To collectors of U.S. coins, 1965 was an epoch in the history of the American monetary system. A coinage shortage and the rise of silver bullion prices begot a new clad composition for the dime and quarter, reduced the half dollar’s composition to silver billon, and doomed an effort to reintroduce the silver dollar.
But things were not quite so cut and dry as that and the United States Mint’s efforts to dissuade the American public from hoarding coins unfairly blamed collectors and tarnished the coin collecting hobby.
The Date Freeze
Under the direction of Mint Director Eva Adams, the U.S. mint continued to strike coins dated 1964 through 1966. This order…
Nickels, quarters, and half dollars dated 1964 were struck in large quantities in 1964 and 1965, and dimes were struck in large quantities in 1964, 1965, and 1966. In 1965, clad quarters and dimes entered production. Circulation quality 1965 silver-clad half dollars would not…
The Market for 1965 Cents
1965 cents continue to circulate, although typical pieces found in pocket change will by in conditions Very Fine and below. The occasional Extra Fine or About Uncirculated example will reveal itself, most likely after an old accumulation of cents is emptied from a large jar of coins and deposited at a bank or at a CoinStar machine.
In numismatic channels, it is not at all difficult to acquire an uncirculated 1965 cent as large numbers of coins were saved in rolls and bags over the years. Notionally, an uncirculated 1965 cent will cost about $1 to $1.50. Beware of Special Mint Set coins masquerading as business strikes. Professional dealers know the difference, but the person listing the coin online or selling at your local store may not have paid too close
PCGS CoinFacts posts a price guide value of $8,000 for the sole 1980 cent. This appears to be a speculative price as there is no auction data to support this price. Given the approximately graded population of seven MS67+ cents in the PCGS population report, we believe that the 1980 Lincoln Cent in MS68RD guide price of $8,000 is high.
Design
Obverse:
The obverse of the 1965 Lincoln cent was designed by Victor David Brenner and appears largely as it did when the type was first minted in 1909. The main difference between the 1965 obverse and the 1909 version is the location of Brenners’ initials, V.D.B., which were added under President Abraham Lincoln’s bust in 1918 after their removal from the reverse in late 1909. The date 1965 appears to the right of Lincoln (viewer’s right), and the motto IN GOD WE TRUST appears above the president. On the left of the central motif is the word LIBERTY.
Reverse:
Frank Gasparro designed the 1959 Lincoln Memorial reverse that replaced the original 1909 Brenner wheat stalk design (the Wheat Cent). Gasparro’s initials FG appear on the lower-right side of the Lincoln Memorial. Below the edifice and along the rim are the words ONE CENT, while the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA run along the top half of the reverse along the rim. Between the top of the Lincoln Memorial and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA inscription is the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM.
Edge:
The edge of the 1965 Lincoln Cent is smooth or plain and without reeding, as are all other Lincoln cents.
1965 Lincoln Cent Designer(s)
Lithuanian-born coin designer Victor David Brenner is best known for his iconic design for the Lincoln cent (1909-Present) (View Designer’s Profile). Frank Gasparro was an American medalist and coin designer (View Designer’s Profile).
Millions of 1886 Morgan Dollars Were Struck and Stored
The Philadelphia Mint, being the main mint of the United States, was responsible for producing coins for the America’s mid-Atlantic, New England, and for the populated region of the midwest. The Mint’s branches in New Orleans, Carson City, and San Francisco produced coins in silver and gold for the South and West. All four of these mints were put to task striking millions of Morgan dollars in accordance with a federal law passed in 1878. Demand for these large silver coins in most regions of the country was modest at best, and the surplus of unwanted silver dollars sat in bags in Treasury vaults for decades.
By 1886, eight years into these silver dollar scheme, this lack of demand was acutely felt by the Mint and production levels at each branch was largely based on which location had the capacity to store the coins. While mintages at the branch mints fluctuated because of this, Philadelphia was offered no reprieve.
Coming into 1886, the Philadelphia had already produced 102,324,800 Morgan dollars. That year, Philadelphia would strike 19,963,000 more coins and still more the following year. It is because of these large mintages and the fact that so many coins were saved in large quantity in uncirculated condition that the Morgan dollar series saw a tremendous surge in collecting popularity in the 1960s and 1970s as silver coins disappeared from circulation.
What is the 1886 Morgan Dollar Worth?
The 1886 Morgan dollar is a coin that most hobbyists classify as common in all but the higher uncirculated grades. But this is only part of the story. Due to the fact that the coin has an actual silver weight of .77344 ounces of pure silver, every authentic 1886 Morgan dollar, regardless of condition is worth considerably more than the $1 face value stamped on the coin’s reverse. With silver prices approaching $25 an ounce, that puts a baseline value of a circulated 1886 Morgan dollar at about $19 in metal. Even this price is too low for the coin, as collectors will typically pay between $30 and $50 for circulated examples.
An 1886 Morgan Dollar in uncirculated condition.
More often than not, collectors prefer uncirculated examples of common date Morgan dollars and the 1886 Morgan dollar is plentiful in brilliant uncirculated condition. The vallue of these coins depends on the assigned grade, the coin’s eye appeal, and to some extent, the service that encapsulated the coin. The three grading services that drive the certified Morgan dollar market are CAC, NGC, and PCGS.
Through November 2023, NGC counts 164,067 1886 Morgan dollars in its condition census, from that total 1,151 are noted as having Prooflike surfaces and 607 as having Deep Mirror Prooflike surfaces. The vast majority of these coins fall in the MS63 to MS64 grade band. In this grade range, the 1886 Morgan dollar sells for about $100 each.
PCGS counts 144,127 1886 Morgan dollars in its condition census. 1,251 of these are Prooflike, while 1,005 are Deep Mirror Prooflike. As was the case with NGC, PCGS considered most of the dollars submitted in the MS63 and MS64 grade range. At this level PCGS and NGC coins sell for about the same price: $100 each.
CAC has applied a CAC-approved sticker to NGC and PCGS-graded coins for the past sixteen years. In 2023, it launched a full service grading company with a location in Virginia Beach. To date, CAC has approved 3,512 1886 Morgan dollars with 62 approved with Prooflike and 69 Deep Mirror Prooflike. In addition, this year, the service has graded 81 1886 Morgan dollars, with a distribution of coins in the MS63 to MS66 range.
In Gem Uncirculated condition (MS65), the 1886 Morgan dollar sells for prices between $180 and $220. At this grade and higher, collectors pay large premiums for coins with exceptional eye appeal and toning. To date, PCGS reports one example at the grade MS68+ and estimates it’s value to be $20,000. Recent sales of MS68 coins have fallen in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. Less for coins graded by NGC. At this price point, the market value of an 1886 Morgan dollar is coin and time dependent.
Design
Obverse:
The obverse of the 1886 Morgan dollar exhibits the characteristic left-facing Liberty Head motif seen on all issues of this classic dollar series. The central Liberty bust wears a Phrygian cap encircled with a ribbon adorned with the inscription LIBERTY. Miss Liberty also wears a crown of wheat and cotton, which were two of the nation’s most lucrative natural agricultural assets in the 19th century.
The phrase E PLURIBUS UNUM is inscribed along the upper half of the obverse rim, and the date 1886 is centered at the bottom of the obverse adjacent to the rim. Seven stars appear between the left side of the date and the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM, while six stars fill the gap between the date and motto on the lower right side of the coin. In total, the 13 stars symbolize the 13 colonies that combined to form the original Union of the United States. At the base of Liberty’s neck is the “M” monogram representing Morgan’s initial.
Morgan designed the Liberty head bust after the likeness of Anna Willess Williams, a Philadelphia schoolteacher who modeled for the coin. Williams received significant public recognition after her face appeared on the Morgan dollar, but she rejected the attention that was heaped upon her. She refused offers for acting roles and apparently had turned down an offer for marriage following her engagement to an unknown suitor. Before dying at the age of 68 in 1926, Williams, who sat for Morgan on the sworn condition of anonymity, rebuffed her single stint as a coin design model as little more than an “incident of my youth.”
Reverse:
The reverse of the 1886 Morgan dollar is dominated by a heraldic eagle, its wings spread across the upper half of the coin. Between the upper tips of the eagle’s wings appears the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The eagle clutches an olive branch in its right claw representing peace and in its left claw are three arrows symbolizing the nation’s ability to defend itself. The central eagle design is partly encircled by a laurel wreath.
Along the rim of the upper two-thirds of the reverse is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, with the tip of the eagle’s left wings, which virtually touch the coin’s rim, interrupting the space between UNITED and STATES; the right wing visually divides the words OF and AMERICA. The words ONE DOLLAR, seen at the bottom center of the reverse, are flanked by a single, six-sided star on either side of the denomination inscription.
Edge:
The edge of the 1886 Morgan dollar is reeded.
Designer
Engraver George T. Morgan was born in Birmingham, England in 1845. He emigrated to the United States and began work as an assistant to Mint Chief Engraver William Barber and continued to produce patterns and commemoratives under the administration of Barber’s son, Charles. Morgan himself became Chief Engraver in 1917. He died in 1925.
While large silver dollar coins saw little practical circulation in America’s more populated regions, the coins did see use in the American West, where the durability of metal over paper gave coins a clear advantage. Nowhere did American silver dollars flow more freely than at the gambling cities of Reno and Las Vegas, where silver dollars were the currency of choice for casino slot machines.
However, as demand for these silver dollars increased, the supply began to dwindle. Treasury stockpiles of the coins dwindled in the 1960s, which left the gaming industry with a bit of a dilemma. With the March 1969 death of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Congressional openness to reintroducing a circulating dollar coin to honor the former president took root.
