Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="Doug21, post: 139441, member: 5650"]"Knowledge Through Education" 1964 Coins Minted For Three Years!by Ken Potter -- NLGJuly 14, 2003 This 1964 Straight Clip Dime Could Have Been MintedAnytime Between Jan 1964 and April of 1966    While most collectors believe that 1964 was the last year that the United States Mints struck 90% silver coins for circulation -- 1966 was actually the last year of the 90% silver coinage output for circulation!   Specifically, 1964 dated 90% silver coins were produced from January 1964 through April of 1966!  According to Domestic and Foreign Coins Manufactured by Mints of the United States 1793-1980, published by the Department of the Treasury/Bureau of the Mint:    "Public Law 88-580, Sept. 3, 1964 authorized the Mint to inscribe the figure 1964 on all coins minted until adequate supplies were available. Public Law 89-81 repealed that legislation . Coins bearing the year 1964 were produced from Jan. 1964-Apr. 1966".   The date freeze was initiated by the government as a stratagem to fool the public into believing nobody was hoarding silver. The theory was if they kept dumping millions of 1964 dated silver coins into circulation long after the date "inscribed" on the coins, it would appear as though nobody was hoarding. It was also hoped the record-shattering mintages would be so high collectors and investors would refrain from stockpiling rolls and bags of the coins as potential collectibles (the 1960s were the peak years of the "roll boom" when it was thought by many saving rolls - even bags of each issue was sure to result in huge profits at the end of the rainbow).    The Mint’s action hoped to "buy" time to produce enough clad coin to replace the silver coins and time to develop sorting machines to quickly withdraw the silver coin once enough clad coin was produced. The government's attempt to circumvent "Gresham’s law" failed and the more silver the Mints poured into circulation the more silver the public was able to hoard.    It’s also interesting to note the government’s "date freeze" and concurrent production of silver and clad coinage created a scenario that allowed for an occasional silver planchet to slip into the presses striking clad date coins and an occasional clad planchet to slip into the production of the 1964 dated silver coins. These pieces are referred to as "Transitional Errors" and are highly sought after and command prices in the three to four figures range.    According to The Illustrated Error Coin Pricing Guide by Geoffrey Noe, 1965, 1966 and 1967 Roosevelt dimes are known struck on silver planchets, 1965 Washington quarters are known struck on silver dime planchets (Yes - you read that right!), and at least one 1964 dated Kennedy half is known struck on clad planchet. In the past I’ve owned a 1966 Roosevelt dime struck on a struck 1962-D silver dime! Opinions expressed in articles or other features posted on the CONECA web site do not necessarily represent official CONECA policy or those of it's officers.  The act of submitting material shall constitute an expressed warranty by the contributor that the material is original; if not, the source and permission must be provided. Counters provided by Andale.   I never knew this !  I knew they dropped mintmarks during this era, but not that 1964 coins were made right alongside other years. I'm surprised there aren't a whole lot of errors out there.[/QUOTE]

Create my FREE Account!

Log in or Sign up

Reply to Thread

Useful Searches