did you know the first V nickel in 1883 did not contain the word cent on it and the word cent was added later because people were painting them gold and passing them off as the five dollar coins. Does anyone else know of any interesting stories about coins.
The designer of the Roosevelt dime was John Sinnock. His initials are on the obverse of the dime in the field below the bust. There was quite a stir when these first came out because folks thought the JS stood for Josef Stalin.
Not entirely correct. They were called "trimes" by Snowden (I think that was his name) who was the Mint director at the time. The nickname never really took in the public arena. Today, they're only called trimes by collectors and not many at that. Now, the "double dime" was likely called that by the public during the times of the failed introduction of the 20-cent piece. Also, from 1856-1864, the copper-nickel Flying Eagle/Indian cents were called Nickels or Nicks. In 1865, the 3-cent nickel was called a Nickel. Then, the Shield Nickel, in 1866, finally earned the Nickel distinction that stuck with the 5-cent denomination as it is today.
In 1938 when the Jefferson nickel was released there was a tremendous rush to hoard them in anticipation of a recall due to a major error. Rumors ran rampant that the US flag had been left off of the White House on the reverse. Might have been a major error if the building was the White House and not Monticello.
Search the Groups.Google Rec.Collecting.Coins archives with Advanced Search for "Money Talks." The ANA produced a series of radio scripts for several years. They posted them to RCC in the last few years. They also recycled scripts. The first few years were collected into a book, available from the ANA. (One of my contributions after the book came out was that the Heart on Valentines came from the coins of the town of Cyrene (Kyrene) in North Africa, near where Bengazi in Libya is today. The heart shape represented the seeds of the silphium plant, a natural contraceptive.) Q. David Bowers has published no end of books of interesting stories about coins. Coins and Collectors, Fireside Stories, etc., etc., etc.
Did you know that the South African 3d. coin was called a Tickey? Well,the name was first recorded in 1877 to describe the British 3d.,which was circulating in South Africa at the time.When the South African Republic issued its first Kruger coins in 1892,the name 'Tickey' was applied to the 3d. The origin of 'Tickey' is in the Malayan word 'Tiga', which means '3',but the term didn't catch on until just before the First World War,when a circus was touring South Africa.There was a small clown,whose nickname was 'Tickey',but his real name was Eric Hoyland.The use of 'Tickey' spread to the Rhodesias,where it later was applied to the Southern Rhodesian 3d.,Rhodesia & Nyasaland 3d., the Rhodesian 3d.,& the Rhodesian 2-1/2c. South Africa's 2-1/2c. of 1961-64 were also called Tickeys.South Africa is striking Tickeys,but these are Proof-only medal-coins. In 1898,a mining magnate & personal friend of President Kruger by the name of Sammie Marks was granted permission to strike some Tickeys,but only in gold.There are 215 pieces known of the Sammie Marks Tickey.A few jewellers struck some contemporary copies of the Sammie Marks Tickey, but these do not have the dots after 'Z.A.R.'.I have got one of the contemporary jeweller's copies,which was struck in 22 Carat gold,just like the real Sammie Marks Tickeys.
The eagle on the Flying Eagle Cent was a real eagle that was a "pet" at the mint...it came when it had a hurt wing and the mint took care of it and one day while the engravers were working, it took flight in the building and one took it down on paper and then on the coin... Speedy
Speedy, That is an interesting story about the Flying Eagle Cent. I understand J. Longacre designed that coin. Was it he who was inspired by the (pet) eagle? I would like to know more, where did you read about this? Thank You, Dave
Dave Right now I can't remember where I read it...I think it was Longacre who did the first drawing of it... If I remember I'll let you know. Speedy
Hi fellas, There was an eagle that roosted in the early Mint building, on 7th Street in Philadelphia, in the early 19th century. It is said that the bird stayed there for about six years, and that the Mint employees named him "Peter". One day the bird's wing got caught in the flywheel of a coining press. The injury eventually lead to it's death. "Peter" was stuffed, and he resides in the Mint to this day. It is said that some early coin designs were modeled after his likeness, including the Eagle, and Double Eagle gold coins. The Flying Eagle cent design was adopted by Mint Director James R. Snowden, using the eagle design of the Gobrecht dollar, and the wreath design of the gold $1 and $3 coins. The obverse eagle was Christian Gobrecht's medallic enterpretation of a painting by Titian Peale, while the reverse wreath was James B. Longacre's work. Flying Eagle cent obverse... Gobrecht dollar reverse... Flying Eagle cent reverse... Three dollar gold reverse...
Speedy, I have heard that Peter, the Mint eagle, was the inspiration for Titian Peale's eagle graphic, but as with many so-called "historical facts", that might be as much legend, as anything else. Here is "Peter the Mint eagle"... LINK
Thank You Jody, The Gobrecht eagle on the obverse of the Flying Eagle Cent is a twenty year old design. That clears things up a-bit. The Red Book has J. Longacre as the designer of the Cent. But clearly i'ts C. Gobrecht's Eagle. Thanks, Dave