Mint Director Mary Brooks initially lobbied for the coin to be struck in silver, continuing with tradition. However, Congress had no interest in continuing to produce circulating coins in silver. The Coinage Act of 1965 called for the removal of silver from America’s dimes and quarters and reduced the silver content of half dollars from .900 fine to a 40% silver-clad composition. In the five years since the composition change, silver coins all but disappeared from circulation and the silver-clad Kennedy half dollars saw very limited use.
Signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on December 31, 1970, the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 authorized the production of the Cu-Ni clad Eisenhower dollar for circulation. The Act also allowed for the production of numismatic versions struck from a 40% silver composition to be sold at a significant premium over face value to collectors. These coins would be produced at the San Francisco Mint and sold directly by the United States Mint. The Act also carried an important provision that authorized the General Services Administration (GSA) to sell 2.8 million Carson City Morgan dollars from the vaults of the United States Treasury.)
1971-D Eisenhower Dollars Were Struck First
The Denver Mint was the first mint to strike Eisenhower dollars in 1971, beating the Philadelphia Mint by a few weeks. In total, the Denver Mint produced 68,587,424 1971-D Eisenhower dollars, while the Philadelphia Mint struck 47,799,000 coins. These were significant numbers compared to the mintages of the later mintages of America’s Morgan and Peace silver dollars.
Creating a Cu-Ni Eisenhower dollar–a large, silver-dollar format coin–proved to be quite a technical challenge. Despite the fact that the Denver Mint’s presses were older than the presses at the newly finished Philadelphia facility, the Denver Mint typically produced better dollar coins.
Coins struck at Denver typically have a sharper, cleaner look. Many are fully lustrous, and some were struck on highly polished planchets. By contrast, most Philadelphia issues appear dull, lacking in luster, and have residual annealing chatter marks on the high points of the relief (typically on Eisenhower’s chin and hair).
Despite this overall cleaner look, the 1971-D Eisenhower dollar does have a tendency to show significant amounts of die sink along the bottom periphery. On the coin illustrated above, you can see evidence of this along the bottom of the design through the date and flattening the first few letters of the motto: IN GOD WE TRUST.
How Much are 1971-D Eisenhower Dollars Worth?
For coins struck after World War II, Mint Sets have serves as the primary source for high quality uncirculated coins for any given date. The tradition of producing mint sets dates back to the late 1940s, when they first debuted. Initially, these sets included two examples of each coin – one mounted face up and one face down in cardboard holders. This allowed collectors to admire both sides of the coin without removing them from the packaging.
In 1959, the Mint replaced the cardboard-mounted double mint set with a single coin mint set that housed one coin of each denomination from each mint in a cellophane holder. Curiously, the Mint did not redesign this packaging to include Eisenhower dollars until 1973. The implications of this is that the 2,193,396 uncirculated sets sold of the Mint’s 1971 coins do not include uncirculated examples of the Eisenhower dollar, which means that there are far fewer uncirculated 1971 and 1971-D Eisenhower dollars in the market than there are for coins issued from 1973 to 1978.
Americans did save quantities of the 1971-D Eisenhower Dollar, however. It is common that the American public demonstrates added enthusiasm for saving the first or last coin in a series. The first coin is saved out of enthusiasm for a new design and the desire to save one, or more, as souvenirs. The last coin is saved as a way to preserve a moment in time. By our estimation more 1971 Eisenhower dollars were saved in Mint State than 1972 dollars.
So what are 1971-D Eisenhower dollars worth? The answer is surprising. At a minimum, a 1971-D Eisenhower dollar has a face value of $1, which means that it can be used to buy $1 worth of goods, even today. Coin collectors are willing to pay between $3 and $10 for 1971-D Eisenhower dollars in About Uncirculated / Uncirculated condition.
The value of the coin increases dramatically in high uncirculated grades starting at MS65 and above. One caveat though, generally speaking, when modern coins are attributed as being graded MS65 or MS66, collectors expect that coins have been professionally graded and encapsulated in CAC, NGC, or PCGS holders.
This 1971-D Eisenhower Dollar was sold at a April 2023 Stack’s Bowers auction for $840.
In Mint State 65, the 1971-D carries a price of about $30 according to CoinWeek IQ’s current market analytics. It is a first-year-of-issue and type coin that carries a significant numismatic premium in ultra-high grades (or if it is a gem-quality “Friendly Eagle Variety” – more on that in a moment).
In Mint State 67, auction records indicate that the value of this issue at this level has fallen dramatically from where it was four or five years ago when a typical example might bring $1,500. These prices dropped to about $600 in 2020 and has since come back to about $900 today. Stack’s Bowers sold a mid-range example graded PCGS MS67 for $840 in April 2023.
The three finest examples that we’ve ever seen are the two MS67s from the Richland Ikes Collection, assembled by Ike Group founder Andy Oskam, and another MS67 that was part of Troy Weaver’s amazing registry set (now owned by Del Loy Hansen). Weaver’s example was a Peg Leg (die polished R) variety with a Talon clash mark on Ike’s forehead.
But perhaps the best of all was the modestly-toned NGC MS68 that brought an eye-popping $8,225 at a March 2020 Legend Rare Coin Auction. This has to be the highest price ever paid for a 1971-D clad Ike dollar and to date, PCGS has certified no coins at this level.
The 1971-D (RDV-006) “Friendly Eagle Variety”
Discovered in 1999 by variety specialist Dr. James Wiles and popularized in the subsequent decade by the Ike Group, the 1971-D “Friendly Eagle Variety” is a naked-eye-visible variety that is not as easy to cherrypick as it once was (you can blame CoinWeek Editor Charles Morgan for lobbying for the coin to get into the Cherrypicker’s Guide’s 5th edition and the Red Book).
The Friendly Eagle features a rounded Earth (the regular issue is not as perfectly round at the upper left area of the globe). On that rounded Earth, you will see a rounded and distinctly carved out Gulf of Mexico and a distinct chain of islands in the Caribean. The eagle’s brow is softer (one might say “friendlier”) than the standard issue. There is no heavy separation apparent in the relief between the top two of the eagle’s tailfeathers on this variety. Also, the lines leading up to the impact ejecta “lines” of the crater are longer, more distinct, and bracket the second L in DOLLAR. In Very Early Die State, some FEVs show a contrail-shaped die scratch bordering the upper left portion of the globe. This feature was discovered by Ike Group member Brian Vaile.
As for scarcity, the Friendly Eagle is not rare but probably represents no more than one million to 1.5 million of the issue’s 68,587,424 struck. Ike dollar specialists consider this a major variety and a semi-key to the series, the key being the 1972 “Type 2” variety.
In MS65, the FEV sells for $100-$125. To date, PCGS reports 66 examples in MS66 with 3 in MS66+. No MS66+ has sold at public auction. MS66 examples have sold for $500 or more. One example, sold in July 21, 2022 by Heritage Auctions slipped through the cracks after the firm misrepresented its population data and offered collectors no information about the variety in the lot description. In that instance, the lucky buyer was able to acquire a $400-$500 coin for $204.
To our knowledge, no finer coins have been certified by NGC. Both services charge a fee to attribute this variety.
Description
Obverse:
Frank Gasparro’s portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower (as president); Eisenhower facing to the left. Gasparro’s initials “FG” appear raised in the bust truncation. Beneath Eisenhower’s chin, to the left, is the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” LIBERTY wraps around the top of the coin in the space between the rim and the top of Eisenhower’s head. The date wraps around the bottom of the design, between the rim and the bottom of Eisenhower’s bust truncation. While Philadelphia-struck pieces bear no mintmark, coins struck at Denver and San Francisco will bear small mintmarks of “D” or “S” above the space between the last two digits of the date. On Eisenhower dollars, mintmarks were hand-punched and may vary in exact location and orientation.
Reverse:
The reverse is based on Michael Collins’Apollo 11 Mission Patch design.
In the center, a bald eagle in descent. In its talons, an olive branch. Its left wing is raised. The lunar surface lies below. Above the eagle’s head is a depiction of the Earth. North America is prominently visible. Wrapping around the top of the coin adjacent to the rim is the legend “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.” Thirteen small five-point stars circle around the eagle. Below the ring of stars but above the eagle is the motto “E PLURIBUS UNUM”. Wrapping around the bottom of the design is the denomination “ONE DOLLAR”.
Edge:
The edge of the 1971-D Eisenhower dollar is reeded.
Designer
Frank Gasparro was a friend to numismatists and served as Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1965 to 1981 (View Designer’s Profile).
1893-CC Morgan Dollar. Image: CoinWeek / Stack’s Bowers.
How Did the Morgan Dollar Get its Name?
The Morgan dollar gets its name from United States Mint engraver George T. Morgan, who designed the dollar coin in competition with then-Chief Engraver William Barber. The two had a generally cordial relationship, though numismatists throughout the generations have supposed that Barber may have been envious of Morgan’s talent as an engraver and treated him with some degree of unprofessionalism. This is not true.
Morgan was born in England and began working for the Mint soon after his arrival in the United States in 1876. Morgan was brought on as an assistant engraver in October 1876 and then worked under William Barber. In addition to the Liberty Head dollar, Morgan has several coin design credits to his name, including the Columbian half dollar of 1892 and 1893, and an array of pattern coins designed during the late 19th century, most notable of these being the never-released $100 Gold Union coin.
The 1893-CC Morgan Dollar Was Struck In the Final Years of the Carson City Mint
The 1893-CC Morgan dollar is the last silver coin that was struck at the Carson City branch of the United States Mint. The Mint, running out of bullion deposits from the great Comstock Lode, struck 677,000 Morgan dollars in its final year of coining operations, along with 60,000 half eagles, 14,000 eagles, and 18,402 double eagles.
The United States Mint would officially decommission the Carson City branch in 1899, leaving it open as a U.S. Assay Office until 1933. During its tenure as a coin striking facility, Carson City produced some of the most storied coins in American numismatic history. Coins struck at the Carson City Mint carry with them the allure of the Old West, of stagecoaches, cowboys, gamblers, and gunslingers. It was with this evocative imagery that the Government Services Administration (GSA) sought to market the government’s stash of Carson City dollars in the 1970s and ’80s. In that pool of coins, just one 1893-CC was found.
