Mint was content to see dollar go

This article was originally printed in the latest issue of Numismatic News.
>> Subscribe today!

What was the Mint’s attitude toward the silver dollar in the mid-1800s?

In most cases the Mint would have cheerfully done away with the coin that caused plenty of problems. Mint Director James Pollock several times in his annual reports during the Civil War era strongly recommended abolishing the coin.

Was the Hudson’s Bay Company involved in the California gold rush of 1849?

That was a bit far south for HBC, but it played a major role in the gold rush in Oregon. It was a major buyer of Oregon gold in that year, making a substantial profit by trading for gold at as low as $7 an ounce and selling it in England for more than $20 an ounce.

Is there a dot variety for the 1884 Morgan dollar?

There are several sets of dies that were used at Philadelphia that had a slightly smaller and narrower date, with dots at the “M” on both obverse and reverse. Two varieties of the dot are known on the obverse: a large and a small dot. Dots were a big thing back in the 1960s.

Wasn’t the Susan B. Anthony dollar the first U.S. coin to repeat a reverse design from another series?

The SBA dollar carried the same reverse as the Ike dollar. However, the Lincoln cent came in first with the same obverse and the wheat and Memorial reverses. Even earlier, the Trade dollar and the 20-cent coins shared the same reverse design.

Is there any U.S. coin that depicts a mythical creature?

About the only coin fitting this description would be the Pan- Pacific $2.50 gold commemorative, which depicts a hippocampus – a beast with the front end of a horse and a fish or dolphin tail that has appeared on several coins, including a stater of Tyros minted in the period from 322 to 275 B.C.

What is a “virol brise,” and what does it have to do with edge lettering?

It is a process that puts raised lettering on the edge of a coin, produced by the use of segmented edge dies. They are forced against the edge of the planchet as the faces are struck by the dies.

E-mail inquiries to AnswerMan2@aol.com. Because of space limitations, we are unable to publish all questions.

2011 U.S. Coin Digest
With the 2011 U.S. Coin Digest you pick the section you need to review, open the book and let the lay-flat format do the rest, leaving you a free hand to hold a coin and the other to hold a magnifying glass.