The following is from a submission by W. David Perkins written to the editor of the John Reich Collectors Society (JRCS) e-newsletter #119 concerning a letter from noted collector John Pitman, that was included with a Book sold at the recent George Kolbe Numismatic Literature Sale 104.

W. David Perkins writes:

The recent November 1, 2007 George Kolbe Numismatic Literature Sale 104 offered the John J. Pittman numismatic literature collection. Included in this sale was Lot 117, a signed copy of the First Edition of The United States Early Silver Dollars From 1794 To 1803 by M. H. Bolender. I placed a bid on this lot but was not the winner. I also cannot say I was the underbidder, despite what I thought was a strong bid. This lot realized $325, which may be a record price for a copy of the Bolender book. Prices in this Kolbe sale were very strong indeed! (more…)

What is gold?
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from the Latin aurum, meaning shining dawn) and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal which, for many centuries, has been used as money, a store of value and in jewelry. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks, underground “veins” and in alluvial deposits. It is one of the coinage metals. Gold is dense, soft, shiny and the most malleable and ductile of the known metals. Pure gold has a bright yellow color traditionally considered attractive.

Gold forms the basis for a monetary standard used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). The ISO currency code of gold bullion is XAU. Modern industrial uses include dentistry and electronics, where gold has traditionally found use because of its good resistance to oxidative corrosion.

Chemically, gold is a trivalent and univalent transition metal. Gold does not react with most chemicals, but is attacked by chlorine, fluorine, aqua regia and cyanide. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but does not react with it. Gold is insoluble in nitric acid, which will dissolve silver and base metals, and this is the basis of the gold refining technique known as “inquartation and parting”. Nitric acid has long been used to confirm the presence of gold in items, and this is the origin of the colloquial term “acid test,” referring to a gold standard test for genuine value. (more…)

The hobo nickel is a sculptural art form involving the creative modification of small-denomination coins, essentially resulting in miniature bas reliefs. The nickel, because of its size, thickness, and relative softness, was a favored coin for this purpose. However, the term “hobo nickel” is generic, as carvings have been made from many different denominations.

Classic old hobo nickels (1913-1940)

Many talented coin engravers, as well as newcomers, started creating hobo nickels in 1913, when the buffalo nickel entered circulation. This accounts for the quality and variety of engraving styles found on carved 1913 nickels. More classic old hobo nickels were made from 1913-dated nickels than any other pre-1930s date.

Many artists made hobo nickels from the tens to twenties, with new artists joining in as the years went by. The 1930s saw many talented artists adopting the medium. Bertram Wiegand, known almost exclusively as Bert, began carving nickels in the teens, and his student George Washington Hughes, known as Bo, began carving in the late teens (and up to 1980). During this period, buffalo nickels were the most common nickels in circulation. (more…)

by Thomas K. DeLorey

By some standards George T. Morgan’s career as an Engraver at the United States Mint was a bitter disappointment. Stuck in the Assistant Engraver’s position for over 40 years, he designed only one regular issue U.S. coin in a 49-year tenure, and succeeded to the Chief Engraver’s position only after his predecessor’s lack of imagination had caused coin design to be jobbed out of the Mint to more illustrious designers such as Augustus St. Gaudens and Victor D. Brenner. However, his one coin, the Morgan Dollar, is perhaps the best known U.S. coin today.

Born in Birmingham, England in 1845, Morgan attended the Birmingham Art School, and won a scholarship to the South Kensington Art School. He worked as an assistant under the Wyons at the British Royal Mint, and had the Wyon family not established a several-generation dynasty of engravers in the Tower Mint might have enjoyed a successful career there.

Morgan was brought to the Philadelphia Mint in 1876 as a “Special Engraver,” reporting directly to Mint Director Henry R. Linderman, whose office had been moved to Washington, DC, in 1873. Considering the Byzantine political system under which the Mint in Philadelphia operated in this era, with nepotism and political cronyism the order of the day, his action naturally makes one wonder what the 69-year-old Chief Engraver William Barber and his son, Assistant Engraver Charles Barber, thought of this arrangement. (more…)

By Doug Winter - CoinLink Content Partner - www.raregoldcoins.com

One of the most ambitious collecting projects ever undertaken was the No Motto half eagle set assembled by Chicago dealer Ed Milas. Not only did Mr. Milas attempt to assemble a complete set of these rare coins (struck between 1839 and 1866) but he did it, for the most part, in the highest grade possible. After working on this set for the better part of two decades, Milas sold his coins at auction through Stack’s in May, 1995.

The Milas set included 98 coins and was lacking only the 1842-C Small Date, 1854-S, 1863 and 1864-S to be totally complete. The coins ranged in grade from mid-AU to MS66 and included a host of individual pieces that were either Finest Known or high in the Condition Census for that specific issue. I would still rate this as one of the single greatest specialized U.S gold collections ever formed and it was one of the most interesting auctions that I ever attended.

I had seen a number of Ed’s coins on a piece-meal basis and had even sold him a few high-end Charlotte and Dahlonega coins indirectly. But it was with real excitement that I went to New York to view a collection that had attained true cult status among rare gold coin collectors and dealers alike.

I remember being very surprised to see that the Milas Collection had been sent to NGC to be graded. Stack’s, in the mid-1990’s seemed to sell far fewer encapsulated coins than their competitors and my initial reaction on viewing the coins in their holders was that NGC had gotten a little bit carried away in grading them. Of course today, these same coins in the same 1995 holders would seem almost quaintly undergraded. (more…)

Robert Scot - 1793-1823
The first Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from its inception in 1793 until his death in 1823. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Scot was trained first as a watchmaker, then learned the art of engraving. He came to the United States in 1778; in 1781 he was asked by Governor Thomas Jefferson of Virginia to engrave medals for presentation to Indian chiefs.

In 1793, Scot was appointed engraver of the United States Mint in Philadelphia, where he cut dies for a variety of cents and half cents. He designed the 1795–1797 $10 eagle, the 1797–1804 Heraldic Eagle, the 1794–1797 half cent, and the 1800–1808 draped bust type half cent. In addition, he designed the Thomas Jefferson Indian Peace Medal.

William Kneass - 1824-1840
Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Kneass Worked as an engraver in Philadelphia from 1805 to 1840, and became the second chief engraver of the United States Mint on January 29, 1824. During his tenure, he oversaw the production of United States gold coinage (1834–1838) and circulating coinage (1836–1838). Kneass was, along with William Barber, one of only two 19th century Chief Engravers not to have designed any major circulating coinage. Kneass’s wife was Mary Turner Honeyman Kneass. Samuel Honeyman Kneass, their son, was a notable Philadelphia-based civil engineer and architect. (more…)

The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, and read:

Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.

One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.

You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.

This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my hearth I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.

To you first I address a subject that must be agitated.

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