As far as the striking of Silver Dollars is concerned, the Carson City Mint produced coins in three distinct spurts: 1870-1873 (Seated Liberty Type), 1878-1875 (Morgan Type), and 1889-1893 (Morgan Type). As far as the Morgan dollar type is concerned, the 1893-CC is the third scarcest of the Carson City issues.
Most 1893-CC Morgan dollars wound up in the Treasury vaults with the majority of those being melted down in 1918. The sealed bags of 1893-CC dollar coins that survived the melt were paid out at the San Francisco Mint and the Washington, D.C. Cash Room.
1893-CC Morgan Dollars in the Redfield Hoard
A two-page Paramount International Coin Corporation ad offering a limited quantity of 1893-CC Morgan dollars from the Redfield Hoard. Outdated address and contact information have been obscured.
What is likely the final dispersal of 1893-CC Morgan dollars in quantity came in 1978, When Paramount International Coin Corporation counted a small number of uncirculated examples among the 400,000 coins of the massive Redfield hoard. Accumulated in secret over the course of three decades, the hoard contained mostly uncirculated silver dollars in $1,000 mint bags. The hoard contained a number of common dates, but also counted among its number several better date Morgans, including the 1889-CC, the 1895-S, and, of course, the 1893-CC.
Unfortunately, Paramount’s handling of the Redfield Hoard left much to be desired. Many of the 1893-CC dollars were mutilated after being put through a counting machine. As a result, many coins display curvilinear scratches on the cheek and the eagle’s breast. In all likelihood, this is the quality of coin you would likely receive by purchasing an “MS60” quality coin from the April 1978 Paramount ad published in The Numismatist. Paramount also offered “MS65” coins for $1,150 (approximately $4,800 adjusted for inflation).
Assuming the quality of that coin exceeded PCGS or NGC’s standards for MS63, a buyer would have made a handsome profit off of that purchase. Recent public sales of MS63 1893-CC Morgan dollars have yielded prices in the $5,750 to $6,000 range. In MS64, the price jumps to $9,000. In MS65, the price jumps by many multiples. The record price paid for an 1893-CC is $161,000 paid for a PCGS MS66 at a Legend Morphy auction in 2013. That coin, from the Jack Lee Collection, is the PCGS plate coin for the issue.
What are 1893-CC Morgan Dollars Worth Today?
While the Carson Mint struck 677,000 1893-CC Morgan dollars, only a fraction of that mintage survive. CoinWeek estimates no more than 35,000 to 40,000 coins of this issue likely survive. NGC and PCGS combine to have graded 15,410 coins. CAC, a new grading service, reports only 17 coins in their holder as November 11, 2023. These coins were likely, once in PCGS or NGC holders. Given that it is profitable to certify even circulated 1893-CC Morgan dollars, the likelihood that there are significant numbers of coins that have yet to cycle through the grading services is low.
The value of an 1893-CC Morgan dollar depends on condition and eye appeal.
Condition relates to the amount of a wear that is imparted on a coin through circulation or mishandling. Eye appeal is a visual quality that imparts excitement on an enthusiast. When all coins are struck, they are considered to be uncirculated or in Mint State. But not all uncirculated or Mint State coins are imbued with eye appeal.
At the low end, in the most heavily circulated grades, and 1893-CC Morgan dollar is worth between $300 and $500. A circulated coin in Extra Fine condition will retain most of its design elements. At this level, 1893-CC Morgan dollars will typically sell for prices between $2,000 and $3,000. This jump in price is caused by the increased scarcity of the coin as grades approach uncirculated condition.
Coins that have never circulated will exhibit a range of features that fall in the eye appeal category. Here, the number of visible marks, the strength of the strike, the prominence of the coin’s luster, and sometimes even the color of the coin will dramatically influence the coin’s value. Uncirculated coins trade for prices approaching $10,000 for a lower-end uncirculated coin up to $200,000 or more for extraordinary examples with high eye appeal. Most uncirculated 1893-CC Morgan dollars trade between reputable coin dealers or at major auctions.
Collectors are advised to avoid purchasing any 1893-CC Morgan dollar unless it is first authenticated and certified by CAC, NGC, or PCGS. Also, purchase coins from knowledgable dealers who are authorized dealers of these three services.
Obverse:
The obverse of the 1893-CC Morgan dollar exhibits the characteristic left-facing Liberty Head motif seen on all issues of this classic dollar series. The central Liberty bust wears a Phrygian cap encircled with a ribbon adorned with the inscription LIBERTY. Miss Liberty also wears a crown of wheat and cotton, which were two of the nation’s most lucrative natural agricultural assets in the 19th century.
The phrase E PLURIBUS UNUM is inscribed along the upper half of the obverse rim, and the date 1893 is centered at the bottom of the obverse adjacent to the rim. Seven stars appear between the left side of the date and the inscription E PLURIBUS UNUM, while six stars fill the gap between the date and motto on the lower right side of the coin. In total, the 13 stars represent the 13 colonies that combined to form the original Union of the United States. At the base of Liberty’s neck is the “M” monogram representing Morgan’s initial.
Morgan designed the Liberty head bust after the likeness of Anna Willess Williams, a Philadelphia schoolteacher who modeled for the coin. Williams received significant public recognition after her face appeared on the Morgan dollar, but she rejected the attention that was heaped upon her. She refused offers for acting roles and apparently had turned down an offer for marriage following her engagement to an unknown suitor. Before dying at the age of 68 in 1926, Williams, who sat for Morgan on the sworn condition of anonymity, rebuffed her single stint as a coin design model as little more than an “incident of my youth”.
Reverse:
The reverse of the 1893-CC Morgan dollar is dominated by a heraldic eagle, its wings spread across the upper half of the coin. Between the upper tips of the eagle’s wings appears the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The eagle clutches an olive branch in its right claw representing peace and in its left claw are three arrows symbolizing the nation’s ability to defend itself. The central eagle design is partly encircled by a laurel wreath.
Along the rim of the upper two-thirds of the reverse is the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, with the tip of the eagle’s left wings, which virtually touch the coin’s rim, penetrating the space between UNITED and STATES; the right wing visually divides the words OF and AMERICA. The words ONE DOLLAR, seen at the bottom center of the reverse, are flanked by a single, six-sided star on either side of the denomination inscription. The “CC” mintmark, denoting that the coin was struck at the Carson City Mint, is located above the DO of DOLLAR.
Edge:
The edge of the 1893-CC Morgan dollar is reeded.
Designer(s):
Engraver George T. Morgan was born in Birmingham, England in 1845. He emigrated to the United States and began work as an assistant to Mint Chief Engraver William Barber and continued to produce patterns and commemoratives under the administration of Barber’s son, Charles. Morgan himself became Chief Engraver in 1917. He died in 1925.
The 1921 Peace dollar is the debut issue of Anthony de Francisci’s Art Deco design, produced from 1921-1928 and then again for two years in 1934 and 1935.
The Peace dollar replaced the Morgan dollar design, which was minted continuously from 1878 to 1904, before the denomination took a prolonged hiatus due to a lack of demand. The Morgan design was revived in 1921 after Congress passed legislation that called on the Treasury to replenish its silver dollar stockpile. During World War I, the United States melted more than 270 million silver dollars from its stockpile, in order to convert it to bullion, which it sold to England.
While the majority of the silver dollar coins struck by the Mint in 1921 were Morgan dollars, a comparatively small number, 1,006,473 were struck in the new design.
Why is Di Francisci’s Design Called “The Peace Dollar?”
Following the end of World War I, a movement grew to issue a coin that simultaneously celebrated the Allies’ victory and to commemorate a, hopefully, long-lasting peace.
Originally proposed as a half dollar, the Peace commemorative coin was instead struck as a silver dollar. The Mint sought input from the nation’s leading sculptors and after competition, Anthony de Francisci’s design was selected.
The designer’s wife, Teresa Cafarelli de Francisci, served as the model for the coin that numismatist Farran Zerbe and others famously dubbed a “peace coin” to honor the end of what was then called “The Great War”[1]. Born in Italy in 1898, Teresa de Francisci was in her early 20s when her medalist husband, also an Italian-born immigrant, enlisted her as his muse for the new silver dollar. The image of Liberty on the coin is not an exact likeness but rather a “composite” of facial features that “typified something of America”[2].
Anthony de Francisci, in choosing Teresa as a model, lovingly fulfilled a dream long held by his young wife. She recalled seeing the Statue of Liberty tower over the ship she and her family were on as they approached the shores of the United States from Italy; a young Cafarelli was heartbroken when she was passed over for the role of the American goddess during a patriotic school play. Her likeness as the basis for Miss Liberty on the beloved Peace dollar lives on decades after Teresa de Francisci passed away at the age of 92 on October 20, 1990 – 26 years to the day after her artist-engraver husband passed away at the age of 77[3].
The original design showed the eagle on the reverse breaking a sword. That image was meant to be a symbol of disarmament (as in the Biblical ‘swords into plowshares’ reference), but some thought the symbology instead showed defeat. Mint Engraver George Morgan modified the design to remove the sword, making this change without de Francisci’s approval.
The 1921 Peace Dollar is Popularly Collected a “Type Coin”
The 1921 Peace dollar is particularly important due to the fact that it is a first-year issue and because the coin was struck in higher relief than issues struck in 1922 onward. The 1921 Peace dollar, therefore, qualifies as a one-year Type coin and is popularly collected as such.
Accounting for the low mintage of the issue, it is important to note that the design for the new dollar design was not finalized until President Warren G. Harding selected de Francisci’s design on December 19, 1921. That same week, the Mint’s engraving department was hard at work preparing dies to strike the initial coinage and on the final week of the year struck 1,006,473 coins bearing the 1921 date.
