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Newly Reported Variety Dahomey 1971 100 Francs Silver? See If You Can Tell
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<p>[QUOTE="NPCoin, post: 4871608, member: 5629"]I used the term "hallmark" for ease of reference after the first post and as not to "give away" the difference so soon. But <i>hallmark</i> and <i>counterstamp</i> would both be incorrect usages (that is, unless the mint actually countermarked their inventory themselves prior to distribution, which I'll explain later, in which case it would be a <i>counterstamped mint mark</i>). A <i>counterstamp</i> indicates a mark created after the minting of the coin. A <i>hallmark</i> is akin to a <i>trademark</i>, that is to say, an identifier and assurance of the one producing the item.</p><p><br /></p><p>It may seem a petty thing to point out the difference, but it could prove quite important in understanding why this difference is there. Now, the <i>1000</i> and <i>999.9</i> within the <i>oval</i> would properly be referred to as the <i>fineness</i>. The <i>1 AR</i> is actually a mint mark. This mint mark was used by the <i>Gori & Zucchi Mint</i> (a private mint located in Arezzo, Italy).</p><p><br /></p><p>Now, there are actually five varieties of this coin if you want to include the placement of the "1 AR" mint mark as a variety, as well as the <i>999.9</i> fineness mark as in this specimen (note that this could possibly be a counterfeit?):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1176419[/ATTACH]</p><p>Now, for a mintage of only 4650 coins, one would have to wonder why so many different varieties. Well, during this time, the mint was contracted to produce precious metal NCLT coins for a wide number of countries. And, although each release mintages were generally small, when added together it became quite the task.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, the <i>Gori & Zucchi Mint</i> would subcontract to other mints. One of these contracted mints was the <i>Staaliche Munze</i> in Karlsruhe, Germany. <i>Gori & Zucchi</i> would provide the blanks and dies for these mints and they were simply to produce the pieces. <i>CoinWeek</i> had an in-depth article in March 23, 2015 about the Korean gold and silver commemoratives of 1970 (<a href="https://coinweek.com/coin-guide/the-five-millennia-history-of-korea-gold-and-silver-commemorative-coins-of-1970/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://coinweek.com/coin-guide/the-five-millennia-history-of-korea-gold-and-silver-commemorative-coins-of-1970/" rel="nofollow">link</a>).</p><p><br /></p><p>Within the article, it did make mention that the gold coins minted in Germany were not of the same fineness as the ones being shipped from <i>Gori & Zucchi</i>. I believe the placement of the <i>1 AR</i> mint mark was a measure to identify those coins that were produced in house as opposed to those that were subcontracted elsewhere.</p><p><br /></p><p>It is very possible that the mint mark had been countestamped (which would make sense) as a measure to identify the coins actually produced by <i>Gori & Zucchi</i> to their clients. Once the current stock had been depleted (which may have only been a handful of trial strikes), new dies (with the <i>999.9</i> fineness mark) may have been produced and not distributed to subcontractors. Obviously, the difference in the design would require trial and error to find just the right placement for the fullest strike.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, this is all speculation without any official statement or documentation to the contrary. But, we see a very large number of <i>Gori & ZucchiI</i> silver and gold coins that have placement varieties and mint mark placement in 1970/71.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another possibility exists as well. I used the term<i> trial strikes</i> in reference to the <i>1 AR</i> mint mark (counterstamps). It is a possibility that the <i>1 AR</i> may actually identify all of the trial strikes that were released out to the wild.</p><p><br /></p><p>But, we will never know without word from the horse's mouth.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="NPCoin, post: 4871608, member: 5629"]I used the term "hallmark" for ease of reference after the first post and as not to "give away" the difference so soon. But [I]hallmark[/I] and [I]counterstamp[/I] would both be incorrect usages (that is, unless the mint actually countermarked their inventory themselves prior to distribution, which I'll explain later, in which case it would be a [I]counterstamped mint mark[/I]). A [I]counterstamp[/I] indicates a mark created after the minting of the coin. A [I]hallmark[/I] is akin to a [I]trademark[/I], that is to say, an identifier and assurance of the one producing the item. It may seem a petty thing to point out the difference, but it could prove quite important in understanding why this difference is there. Now, the [I]1000[/I] and [I]999.9[/I] within the [I]oval[/I] would properly be referred to as the [I]fineness[/I]. The [I]1 AR[/I] is actually a mint mark. This mint mark was used by the [I]Gori & Zucchi Mint[/I] (a private mint located in Arezzo, Italy). Now, there are actually five varieties of this coin if you want to include the placement of the "1 AR" mint mark as a variety, as well as the [I]999.9[/I] fineness mark as in this specimen (note that this could possibly be a counterfeit?): [ATTACH=full]1176419[/ATTACH] Now, for a mintage of only 4650 coins, one would have to wonder why so many different varieties. Well, during this time, the mint was contracted to produce precious metal NCLT coins for a wide number of countries. And, although each release mintages were generally small, when added together it became quite the task. So, the [I]Gori & Zucchi Mint[/I] would subcontract to other mints. One of these contracted mints was the [I]Staaliche Munze[/I] in Karlsruhe, Germany. [I]Gori & Zucchi[/I] would provide the blanks and dies for these mints and they were simply to produce the pieces. [I]CoinWeek[/I] had an in-depth article in March 23, 2015 about the Korean gold and silver commemoratives of 1970 ([URL='https://coinweek.com/coin-guide/the-five-millennia-history-of-korea-gold-and-silver-commemorative-coins-of-1970/']link[/URL]). Within the article, it did make mention that the gold coins minted in Germany were not of the same fineness as the ones being shipped from [I]Gori & Zucchi[/I]. I believe the placement of the [I]1 AR[/I] mint mark was a measure to identify those coins that were produced in house as opposed to those that were subcontracted elsewhere. It is very possible that the mint mark had been countestamped (which would make sense) as a measure to identify the coins actually produced by [I]Gori & Zucchi[/I] to their clients. Once the current stock had been depleted (which may have only been a handful of trial strikes), new dies (with the [I]999.9[/I] fineness mark) may have been produced and not distributed to subcontractors. Obviously, the difference in the design would require trial and error to find just the right placement for the fullest strike. Of course, this is all speculation without any official statement or documentation to the contrary. But, we see a very large number of [I]Gori & ZucchiI[/I] silver and gold coins that have placement varieties and mint mark placement in 1970/71. Another possibility exists as well. I used the term[I] trial strikes[/I] in reference to the [I]1 AR[/I] mint mark (counterstamps). It is a possibility that the [I]1 AR[/I] may actually identify all of the trial strikes that were released out to the wild. But, we will never know without word from the horse's mouth.[/QUOTE]
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Newly Reported Variety Dahomey 1971 100 Francs Silver? See If You Can Tell
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