Like all Other Dollar Coins the New Presidential Dollar Coin Will Also Fail

Have not heard by now, the US mint (actually a congressional act mandates the production of these coins) is at it again. On February 15, 2007, a new US dollar coin will be put into circulation. Will it circulate? I have my doubts. It’s not that I don’t want it to. Just take a look at the history of the dollar coin, and you can see, like all previous dollar coins, this one has an uphill battle. This article will attempt to identify all the reasons why this dollar coin, like all dollar coins before it, will fail. For an opposing view, please see my other article titled “Unlike Previous Attempts This Time the Dollar Coin Will be a success”.

If you really look at the history of the dollar coin, going all the way back to the beginning of dollar coin, they have generally not been accepted by the public. Yes, even the Morgan Dollar was shunned by most people during its run and was not a popular coin to collect until the 1960’s when silver exceeded its face value.

Probably the most shunned dollar coin of all was the Susan B. Anthony Dollar. Highly criticized by the public for being nearly the same size of the quarter, the coin never gained acceptance. The Mint, recognizing the public opinion regarding size, did nothing and instead with the next dollar coin (Sacagawea), changed the color with a different metallic content to make the coin appear gold in color. After a brief time in circulation, the coin was just plain ugly as it would appear tarnished in color. So now we have another gold color coin in the Presidential Series. The Mint has changed things slightly to reduce the discoloring effect. But that will not matter.

As previously mentioned, the American public seems to just not want a dollar coin, whether that be a coin nearly the same size a quarter or for that matter, any size. While changing the color certainly helps to avoid confusion, it is still easy to confuse the two under certain circumstances (while the coins are in your pocket or you are in the dark). If the dollar coin was the same size as the old dollar coins (Eisenhower and before), it would have an even tougher time in circulation. Can you imagine buying a pack of gum with a $5.00 and getting four IKE dollars back? Your pocket would not last long.

With a US Dollar bill in circulation, and no plans to remove it, the public will simply revert to old habits and continue to use paper dollars to transact business. Take a look in your wallet/purse. Chances are that you have several $1 bills in there. Do you want that many dollar coins instead? OK, you might change your spending habits to circulate dollar coins, but then maybe not. Did you know the US government spends around $500 million a year on producing $1 bills and that a $1 bill only lasts 18 months or so in circulation? A metal coin can last 30-50 years.

What good is a coin, if a vending machine cannot take it? While some vending machines (think post office stamp machines) take dollar coins, they are few and far between. Even with the cost of most vending items at or over $1.00, our habit is to stick in a $1 bill for our sugar fix. I simply do not see the vending industry making a mad dash to modify existing machines to accept dollar coins unlike when there was a rush for vending machines to accept $1 bills. Did you know that most vending machines will take a $2.00 bill? Many of them will not show it, but they do. I’ll bet you did not even know that the $2.00 bill was still made. Yes, it is. Also the cost of parking well over a dollar, most parking meters do not take dollar coins, at least not where I park. Why not? It would sure be easier to put in a couple dollar coins instead of 8 quarters.

Sadly, a fair number of Americans do not even recognize some of our currency. Next time you go to your local fast food restaurant or department store, give the clerk a half dollar or a dollar coin and pay close attention to the reaction you get. Most retail clerks do not even recognize the coins. Really, try this. I am serious. If you can find a bank, S&L or credit union that has any, get a few rolls and try to spend them. I do this for fun quite often with half dollars. The retail clerks typically will ask me what they are. Some have asked me if they are dollar coins (the half dollar). Others have told me they cannot accept foreign coins. Every so often, a clerk will get excited and ask me if I have anymore thinking they hit the mother lode with some rare and valuable collectable. How can the US Government expect a coin to circulate when the very people who dispense and accept change do not even recognize them?

