Denver native and designer Daniel Carr has brass and silver rounds for sale marking the 100th anniversary of the Denver Mint.
Carr is the designer of the New York and Rhode Island state quarters.
Carr said that he found it unusual that the Old San Francisco Mint would receive a 2006 commemorative, marking the 100th anniversary of the Great San Francisco Earthquake, while the milestone for the Denver Mint was unmarked on a coin.
But, Carr said he decided that if the U.S. Mint would not issue anything on the Denver Mint centennial, he would.
?So, on a recent quiet Sunday, I drove down to the Denver Mint,? he said. ?The security guards kept a close eye on me (from a distance) as I stuck my camera through the fence to take pictures of the architectural details on the old (original) part of the building's exterior. I used those pictures as a guide in designing and sculpting a 39mm round commemorating the centennial.?
The obverse shows a window with a tympanum above, along with a symbolic ?D? mintmark. The reverse has a shield with balance scales (symbolizing the Denver Mint?s assay history), 38 stars (Colorado is the 38th state) and a cameo of a Liberty $20 coin (one of the first coin types issued by the Denver Mint in 1906).
The round also carries a symbolic $20 face value in honor of that double eagle gold coin.
Two versions have been struck. Both are 39mm in diameter and have a proof-like finish. One is brass and the other is .999 silver.
The brass rounds are $15 each and the silver, $30, with a flat-rate $3 per order shipping and handling fee, regardless of the number ordered.
They are available online at www.dc-coin.com, or by mail order at Designs Computed, P.O. Box 7486, Loveland, CO 80537-0486.