These coins were released into circulation in January 1922 to mixed reviews by the mainstream and numismatic press. The Wall Street Journal called the coin “our Flapper Silver Dollar”, while tongues also wagged at the ANA, with ANA President Moritz Wormser arguing that there was “nothing emblematic of peace on [the coin] except the inscription “Peace” itself.”
Time has been more forgiving and the Peace dollar, along with the Morgan dollar that preceded it remain two of the most popularly collected U.S. coins.
How Much is a 1921 Peace Dollar Worth?
The 1921 Peace dollar has a value of $150 in average circulated grade all the way up $100,000 for an example that would be considered by numismatists to be among the finest known of the date. A typical uncirculated example, grading MS63, routinely sells for about $1,000. This is a significant premium over what Peace dollars in the same grade sell for if struck in more common dates.
The 1921 Peace dollar is not the rarest Peace dollar in the series, but it is typically considered a key or semi-key issue. When purchasing a 1921 Peace dollar it is important to buy a coin certified by CAC, NGC, or PCGS. Reputable dealers will have no issue sourcing a quality coin that has been authenticated and graded by one of these services. Avoid coins that have been cleaned or damaged.
Obverse:
The obverse is dominated by a left-facing bust of a young Miss Liberty wearing a tiara of rays that unmistakably resembles the radiant crown upon the head of the Statue of Liberty. Most of Miss Liberty’s hair is contained within a bun at the back of her head, though several locks are seen hanging alongside her neck.
Arcing along the rim on the upper half of the obverse field is the inscription LIBERTY, and centered below the bust of Liberty near the bottom rim is the date 1921. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST appears in a single line of text across the lower quarter of the obverse and spreads across that section of the field, with the words IN GOD WE appearing to the left of Miss Liberty and the word TRUST located behind her neck. Incidentally, the letter “U” in “TRUST” appears as a “V,” which de Francisci employed to represent a “V” for “Victory”[4]. Dots appear between the words IN GOD WE and are also seen on the rim side of the words IN and TRUST. The designer’s monogram, AF, appears below Liberty’s neck in the lower obverse field.
Reverse:
The depiction of an American bald eagle perched on a mountaintop anchors the reverse. Clutched in its claws is an olive branch symbolizing peace; notably not included in this particular depiction of the eagle is a band of arrows representing military strength, a symbol commonly seen in similar visages of the patriotic avian emblem. The rightward-facing eagle is seen at an angle partly turned away from the viewer and towards a sunrise, which symbolizes the promise of dawning peace in the world.
The bold rays in the image of the rising sun harmonize with the rays seen in Miss Liberty’s tiara on the coin’s obverse. The legend UNITED STATES oF AMERICA appears along the rim in top half of the reverse. The motto E PLURIBUS UNUM is located directly below in lettering identical in size to the legend. The eagle’s beak breaks the bottom of the “S” in PLURIBUS and visually divides that word from UNUM; meanwhile, a dot punctuates the space between E and PLURIBUS.
The denomination ONE DOLLAR appears across the bottom third of the reverse in a single line of text, with the word ONE inscribed to the left of the eagle by its tail feathers and DOLLAR superimposed over the sun’s rays to the right of the eagle. PEACE is inscribed along the rim below the eagle, atop the rock on which the patriotic bird stands.
Edge:
The edge of the 1921 Peace dollar is reeded.
Designer(s):
Anthony de Francisci was born in Palermo, Sicily in 1887 and emigrated to the United States in 1905. He began his career as a sculptor studying under such notable numismatic artists as James Earle Fraser, Hermon Atkins MacNeil and Adolph Weinman. The Peace dollar (1921-35) is his most famous creation but he also produced several medals. He died in 1964.
Coin Specifications:
Country:
United States
Year Of Issue:
1921
Denomination:
1 Dollar
Mint Mark:
None (Philadelphia Mint)
Mintage:
1,006,473
Alloy:
90% Silver, 10% Copper
Weight:
26.73 grams
Diameter:
38.10 mm
Edge
Reeded
OBV Designer
Anthony de Francisci
REV Designer
Anthony de Francisci
Quality:
Business Strike
* * *
Sources
Zerbe, Farran. “Commemorate peace with a coin for circulation”, The Numismatist Oct. 1920: 443-44. Print.
LaMarre, Tom. “The Dollar Daze of 1921”, Coins Oct. 1999: 56–57. Print.
Taxay, Don. The U.S. Mint and Coinage (Reprint Ed.) Arco Publishing, 1983. Print.
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To honor the 200th anniversary of President and General George Washington’s birthday, Congress passed a joint resolution in 1924 that was signed by then-President Calvin Coolidge. The resolution was to ensure the country hosted adequate celebrations in 1932, the deceased president’s bicentennial year. One of the sponsored actions was to replace the Standing Liberty series […]
To honor the 200th anniversary of President and General George Washington’s birthday, Congress passed a joint resolution in 1924 that was signed by then-President Calvin Coolidge. The resolution was to ensure the country hosted adequate celebrations in 1932, the deceased president’s bicentennial year. One of the sponsored actions was to replace the Standing Liberty series […]
The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. He […]
The 1969-D Kennedy Half Dollar was the last of the silver-clad half dollar struck in quantity for circulation. The silver-clad half dollar would take its final bow in 1970 when the Denver Mint struck the coin one last time, but the mintage was limited to that year’s annual Mint Set and the published mintage of that set […]
1976 was an important year in American Numismatics. The Bicentennial quarter, half dollar and dollar had been released, featuring Jack Ahr’s drummer, Seth Huntington’s view of Independence Hall and Dennis William’s Liberty Bell, respectively. But from the start, United States Mint Director Mary Brooks was against the idea of changing the designs of all six […]
Background of the Washington Quarter Series Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design […]
Between 1999 and 2008, the 50 State Quarters circulating commemorative coin program honored each state in the order in which it joined the Union. The series was authorized by Public Law 105-124 on December 1, 1997. Five quarters were released every year with a common obverse and different reverses representative of the states being commemorated. […]
The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. He […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998 – save for a two-year run in 1975 and ’76, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design […]
The 1999-D Delaware quarter, released on January 1, was the first issue in the 50 States Quarters series struck at the Denver Mint. Delaware became the first state on December 7, 1787, when all 30 delegates of the Delaware Constitutional Convention ratified the United States Constitution. 11 years earlier, key votes on the call for […]
Bicentennial quarters are still doing their job, nearly a half-century after their issue in 1975 and 1976. Introduced alongside redesigned half dollars and dollar coins to mark the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the quarters were struck in the largest quantities of the three. A slightly larger mintage and a […]
The 1970-D Kennedy Half Dollar was the last of the regular-strike silver-clad half dollars and the last Kennedy half intended for circulation that contained any silver at all. Its release took collectors by surprise, as it was available only in mint sets that year. The United States Mint didn’t publicize this fact, and by the […]
The California Gold Rush may have been set off by James Wilson Marshall’s January 24, 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, but the commercial extraction of oro fino in California had already been underway for eight years by this time. This fact is important to understand because contrary to popular belief, the 1848 “CAL” […]
Description: The 1881-S Morgan dollar is a large silver coin that was struck at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint. Known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, the Morgan dollar is named for designer George T. Morgan, who served as a United States Mint engraver from 1876 until his death in […]
The 1881-S Morgan dollar is a large silver coin that was struck at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint. Known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, the Morgan dollar is named for designer George T. Morgan, who served as a U.S. Mint engraver from 1876 until his death in 1925. He […]
Images courtesy David Lawrence Rare Coins Description: The 1912-D Liberty Head nickel was struck during the only year when any of the coins in the series were struck at branch mints. The Liberty Head nickel series officially spanned from 1883 through 1912, though five examples of a 1913 Liberty nickel exist that may have been […]
Acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and artistic numismatic designs ever realized in the United States, the Saint-Gaudens $20 gold double eagle is also one of the most famous of all American coin types. Its existence came only at the insistence of President Theodore Roosevelt, who, over Mint objections, sought for years to beautify […]
By CoinWeek IQ ….. The Philadelphia Mint struck 15,646,000 Kennedy half dollars in 1998. A typical year for a denomination that didn’t see much in the way of circulation but was still being struck in quantity, in the event that new halves were needed from the Federal Reserve. Most collectors, however, would acquire their 1998-P […]
The era of the big dollar coin was already coming to a close when the United States Mint struck the last 59,000,000 Eisenhower dollar coins for circulation at the Denver and Philadelphia Mints. Denver had the honor of striking slightly more, and as had been the case through the entire series, struck them better than […]
The Jefferson nickel’s 1938 debut marked the end of the 25-year production run of the Buffalo nickel. James Earl Fraser’s Buffalo design, a classic in terms of coin art and Americana, gave the Mint fits. It was a difficult coin to strike, was hard on dies, and the speed at which the coin’s date wore […]
Description: The 1886 Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin that was struck at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. Nearly 20 million 1886 Morgan dollars were made, and while the vast majority were ultimately melted, enough survive today to satisfy general collector demands. The Morgan dollar, as […]
This second-year Proof issue of the Franklin half dollar was struck at the Philadelphia Mint and represents a challenging issue for collectors looking to complete this popular 20th-century half dollar series. Replacing the Walking Liberty half dollar in 1948, the Franklin half dollar obverse was designed by United States Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock, […]
Description The 1909-S Indian Head cent is a semi-key coin that also represents one of the last issues of the iconic one-cent coin series that began in 1859 and ended in 1909. After being struck exclusively at the Philadelphia Mint since its inception, Indian Head cents were finally issued by a branch mint beginning in […]
The penultimate coin issued in the program’s penultimate year and the 44th overall, the Wyoming 50 State quarter was released in September 2007. Arguably, the coin is one of the most representative of its state, with its simple, albeit polarizing, design of a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. But as far as collectors are concerned, […]
Description: The 1969-S Lincoln Memorial cent is collected by many people for many reasons. Among Lincoln cent enthusiasts, the coin is, at the very least, coveted for its merits as a business-strike and Proof issue produced by the San Francisco Mint and serves as a necessary addition to a date-and-mintmark series collection. For die variety […]
