Prize for all participating + A Grand Prize

Thank you all for participating. These are some serious write-ups. I appreciate you participating in this contest. If you haven't already PM'd me your adress please do so. I was going to give a prize according to the series that you did, but there was just no way. A winner will be determined by this afternoon, and they will receive a grand prize. Nonetheless you will each receive atleast 10-20 dollar coin for participating. Much appreciated. The contest is now closed.

~Jason

 

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Aww nuts. Oh well, good luck to those who entered!

 

Ahhh Bummer, I was just about to post my essay, I thought I had till noon. Oh well
Thanks for the contest, it was interesting reading

 

Go ahead and post it.. We'll just let it run until noon. These are the adresses that I have so far. Kasia, TexasJarhead, tacobelldog, shamrock. That is it. If your name is not on the list. Please PM me your adress. For the sake of time, please put it in a 3 or 4 line format (as you would see it on an envelope). That way I can copy and paste.

 

Hawaiian Coinage

My favorite series begins its’ story in 1846, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In 1846, Kamehameha III, was King of the Kingdom of Hawaii. He worked hard to balance the changing world; against the needs of keeping his Kingdom’s intact. To meet the demand for coined money on the islands, Kamehameha III changed the Kingdom’s monetary policy tying it to that of the United States. This system provided for a unit known as the dala, based on the dollar. The dala was divided into 100 keneta, or cents. Several denominations of fractional silver coins were included in this system, as well as a copper piece to be valued at one keneta. The first coin to be acted on was the Keneta, or the one cent piece. 100,000 Kenetas where ordered in 1846 and they arrived in 1847. The coin was poorly received; the list of complaint included a poor quality coin, an unrecognizable portrait of the King, and merchants, who were "against very small transactions. There were rumors that many workers threw the coins in the ocean rather than accept them as just payment for their labor. Their legal status was removed in 1884, and the remaining coins where sold for scrap.




1846 Keneta

In 1881, King Kalakaua of Hawaii became the first king to travel around the world. He visited the United States, Japan, China, India, Egypt, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Austria, France, Spain, and Great Britain, among others. Silver five kenata patterns were struck by the owner of a New Caledonia nickel mine. These were shipped to the king for his approval. The first word in the Hawaiian royal motto, UA MAU KE EA O KA AINA I KA PONO (The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness) was misspelled. The obverse legend contains a second mistake, referring to Kalakaua as the KING OF SANDWICH ISLANDS instead of Hawaii. The Sandwich Islands was the European name for Hawaii. In addition pressure from sugar- magnate Claus Spreckels, certain that Hawaii was vital to the interests of both himself and the United States, influenced Kalakaua to have the coins struck by the USA to American standards. Whatever the reason, he rejected the New Caledonia coins and instead contracted the United States to provide silver coins.






Five Kenata Pattern

New coins were issued in 1883 by King Kalakaua; they included a dime, quarter, half dollar and a one dollar. In Hawaiian the coins where known by the following; umi keneta (dime) , hapaha (quarter dollar), hapalua (half dollar) and the akahi dala (one dollar) The denominations struck corresponded to those provided for in the law of 1846, with one exception. The hapawalu, or eighth dollar, was excluded from regular production in favor of the umi keneta, or dime. The master hubs and dies for this coinage were prepared by the United States Mint’s Chief Engraver, Charles Barber. The proofs where minted at the Philadelphia Mint. The eighth dollar, however, was included in the 20 proof sets struck at Philadelphia in 1884. Meanwhile the coins were struck by the San Francisco Mint, between November of 1883 and June of 1884, though all pieces bore the earlier date.




1883 Hapawalu

The coins remained in circulation after the American annexation of Hawaii in 1898. They were gradually withdrawn thereafter and replaced with American coins of the regular types. In 1903, Congress demonetized the coin series; retired pieces were returned to the USA and melted.


[TABLE="align: left"]

[TD="align: left"]SPECIFICATIONS:
[TABLE="width: 100%"]

Keneta or cent 1847:
Diameter: 27 millimeters
Weight: approximately 9 grams
Composition: copper
Number coined: 100,000
Net mintage after melting: 11,595+

Umi keneta or dime 1883:
Diameter: 17.9 millimeters
Weight: 2.5 grams
Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper
Number coined: 250,000 + 26 proofs
Net mintage after melting: 249,921


Hapawalu or eighth dollar 1883:
Diameter: 20.6 millimeters
Weight: 3.125 grams
Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper
Number coined: 20 proofs

Hapaha or quarter dollar 1883:
Diameter: 24.3 millimeters
Weight: 6.25 grams
Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper
Number coined: 500,000 + 26 proofs
Net mintage after melting: 242,600


Hapalua or half dollar 1883:
Diameter: 30.5 millimeters
Weight: 12.5 grams
Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper
Number coined: 700,000 + 26 proofs
Net mintage after melting: 87,755

Akahi dala or dollar 1883:
Diameter: 38.1 millimeters
Weight: 26.73 grams
Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper
Number coined: 500,000 + 26 proofs
Net mintage after melting: 46,348

[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TABLE]


Sources
Photos from www.coinfact.com

Coins of the Hawaiian dollar (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved Jan 19, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coins_of_the_Hawaiian_dollar
Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia Of U.S. And Colonial Coins" by Walter Breen

 

those were some nice write ups! I learned alot!