The biggest reason that I have not used any dollar coins is that I simply I do not ever get them in change. This is the biggest reason why this coin will fail. Retail outlets are the biggest distributor of coins into the hands of the public. If retail outlets do not issue the new dollar coins in change, then how are we expected to use the coin? It’s really quite simple; I can only put back into circulation what I receive. Many retailers will use the excuse that there are not enough change slots in their cash drawer (maybe eliminate the penny?). This is the same excuse for the lack of circulation of the half-dollar. Actually, there is an unused slot in most cash drawers but they are often used for storage of coin rolls, etc. Regardless, if American retailers do not distribute the new dollar, it is destined to fail. Even if retailers do distribute the new dollar coin, will you as a customer simply ask for paper dollars instead? That gets back to an earlier point, and that is, with a dollar bill in circulation, making change for a $5 will still be $1 bills.

I think the new dollar coin will be popular, but it will not circulate. What do I mean? The State Quarter program brought in a new generation of collectors. Collecting the new dollar will be popular. It may even bring in a new generation of collectors, or it will reinvigorate collectors who started with the quarter program. With the quarter program nearing the end in a few years, the dollar coin is just what those collectors need to keep their interest. The coin though, will just not circulate well enough for widespread use.

Turn a few postage stamps into a full-fledged hobby

Need are a few supplies to turn a few postage stamps into a full-fledged hobby. Musicians, athletes and hikers need the proper equipment and so do you as a stamp collector. This article will look at some of the supplies you will need as a collector of stamps.

You will need to get some essential items like archival stockbooks, albums, and some software to help you organize your collection. Your collection can be worth a lot of money so anything that helps protect it is a wise investment.

An archival stockbook is good for the person who likes to move the stamps to different places with its pockets where stamps can be kept without the need for any sort of glue. As you get more serious you may want to take a look at an album. This can be either the preprinted type or one that is blank. Some people like the printed type because they often have information about certain stamps. The next thing you may want is some good software to help keep track of your stamp collection.

A very important part of your stamp collecting supplies is stamp hinges. Stamp hinges are small pieces of paper that have glue on them. It is wise to purchase hinges designed to prevent damage to your stamps.

In order to properly examine your stamp collection you will need to purchase some must have supplies. Number one on almost anyone's list should be a magnifying glass. You should buy one with a lens power of at least three or four. This will help reveal unseen details that may not be noticeable to the naked eye. If you really get into collecting stamps you should consider a Perforation Gauge and a Watermark Detector to really get a feel for how valuable your stamp really is. Stamps have features that you cannot see without the proper equipment.

Do not forget information, as this is essential to the stamp collector. To become knowledgeable in any subject takes a lot of reading and stamp collecting is no different. If you want to learn the fine details of this wonderful hobby you need to spend time reading books and magazines. Do a search online and you will find a whole world of information awaiting you. The stories you will find can both entertain and educate you at the same time.

Do your homework and get the supplies that fit you. Collecting stamps is a wonderful hobby that can last you a lifetime.

Unlike Previous Attempts This Time the Dollar Coin Will be a Success

Have not heard by now, the US mint (actually a congressional act mandates the production of these coins) is at it again. In 2007, a new US dollar coin will be put into circulation. Will it circulate? Unlike previous attempts, this coin has a shot at general acceptance. For an opposing view, please see my other article titled “Like all Other Dollar Coins, the New Presidential Dollar Coin Will Also Fail”.

Looking back at the history of US dollar coins, they have generally been failures. The Morgan Dollar, one of the most popular coins to collect, was forced upon us by special interests in the silver industry and really only used in the west and the casino industry. The IKE dollar was a bust as far as circulation, the Susan B. Anthony Dollar was the biggest bust of all time and the Sacagawea Dollar was just plain ugly after being in circulation. Furthermore, how many people realty know who Susan B. Anthony or Sacagawea were? The failure was attributed to its size being similar to a quarter.

Why then will this new Presidential Dollar gain acceptance?

