Author Archives: Alan Herbert

A confusing problem: Some sources list the 1827 quarters as regular issues, some as proofs, including the one sold in the Garrett sale. Please clear this up. Continue reading →

The U.S. Mint began withdrawal in 1945, and in 20 years retrieved 163 million, or about 14.9 percent of the steel cents in circulation. Some 900,000,000 are still out there. Apparently they were turned over to private smelters to be melted down. Continue reading →

From 1965 to 1967 it was illegal to melt any of the 90 percent silver coins but the lawmakers ignored the war nickels, apparently assuming that their 35 percent silver wasn’t worth bothering with. The smelters took advantage of this loophole and melted millions of them, right along with a lot of 90 percent silver that was claimed to be from Canadian coins. Continue reading →

According to Harry X Boosel, in 1873 the U.S. Mint ordered the melting of any old standard coins then on hand. The branch mints began melting them down in April, including unsold proofs and business strikes. The main mint at Philadelphia began its melts in July of that year. Included in the melt there were virtually all of the silver 3-cent pieces struck from 1863 through 1872. Continue reading →

The Act of April 2, 1792, established standards for the eagle, half eagle and quarter eagle denominations. The Act of March 3, 1849, authorized the double eagle. The gold dollar, 3-dollar and 50- dollar coins were never officially named other than their denomination. Continue reading →

The Coinage Act of 1873 specified that the legend, E PLURIBUS UNUM, be on the reverse of all coins struck after that date. On the Morgan dollar, it appears on the obverse above the head. The same problem occurred with the design of the Liberty Head, or “V,” nickel. Continue reading →

Is this nickel a legitimate Mint product? All indications are that it is indeed a Mint product, double struck, once in the collar and the second time offset toward 6 o’clock. Continue reading →