cent which had the inscription “Liberty” on the obverse.

The letter punches used for the inscriptions on the cent were made by Jacob Bay. On the first cents, struck from Feb. 27 to March 12, 1793, “AMERICA” was abbreviated as “AMERI.” The next chain cent variety spelled it out in full.

Adam Eckfeldt soon redesigned the cent, replacing the chain with a wreath and strengthening the modeling of Liberty’s face and hair. Eckfeldt also added a three-leaf sprig above the date. But the revised cent was only in production a few months before it gave way to the more successful Liberty Cap cent. Its designer, Joseph Wright, died from yellow fever later the same year. He was one of 5,000 Philadelphia residents who died during the yellow fever epidemic that lasted from August to November 1793.
Read Full Article on Numismaster 

By Jaime Hernandez posted on PCGS

Some of the most beautiful coins in numismatics today are also some of the most intriguing. A simple look at any of the breathtaking 1964 SMS coins reveals their special numismatic status. The special finish of 1964 SMS coins is characterized by a nice, smooth, satin-like appearance. The fields are usually well struck, very clean and tend to come without any major nicks or scratches. The edges for most 1964 SMS coins also tend to be square and sharp. The bust and legends are usually highly detailed and sharp on most examples, especially when compared to business strike coins. The surfaces are non-reflective compared to proof coins of the era, yet are not the same finish as regular-issue coins for the same year.

The U.S. Mint definitely had a rough year in 1964. That was the year they introduced the Kennedy half dollar series both in MS and Proofs, including hundreds of thousands of 1964-D Peace dollars which were later melted! Most significantly, in 1964 all production of 90% silver coinage was being discontinued because of the rising price of silver. The only coins containing silver would be the Kennedy half dollars dated 1965 to 1970, but even those coins only contained 40% silver.

During this time the Mint was also making plans to produce Special Mint Sets from the years 1965 to 1967. These coins were introduced in hopes of eliminating coin shortage within the nation’s monetary system. Consequently, in order to deter the public from hoarding coins, the Mint produced all 1965 to 1967 Special Mint Set coins without any mintmarks. The Special Mint Sets dated 1965 to 1967 were produced instead of regular mint or proof sets for those three years.

Read Full Article on PCGS Here

By ALAN SAYRE

A steamship that sank off the Louisiana coast during an 1846 storm has produced a trove of rare gold coins, including some produced at two, mostly forgotten U.S. mints in the South, coin experts say.

Last year, four Louisiana residents salvaged hundreds of gold coins and thousands of silver coins from the wreckage of the SS New York in about 60 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico, said David Bowers, co-chairman of Stack’s Rare Coins in New York.

“Some of these are in uncirculated or mint condition,” Bowers said, predicting the best could bring $50,000 to $100,000 each at auction.

Of particular interest to coin experts — numismatists — are gold pieces known as quarter eagles and half eagles, which carried face values of $2.50 and $5, respectively, in the days before the United States printed paper currency.

Those coins were struck at mints in New Orleans; Charlotte, N.C.; and Dahlonega, Ga. The Charlotte and Dahlonega mints operated from 1838, when the first significant U.S. gold deposits were found in those areas, until the start of the Civil War in 1861, said Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association’s Money Museum in Denver. Neither mint ever reopened.

The Dahlonega Mint produced 1.38 million gold coins, while 1.2 million were minted in Charlotte. Tens of millions of gold coins were minted in the United States before the federal government confiscated those held by individuals, banks and the U.S. Treasury in 1933 and melted them into gold bars as the country abandoned the gold standard.

Read Full Article Here

Editors Note: NGC has also posted an article entitled  “NCS Conserves Coins Recovered from the Steamship New York” with more details as to the type of coins found on the SS NewYork and the NSC conservation and NGC encapsulation.