Description The Lincoln cent is the United States’ longest-serving coin. Its 1909 debut marked the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and its elegant sculptural design served as the vanguard of a new wave of American coin art. And while the golden era of American coin design is most associated with medallic artist and […]
Description: The Mercury or Winged Liberty dime (1916-1945) has long stood as an iconic coin the U.S. series. The coin’s elegant design draws heavily from the French Beaux Arts movement of the late 19th century. Its release immediately preceded the Roosevelt dime (1946-Present), and it is the last U.S. dime to be struck entirely in .900 […]
Overview: This tetradrachm (a silver four-drachmae coin), issued around the year 2 BCE, is from the Greco-Roman city of Antioch-on-the-Orontes in what is now southern Turkey. In 31 BCE, the forces of Octavian, great-nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar, had defeated the forces of Marc Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium, one […]
Description The 1928-S Peace dollar is among the most common later-date Peace dollars and one of the series’ major condition rarities. The last date struck from silver purchased under the terms of the Pittman Act, it’s more affordable than its counterpart from the Philadelphia Mint in circulated and lower uncirculated grades. But in MS-65, it’s […]
Description: The 1990 Eisenhower Centennial Dollar is the second United States coin struck to honor the 34th President of the United States, the first was the circulating Eisenhower dollar issued from 1971-1978. Authorized by Public Law 100-467 (Act of October 3, 1988), which authorized the striking of up to 4,000,000 silver dollars to commemorate the […]
Description Lincoln cents were in short supply as the United States entered its second year of war in Europe. Increased wartime economic activity drove up demand for circulating coinage, resulting in larger mintages. The more than 288 million cents produced at the Philadelphia Mint in 1918–the largest mintage in the series up to that point–were […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design of Jack […]
In the fall of 1986, the first silver bullion coins produced by the United States were released, marking the beginning of a series whose enduring popularity is evidenced by rapid sellouts of U.S. Mint products that include them. The American Silver Eagle (ASE) remains one of the world’s most sought-after bullion coins, and its inaugural […]
Struck against the backdrop of war from an alloy developed to save copper and nickel, the 1944-P Jefferson nickel is one of the most abundant dates of the silver alloy subtype. Uncirculated examples are plentiful and can be purchased inexpensively, though fully-struck examples are elusive. The date was counterfeited in the 1950s by Francis Henning, […]
Description President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s portrait on the dime was a fitting choice in 1946. He was a revered figure for many of the “Greatest Generation”: those who lived through the Great Depression (1929-39) and prevailed in World War II (1939-45). Though his administration was not without criticism (numismatists might lament his 1933 Executive Order […]
Description: While the country-at-large’s desire for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s was hardly demonstrable, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President Dwight D. […]
The Eisenhower Dollar While the country at large’s desire for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s was hardly demonstrable, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing […]
Description In mid-to-late 1904, an article appeared in newspapers across the country with the blaring headline: “Passing of the Good Old American Silver Dollar.” Under the subtitle “It Is Probable That No More of Them Will Ever be Coined by the Government,” the author, Katherine Pope, reported “that ponderous and more or less troubling coin, […]
By CoinWeek IQ ….. The last Franklin half dollar struck at the San Francisco Mint, the 1954-S, offers a window into an evolving postwar United States Mint. Replacing the Walking Liberty half dollar in 1948, the Franklin half dollar obverse was designed by Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock, and the reverse was created by […]
by CoinWeek… 1971 was meant to mark a significant change in the life of the Kennedy half dollar. Introduced in 1964 to honor the recently-assassinated president John F. Kennedy, the Kennedy half dollar replaced former United States Mint Chief Engraver John R. Sinnock’s design featuring Founding Father Benjamin Franklin that had been in use since […]
Description Background The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of that coin’s production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was […]
The 1933 double eagle $20 gold coin is one of American Numismatics’ most notorious coins. Only one surviving specimen was ever monetized and made legal to own, yet an uncertain number of examples still exist. When the United States made the controversial decision in 1933 to suspend the gold standard that it had based its […]
Consumers in San Francisco and along the West Coast were handling a rarity in the mid-1860s. As their counterparts in the east were vanishing from circulation during the Civil War, silver coins in San Francisco circulated much more extensively – including the 1864-S Seated Liberty quarter, which turned out to be a major rarity. Consumers […]
Even though the United States had no real need for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent death of beloved war-hero-turned-president Dwight D. […]
Description Morgan dollar production continued at its Congressionally mandated pace in 1887, despite the fact that even 10 years into the series’ run it had failed to gain a meaningful place as a circulating coin for most Americans. The 1887 Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin struck […]
Background The 2003 Lincoln cent was issued against the backdrop of many calling for the denomination’s elimination and represented one of the better-struck issues bearing the Lincoln Memorial reverse. Cents had been struck on copper-plated zinc planchets since 1982, earning the coins the moniker “Zincoln”. Their composition, adopted to cut production costs, provided only a […]
Description In the lead-up to the passage of the Coinage Act of 1965, speculators and coin collectors drew the ire of the Mint, the Treasury, and many members of Congress who thought that the bustling coin hobby was to blame for the national coin shortage. Anybody who has studied a Red Book will understand that […]
Description As David Lange writes in his excellent CoinWeek article, 1960 was a pivotal year for coin collecting in America. Rare coins, the traditional backbone of the hobby, continued to thrive, with many historic collections being built – some publicly, some privately. But the real buzz encircling the coin hobby centered on modern U.S. Mint […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson was held in 1937, open to “all American sculptors”. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description 1974 was an interesting year in the annals of numismatic history. The country was putting the finishing touches on its planned Bicentennial celebrations. The United States Mint was gearing up to produce a range of commemorative coins and medals to mark the occasion. The year would also mark the final Blue and Brown Pack […]
Description The Morgan dollar gets its name from United States Mint engraver George T. Morgan, who designed the dollar coin in competition with then-Chief Engraver William Barber. The two had a generally cordial relationship, though numismatists throughout the generations have supposed that Barber may have been envious of Morgan’s talent as an engraver and treated […]
The hobo nickel is a sculptural art form involving the creative modification of small-denomination coins, essentially resulting in miniature bas reliefs. The nickel, because of its size, thickness, and relative softness, was a favored coin for this purpose. However, the term “hobo nickel” is generic, as carvings have been made from many different denominations. Classic […]
Description: Americans have long considered the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 as the birthday of the United States. And 1976 was a special year: the 200th anniversary, or bicentennial, of our nation’s founding. But Congress and the U.S. Mint were still leery of what they viewed as the abuses of […]
Description Even though the United States had no real need for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President […]
Image: Coins in Motion. Description: The 1923 Peace dollar is one of the most common issues in the series of dollar coins (1921-35) designed by Anthony de Francisci. Peace dollars bear an obverse image of a young Lady Liberty crowned with rays, strikingly resembling the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. First issued five […]
Description The Lincoln cent is the United States’ longest-serving coin. Its 1909 debut marked the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, and its elegant sculptural design served as the vanguard of a new wave of American coin art. But while the golden age of American coin design is most associated with medallic artist and sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, it is […]
Description: The 1921 Peace dollar is the debut issue of Anthony de Francisci’s Art Deco design, produced from 1921-1928 and then again for two years in 1934 and 1935. Peace dollars bear an obverse image of a young Lady Liberty crowned with rays, strikingly resembling the Statue of Liberty. First issued five years after the […]
Description President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s portrait on the dime was a fitting choice in 1946. He was a revered figure for many of the “Greatest Generation”: those who lived through the Great Depression (1929-39) and prevailed in World War II (1939-45). Though his administration was not without criticism (numismatists might lament his 1933 Executive Order […]
Description The New Orleans Mint was one of three branches of the United States Mint authorized to be opened by the Coinage Act of March 3, 1835. The same Act authorized the opening of an important assay office in New York City. The Louisiana facility was built on land donated to the federal government by […]
Description The Lincoln cent is the United States’ longest-serving coin. Its 1909 debut marked the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and its elegant sculptural design served as the vanguard of a new wave of American coin art. But while the golden age of American coin design is most associated with medallic artist and […]
The Birth (and Death) of the Modern Small Dollar Of all of the coins struck over the long career of the United States Mint, no coin had as much support from the federal government only to see it immediately cast aside upon release as the Susan B. Anthony dollar. Even the Morgan dollar, a large […]
Description: The United States silver dollar denomination was authorized by the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, but not produced until the fall of 1794. The legislation called for the coins to be struck at a weight of 416 grains and a fineness of .89243. In theory, the coin was meant to circulate as the […]
Description: Acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and artistic numismatic designs ever realized in the United States, the Saint-Gaudens $20 gold double eagle is one of the most famous of all American coin types. Its existence came only at the insistence of President Theodore Roosevelt, who sought for years to beautiful America’s humdrum coin […]
Description: The small “white cents”, so-called because of their light color compared to that of the older large cents, had at first escaped the hoarding of coins that came with the Civil War. But by 1862, in spite of the production of millions of the coins, the cent had also disappeared from circulation, joining the […]