Vending machine companies are beginning to come around and equip their vending devices with the mechanics to accept dollar coins. Mind you, this is hardly widespread, but after years and years of ignoring dollar coins, some vending companies are coming around. Many newer machines will accept dollar coins. With the cost of many vending items well over a dollar, it makes sense to accept dollar coins. Instead of carrying around a pocket full of quarters, carry around a few dollar coins.

Some vending companies will be forced to accept the $1 coin. Written within the law is some verbiage that mandates that by January 1, 2008, any business that operate on US Government Property, or property controlled by the US Government or Federal Agency, must be capable of using and dispensing the new dollar coins. In addition, they have to display signs that indicate their ability to do so. This would include vending machines, some toll roads and some mass transit. If you are a vending company, and you have to provide this feature, why not use it in the private sector as well? The US Post Office stamp dispensing machines already take and dispense $1 coins.

The US Mint is doing an all-out blitz on advertising the dollar coin. They are diligently working with the Federal Reserve to ensure that financial institutions have an adequate supply on the day of release. If you go to a financial institution today and ask for a dollar coin, you will not likely get them. The US Mint is attempting to ensure that this does not happened with the new dollar coin. The Mint wants dollar coins readily available for the public on release day

The US State Quarter program was hugely successful and brought new collectors into the hobby. The State Quarter program is nearing an end. The Presidential Dollar program is something that can fill the void for these collectors. These collectors will turn to collecting dollar coins as the quarter program draws to a close. OK, collectors buying up rolls of dollars to put away do not make them circulate, but what does, is the collector who buys rolls to search for errors and then spends the coins s/he does not want to keep.

The US Mint is positioning the new dollar coin as an educational tool. I would guess that many educational systems will somehow utilize the presence of the dollar coin and the various presidents as some sort of learning tool. Under this scenario, young people will become accustom to using them and may not be as averse to using them as us older folks.

Continued inflation will eat away purchasing power making many coins Obsolete (penny, nickel, dime and someday the quarter). Seriously, what can you buy today from a vending machine, or anywhere, that costs only a quarter? It seems most people have no qualms about carrying around a pocketful of change for vending machine or other small purchases. Why not carry around a few dollar coins instead? There really is no longer a need for pennies and nickels. Ouch! As a penny pincher, that hurts!

The Popularity On Postage Stamp Collecting

May be wondering, "Why do people collect stamps?" Initially, British children saw collecting as a fun game, since stamps were inexpensive to buy and had vivid pictures. These days many people are prompted to collect because a relative passed down the tradition or bought them a souvenir sheet of stamps. Today over 20 million Americans engage in postage stamp collecting, making it one of the most popular type of compilations.

In 1840, Britain introduced the "Penny Black" as the first adhesive postage stamp. Little did they realize that this would set off a postage stamp collecting craze among the youth, otherwise known as "Timbromania" (meaning "stamp madness".) As these little hobbyists aged, they proudly passed their stamp collections down to the next generation and thus a market was born.

The US caught on to this Timbromania in the 1930s, when the first souvenir sheet was printed and the 65-cent "Graf Zeppelin" portrayed a German blimp. During the Great Depression, many stamps were incinerated since few families could afford a book of stamps during this time period, since the cost of one would also pay for a family of four to eat for one week!

It became the misprints that became the most coveted in the world of collecting postage stamps. Most serious collectors will try to seek out a rare stamp resulting from a printing error. For instance, the "Inverted Jenny" is a US postage one from 1918 featuring a photo of a Curtiss JN-4 airplane where the plane was mistakenly printed upside-down!

Only 100 were ever printed and a block of four just sold at an auction for $2.7 Million! The US-made "Benjamin Franklin Z Grill" ones were made with a waffle pattern embossed into the paper supposedly to prevent the ink from running. Only two were printed before they realized this process was impractical. Now one stamp could get as much as $3 Million!

