I recently came across and took pictures of these two sets of dies, which look remarkably well preserved. The gentleman also had some dies that appeared to have metallic residue in the devices so will see if I can get pictures the next couple of days: Quarter Balboa - Half Balboa -
Yes, I wonder if these were the dies used to strike the "OMS" 1982 gold Piefort coins and "trial" obverse and reverses?
Nobody seems to know, but I imagine "restruck" in private hands. One of the dies had some of what looked to be a gold wash or residue in the devices; let's see if I can find the picture. A gentleman by the name of Lou Hudson (fairly recently deceased seemed to have a whole bunch of these along with some "errors"). Whether he or someone else was responsible for these, nobody seems to know either. A bit intriguing there....
How is it you saw these dies? You said "gentleman" had them. Was he selling them? Interesting, thanks for the post.
No, the source was Louis Hudson's widow and are from the US Mint originally. I wonder if they are even legal? LOL. She had many, many for sale from several years ago and some of the others were also from the Franklin Mint. These went for several hundred dollars or better each.
Hard to say - I thought the US mint has sold fully defaced dies in the past. A long time ago - the 1887S and 1902S double and quintuple sovereign dies from the Sydney Mint were partially defaced and given to a museum - a different time but seeing as the mint controls coin production I guess it's at their discretion? Giving away perfectly good dies sounds iffy though.
Dies like this can cause a lot of mischief because of restrikes. The U.S. Mint has sold old dies in the past, but they were either wiped smooth, the faces were partially melted or they were cross canceled. The dies I have were from the 1968-S Proof coins and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. 1968-S Nickel die with the date and mint mark showing. Atlanta Olympics $5 gold piece die.
Always loved those cancelled Olympic coin dies. Very nice. I am still wondering how those 1982 Panama 0.400 gold Piefort coins got out there. They also had the 1982 date as I have said.