Description: The Saint-Gaudens $20 gold double eagle is one of the most famous of all American coin types, acclaimed as one of the most beautiful and artistic numismatic designs ever realized in the United States. Its existence came only at the insistence of President Theodore Roosevelt, who sought for years to beautiful America’s humdrum coin […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description The Lincoln cent is the United States’ longest-serving coin. Its 1909 debut marked the centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln and its elegant sculptural design served as the vanguard of a new wave of American coin art. But while the golden age of American coin design is most associated with medallic artist and […]
Description: Besides removing silver from the quarter, dime, and nickel, the Coinage Act of 1965 also mandated that no new silver dollars could be coined until 1970, at which time the need for the denomination would be reevaluated. That “need”, apparently, came from an unexpected source: Nevada gambling casinos. Though small numbers of silver dollars […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner, […]
Description: The Seated Liberty (or Liberty Seated) dime debuted in 1837 and underwent a number of design modifications over the course of its 54-year run. In 1837, United States Mint engraver (and soon to be Chief Engraver) Christian Gobrecht’s design debuted with a fairly clean, yet simple obverse that featured a seated Liberty accompanied only […]
Description: Besides removing silver from the quarter, dime, and nickel, the Coinage Act of 1965 also mandated that no new silver dollars could be coined until 1970, at which time the need for the denomination would be reevaluated. That “need”, apparently, came from an unexpected source: Nevada gambling casinos. Though small numbers of silver dollars […]
Description The 1887-S Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin that was struck at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint. The San Francisco Mint struck 1,771,000 Morgan dollars in 1887 and a majority of all of the U.S. gold coins struck during the year. Production […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and Third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description The 1887-O Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin that was struck at the New Orleans branch of the United States Mint. New Orleans struck 11,550,000 Morgan dollars in 1887 and nothing else, and while the vast majority were ultimately melted, the coin remained plentiful in the […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
The Five Good Emperors and Antoninus Pius From about the end of the first century (96 CE) to near the end of the second (180), the Roman Empire was ruled by what historians have historically called the “Five Good Emperors“. These emperors–Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius–are often presented as exemplars of competent […]
Description: The Albany Half Dollar is one of twenty 1936-dated commemorative silver coins issued by the United States Mint. The coin was authorized by Public Law 687, which authorized “the production of a minimum of 25,000 coins dated 1936 and bearing a special single design to commemorative the 250the Anniversary of the founding of the […]
Description: Even though the United States had no real need for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998 – save for a two-year run in 1975 and ’76, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design of […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description: Guyana is a South American country that is located on the northern coast of the continent situated between Venezuela to the west and Suriname to the east. A former British colony, Guyana is the only South American nation that uses English as its official language. Although a small country, Guyana benefits from tremendous biodiversity, a […]
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the gold Krugerrand, the South African Mint is minting its first-ever 1 oz silver Krugerrand. After 49 years of respect and prestige on the international stage and with the global silver market on an upswing, the timing couldn’t be much better. Additionally, a 1 oz platinum […]
Description: The 10-Yuan one-ounce 1995 Silver Panda is a bullion coin produced by the official mint of the People’s Republic of China. The Silver Panda bullion coin program began in 1983 as an addition to the Gold Panda bullion coin series that was launched in 1982. Silver Panda coins have been minted in various sizes […]
Description: One of the most impressive modern coins ever struck, this Mexican $100 coin recalls more than a thousand years of national history and culture. It’s 1 kilo size is certainly impressive, but even more so is the intricate level of detail exhibited on this limited mintage silver coin’s design. Only 500 examples were struck. […]
Description: At the turn of the 20th century, Mexico adopted the gold standard and issued new coin denominations. Five-peso and 10-peso gold coins were introduced in 1905. The 2.5-peso gold coin’s run began in 1918, and the two-peso gold coin followed in 1919. The 20-peso gold coin featuring the Aztec Sun Stone was first struck […]
Description: While the country-at-large’s desire for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s was hardly demonstrable, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President Dwight D. […]
Description: Marianne is the national symbol of the Republic of France, the personification of both Liberty and Reason. Born of the 18th-century philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment, she has stood for Democracy at its best and (sometimes) its worst. Her first appearance was on a 1789 medal honoring the storming of the Bastille, a […]
Overview: Carthage At its peak, the ancient North African city of Carthage rivaled the Eternal City of Rome for military and economic control of the western Mediterranean Sea. Today, its ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the suburbs of the Tunisian capital. Most people, if they’ve heard of Carthage at all, are familiar […]
Description: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” –From the Preamble to the United States Declaration of Independence Starting in 2018 and running through 2020, the United […]
Description: It was the “War to End All Wars”. When the United States entered the conflict on April 6, 1917, World War I had been raging for almost three years. During that time, the liberal President Thomas Woodrow Wilson had maintained the country’s political neutrality – despite his own feelings to the contrary and the […]
Description: In 2004, the Austrian Mint celebrated the 15th year of its successful Vienna Philharmonic gold bullion coin program by producing 15 1,000-ounce versions of the popular Euro gold coin. The coin–nicknamed “Big Phil”–was presented to the public in grand style by Vice-Governor of the Austrian Central Bank, Wolfgang Duchatczek. The coins were too big […]
Description: The Austrian Mint launched the Colorful Creatures series of three-euro glow-in-the-dark collector coins in October 2016 and will release a new coin about every three months until July of 2019. Colorful Creatures is the first series of three-euro coins produced by the Mint; they are legal tender only in Austria but as collector coins […]
Description: In 2017, the United States Mint celebrated the 225th anniversary of its creation with the construction of the Philadelphia Mint as authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The highlight of the Mint’s celebrations was the 2017 American Liberty Proof Gold Coin. Part of a new series of coins and medals that showcase a […]
Description: On July 30, 2015, the United States Mint will issue a 1 ounce .9999 gold coin struck in high relief and bearing the notional denomination of $100. This high relief gold coin was not specifically authorized by Congress, but instead will be issued under the authority granted under 31 U.S.C. § 5112(i)(4)(C), which gives […]
Description: The 2011 September 11 National Medal honors the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania that killed nearly 3,000 people. The one-ounce silver 9/11 medals were struck in 2011 and issued to help financially support the establishment and maintenance of the National September […]
Overview: Caligula long ago entered the popular imagination as an archetype of the sadistic and depraved Roman emperor. From a distance of almost 2,000 years, it is hard to say to what extent the stories of incest, madness and murderous sociopathy that have come down to us are accurate or exaggerations of political expediency. But […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description: At the turn of the 20th century, Mexico adopted the gold standard and issued new coin denominations. Five-peso and 10-peso gold coins were introduced in 1905. The 2.5-peso gold coin’s run began in 1918, and the two-peso gold coin followed in 1919. The 20-peso gold coin featuring the Aztec Sun Stone was first struck […]
Description: The 2017 Barn Owl $20 1oz Silver Coin is the first coin from the Royal Canadian Mint to feature a striking black rhodium plating. It combines the Mint’s penchant for innovative products, the high purity of its gold and silver coins, and its celebration of Canada’s abundant wildlife. It is also the first coin […]
Overview: The Doppelkaiser The 1807 Austrian 30 kreuzer copper coin features a portrait of Franz II, last ruler of the Holy Roman Empire and first ruler of the Austrian Empire, where he was known as Franz I. He is more commonly known as Francis II in the English-speaking world, but for two years in Greater […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design of Jack […]
Description – Washington Quarter Intended to be a circulating commemorative coin honoring the bicentennial of the birth of America’s first president, the Washington quarter as originally designed was struck from 1932 to 1998, save for a two-year run in 1975 and 1976, when the coin’s reverse was swapped out for the “drummer boy” design of Jack […]
Description: The Jefferson nickel debuted in 1938, replacing the Buffalo nickel in the 25th year of its production run. A design contest to commemorate Founding Father and third president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, open to “all American sculptors”, was held in 1937. German émigré and American artist Felix Oscar Schlag was the winner. […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description: While the country-at-large’s desire for a large dollar coin at the start of the 1970s was hardly demonstrable, the gaming industry developed an acute need to find a replacement for the silver dollars it used to feed tens of thousands of slot machines. This “need”, and the recent passing of beloved war-hero-turned-President Dwight D. […]
Description: Americans have long considered the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 as the birthday of the United States. And 1976 was a special year: the 200th anniversary, or bicentennial, of our nation’s founding. But Congress and the U.S. Mint were still leery of what they viewed as the abuses […]
Description: The 1970-D Kennedy Half Dollar was the last of the regular-strike silver-clad half dollars and the last Kennedy half intended for circulation that contained any silver at all. Its release took collectors by surprise, as it was available only in mint sets that year. The United States Mint didn’t publicize this fact, and […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description: “Microcosm”, the 2017 entry in the popular Austrian Mint 25 euro silver-niobium bimetallic coin program honoring science and technological innovation, is the 15th issue in the series. A quick glance at the muted colors on the niobium center of Microcosm reveals how far the Austrians have developed not only the series but the technical […]
Overview: Macedon The Kingdom of Macedon was considered a barbaric place by the cultivated Greeks of Attica (such as the Athenians) and the Peloponnese (such as the Spartans) to the South. In fact, a certain king of Macedon named Alexander I (ruled approximately 498-454 BCE) wasn’t even allowed to participate in the Olympic Games until […]