Internationally, collecting postage stamps often equates with big bucks. For example, the "Treskilling Yellow" one from Sweden was misprinted in the wrong color, placing its value at over $2 Million. Historically, Britain's "Penny Black" (the first official adhesive stamp) sold for $200 in the year 2000, and unused went for as much as $3,000!

Or imagine owning the "British Guiana Magenta," a rare stamp with a face value of one cent but an estimated value of $935,000! There is much controversy surrounding this one.

Since there is only one known copy in existence, some say that it was an altered 4-cent one, however these claims were disproved. Others speculate that another copy was discovered but was purchased by Arthur Hind, who owned the original and who quietly destroyed the copy so he wouldn't lose the value. In 1999 a forged copy was found in Bremen, Germany.

Postage stamp collecting is a fun and relatively inexpensive way to collect historical artwork. You may begin by browsing a catalog such as Scott catalog (for US postage stamps), or check out Kenmore Stamp and MysticStamp for stamps online.

If you're looking to seriously collecting stamps as an investment, you should begin your quest at the National Philatelic Society.

How Can I Buy Coins on eBay Without Getting Ripped Off?

EBay is the topic of many conversations in the coin collecting community. Amongst the collector community is the question of can I buy coins on eBay without getting ripped off. The answer is unequivocally YES. The caveat is to proceed with caution. In this article we will explore the things to look for to find honest sellers so that you can protect your self. Here are several tips to keep you from getting ripped off and bidding on auctions that are with worthy sellers.

User Feedback – While it seems obvious you want to deal with someone who has a high user feedback, the fact is that this area can be quite misleading. How? Many people who buy coins and then feel ripped off are for some reason reluctant to leave negative feedback for fear they will also receive negative feedback. When looking for a reputable coin dealer on eBay, feedback ratings can be a useful guide, but dig a little deeper. A dealer/seller with 10,000 positive feedbacks does NOT mean s/he is a good dealer. Read the feedback. Not just the negative feedbacks but the positive as well. Many positive feedback entries will have underlying negative information in them that could clue you into how the dealer treats others or the quality of the merchandise s/he sells. For example, a recent positive feedback entry for a seller stated “Grading seems off mark but happy with deal and easy to work with CO. Thanks.”. Another positive feedback for a different seller stated, “Not quite as expected but OK for the price”. These particular dealers have thousands of positive ratings but the ratings are rife with negative connotations in the positive feedback. Check for statements such as slow shipping, not packaged well, not like picture, not as described, etc.

Dealer Business or One Time Seller – Is the seller you are looking at a long-time eBay seller or someone that is trying out eBay to sell their inherited collection? Actually, this area may not make much difference as there are some long-time dealers who I think are crooks while I have been able to pick up some good deals from new sellers. But beware, short-term sellers/new sellers may be looking to unload some junk, take you for your money and then not deliver.

Shipping Policies – Some sellers will attempt to hide the shipping cost and will ultimately overcharge for shipping for extra profit. This of course is disguised as Shipping/Handling. All sellers will charge for shipping and handling, it is the degree to which they will charge. For example, I have seen sellers charge $7.00 for shipping a $2.00 penny with insurance being extra Always pay close attention to the shipping charges as well as the method of shipping. Some dealers will only ship UPS adding significant cost to you. Generally speaking, insurance is not included in many transactions. Please note, it does cost dealers for the packing materials, trips to the post office, etc. Many dealers will look to handling charges to offset some of the fees they have to pay to eBay. Sellers can pay anywhere around 10% of the selling price for listing fees, transaction fees, final valuation fees, etc.

Return Policies – An important factor to determine before bidding on an auction is to read the fine print, especially return policies. Return policies vary from no returns at all to full return privileges. Some sellers will offer you the option to return an item but will NOT reimburse shipping charges. If you bought a $2.00 coin and paid $7.00 for shipping, you are out the $7.00.

