The coolest piece I have seen walk in the door in a while...

Hey gang!

I thought you guys might like to see a coin I was lucky enough to see today. This is a pattern piece numbered as J-2185. This was struck from a so called "Nonsense die" by the US mint in 1999. They struck this piece to do some initial testing for what eventually became the blanks for the Sac dollars. It's struck on a planchet that's manganese over a copper core and weighs 8 grams. This piece is listed as a high R7 - low R8 which means that between 7-10 pieces exist. I grade this piece as an MS62/63 as it looks like it spent a little time with some other coins. The owner has wished to remain anonymous. I was lucky enough to be able to snap some pictures and wanted to share. This just goes to show that this stuff is still being discovered or brought out of the woodwork these days. Enjoy!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Nice! Did you buy it? Did the guy want to sell it, and if so, how much did he want?

 

I did make an offer on it... I had to... just too cool not to make an offer on. We'll see if I can get it bought.

 

Keep us posted. Rare piece, right there

 

That is one nice coin!

 

Actually doing a little more research this piece was struck with a non manganese alloy which is indicated by the "N"'s on the obverse and is not J-2185 but rather J-2188 which has the same rarity.

 

Just curious... how does something like this get out? These weren't issued for circulation, right? So is this just another typical story of some insider in the mint getting their hands on experimental pieces and selling them privately?

Why does it seem that most extremely rare and expensive coins were illegally or at least suspiciously obtained?

 

How would a person originally esquire a coin like this? Mint worker?

 

Matt

Okay, just for fun, if I could buy it, what would it cost?

[Not that I could afford it, but.. just for fun.]

 

I wonder how this ever got out of the mint!

 

Thanks for posting, Matt. Please keep us updated if you acquire it. Very cool.

 

They are not mega expensive. The last one that sold was graded by NGC as a 66 and it sold in 2008 for north of $5,800. Unfortuneately this piece isn't as nice... but still a scarce piece.

 

My research is also telling me that the dies for these were not only used at the mint but at a couple of companies that produce change sorting and bill changing machines... they were allowed to strike their own pieces to see if they could calibrate their machines to make sure that the new dollar coins were the only thing that could be put into their machines.

 

Is the price as low as it is because it was NIFC ?

I mean some rarities don't seem to be as much in demand as much more common items, but you would think it would be very valuable ?

gary

 

Wow, great coin. I didn't know they still did a lot of pattern coins.

 

Very cool to see a coin like that!! :thumb:

 

Very Cool thanks for posting it!

 

Matt, you may have already known about or found this web site , but if not, here's another link for your research:

Martha Washington Test Pieces from byersnc.com

 

Thanks Krispy! I remember reading about these when they were first discovered and I remember Mike being "the guy" on these things when they were finding them.