Description: The 2017 Lions Clubs International Centennial commemorative silver dollar honors the 100th anniversary of the world’s largest service club. Founded in 1917 by Chicago businessman and philanthropist Melvin Jones, Lions Clubs International has more than 1.4 million members working together to help improve communities around the world. There are more than 46,000 associated clubs […]
Description: To celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Maria Theresa, the only woman ever to rule the Hapsburg Empire, the Austrian Mint is issuing a four-coin series entitled Empress Maria Theresa – Treasures of History. Each entry in the series focuses on one of four virtues–Courage, Justice, Clemency and Prudence. A different portrait […]
Description: The United States Mint released three commemorative coins in 2017 that honor Boys Town, a non-profit child welfare organization headquartered in Nebraska. While the mission of Boys Town today is to help provide care for at-risk youth of all genders, the iconic youth organization was founded in 1917 as a refuge for wayward boys. […]
Description: The 2017 Boys Town commemorative $5 gold coin is one of three special United States Mint issues that honor the 100th anniversary of the famous Nebraska-based organization that provides care for at-risk youth. The non-profit organization was founded in 1917 by Father Edward Flanagan, who established Boys Town in Omaha as a home for […]
Description: The non-profit organization Boys Town, dedicated to helping at-risk youth and made famous by the 1938 movie of the same name, is commemorated on a clad half dollar, a silver dollar and a $5 gold coin celebrating the centennial of its founding in 1917. Established by Father Edward Flanagan, the charity’s main focus was […]
Description The 2017 South African Krugerrand 1-ounce gold coin marks the 50th anniversary of one of the world’s most famous bullion coins. The South African gold Krugerrand was first produced by the South African Mint in 1967 to provide a vehicle for private gold ownership. The coin’s name incorporates Kruger for the former South African […]
Description: The 1923 Peace dollar is one of the most common issues in the series of dollar coins (1921-35) designed by Anthony de Francisci. Peace dollars bear an obverse image of a young Lady Liberty crowned with rays, strikingly resembling the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. First issued five years after the end […]
Description: The 1881-S Morgan dollar is a large silver coin that was struck at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint. Known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, the Morgan dollar is named for designer George T. Morgan, who served as a United States Mint engraver from 1876 until his death in […]
Images courtesy David Lawrence Rare Coins Description: The 1912-D Liberty Head nickel was struck during the only year when any of the coins in the series were struck at branch mints. The Liberty Head nickel series officially spanned from 1883 through 1912, though five examples of a 1913 Liberty nickel exist that may have been […]
Images courtesy David Lawrence Rare Coins Description: The 1909-S Indian Head cent is a semi-key coin that also represents one of the last issues of the iconic one-cent coin series that began in 1859 and ended in 1909. After being struck exclusively at the Philadelphia Mint since its inception, Indian Head cents were finally issued […]
Description: The 1886 Morgan dollar, known more officially as the Liberty Head dollar, is a silver coin that was struck at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. Nearly 20 million 1886 Morgan dollars were made, and while the vast majority were ultimately melted, enough survive today to satisfy general collector demands. The Morgan dollar, as […]
Description: The 1969-S Lincoln Memorial cent is collected by many people for many reasons. Among Lincoln cent enthusiasts, the 1969-S Lincoln cent is, at the very least, coveted for its merits as a business-strike and Proof issue produced by the San Francisco Mint and serves as a necessary addition to a date-and-mintmark series collection. For […]
Description: The French Mint honors artist Auguste Rodin on a 100 Euro silver commemorative coin released in 2017. The French artist, famous for iconic sculptures such as The Thinker and The Kiss, is honored on the obverse of the 100 Euro silver coin, which is one of three French coins released in 2017 featuring his […]
Overview: Julius Caesar The Roman general and dictator Julius Caesar is still famous 2,061 years after his death, though most people are probably more familiar with the legend than the man and his actual achievements. Not that the facts disappoint. Caesar was by all accounts an energetic and forceful personality, his life lending itself quite […]
Overview: Julius Caesar The Roman general and dictator Julius Caesar is still famous 2,061 years after his death, though most people are probably more familiar with the legend than the man and his actual achievements. Not that the facts disappoint. Caesar was by all accounts an energetic and forceful personality, his life lending itself quite […]
Description: French artist Auguste Rodin is featured on a 10 Euro silver commemorative coin Monnaie de Paris released in 2017. The 10 Euro Rodin silver commemorative honors the life of the famous French artist known for such iconic sculptures as The Thinker (1904) and The Kiss (1889). Rodin was born on November 12, 1840 in […]
Description: Auguste Rodin, the French artist and sculptor known for his iconic 19th-century work The Thinker, died 100 years ago in 1917. Now he’s making a claim to 21st-century fame by being honored on a series of coins from the Monnaie de Paris – including a 2017 French 2 Euro bimetallic circulating commemorative coin. While […]
Description: In 2016, the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany issued the five-euro Planet Earth collector coin with a blue polymer ring connecting two metallic portions. It was a startling first in coin production, the innovative process having been developed by German press manufacturer Schuler AG. The coin was manufactured by inserting a translucent plastic […]
Description: The Austrian Mint launched the Colorful Creatures series of three-euro glow-in-the-dark collector coins in October 2016 and will release a new coin about every three months until July of 2019. Colorful Creatures is the first series of three-euro coins produced by the Mint; they are legal tender only in Austria but as collector coins […]
Description: Angels figure in the myths and legends of countless cultures around the world. They are especially significant in the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The angel Michael is common to all three. Michael, or Saint Michael in the Catholic Church, is a protector of the Jewish people in the Old Testament and […]
Overview: Tarsus Tarsus was an ancient city located on the southern Mediterranean shore of Asia Minor in what is now modern Turkey. It was already ancient when the Persians added it to their empire, with habitation going back to the Stone Age. It sat at the intersection of important regional and world trade routes, and […]
Description: Like many other people around the world, Austrians give small gifts to their friends and family to wish them good luck in the New Year (Jahreswechsel). And each year the Austrian Mint produces a specially themed coin for the occassion. This year’s theme is the waltz, specifically The Blue Danube waltz, written by Austrian […]
Description: On January 20, 2017, New York businessman and reality TV star Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States in Washington, D.C. at the White House and the Capitol Building. To celebrate, Liberty Dollar creator and convicted counterfeiter Bernard Von NotHaus is releasing a special Trump Inaugural commemorative version […]
Description: Between 1999 and 2008, the 50 State Quarters circulating commemorative coin program honored each state in the order in which it joined the Union. The series was authorized by Public Law 105-124 on December 1, 1997. Five quarters were released every year with a common obverse and different reverses representative of the states being […]
Description: Between 1999 and 2008, the 50 State Quarters circulating commemorative coin program honored each state in the order in which it joined the Union. The series was authorized by Public Law 105-124 on December 1, 1997. Five quarters were released every year with a common obverse and different reverses representative of the states being […]
Description: The 2017 Guardian Angel $1 Silver Coin is the first issue in a planned series of annual Guardian Angel-themed coins exclusive to Gainesville Coins, a dealership based out of Lutz, Florida in the United States. It consists of one troy ounce actual silver weight (ASW) of 99.9% pure (.999 fine) silver. As part of […]
Description: On August 27, 2015, the United States Mint issued the 2015 Lady Bird Johnson First Spouse 1/2 oz $10 Gold Coin. The coin is struck in .9999 gold and has a maximum authorized mintage of only 10,000 pieces across all ordering options. The coin was struck at the West Point Mint and carries the […]
Description: On July 1, 2016 the United States Mint issued the 2016 Nancy Reagan First Spouse 1/2 oz $10 Gold Coin. The coin is struck in .9999 gold and has a maximum authorized mintage of only 10,000 pieces across all ordering options. The coin was struck at the West Point Mint and carries the “W” […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description: The America the Beautiful Quarters Program debuted on the heels of the 50 State Quarters Program and its adjunct District of Columbia and Territories program. Authorized by Public Law 110–456 (source: PDF), the America the Beautiful National Parks Quarter Dollar Coin Act of 2008, called for the “issuance of redesigned quarters dollars emblematic of national parks […]
Description: The 2016 France Joan of Arc 10 Euro silver Proof coin pays homage to the female military leader who rattled English intruders in France and paid the ultimate price for it. Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc) was a peasant girl born circa January 6, 1412 to Jacques d’Arc, a tenant farmer, and Isabelle Romée […]
Description: The 2016 Queen Matilda 10 Euro Silver Proof coin is part of a series of French coins honoring great women in France’s culture and history. This Women of France coin series issued by the Monnaie de Paris commemorates the life of Matilda of Flanders (1031-1083). The wife of William the Conqueror, Queen Matilda was […]
Description: The 2016 Queen Matilda 10 Euro Silver Proof coin is part of a series of French coins honoring great women in France’s culture and history. This Women of France coin series issued by the Monnaie de Paris commemorates the life of Matilda of Flanders (1031-1083). The wife of William the Conqueror, Queen Matilda was […]
Description: The François Mitterrand France 2 Euro Centennial coin honors the Socialist Party icon who became the longest-serving president of France. Mitterrand led France from 1981 through 1995 and was the first president elected under the French Fifth Republic, a semi-presidential political system that was established in 1958 and is based on the republican constitution […]
Overview: Thebes Thebes was one of the major cities of ancient Greece, and for a brief time it was the preeminent power in the Greek world. It first rose to prominence during the late Bronze Age (approx. 1600 – 1100 BCE) as part of the Mycenaean civilization that birthed many of the great cities of […]
Description: The Ukrainian 100 Years of the Fire Truck in Ukraine 5 hryvnia coin does double duty as a commemorative coin. First, it celebrates the technological accomplishments that went into the development of the modern fire truck. And second, it honors the men and women who risk their lives every day to protect Ukrainian citizens […]
Description: The 2016 10 Euro Austria coin completes a 10-piece commemorative series honoring the nine federal Austrian states plus the entire nation of Austria. The preceding nine coins in the series commemorate each of the nine states, and this tenth coin honors all of the parts as one – the unified nation of Austria. The […]