Assigning a Grade – Many dealers will suggest a grade for the coin they are selling. It is easy to overgrade a coin, as you always hope for the best. Some sellers will make statements such as “It looks like a MS-65 but I am not an expert.” Others will make a statement such as, “I am not a coin grader but it looks good to me.” Another good one is stating they are of average circulation. Average circulation means many different things to many different people. Average circulation for Barber Halves means they are all in AG-3 or so while average circulation for Franklin Halves would indicate they should be a higher grade as they are less worn. Be wary of these descriptions. It is unfortunate, but many so called uncalculated coins selling on eBay are AU-55 or AU-58.

Graded Coins – Most people feel safe when buying a graded coin. The feeling is that since it is graded by a third party, I should be getting what I am bidding on. NOTE: All grading companies are not created equal. There are some sellers on eBay that sells tons of coins that are graded MS-70. If you really research the feedback on these items you will find out that in the opinion of many of the buyers, many of the coins are no where near MS-70. If you research further, you will find out the seller is the person/company that also is the grading company.

Contacting the Seller - If you find a coin you want and the auction does not end for a few days; try contacting the seller for more info. Do they respond quickly and with the information you want?

Item Description – Read the description over and over to look for the slightest deception. For example, when buying bags of wheat cents, a common statement is “unsearched by me”. That’s great. Maybe his buddy searched them, or he bought them as searched. I would stay away from that item. Also, match the description to the picture. People do make mistakes. If you see a picture of a Morgan Dollar with a mint mark of “S” but the description says it is a “CC”, contact the seller. If you do not get a response, stay clear.

Photos – If you are buying a valuable coin, do not consider buying it unless there are clear pictures, for both the observe and reverse. Yes, this applies to even PCGS graded coins. A MS-66 graded Walking Liberty Half might sound like an absolutely beautiful coin, but if it has ugly toning, maybe it is not the coin for you. Be wary of any high value coin that does not have clear close up pictures. A trick of many bad dealers is to intentionally have pictures that are slightly out of focus or at a bad angle to hide certain scratches or abnormalities.

Dealer Memberships – Many dealers will lay claim to belong to various clubs and organizations. Many of these claims will not guarantee that the dealer is honest. I can claim I belong to any club I want. That does not mean that I actually belong to it. Additionally, membership in many clubs does not require anything more than an email address. On the other hand, if the dealer claims to be a member of ANA, that could be better as ANA dealers are bound by a certain code of ethics.

Buying coins on eBay is a risky business, but by using these tips, the risk is no more than buying coins from your local dealer or by mail order. There are crooks in the coin profession at all levels. You must be on guard at all times to protect yourself and by exercising caution, you can be assured you are getting and paying for what you think you are.

History of the Morgan Dollar

Perhaps no coin being collected today conjures up visions of the old west like the Morgan Dollar. Minted from 1878 to 1904 and then for one more year in 1921, the changes that took place in America during the span of the Morgan Dollar are startling. And although collecting Morgan Dollars is a favorite of most collectors, the silver Morgan Dollar was not that popular of a coin and ignored by collectors for decades after its demise. It was not until the early 1960’s that collecting Morgan Dollars became popular. During this time silver was near $1.29 per ounce. At that price, the silver metal value of a silver dollar was worth a dollar. During this time many banks still had bags and rolls of silver dollars and all one needed to do was go down to the bank and ask for them.

