For awhile now I have been thinking about posting this ..... The reason I'm doing it now is... that an commentary in 03/01/10 Coin World: Dealing with the Langbord 1933 St. Gaudens has fired off a though to sit down and post this. Now as most people know as American, or those of us in here who are from the states know.... "We love a good conspiracy." Be it Lincoln or Kennedy or any other situation that triggers our intrest. Since this is a coin fourm I wanted to present this thought. Thinking back as a young collector I remember quite a few coins that were known as "key coins" or on the most wanted list by collectors. Three legged Buffalo nickels 55 DD Lincoln, other misstrikes & Errors. This group also contains rare low mintage coins. Now here's where the conspiracy comes to play.... As a young collector I remember in 1964 going thought my paper collection money " from my news paper route" pulling out silver coins as my dad knew we were never going to see silver coinage again released to the public. He also knew something that most did not know . The U.S. goverment was trying to discourage collectors for hording coins. Maybe as I don't really know.. the US goverment wanted to reclaim the silver for its self. Maybe there was a coin shortage as it had been in the early /mid 1800's. Forcing others to coin tokens for the lack of US.minted coins. I do recall my dad talking about the goverment wanting try to put a stop to coin collecting. Thus no mint marks on the 1965 /66,& 67 coins. Just guessing myself as my dad has been long gone to ask but somehow someone woke up! Hey if the money is not in circulation you need not back it! In 1968 U.S. coins once again had mint marks. The goverment now saw coin collecting as a business that they wanted a piece of. The goverment now minting not just for usage but for sale . Now it just seems a bit strange to me that throught U.S. minting coins history there have been more than a few.... coins /coins sets / commemortives/gold coins / ASE/ Aluminum cents/ Medals/ etc..... that are... Mules /low mintages / mising mint marks/ not released to the public/5 of a kind items ...that somehow were released and now considered the holy grail of collecting! Some these coins being released in back room deals ...given to congress members who really had no right to them as they were property of the US mint. Others from dies altered by mint employees or even misstruck by mint employees on purpose. Reading the commentary in coin world I do agree with the writers ideas over the 10 Landbord coins. My question to you is this: Do you believe that this ,or other goverments have or had minted coins to gain the public eye or public interest to increase the popularity of this hobby? Again coins,notes or Numismatic items that are very Rare , Low mintage...or a Mule /Error items that would cause a stir in the coin collecting community as well make a great news release to the general public. What do you think?.......
I think - not. The mint hates rarities. And they go to extraordinary lengths to prevent them. And God forbid - to prevent any from being released should they be made by accident. The recent Zachary Taylor dollar for example - as soon a it was discovered that the error exited, the mint recalled all the coins to prevent any more from being released.
In the case of the Langbord case, why would the government spend years and more than the value of the coins themselves in lawyer fees, court fees, litigation, and time spent to promote themselves? If anything they've hurt the hobby in that when other such items surface, and they always do, people will keep it to themselves to avoid such a circus. Guy~
I hate conspiracy's, theory's, fear mongering, rumors, paranoid people, and all things routed in peoples fears or assumptions. A waist of my time which I have plenty!!!
No, the Mint has not officially done such a thing. However, there are many cases in the 1800s where mint workers manufactured restrikes, mules, and fantasy pieces in a clandestine and illegal manner. Ask any pattern collector. Most coins classified as patterns are legit and served a purpose, but not all.
More importantly, to answer your OP title question - NO, I do not love a conspiracy theory. I prefer truth based upon a scientific method evaluation of fact. The Truth, the Whole Truth, and nothing but The Truth. Conspiracy theorists have a bad habit of avoiding evidence and analysis which contradicts their pre-conceived notions. :hammer: America is a very broad and diverse nation - far more than most. It's wrong to characterize 300 million of us as "loving a conspiracy". We have a very lively and diverse marketplace of ideas here.
This is correct and they hate errors equally as much. If you really want to read something unbelievable from a mint official, and thier mind set see "The Authoritive Reference on Lincoln Cents, Wexler. Mr. Gasparro the chief engaver for 30 years, (1950's 60's and 70's) in an interview before he died stated flat out to variety experts who knew better, "no the mint never made mistakes, no doubling, nothing like that"! This statement during years when we have found and know of several thousands doubled dies, RPM's and everything else in the kitchen sink. This during the mints most prolific die blunders in history had the company stance so much he, Mr. Gasparro stated, "I don't think the Mint had errors"! This is a good representation of thier (the Mint's) mind set and how much they hate (and deny) errors, rarities and has he called them, "freaks!!! This interview is an unbelievable read - it's must read if you want to try and understand the Mint's hatred of such things!!!