 

So I'm not getting a drapped bust gold coin? Lol

 

These are the current adresses that I have: Kasia, TexasJarhead, tacobelldog, shamrock, Boonbelly, LFC Fan, Porshe, Blisssrk, and Adam L. If you already sent me your adress and your name is not on the list please send it one more time. Thank You kindly. I am going to run some errands, and I will announce winner+futher details when I get home. TYVM for the informative posts.


~Jason

 

One of my favorite series is the Jefferson Nickel. In fact, if you look back at my very first post on CoinTalk, it was a wiki article that I wrote for this series. While some people see this coin as being boring, an example of many of the things wrong with modern coin design, I find a certain allure to these coins. However, what I enjoy more than anything about this coin is its history. So, let us take a look at the story of this modern coin.

Origins
1938 saw the 25[SUP]th[/SUP] year of coining the Buffalo Nickel and the Mint was interested in changing the design. After the success of the 1932 change for the Quarter to feature George Washington, it was decided that the new Nickel design should also feature a portrait of a Founding Father. Ms. Nellie Tayloe Ross, the current mint director, was an ardent admirer of Ben Franklin and suggested he be featured on the coin. However, it was decided that the person on the coin should be Thomas Jefferson since it was the 200[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary of his birth. As a side note, Ross eventually succeeded in getting Franklin featured on the half dollar in 1948.
Rather than give the job to one of the employees of the Mint, a competition was created with the prize of $1000 dollars going to the artist who was chosen. Almost 400 hundred people entered the competition. Here are a few of the designs that were submitted but not accepted:

http://stacksbowers.com/auctions/AuctionLot.aspx?LotID=235632

http://www.cointalk.com/t64015-2/

Out of all these designs, the one submitted by a German immigrant, Felix Schlag was selected. However, his original design was not as we saw it when it finally went into production. Here are some pattern coins that were made from his original designs:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1938-Jefferson-Nickel-Award-Winning-Design-Proof-and-BU-/200628298681

A display panel signed by Schlag with a proof 1938 Nickel:


http://www.cointalk.com/t58995/

This design was used until 1942 when the United States entered World War II.
Design and Composition Changes 1942-1945
The composition of a standard nickel is 75% copper and 25% nickel. However, after the United States joined the Allies in 1941, it became clear that metal allocations for the mint would not be able to be met. In order to free up these strategic resources for military applications, the mint set about changing the composition of the coins which used the most of these materials. Of course, chief among these changes was the cent which became steel with a zinc coating. However, the nickel also needed to be changed in order to free up more of these resources. The one resource that the mint had plenty of was silver, as it was not needed in large quantities for the war effort. They combined the silver (35%) with copper (56%) and manganese (9%) to produce an alloy which would still work in vending machines and would free up the nickel and some of the copper. To indicate coins with this change in alloy, the mint also moved the mint mark, which had been placed to the lower right of Monticello, to above it and dramatically increased its size.
There are two major impacts that came about because of this on the coin collecting community. The first is that it offers roll searchers and other collectors of silver coinage another chance to find these coins for face value. This is especially true because many people do not realize that this change had been made, and so there are still quite a few war nickels in circulation. The second impact is toning. While the standard composition of nickels can tone, usually into a blue, the war nickels tone much more readily due to the silver content. However, the addition of the manganese also affected the color of the toning. Many war nickels, especially those that have circulated, end up with just a dark tarnish. But, for those uncirculated examples, a wide variety of toning is available with a vast arrange of colors, especially greens.

After the end of World War II, the standard design and composition were again resumed.

Post WWII design changes
During the time after the war, there were a number of minor changes made to the nickel. Starting in 1966 the initials of Felix Schalg were added to the coin design under the bust of Jefferson. In addition, the mint mark was moved from the reverse of the coin to the obverse starting in 1968. However, the largest change took place in 2004.
Aside from being the person who wrote the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson is best known for the Louisiana Purchase and the subsequent expedition he sent into it. The bicentennial of this expedition was in 2004-2005 and it was decided that they should be commemorated on the nickel. Four different reverses were designed for it, two produced each year, combined with a new portrait of Jefferson for 2005.

After this run, there was some debate on whether or not changes would be made to the coin. Due to some political pressure, the reverse returned to the design of Monticello which had been on the coin previously. However, a new portrait was done for the obverse featuring Jefferson looking forward rather than the traditional profile view. This new obverse was done by Jamie Franki. These are the designs currently being used by the mint.