The Mint Act of April 2, 1792 provided for decimal coinage. The largest being the dollar, or 100 cents. From the first few thousand dollar coins weakly stuck in 1794 and the many more through 1873, the dollar enjoyed moderate success. Dollars were coined on and off until the Coinage Act of 1873 eliminated the dollar and put in its place a slightly larger dollar called the Trade Dollar. The Trade Dollar was produced with the intent to export it for trade with China. As such, very few made it into general circulation in the US. Meanwhile, the silver mining industry in the west had fallen on hard times. As is the case even today, industries in trouble look to the US government for help and the silver industry was no exception. An idea was put forward that the US government buy silver bullion for its own account to help support the market. Embracing this cause in the mid-1870’s was Representative Richard P. (“Silver Dick”) Bland of Missouri. Other politicians jumped on the bandwagon with the thought that a strong silver market would benefit everyone west of the Mississippi. After much discussion and debate, the Bland-Allison Act was passed on February 28th, 1878. The legislation was initially vetoed by President Rutherford B. Hayes but congress overrode the veto putting a new law in the books. The legislation dictated that the US government purchase $2,000,000 to $4,000,000 a month in silver bullion with the specific purpose to convert the silver into standard silver dollars (90% silver and 10% copper). At the time, silver was around $1.00 per ounce. At that price, the government was purchasing millions of ounces of silver each month.

Back in 1876, Mint Director Henry Richard Linderman anticipated that legislation would someday be passed to create another circulating silver dollar and had Chief Engraver William Barber fiddle with a new designs. The legal tender status of the Trade Dollar had been revoked and the country was without a dollar coin. Like today though, but for different reasons, there was not a demand for a silver dollar. In 1877, it seemed like a sure thing that legislation for a new silver dollar would soon become a reality. A new design was needed and Barber, assistant engraver George T. Morgan and outside artist Anthony Paquet went into high gear producing several different designs. On February 21st, 1878, Linderman selected the design. Although he thought Barber and Morgan had high artistic taste, he selected the design with the lowest relief requiring the lowest power to strike. This of course was the design created by Morgan. The portrait was modeled after 19 year old Miss Anna Willess Williams. Morgan had previously used Miss Williams on several pattern half dollars in 1877. Several years later Charles Barber, son of William Barber, would basically copy this design for his own coin designs which later became known as the Barber Dime, Barber Quarter, and Barber Half. He also “designed” the Liberty Nickel.

Just a week after the passing of the Bland-Allison Act, the first Morgan dollars were coined on March 7th, 1878. After several adjustments of the dies, the Philadelphia mint cranked out the first dollar coin. After close examination of the coin, it was rejected and sent to the melting room. The press was then adjusted and 11 more coins were produced. The last was rejected and this coin was also sent to the melting room. These first coins were struck on polished planchets, removed by hand and put in numbered envelopes with the intent to deliver the first coin to the President and the 2nd coin went to Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman and the 3rd to Linderman. After that, the press began churning out 80 dollar coins a minute. Within a few days, several other presses would come online and dies would be delivered to San Francisco, New Orleans and Carson City.

As mentioned before, the purchasing power of a dollar back in the 1880’s was huge. Most transactions were completed in smaller denominations as large purchases were under a dollar. Additionally, many people were still bartering for goods (trading pigs for chickens, etc). As such, the supply of silver dollars far exceeded demand. Incredibility, with this supply, The Bland-Allison act was modified by the Sherman Silver Purchase Act which mandated the US Government purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver per month. The hitch was that these purchases were to be paid with Treasury bonds redeemable in either gold or silver. Since gold was seen as the more valued metal, most bond holders redeemed them for gold which depleted the Treasury’s gold supply which then caused a financial panic through the whole country in 1893. This led to the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. The result was a massive slowdown in silver dollar production for the years of 1893, 1894 and 1895. Not coincidently, these years also contain some of the most elusive key dates. Production picked back up in 1896 but it would be a few years before production went back above the 10,000,000 mark for any individual mint. In 1904, the supply of silver was exhausted and the Morgan Dollar ceased production, or so it seemed.

