Return Of Discontinued Coins

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Williammm, Jul 20, 2019.

  1. Williammm

    Williammm Member

    Has there ever been a time a coin was discontinued but was brought back years or decades later? Example a one cent coin was discontinued but returned 17 years later?
     
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  3. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

    The Morgan dollar took a 16 year break.
    The Peace dollar took a 5 year break.
     
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  4. Oldhoopster

    Oldhoopster Member of the ANA since 1982

    Susan B Anthony dollar was on hold for 18 years. 1981 - 1999
     
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  5. Stevearino

    Stevearino Well-Known Member

    Walking Liberty half dollars had several breaks: none made in 1922, 1924-26 and 1930-1932.

    Steve
     
  6. QuintupleSovereign

    QuintupleSovereign Well-Known Member

    I think there are quite a few examples of this happening, albeit for vastly different reasons. Just off the top of my head:

    Silver Dollars: stopped in 1804, resumed in 1836 (Gobrecht), stopped in 1873, resumed in 1878, stopped in 1904, resumed in 1921, stopped in 1935, brought back in 1964 (sorta...).

    Gold coinage: Stopped in 1916 due to WW I suspension of convertibility, resumed off and on from 1920 onward, depending on the denomination.
     
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  7. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Well-Known Member

  8. JCro57

    JCro57 Making Errors Great Again

    Choclate coins circulate around every Easter
     
  9. TheGame

    TheGame Well-Known Member

    The denomination was made in the vast majority of years in between, though. Sure, it didn't explicitly have its decimal denomination, but it's not correct to say it was discontinued. On a related note, at the time the florin was introduced, the half crown was discontinued for a bit over 20 years in order to encourage use of the florin.

    World coins do have a lot of examples of denominations going long periods between mintages. One that's coming to mind is the El Salvador 3 centavos, which was minted in 4 years: 1889, 1913, 1915, and 1974.
     
  10. WashQuartJesse

    WashQuartJesse Member Supporter

    Hi William,

    I’ve been assembling an Indian $2.50 gold quarter eagle set, which is a great example of a series being discontinued and later, resumed. This series ran from 1908-1929, but as QuintupleSovereign pointed out, there weren’t any 1916-1924 coins, produced. It’s common understanding that the discontinuation was due to the “war.” Many scholars/historians have covered this in depth, specifically, the discontinuation due to the Trading with the enemy act of 1917.


    The production of $2.50 Indians resumed in 1925. I collect AU examples of this entire series, and it’s extremely evident that these post-war coins were less circulated than their predecessors. When these post-war examples were introduced, it’s my understanding that they typically wound up in the hands of collectors or holiday gift recipients. During the 1st part of this series, some relatively common-place circulation is said to have taken place, out West.

    I am collecting/assembling a slabbed circulated business strike set of this series. Given my constraints, it’s proven difficult to locate the “common” post-war coins in my desired grade. This could be due to a number of reasons, including, the lower value of these coins in relation to TPG certification costs. Still, it’s my opinion that these post-war coins were, predominantly, held as novelties/curios/collectibles (in the hands of the better-off) vs. “spending money” (in the hands of Joe Average). If this weren’t the case, the economic collapse of 1929 should have guaranteed a lesser availability of the vast number of uncirculated examples we see today. For those of you that are not familiar w/ this series, more certified gem uncirculated coins exist, than circulated examples. I remember GDJMSP describing a similar occurrence w/ Peace Dollars, years ago (these series overlap).

    I’m very anxious to post a complete collection of this series in my chosen circulated grade, but ironically enough, it’s the “common” 1929 example I CAN NOT locate. Anyone looking to purchase a graded MS example, will find many options available (in this and all post-war dates), granting them the type of selectivity I could only dream of in my chosen grade.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2019
  11. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    There have been a number of coin series that were minted, halted and then went back into production. Older and modern.
     
  12. daveydempsey

    daveydempsey Well-Known Member

    In 1797, during the reign of George III, the Cartwheel Twopence piece was struck.
    It weighed 2 ounces (57.7g)

    The weight meant that the coin was very susceptable to edge knocks.

    The coin was found to be too heavy for regular use, and no more copper or bronze twopence coins were struck until decimalisation in 1971.

    A gap of 174 years.
     
  13. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    And that, the reasons, are really the crux of the issue. And they vary widely from country to country and date range to date range. Sometimes it's because no coins of a given denomination are need in a particular year or group of years. Other times it's a political consideration, or maybe because of war. Other times it's due to a materials shortage, or even rampant counterfeiting by other nation states. And with some coins there have multiple reasons, each occurring in different time frames. The reasons are almost as numerous as the coins affected.

    The Netherlands gold ducat for example. It was first struck in 1586, and is still being minted today in the same basic design and specs. But there have been many, many gaps - years where none were minted - and for many different reasons, including all of those I mentioned above. But each time it has come back.
     
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