Page 5 - U.S. Coin Articles

The United States Mint recently confirmed that all 1986 and 1987 bullion American Silver Eagles were struck at the fabled San Francisco Mint! This breaking reveal was in response to a Freedom of Information Act inquiry filed by Lee Minshull, the owner of Lee Minshull Rare Coins Inc, who requested information clarifying the mintage and production of bullion American Silver Eagles.   The United States Mint provided a mintage chart to Minshull that included both total mintages and information about where each year was produced from the debut year of issue, 1986, through July 17, 2017. Minshull then shared this information with Coin World, who published an article detailing this Silver Eagle discovery to enthused collectors worldwide. The chart revealed that 5,393,005 1986 Uncirculated Silver Eagles, the entire mintage, were struck at the San Francisco Mint, as well as the entire 11,442,335 mintage of the 1987 bullion issues. Coin World has requested further information on the…

By Ray James   The United States Mint struck the Winged Liberty Head or "Mercury" Dime design from 1916 until 1945. The Mercury Dime is one of the most collected and beloved American coin series ever struck! This series was preceded by the famous Barber dime and was followed by the Roosevelt dime design, which is still circulating today.     The designer of the Mercury dime was noted American artist Adolph A. Weinman. For more information about Adolph A. Weinman and his many numismatic accomplisments, read this Coin Authority article Mercury Dime Design     The obverse depicts Liberty wearing a winged Phrygian cap. The wings on the cap symbolize "Freedom of Thought." The wing imagery was the design element that caused this depiction of Liberty to be mistaken as a depiction of Mercury, the Roman messenger of the Gods.   The reverse features a fasces ,or ax, and an olive branch.How much is a Mercury Dime worth?    The Mercury dime contains .07234 oz. of actual…

By Ray James   Updated on 08/31/2021   The American Gold Eagle series was introduced in 1986. It was a latecomer to the world of private gold ownership, as it debuted after other modern series like the South African Gold Krugerrand, the Canadian Gold Maple, and the Mexican Gold Libertad. At the time, this was the only modern gold bullion coin series to be guaranteed by the United States government for both purity and gold weight.    The design features the familiar Augustus Saint-Gaudens $20 “Double Eagle” obverse depicting a full-length Liberty holding the Torch of Enlightenment overhead. The reverse featured an original-to-the-series “Family of Eagles” design by artist Miley (Busiek) Tucker-Frost for the first 35 years of its history. This design was replaced in mid-2021 with a new reverse. This change marks a clear boundary between the Type-1 American Gold Eagle design and the recently debuted Type-2 design.   The series remains popular with collectors either…

By Louis Golino   Collectors of American Silver Eagles and American Gold Eagles will soon see the release of exciting new versions of 2020-W Silver Eagles and 2020-W Gold Eagles from the United States Mint. These coins will both be struck in proof at the West Point Mint and will be the first coins of both series to feature privy marks, specifically, “V75” privy marks that pay homage to the 75th anniversary of the American-led victory in World War II. What’s more, both coins will feature extremely low mintages with the gold version set to become one of the lowest-mintage modern U.S. coins ever issued!2020 Silver and Gold V75 American Eagles As for the special World War II 75th Anniversary 2020-W Silver Eagle, it will have a very low mintage of 75,000 coins (likely because it is the 75th anniversary), which will make it the third-lowest proof coin in the series after the 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof and 1995-W proof. The companion 2020-W Gold Eagle will have an…

By Louis Golino   On April 21, the United States Mint officially unveiled the designs for the 2020 Women’s Suffrage Centennial silver dollar and proof silver medal. Each with feature different designs that were released on August 18th, 2020. The silver dollar was authorized by Public Law 116-71, the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act, which became law on November 25, 2019. The legislation was initially introduced in April of last year in the House of Representatives by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R- N.Y.), while the Senate version was introduced by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). The Women’s Suffrage coin and medal mark the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that gave 27 million women at the time the right to vote (and a much larger number today) – a seminal moment in American history that was made possible by a long and arduous struggle that involved the dedication and sacrifices of many women and men. While full equality for…