In 1918, Congress passed the Pittman Act and recalled over 270 million silver dollars for melting. Total mintage of the entire series totaled nearly 657 million. If you subtract out the high mintage 1921 dates of 86.7 million, (these were made from the melted older dollars), around 47% of Morgans dated prior to 1921 were destroyed. These silver dollars had been sitting in Treasury vaults for years just collecting dust. The provision of the act, called for the recall of these dollars for the purpose of making new ones. So, in 1921, the Morgan dollar was revived for one more year. Barber had died four years before (February 18, 1917) and now George T Morgan was Chief Engraver who you recall designed the dollar. The Philadelphia mint made over 44 million, the highest number it had ever made, while the San Francisco mint made over 20 million, which was more dollars in one year that it had ever made. Also, this marked the only year that the Denver mint made Morgan Dollars. The New Orleans and Carson City Mints had long ago ceased operations. Later that year, the Peace Dollar would permanently replace the Morgan Dollar.

With the paper dollar becoming more popular for commerce, dollar coins vanished from circulation and piled up in bank vaults. More meltings occurred due to the War Time Silver Act of 1942 and then in 1979-1980 when silver shot up to near $50 per ounce. No doubt millions of Morgans and Peace dollars were melted. Today, it is estimated that only 15-17% of all Morgan dollars produced still exist. Taking this into consideration, low mintage dates are even scarcer than their mintage would indicate making this a very desirable coin to collect.

History of the Liberty "V" Nickel

Liberty Nickel, commonly known as the “V” nickel for the Roman Numeral "V" on the reverse was officially produced from 1883 to 1912. We use the word officially because one of the most famous coins of all is the 1913 Liberty Nickel which was produced under suspect circumstances. For more on the famous 1913 Liberty Nickel please refer to the article titled “History of the Famous 1913 Liberty Nickel”.

In 1881, A. Loudon Snowden, Superintendent of the Philadelphia Mint directed Chief Engraver at the time, Charles Barber, to create designs for the cent, three-cent piece and the nickel. Snowden believed that all three coins should be similar in design and metal composition. The designs created by Barber were all simple in appearance with Lady Liberty on the obverse and a Roman Numeral I, III or V on the reverse to represent the denomination. Barber completed the request later that year with all three coins stuck in copper-nickel which was the same as the Shield Nickel currently in circulation. The Shield Nickel, introduced in 1866, was the first “nickel” sized coin. The half-dime, made of silver, had previously filled the need for this denomination. The Shield Nickel was well received despite the fact that during this time period, consumers liked their coinage in silver and/or gold. And although the nickel was relatively new, its bland design made it ripe for a redesign. Additionally, during this time period, there was not yet a federal law establishing the minimum life expectancy for US coin designs.

Changing the cent, three-cent piece and nickel was not to be. Congress opposed a change in composition to the cent and the Treasury would not approve a design change for the three-cent piece. The three-cent silver piece has been discontinued several years before and the three-cent nickel, with the exception of 1881 had seen declining mintage numbers. With the nickel seeming to be the only viable option for change, Barber and Snowden concentrated on making the change to the nickel a reality. In addition to a design/appearance change, Snowden also changed the size from 20.5 mm in diameter to 21.2 mm. Snowden believed that by increasing the diameter and reducing the thickness (the weight stayed the same), die life would be extended.

After all the finishing touches were complete, there was a special ceremony on January 30th, 1883 to introduce the new nickel. Those who attended, and were deemed important, received first strike coins. A few days later, regular production began. The new nickels had hardly been circulated when a major problem surfaced. The coin did not contain the word “cents” and con artists of the day were plating the nickel with gold and passing them off as $5.00 gold pieces. Because the nickel was still new, the general public was not aware of the new nickel and since the “V” was the only symbol of value, it could mean 5 cents or 5 dollars. Unfortunately for the mint, nearly 5 ½ million nickels had already been produced and released. Barber quickly created a new design, this one with the word cents prominently displayed on the back. The first nickels soon became known as the “no cents” nickels. The nickels that were gold plated became known as “racketeer nickels” and can still be found in old hoards and collections.

In the end, over 16 million nickels were produced in 1883. Even though far more 1883 nickels with the word “cents” were produced, they are harder to get in good grades. The “no cents” variety was saved by people thinking that they would be recalled/replaced.

