Are there U.S. struck piedfort coins and is there a numis market for them? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedfort
The only piedfort-style U. S. coin I know is the 2009 Ultra High Relief Gold Double Eagle. http://www.coinnews.net/2008/07/29/2009-ultra-high-relief-double-eagle-gold-coin-preview-images/
Yes, thanks, also. I had read the term a year ago, but at my age I need a reminder (or two, or three...). Steve
I'm not familiar with any coins other than the 2009 UHR, but the Mint has produced piedfort medals in the past. I have one of the Statue of Liberty in silver. Chris
I have a piedfort 6 pence, not sure when or where I bought it, but I always thought it was interesting. Looking for an American piedfort, I ran into this...mintage of only 65!!! http://www.apmex.com/product/87866/2015-great-britain-5-platinum-winston-churchill-proof-piedfort
I have piedforts from Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Israel and France. Never knew anything from the USA in coins or medals was considered a piedfort. You learn something every day.
You'll see the French version of the word "piefort" more commonly, I think (at leat, I have). Not sure why the English translation has an extra 'd'. The French mint made many of them. They were double thick coins, often made in small quantities, and sold in sets. They were a form of collector coin. Pieforts are often in a business strike format. They also made "essai," which were specimen strikings at the normal thickness. These often have a noticeably superior strike and finish. These coins always have "essai" written in very small letters somewhere on the coin. The best are "pieforts with essai." These are double-thick coins with the essai quality finish. They had the smallest mintages, and can be quite impressive.
You have it the wrong way around. The original French spelling was piedfort. The English misspelled it as piefort. Also, piedfort coins often (mostly) come as proof strikings, so not sure where you got the "business strike format" information. Just do a search on eBay for "piedfort" and you'll see the vast majority of modern piedforts are "proof" strikings. Historically, I'd say it's about half and half struck with proof like (by USA definition) surfaces. Lots of generalizations here that are also not really true. ESSAI is sometimes struck on the coin as part of the legend, in the same size as other text. And, essai coins by and large do not have different "quality finish" -- but they are simply very carefully struck and at higher pressures -- so they are usually considered what we in the USA would call "specimen" pieces. EDIT: And, as @Dave M has pointed out below, many of the older French coins labeled as "ESSAI" are actually equivalent to what we would call "patterns" in the USA parlance.
French Essai coins include those designs created that were never used (sometimes by "concours"), so wouldn't that correspond to the english term "pattern" more than "specimen"?
Yes, ESSAI can and does correspond to multiple definitions of what people call things in the USA parlance. The TPGs tend to grade modern essais with either "proof" or "specimen" grade designations, but many of the old French essais (viz. Mazard) would more fit the definition of patterns by US terms. Thus my comment that the reply of physicsfan was making too many generalizations -- and the USA equivalent of the use of the term essai depends on the country, year, and other things.
@brg5658 I think I am basing my statements here on what I've seen with mid-20th century French colonial issues (particularly Morocco). Thanks for the education on other issues - apparently, these terms are not standardized and could come in a variety of appearances.
Non-standardized would be an accurate description. Even the TPGs get confused and use various terms and strike designations for the same coin (MS, PR, and SP). The confusion is similar for Prova, Probe, and other terms used in European countries. Sometimes the terms simply don't translate directly.
I never heard of Piedfort until I came across this "sandwich" coin. Three planchets: Two 1/2 oz gold planchets with a gold-clad silver planchet in the middle. At first I thought it was a joke -- especially given the skimpy website: https://www.trumpdollar.us/ Then I googled the "monetary architect" behind this coin (Bernard von NotHaus). Still on probation for his 2014 Liberty Dollar conviction -- and he's at it again! There's even an April 27th first-day-of-issue event. $29 gets you in the door: https://www.trumpdollar.us/first-day-of-issue-event-admission.html Might be exciting to attend... maybe the Feds will raid the party -- and confiscate everything (again). If you're still thinking of risking your money, I'd advise against it: https://www.reddit.com/r/Silverbugs/comments/4de3we/trump_dollar_group_buy/
