Coin Talk

Many numismatic writers have labeled the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mints as "twins" because the facilities had so much in common. For example, both mints were established for the same purpose, to convert the bullion taken from the southern gold fields into United States coins. Both mints were built from the same plans drawn up by architect, William Strickland. They shared the same dates of operation from 1838 until the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. Each mint had similar mintages during that 24 year period, and both mints faced similar technical problems which gave their products distinctive appearances that set them apart from their Philadelphia Mint counterparts. Finally coin collectors regard the surviving examples of the Charlotte and Dahlonega Mint products as rare and exotic collectors' items. There is a romantic aura around them which often draws attention, even from those who do not specialize in southern gold.

In contrast, the two mints had a number of differences....

I am a type collector, and one of the "sleepers" in the U.S. gold type set is the Type II Liberty double eagle (1866 - 75). This coin has the motto, "In God we trust," on the reverse, but the value is defined as "TWENTY D." instead of "TWENTY DOLLARS" as it is on the Type III Liberty Double Eagle.

This type is not rare or scarce overall, but it is hard to find in strict Mint State. The coins were too valuable to pull from circulation and put in a collection "back in the day," and none of them have been recovered from shipwrecks like the SS Central America.

Here is the coin in my collection, an 1873, Open 3 Double Eagle. This piece is graded PCGS MS-63 and for that reason I paid a strong price for it at auction. Another, almost identical piece in the same auction sold for similar money. A few years ago, any Mint State grade higher than MS-63 was very hard to find and MS-65 graded pieces were virtually impossible.



A...

While obvious to the seasoned folks, I felt it might be a good topic to touch on.

It’s easy to see the difference between an MS67 and MS61 Morgan, but once we depart from the high end, the severity of marks and surface quality continue to separate the choice coins from the average.

It’s easy to think of a Fine-12 and imagine a somewhat dinged up coin with decent surfaces that still retains enough design detail for a Fine grade. There are lots of coins that fall into that category that warrant their straight grade as they haven’t been harshly cleaned and aren’t environmentally or otherwise damaged beyond what is (by most) accepted as the threshold for these imperfections.

With a discerning eye though, we can aim to select lower grade coins that have the wear to warrant that grade but survived their lifetime of circulation and subsequent downtime more gracefully than a lot of their peers.

This 1821 Bust quarter is a recent purchase that illustrates this concept perfectly in my...

One of the great disappointments for the citizens of Dahlonega was that none of the local people were ever able to land one of the high paying positions at the mint. "Foreigners," as they put it, always ended up with the plum appointments, like Mint superintendent, assayer, coiner or clerk, who was the superintendent's assistant. The local citizens were lucky if they were hired as handymen. The superintendent's job, which paid $2,000 a year, was particularly vulnerable to local agitation and criticism because, unlike the assayer and coiner, it seemed to the citizens of Dahlonega that no specialized qualifications were required.

The first superintendent was Joseph Singleton. Singleton was not a strong manager, and the people who worked under him showed him little respect. In addition there were long delays in converting bullion to coins, which angered those who deposited gold at the mint for coinage. A good part of the blame for the long delays went to assayer Joseph Farnum, who...

I write these articles for my local club. Once they are done, there not much to do with them other than sit on my computer. Maybe you will enjoy some of them so here goes. This is the first part of a history of the Dahlonega Mint.


In 1828 Benjamin Parks stepped on a yellow rock in the woods in the vicinity of Dahlonega, Georgia. Parks quickly deduced that piece was large gold nugget, but he couldn't keep his discovery secret for long. Before the end of the decade 15,000 people invaded the area which became the site of America’s first gold rush. Nine out of ten of these prospectors would never "strike it rich," but they did create a colorful chapter in American history.



Benjamin Parks

Most of these men and women were a rough and tumble, hard drinking lot. They founded towns like Nuckollsville which was named after the owner of a hotel and tavern in the area. Some people thought that "Knucklesville" would have been more appropriate because of...

I have wanted one of these coins for quite some time. It is rare to find one with the any of the original silvering intact but this coin retains hints of the silvering on both the obverse and reverse. So far it is my only coin of 2019 so I can say with confidence it is my favorite coin so far this year!


