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.

Here is what Coin World Said ………

“For example, experimental pieces struck circa 1965, when the alloy for the U.S. dime and quarter dollar was changed from a 90 percent silver alloy to a copper-nickel clad composition and the 90 percent silver half dollar was changed to a silver-copper clad version, were struck with nonsense dies.

These nonsense dies, dated 1759, bear a portrait facing right of Martha Washington, with the Washington home, Mount Vernon, depicted on the reverse.

The Mint has since used these Martha Washington-Mount Vernon dies since 1965 for a number of experimental pieces, including for testing manganese-brass clad planchets for the Sacagawea dollar.

Examples known from the Martha Washington nonsense dies include pieces struck on a copper-nickel 5-cent planchet; copper-nickel clad dime planchet; quarter dollar and half dollar planchets; on the copper-plated zinc cent planchets introduced in 1982; and the manganese-brass clad planchets during testing for the Sacagawea dollar.”

Read Full Coin World Article from 5-19-09 Here