I really like them! I personally LOVE the rays variety. I think the obverse looks like a gaming token from the golden era! I know this series isn't extremely popular, but I always like to check on these forums and see who else enjoys them. I have an 1866 rays in 64 and a 1867 rays in 61. (I want that 1867 in 64 as well but they are HARD to find nice.)
One of the first coins I ever had was a shield nickel, when I was probably six years old. It was horribly worn. All I knew was that it was either 1866 or 1867 because you could just barely see the rays...
I enjoy owning the ones I have. I have all the ones from the 60's. Come to think of it, I have two 66's. They're great coins.
The Mint had a bit of trouble getting them to come out as nice as we might like. Nickel is a hard metal, of course. By the time of the Buffalos, they had the process down pat. The Shield is a nice, balanced, deceptively simple design. I had a pretty good time researching Wharton for an article. I was impressed. In addition to the Mohon/Peters book, what references do you recommend? Michael "avid reader"
Here's a Shield nickel article that lists referance books at the bottom of the page: LINK Here's some free info on the history of the Shield nickel: LINK
Thanks for the links. I was hoping that Liberator could go into a bit of depth on the Fletcher book, actually. The links have bibliographies, but they both cite Breen and Taxay which are general and which everyone has. I have Carothers, but it is also an overview, mostly of the economics of small change, as opposed to the numismatics of 5-cent nickel coins. Of course, I would expect the Mohon/Peters book to be the standard reference... but that could be my own shortfall since I do not actively collect the series and I have interviewed Cindy and Gloria, so I am prejudiced. Liberator seems to be an active collector, so I figured he has the Fletcher book, for sure, and probably Wescott, too, and I was just wondering how he sized them up. Michael
I have always been a writer, no matter what other jobs I held. Even after earning a college degree in transportation management, I still wrote music reviews and such. I learned to program computers in 1977 and by 1984, it was pretty clear that I was the only programmer who actually wrote documentation, so I wrote a lot of it. Along the way, I started reviewing products for computer magazines. I had always been a "gold bug" a rightwing monetist and really an "Austrian" in economics, and therefore an active fan of coins and bars and such. I did not get interested in numismatics per se until 1992 and when I did, it was natural enough for me to write. A year or two later, the ANA granted me a couple of awards, and by 1999, I was the international editor of Coin World. Now, I edit the MSNS Mich-Matist and work the website at www.michigancoinclub.org for them. I still write an occasional feature for Numismatist and I keep up a monthly column for them, "Internet Connections." So, I interview people all the time and it pretty much ingratiates me to them as it does them to me. In the last 20 years or so, I have probably written two "exposes" and regretted them both. I do not do "60 Minutes." So, when I meet someone and write about them, it is a positive experience for both of us. The downside is that it prevents objectivity. So, I wanted to know from THE LIBERATOR how he evaluated the major references on the Shield Nickels he is so passionate about. Michael ANA R-162953
if you want to know about shield nickels - anything about shield nickels - I would recommend contacting this gentleman - Howard Spindel But be ready to talk for a while
So now I've gotten to thinking (not a good thing), a type set of US coins with rays would consist of????????
Yep Joe, you've definately been thinking too much. lol But, I guess for your "type set" of coins with rays, you'd have to have a Shield nickel, a Seated Liberty quarter, Seated Liberty half, Walking Liberty half, Kennedy half, Peace dollar, Liberty Head Double Eagle, Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle, and I won't even get into Commems, Medals or bullion. lol
