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How the first U.S. mint placed the face value on its coins.
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<p>[QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 4293666, member: 101855"]In the 1870s, the mint director cited "the evil of having two sizes of gold dollars circulating at the same time." He made an effort to melt as many Type I gold dollars as he could. The most obvious consequence of the policy was the spike in mintages for the 1873 and 1874 gold dollars. After that the mintages declined sharply.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the 1880s the mint actually made an effort to push the mintages higher to discourage numismatic speculation. Jewelers did demand their coins for their use, but speculators set them aside because of the low mintages.</p><p><br /></p><p>For example the mintage for the 1880 gold dollar was 1,600 plus 36 Proofs. The Proofs are rare today, but the business strikes are more common than you might think, given a mintage of 1,600. According to “Coin Facts” there are over 900 surviving 1880 gold dollars, and most of them grade MS-64 and better.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is an 1880 gold dollar. This one is graded MS-65 in an old holder.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1092997[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1092998[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>This 1882 is also graded MS-65 in an old holder.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1092999[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1093000[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 4293666, member: 101855"]In the 1870s, the mint director cited "the evil of having two sizes of gold dollars circulating at the same time." He made an effort to melt as many Type I gold dollars as he could. The most obvious consequence of the policy was the spike in mintages for the 1873 and 1874 gold dollars. After that the mintages declined sharply. In the 1880s the mint actually made an effort to push the mintages higher to discourage numismatic speculation. Jewelers did demand their coins for their use, but speculators set them aside because of the low mintages. For example the mintage for the 1880 gold dollar was 1,600 plus 36 Proofs. The Proofs are rare today, but the business strikes are more common than you might think, given a mintage of 1,600. According to “Coin Facts” there are over 900 surviving 1880 gold dollars, and most of them grade MS-64 and better. Here is an 1880 gold dollar. This one is graded MS-65 in an old holder. [ATTACH=full]1092997[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1092998[/ATTACH] This 1882 is also graded MS-65 in an old holder. [ATTACH=full]1092999[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1093000[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]
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How the first U.S. mint placed the face value on its coins.
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