Roman Empire
Julian II (AD 360-363)
AE1, Antioch mint, struck ca. AD 361-363
Dia.: 28 mm
Wt.: 8.7 g
Obv.: D N FL CL IVLI-ANVS P F AVG: Diademed, cuirassed bust right.
Rev.: SECVRITAS REI PVB; Bull, head facing, standing right. Two starts above
Ref.: RIC VIII 216, pg 532
Ex Frank S. Robinson (Auction 107 lot 389)

Julian the Apostate
Julian was a fascinating historical figure and is one of my favorite emperors of the later empire. He is best known as the last polytheist emperor of the Roman Empire but he was also a talented philosopher, intellectual and military leader. Those interested in reading an...

Normally I am just an armchair archaeologist, but this is a tale of a bit of coin sleuthing. This is about a pair of coins that I acquired at auction that came with their original tags. These coins were my first entry into making serious acquisitions into a more expensive level of collecting.

The two coins I acquired were Byzantine Hyperpyron gold coins. The coins were acquired at a European Auction and they were said to be from an old Swiss collector with original tickets.

I was happy with the coins sitting in my collection with the original envelopes from the dealer J Schulman. Something that made them special.

JACQUES SCHULMAN

NUMISMAAT

Keizersgracht 448

Amsterdam-C

Ticket numbers 2117 and 2104

I could have stopped there but in a moment of free time I looked up the original dealer on the internet. To my surprise I found this article.

http://www.numismaticmall.com/numismaticmall-com/schulman-jacques


In the article I found not...

Threads where people post images of their coins seem to be popular. Some go by date, some by country, others by theme, etc. Along the way I see occasional comments about not being aware of a country until a coin is posted. This got me thinking of the concept of a world tour, where we travel around the globe posting coins along the way. You never know, you may find out more about world geography!

If this seems interesting you then please play along. There are only three rules:

1. Your post must be a coin from a country which shares a border with the previously posted country. Date is not important.
2. If a country is on the ocean then any country across the ocean is acceptable as long as there is a direct, straight line between them with no intervening countries.
3. You cannot return to the previous country. That is, if the previous two countries are France and Spain you cannot return directly to France. This rules needs an exception only in the case of countries such...

Just received this neat Trajan Dupondius celebrating the the Via Traiana, constructed at Trajan's own expense between AD 109 and AD 113, replaced the Via Appia as the usual route between Brindisium to Beneventum, serving as an important link between Rome and the East.
Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ Dupondius (13.32 g, 6h). Struck circa AD 112-115. Radiate bust right, wearing aegis / VIA TRAIANA, female (Via Traiana) reclining left, holding wheel on knee and branch; S C in exergue. RIC II 641 corr. var. (no aegis); BMCRE 998 note. SR 3226. Purchased March 2019, Moneta (VCoins) Thanks Kenn.
A map below shows Trajan's new road Via Traiana branching off from Via Appia at Benevento.

One of the best investments ever made by the Romans was their road system, which included at least 250,000 miles of roads designed for high-speed travel that was reliable virtually year-round. No less than eleven of these major roads entered Rome, giving rise to...

Something interesting that I cannot remember seeing on medieval billon deniers outside of the Holy Land - a very nice iridescent golden glow:



This is a denier of Bohemond V (cf. Malloy 126, Metcalf Class O, Allen Type 6), one of the last billon coins of the Principality of Antioch.

AE16mm, 0.49g, billon denier, minted in the Citadel of Antioch or at a secondary location in the Principality(?), cca. 1235/1240 and later.

+ BOAMVNDVS; helmeted bust l., mail composed of crescents, crescent and star flanking the bust l and r.
+ ANTIOCHIA; cross, inverted crescent in second quarter.


The type is called "Late Style" and is recognizable by the smaller flan and low weight. These late issues are of very fine craftsmanship, have complete legends and correct spelling with clean and fine lettering. The type was probably minted well into the 1240s and even later, but its terminus post quem of cca. 1235 is based on the analysis of the al-Mina hoard (Malloy p.191,...