Collecting Jefferson Nickels
One of the great things about the Jefferson Nickel series is that it is fairly easy to complete. There are only a few dates which have any sort of substantial value. Notable in this category are the 1938 coins, the 1939 D and S, and the “key date” of the series, 1950 D. In all of these cases, the coins are not all that rare and Mint State condition coins can be had for $50 and often times well under.
Jefferson Nickels also provide an opportunity for roll searchers as it is still very possible to find the entire series in circulation. Although the 1950 D was hoarded by collectors and dealers at the time, there is still a small chance to find them in circulation because the number produced by the mint was a whopping 2.5 million.
Where collecting Jefferson nickels can get expensive is in finding examples that are well struck and show “Full Steps.” This designation, which often appears as FS on certified examples, refers of the steps on the reverse of the coin. There are six steps on the design of Monticello, but on many business strike coins there are only a few of these complete. Because of this, a coin which shows five or six steps which are complete and not impaired can have large premiums. However, on some issues these five step coins can be fairly common. This is particularly true on the nickels during WWII. Presumably the fact that nickel, a very hard metal, was replaced with silver, a much softer metal, made the strike on the coins much easier and thus more detail was imparted.

Oops, guess I am still late.

 

Hey Koen, for someone who didn't have anything to write about, you did a smash-up job ( very nice).
I loved the historical time input on each involving coin. Makes one want to collect this series based on your information.

Thanks for a nice write-up.


Dave

 

How did I manage to miss this contest???? Urg.
Great write-ups here though guys.

 

Very nice write-up Tacobelldog52.

Dave

 

Thanks! I really appreciate it. For anyone that hasn't looked at the series its an interesting one.

 

Jason, I want to commend you for running such an informative, educational contest. Without a doubt, it has been at the top of the best. I personally have learned more about coins on these essays than I could ever condense from books.
Although most all were good write-ups, Some in particular I have saved for future referance. I became so engrossed in reading each article (I am a slow reader), that I did not have time to participate in the contest, but I am a winner for reading the articles. I only wish it would not have ended.

Thank you Jason for being a helping hand in motivating YN and us older generation in the study and collecting of coins.

Dave

 

Thank you
Tried my best to make something of it, but uit was not easy since i have no experience with writing such things, no experience with collecting coins and my native language is not English
But im happy you liked it

And if you want to start collecting them, let me know, i will ask everybody i know if they have some old belgian coins left

 

First and foremost, thank you all so very much for participating in the contest. This is the largest I have done to date, and I (we) learned a great deal from your in-depth articles. I appreciate the time, energy, and effort put forth in your research/documentation.
Without further ado I would like to announce the winner(s). By the narrowest of margin (2 Votes) the winner is drum roll… _____________________tacobelldog52________________________ Congratulations. Your article on the half dime was thorough, well written, interesting, and informative. You received the most votes from Coin Talk senior numismatists. For your efforts, you will be rewarded by the beautiful naturally toned Washington Quarter, as well as a 1935G Silver Certificate. Congratulations sir. Moving on… there was a tie for 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] place. That going to zach24 and koen. Congratulations you two. Zach, for your wonderful article on the Seated Liberty, you will be awarded a 1914 VF Barber Quarter, as well as a 1953b (red-seal Jefferson two-dollar bill. Finally, koen. Although English is not your native language, you put together an outstanding piece on the 1 Franc as well as an elaborate time-line of the history of Belgium. Thank you for sharing. Seeing that Belgium has seen so much war, and been dubbed “The Battleground of Europe,” I found it fitting to award you with a 1923 Peace Dollar.
I would like to mention that although these 3 were in the top for votes, just about every person who responded was given a vote or mentioned in a positive manner from CT Senior Numismatists. All contest articles were scanned for piracy and despite (a few copied sentences) no articles were copied.
All U.S./Canada shipping will be mailed out tomorrow, and International shipping will be sent out on Monday.
Thank you again for participating and voting. Remember all that wrote an article will receive a prize. If you did not PM me your address please do so by tomorrow. I did not mean to exclude any senior numismatists in the voting process, it was a matter of who was on during the same time that I was.
Thank You Kindly,
~Jason Becker

(If deemed appropriate by CT administration, I humbly request that the article written by tacobelldog52 be published on the homepage)

 

It was fun. I learned a lot as well.

 

Thanks to JCB for the contest and grats to the winners!

Awsome prizes as well!

 

Wow! I'm really honored that I got 2nd place. These were all so great, I know I couldnt have chosen just one.

Justin, I appreciate the contest, and not to be greedy, can't wait to receive my prize. I'm super excited!

So, I must ask, how many Senior members voted? How did that work out, did they only choose one?

Like, Texas, I learned a lot, too. This is certainly being saved into my favorites!

Coingrats Taco Bell, and Koen!