Belated season greetings friends. This coin I disgaurded a while back mainly because it's drilled. ( why do people do that ?):-/ To my understanding this year (1867) the mint was having issues with the production of the 5 cent Rays , no rays design . Does this coin show the type of problems they encountered during minting process . It's not in the best condition but there is evidence of die deterioration, grease fill and a possible doubling.. Any feedback is always appreciated. Thanks friends.
I'm not sure, but some of the problems may be attributed to the process by which the hole was drilled or heavy usage. It may be that there is some die deterioration, but I see no doubling. I'm not well read in error coins so I might be wrong.
The mint had problems with ALL the shield nickels due to the alloy. They had problems with laminations and the hardness of the alloy quickly caused the dies to break down. This meant they need so many more dies that the die shop couldn't keep up and a lot of defective and improperly finished dies were put into use.
Great info guys, Thankyou. 1st lesson learnt of 2015 " check everything " I noticed the crack running down through T ,the number doubling, Not sure what you would call the line running across the top of lettering , the" crease" top left of shield and of course the missing G in God . Do appreciate a coin that tells a story. Thankyou for taking a look.
Nice find it's a RPD 1867 and as stated above due to the alloy and being one of the first nickels produced . To address your first question why this was drilled. Well in those days 5 cents was a lot of money. Sailors drilled quite a few coins as one it was not illegal to do so two you would wear around your neck for two reasons. First you slept in tight quarters and wearing your money around your neck was safe as if someone tried to take it you wake up. Second if the ship went down you had your money with you....no time to go get it while the ship was sinking . I love shield nickels.... they are relatively cheap, full of misplaced dates ,over dates,repunched dates,missing leaves,clash marks and die cracks. There are more varieties still waiting to be discovered in this series then are listed in cherry pickers guide! Yes it's true....plus as stated above a die only lasted 10,000 to 12,000 strikes ....thus more errors and varieties to find as the die wore out. At first your's looked to me a missing leaf but when I looked closer it looks to have a small leaf on the right side 2 ND from top group. Maybe a die fixed from a missing leaf variety . You have a nice specimen there drilled or not. Nice pick up.....two thumbs up
Look at the base of the one just under the foot See The Primary ONE Under The Re punch? Just a small tab under the _1_. So all of the date repunched. BTW look into the denticals under 1 & 8 there's something there too,the picture to grainy for me to see what it is.
here are just a few items to look for when looking at a shield nickel. The 1869 look at the ball see the little tab coming out the left? that's a misplaced date. the one flag. the 1869 look at the leaf missing on the right side second group from the top. RPD's and all sorts of strange things like the lines that run through the shield.
The utmost top grade background info paddy54. Thankyou , I never knew that about the holes my immediate thought was that it was a modern alteration which spoilt the coin. The history you gave was awesome. It's travelled a long way to get to me here.(Wales / UK). Here's a couple of extra pics, there is like you say something under 8-6. Will try to filter the pic tomorrow to lift an image. Very much appreciated Thankyou.. Great information all.
Well from a fellow Welshman you're more than welcome . Well half as I'm half Irish too! Don't hold that against me... cheers
Look at the last picture in your original post it shows the hole as well as the reverse of the coin. This is an great shot of the die marker of the star just under "of" notice the star point at 12 o'clock points between the o & f. That same star counter clockwise the next point is broken. That shows that this coin is the reverse hub lla. There were four reverse l,lla,llb,llc. Depending on date and placement of stars is how you determine the reverse of this series . Your's is 1867 without rays obv. Hub A Rev hub lla. As to its variety it's a RPD not listed in my guide,however the date shows some signs of other known RPD specimens. It's always nice to find some sort of oddities on a coin you pick up. Cheers.
Cheers paddy, a , the name is a giveaway the Irish I guessed but went with American/Irish . Irish/ welsh .. Great mix , Well I'm Cardiff born, grandfather English, grandmother Irish , father welsh , mother scots/Irish . Won't hold that against u at all . Forgive me my English tint . I am a Celt and that's what matters. I am a true believer of a journey is never over until u arrive home. I think that it's only right that this coin finds its way back home. I would like to send it to you , I have learnt a great deal from this coin also from your self it seems right that you have it. If u pm me an address or somewhere I could post it on to will oblige.. Thankyou again paddy54 for your time and knowledge.[emoji4]
Well I'm American Irish 3 Rd generation . My mother did get to go to Ireland before she passed years ago. I have traveled a lot mostly US,Canada,Caribbean , central America . One day I'll make it home to Cork. As to your offer I will accept your kindness as I too have sent items home to their country of origin. It must be a Welsh thing. LOL But only if you'll allow me to return something back across the pond. At least back to the island UK. That way the process will be complete . Let me know and I will pm you my information. Thanks again and I'm very happy that you enjoyed the knowledge I had to offer. Cheers Paddy