Description: 2005 saw the release of the third issue in Austria’s 25-Euro Silver-Niobium bimetallic coin series. The reception of the previous two releases was so positive that the Austrian Mint decided to raise the authorized mintage from 50,000 to 65,000. This decision did little to dampen collector enthusiasm for the innovative coin program. The subject […]
Description: The 10-Yuan one-ounce 1995 Silver Panda is a bullion coin produced by the official mint of the People’s Republic of China. The Silver Panda bullion coin program began in 1983 as an addition to the Gold Panda bullion coin series that was launched in 1982. Silver Panda coins have been minted in various sizes […]
Description: The 2011 September 11 National Medal honors the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania that killed nearly 3,000 people. The one-ounce silver 9/11 medals were struck in 2011 and issued to help financially support the establishment and maintenance of the National September […]
Description: The 2001 New York state quarter is a circulating commemorative coin that, by an awful twist of fate, became one of the most widely publicized, most popular issues in the 50 States Quarters series. The New York quarter was released on January 2, 2001 and became the first 50 States Quarters issue for that […]
Description: The 2016 German 20 Euro silver commemorative coin honoring the 125th birthday of Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix celebrates an artist who had an illustrious career spanning the first seven decades of the 20th century. Dix was known for his striking, often controversial, art and illustrations laden with graphic war symbolism and gritty scenes criticizing […]
Description: The 175th anniversary of Germany’s national anthem is honored on a 20-euro silver coin released by the German Mint in 2016. The lyrics to the German national anthem (“Deutschlandlied“) were written by August Heinrich Hoffman in 1841 while vacationing in Heligoland, a German island in the North Sea that at the time belonged to […]
Overview: Carthage At its peak, the ancient North African city of Carthage rivaled the Eternal City of Rome for military and economic control over the western Mediterranean Sea. Today, its ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the suburbs of the Tunisian capital. Most people, if they’ve heard of Carthage at all, are familiar […]
Description: German printer and publisher Ernst Litfass (Ernst Litfaß) is the subject of a 2016 20-euro silver coin honoring the bicentennial of his birth. Litfass was born in Berlin on February 11, 1816 and took over his stepfather’s newspaper business in 1845. In 1858, Litfass published the 242-volume Economic Encyclopedia (Oekonomische Encyklopädie), a well-known German […]
Description: LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD is one of the most popular children’s fairy tales, and now it is the subject of a 20-euro 2016 commemorative coin from Germany. The 20-euro Little Red Riding Hood German silver coin honors the centuries-old tale, which tells the story of a red-caped young girl who encounters a hungry wolf […]
Description: At the turn of the 20th century, Mexico adopted the gold standard and issued new coin denominations. Five-peso and 10-peso gold coins were introduced in 1905. The 2.5-peso gold coin’s run began in 1918, and the two-peso gold coin followed in 1919. The 20-peso gold coin featuring the Aztec Sun Stone was first struck […]
Description: The German 2016 Nelly Sachs 20 Euro Silver Commemorative Coin honors the 125th anniversary of the legendary Jewish poet’s birth. Born in Berlin on December 10, 1891, Sachs grew up in a wealthy family and enjoyed dancing, studied music, and wrote poetry during her childhood years. While she was gifted in the arts, her […]
Description: The Presidential Dollar Coin Act (Public Law 109-145) was passed into law on December 22, 2005. The Act compelled the Secretary of the Treasury to “mint coins in commemoration of each of the Nation’s past Presidents and their spouses, respectively, to improve circulation of the $1 coin, [and] to create a new bullion coin”. […]
Description: The 2016 Wadden Sea 5 Euro coins from the Royal Dutch Mint honor one of the world’s largest intertidal habitats, located in the northern region of the Netherlands. The 2016-dated silver-plated five-euro coins are made from a base metal copper alloy, and the silver Proof version is made from 0.925-fine silver. Colored coin varieties […]
Description: The Wadden Sea 10 Euro gold coin, issued by the Royal Dutch Mint, commemorates one of the largest intertidal habitats in the world. Located in northern Europe and bordering the nations of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, the Wadden Sea is a unique 4,400-square-mile conservation area that is home to a chain of islands […]
10 Euro Silver Coin Description: The 2016 Belgium 10 Euro “Belgium at the Rio Olympics” coin is a silver-hued celebration of that European nation’s strong presence at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Belgium is slated to field 98 competitors in 17 different sports, including archery, sailing, and swimming. Belgians have participated […]
Description: Constantin Rosetti was a Romanian journalist and politician who founded Romania’s National Liberal Party. Born on June 2, 1816 in Bucharest, Rosetti studied at Saint Sava National College in 1832 and joined the army the following year, serving as an aide-de-camp of Muntenian Prince Alexandru D. Ghica. Rosetti resigned from his military position three […]
Description: The Japan Mint is honoring the 47 Prefectures of Japan with a colorful 1,000-yen silver coin series. The history and beauty of each prefecture is captured in full color on the coin’s obverse, while each coin’s reverse features a beautifully engraved design emblematic of the 47 prefectures. The Japan Mint allocates up to 10% […]
Description: The Saint George the Victorious 3 Ruble silver bullion coin honors the famous Roman soldier and military officer vaunted in European legend and revered by Christians. Born circa 275-281 CE, Saint George served in the Roman army and later became a Christian martyr after he refused to renounce his Christian faith before an emperor. […]
Description: Alvar Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer who is featured on Finland’s 2016 Europa Star 10-euro silver coin. Aalto was born February 3, 1898 in Kuortane, Finland (then part of the Russian Empire). Aalto studied architecture at the Technical Institute of Helsinki. However, his academic pursuits were temporarily sidelined by the Finnish War […]
Description: Benedetto Croce was one of Italy’s Renaissance Men, even if he was born more than three centuries after the historical period we call by that name. Croce was a philosopher, historian and politician who wrote on an array of topics, such as philosophy, aesthetics, and history. He was born on February 25, 1866 in […]
Description: The Monnaie de Paris unveiled its multi-year Women of France 10-euro silver and 50-euro quarter-ounce gold coin series in 2016, with the French mint releasing a coin dedicated to Queen Clotilde, credited with establishing Christianity in France. Clotilde, who was born in Burgundy in 474 CE (before the Fall of the Western Roman Empire) […]
Description: Ancient Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus (usually referred to by his cognomen Plautus) is one of the defining icons of Latin comedy, his influence extending across the globe and across the centuries. Among his numerous other source materials, Shakespeare drew heavily from Plautus for style, characters and plot. This year, Italy is honoring the […]
Description: Ancient Roman playwright Titus Maccius Plautus (usually referred to by his cognomen Plautus) is one of the defining icons of Latin comedy, his influence extending across the globe and across the centuries. Among his numerous other source materials, Shakespeare drew heavily from Plautus for style, characters and plot. This year, Italy is honoring the […]
Description: The Monnaie de Paris unveiled its multi-year Women of France 10-euro silver and 50-euro quarter-ounce gold coin series in 2016, with the French mint releasing a coin dedicated to Queen Clotilde, credited with establishing Christianity in France. Clotilde, who was born in Burgundy in 474 CE (before the Fall of the Western Roman Empire) […]
Description: The Monnaie de Paris unveiled its multi-year Women of France 10-euro silver and 50-euro quarter-ounce gold coin series in 2016, with the French mint releasing a coin dedicated to Queen Clotilde, credited with establishing Christianity in France. Clotilde, who was born in Burgundy in 474 CE (before the Fall of the Western Roman Empire) […]
This CoinWeek Coin Profile is Sponsored by Minshull Trading Description: The Mercury or Winged Liberty dime (1916-1945) has long stood as an iconic coin the U.S. series. The coin’s elegant design draws heavily from the French Beaux Arts movement of the late 19th century. Its release immediately preceded the Roosevelt dime (1946-Present), and it is the […]
Description: The Recanati Marche Italy of Arts Series 5 Euro silver coin honors the artistic contributions of Recanati, a town in central eastern Italy in the Marche region of the country. Recanati was founded in 1150 CE and in 1290 was self-proclaimed as an independent republic. Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Recanati in 1798. The town has […]
Description: The Sardinia Italy of Arts series features a bronze statuette of a warrior. The island of Sardinia is an autonomous region of Italy west of the mainland and is the second-largest Italian island behind Sicily, which is also an autonomous region. There have been many civilizations in Sardinia going back to ancient times, and […]
Description: 2016 marks the last coin in the 20-euro gold series Flora in Art or Flora Nell Arte. The 2016 Flora in Art coin pays homage to contemporary art and features artistic female figurines adorned with floral decorative pieces. The figures are inspired by frescoes created by Ettore de Maria Bergler, a painter born in […]
Description: The Enzo Ferrari 10-euro Italian silver coin features the world-known motor racing driver and automobile entrepreneur whose name is associated with some of the fastest cars known. Issued among the Europa Star Programme Series, this silver 10-euro coin is one of dozens that honor Europe’s iconic artistic and cultural icons. Enzo Ferrari was inspired […]
Description: The Presidential Dollar Coin Act (Public Law 109-145) was passed into law on December 22, 2005. The Act compelled the Secretary of the Treasury to “mint coins in commemoration of each of the Nation’s past Presidents and their spouses, respectively, to improve circulation of the $1 coin, [and] to create a new bullion coin”. […]
Description: The Perth Mint continues their popular Kookaburra series of bullion coins with the 2016 issue of the .999 fine 10-ounce silver coin. First released in 1990 in a one-ounce version, each year’s issue has featured a different design on the reverse – one of the few world bullion programs to do so. Long one […]
Overview: In 1092 CE the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus enacted sweeping coinage reforms. He stopped production of previous denominations and introduced five new ones: the gold hyperpyron (which served as the unit of account for the new money), the electrum aspron trachy, the billon (copper and silver) aspron trachy, the copper tetarteron, and the […]
The reverse of the 1886 Morgan dollar is dominated by a heraldic eagle, its wings spread across the upper half of the coin. Between the upper tips of the eagle’s wings appears the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. The eagle clutches an olive branch in its right claw representing peace and in its left claw are three arrows symbolizing the nation’s ability to defend itself. The central eagle design is partly encircled by a laurel wreath.
The depiction of an American bald eagle perched on a mountaintop anchors the reverse. Clutched in its claws is an olive branch symbolizing peace; notably not included in this particular depiction of the eagle is a band of arrows representing military strength, a symbol commonly seen in similar visages of the patriotic avian emblem. The rightward-facing eagle is seen at an angle partly turned away from the viewer and towards a sunrise, which symbolizes the promise of dawning peace in the world.