By Ray James Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Early Life    Augustus St-Gaudens, the designer of some of the most beautiful gold coins ever struck, was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1848. His family came to the United States shortly after his birth. He primarily grew up in New York City, where he apprenticed as a cameo cutter when he was a teenager. St. Gaudens studied at the famous Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design. He would later enroll in the renowned École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Before returning to the United States, he studied in Rome, where he met Augusta Fisher Homer, his wife-to-be.    In the decades after his return to the United States, St. Gaudens built his considerable reputation on high profile sculptures placed in public parks and buildings. During this time, he took on students, among them were future numismatic designers. He taught James Earle Fraser, who would go on to design the Buffalo Nickel, Adolph A. Weinman, who would go on to create the Walking…

By Louis Golino   On June 4, 2020, the United States Mint will launch its Basketball Hall of Fame commemorative coin program which is being issued to mark the 60th anniversary of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. The coins will include clad half dollars, silver dollars and $5 gold coins, including some special, limited issue versions and the first colorized coins to ever be released by the Mint-- all struck in a domed shape so that they physically resemble a basketball. Shop All Basketball Commemoratives Now A Brief Overview of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame that recognizes and honors the greatest players alongside other important figures in the very popular sport of basketball. The Hall of Fame promotes interest in basketball while working to preserve the game’s rich history. It is named for James Naismith, a Canadian American physician who taught…

By Louis Golino   Updated 12/31/2020   The United States Mint has announced that it will include the first-ever nickels struck at the West Point Mint with “W” mint marks as a bonus to those who purchase the 2020 U.S. Mint Proof set and Silver Proof sets. These special 2020 nickels will come with a proof finish in the regular 2020 Proof sets and a reverse proof finish in the 2020 U.S. Mint Silver Proof sets. While initially the Mint planned to include a Jefferson Nickel with an uncirculated finish in the 2020 U.S. Mint Uncirculated coin set, due to production limitations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, they were not included as originally planned.The First-Ever "W" Mint Marked Lincoln Cents Released in 2019 The 2020 nickels continue the program that was begun last year with the issuance of the first-ever "W"-mint mark quarters that were placed in circulation in 2019. The first-ever “W”-mint mark pennies, which were included as a bonus in the 2019 annual U.S. Mint sets,…

By Louis Golino   Following the success of the five 2019 West Point national parks quarters last year, which helped increase interest in collecting coins from circulation, the U.S. Mint has announced that it will issue 2020 quarters with a “W” mint mark. However, this year something special is being added to those five limited-issue U.S. Mint quarters – a special V75 privy mark on the obverse. The privy mark, which is part of the master die for the coins, reads “V75” within an outline of the rainbow pool of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC and denotes the 75th anniversary of the allied victory in World War II. It will appear to the left of President Washington’s profile in the center of the left side of the obverse. While these are the second U.S. coins to feature a privy mark after the American Innovation dollars, they will be the first United States Mint quarters to sport a privy mark. Privy marks historically have been grouped with mint marks…

By Louis Golino Towards the end of the summer of 2019, with little fanfare the United States Mint added a product to its product schedule, a second 2019-dated Enhanced Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle following the one issued on July 3 as part of the U.S.-Canada Pride of Two Nations set. That set included a 2019-W Enhanced Reverse Proof Silver Eagle – the first coin ever issued with that finish, which has “the same frosted background as a standard Reverse Proof, but different design element finishes.” In particular, the Enhanced Reverse Proof “has the same frosted background as a reverse proof coin, but what sets it apart are the multiple polished and frosted finishes applied to different isolated design elements. The selective polishing and frosting dramatically enhances the visual impact of the design,” according to the United States Mint. When the U.S Mint first added the second coin of this type to its schedule slated for a November 14 release, collectors did not…