After this initial controversy, the Liberty Nickel settled down to a calm life. There were no significant changes during the life span of the nickel, and for all but the final year, all the nickels were made in Philadelphia. In the final year of official production, 1912, nickels were also made in Denver and San Francisco. 1913 gave way to the Buffalo Nickel followed by changed in the dime, quarter and half dollar.

The History of the 1943 Steel Cent

From 1909 to 1942, the Lincoln Chttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifent was composed of 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc. That all changed in 1943, as for the first and only time, a coin was made out of steel, which was quite a contradiction from gold, silver, copper or bronze.

Even before the United States entered the war, there were inklings that the cent, as well as the nickel were in trouble. The nickel was made out of 75% copper. Copper was in huge demand due to its use by defense contractors in the manufacturing process of various supplies and equipment needed in case of the US going to war.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the rumors only grew and in January 1942, The Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine reported that Treasury officials were giving serious consideration to using different metal contents for some coins. The first step occurred on January 23rd, 1942, when the Treasury ordered the removal of all but a trace of tin from the cent from the already small amount that had been in use. The existing supply of strips and planchets were used and it is speculated that cents produced in 1942 were produced of both metal compositions. This small change was expected to save 100,000 pounds of tin.

Throughout 1942, there were repeated attempts and pleas to the public to turn in their cents and nickels. Even with these pleas, the shortages continued and for the last six months of the year the mint scaled back production of cents and nickels. During this time, experiments were conducted with various metal compositions, fibers, plastics and even glass.

On December 18, 1942, Public Law 77-815 was enacted. This law called for the melting of more silver dollars and for the authorization of metal substitutes for the one cent and five cent coins not to go beyond December 31st, 1946. The nickel had already seen its change utilizing more silver in its content. The Treasury wasted no time and on December 23, 1942, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr. ordered that all cents produced after January 1st 1943 be comprised of low-carbon steel coated with zinc. The zinc plating was to provide a thin coating to prevent rust and was to be no more than .001 inches thick. The same diameter of coin was maintained, but the weight was reduced from the standard 48 grains to 42 grains, due to the use of a lighter alloy. It took some time to produce sufficient supplies of planchets and production commenced on February 23, 1943 at the Philadelphia Mint with the Denver and San Francisco Mints beginning production the next month.

On February 27th, the first delivery of cents was made to the Treasury and within a few weeks, the steel cents were in circulation. Although the Treasury Department assured the public that the coin, after being in circulation for a while, would gain a distinct appearance, many people noticed the color resemblance of a dime. Complaints continued to pour into the Treasury. For example, due to there magnetic property, many mechanical devices treated the new cent as a slug. Back then, there were quite a few uses for the cent and this was a big deal.

The new cent was so much hated by the public that the Treasury was moved to issue them only when bronze-copper cents were not available. Still, demand for cents for business was so great, that the public was forced to use them as that was what was available. In the fall of 1943, the Treasury announced that no steel cents would be produced after December 31, 1943 and that the mint would produce cents from the pre-war alloy, but without tin. These cents, from 1944 through 1946 were to be known as shell-case cents, as the metal generally came from spent shell-casings. It was also announced that there would be no recall of the steel cent.

After the war, the Treasury did begin recalling steel cents for the next 20 years. Although not publicized, coins were to be returned to the treasury in the normal course of business. By 1950, steel cents were becoming scarce and by 1960, nearly non-existent. By this time, steel cents had deteriorated quite a bit. The Mint had coated the steel strips before punching leaving the edge of the coin subject to rust and corrosion. Even though a recall was in effect, the Mints own records indicate over 930 million remained in circulation.

By the end of 1943, the three Mint facilities had produced 1,093,838,670 of the one-cent coins. The copper released for the war effort was enough to meet the combined needs of 2 cruisers, 2 destroyers, 1,243 flying fortresses, 120 field guns and 120 howitzers, or enough for 1.25 million shells for our big field guns.