Unusual Georgia Gold

Coin collectors know of them, but it’s been well over a century since this denomination was minted. So it’s not surprising it has faded from the American tribal memory. Feast your eyes:

A gen-you-wine three dollar gold piece.

You might well ask, “What in tarnation was the US guvmint a-thinkin’ to perduce a dang fool $3 gold piece when it was already puttin’ out “quarter eagles,” (otherwise known as two-and-a-half dollar gold pieces)?”

Supposedly, this coin was made for the ease of buying a block of 100 3-cent postage stamps.

But I’m not sure I’m buying. My coin dealer friend Sam doesn’t think much of the theory either. Annual production of this coin was rather small, mostly four-figures, though it was minted non-stop for 36 years. If you wanted to spend gold at the friendly neighborhood post office, there’s always the option of plunking down a nice, shiny half-eagle ($5 gold) and getting two silver dollars in change.

This interesting specimen has a “D” mint mark. You might think that’s Denver. Uh-uh; not in the mid-19th century. From 1838-1861, the Treasury Department operated two branch mints in the southeast: one in Charlotte and the other in Dahlonega, Georgia.

Branch mints in these cities, as well as San Francisco and Carson City, Nevada were set up to mint the mined gold and silver close to the source. Can you imagine the problem of running stagecoaches from Georgia or California to Philadelphia? Apparently, neither could the feds. They outsourced minting personnel from Philly and set up operations around the country.

Branch mints: sensible idea. $3 coins? You be the judge.

Next: How the feds tried to solve the mid-1870′s problem of 5-cent pieces not circulating in the West. Stay tuned.

 

Designs on Coins

Among the visitors, I know Dale is a coin collector. He and any other collectors reading might want to check out the web pages of Daniel Carr, a coin designer (New York, Rhode Island, and Maine state quarters). He includes many interesting details on the various design competitions as well as some nifty artwork.

 

JJ’s Numismatic Inspiration?

Keep in mind this is 1916, even before the roaring twenties, much less the 1960′s or the MTV era. So it was rather racy for the new quarter design to feature a Lady Liberty with the shield covering up just one breast. It was really planned that way –it wasn’t a Janet Jackson moment. And the first NFL championship was still seventeen years away.

Technically, the 1916 quarter was not quite legal, as US law permits Treasury Department redesign only after twenty-five years — unless Congress gets into the act. The previous Barber design commenced in 1892, hence the 50,000 minted for circulation were jumping the gun a bit. Mid-1917, Liberty’s wardrobe was adjusted to include a square-neck mail shirt.

I dunno … she still seems to be showing a lot of leg for the good ol’ days. Chain mail and gauzy fabric might be even more kinky than the 1916 original.

“Standing Liberty” only lasted till George Washington’s 200th birthday, 1932. They did get an act of Congress to put him on the quarter. He was the second president to be featured on an American circulating coin, and within a decade and a half, Liberty (dime, 1946 and half dollar, 1948) and the Indian (nickel, 1938) were retired.

I wish they’d consider a return to Liberty, but retiring dead presidents seems to be more controversial than changing them to new dead presidents.

 

Small Change

 

The US Mint also produced three-cent coins for four decades starting in 1851. Two versions overlapped in production: a very teeny one in silver:

If memory serves, this was the first US Mint issue not featuring the goddess of Liberty. Tough to get those personal details on a coin only 14mm in diameter.A slightly bigger one (17.9mm) went into production in 1865 using the same copper-nickel alloy used in today’s nickels. I have two dated 1865, and 1870. Here’s a better looking specimen than either of mine:
This was the first US use of the 75% copper/25% nickel alloy now familiar to American small change. (Did you know that your nickel is three-quarters copper? As are the outer layers of your dimes and quarters.)

As with the two-cent piece, public demand for the coin was not high, and mintage figures trail off drasically after the initial runs. For some reason, the idea for a copper three-cent piece was floated in the early 1880′s:

The idea never progressed beyond the pattern stage, but the Liberty design was adopted for the nickel in 1883.

 

My Two Cents’ Worth

Many people don’t know that the US actually minted two-cent coins. They were in production for ten years, ending in 1873.I own six of the series, 1864-68 and ’71. They’ve long been one of my favorite coins: they’re copper, not gold or silver; nobody knows much about them and mostly, collectors have ignored them. I also like the design: uncluttered and fairly unusual in that it doesn’t depict a person (a president or a goddess).

Tough to collect, though. The prime wear point on the shield side is the “we” of the motto. I see really worn versions from time to time as I browse in a coin store, but for acquisition’s sake, I prefer the “we” to be fairly strong, meaning the technical condition has to be VF-20 or better. These seem very hard to find.

 

This example, by the way, is a Proof-66. Sold at auction for $11K, not bad for a collector’s-only issue with only about eleven-hundred in existence. Compared to some US coins of equal or less rarity, it might be a bargain. Each year from 1864, they minted fewer and fewer pieces, trailing off from almost twenty million that first year.

The coin is also notable for being the very first with the motto “In God We Trust” stamped on it.

 

 

 

My 2 cents worth

The first Delaware quarter I found in change was a big surprise to me. I hadn’t actively collected coins since high school, and this program: http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/index.cfm?action=50_state_quarters_program flew in completely under my radar.

I have trouble finding the Philadelphia minted coins here in Kansas City, but eventually I’ll get them all: one quarter from each mint. Coin collecting has returned to at least a back burner as a hobby. If I had the resources, I’d try and assemble a date and mint mark set of all small cents and two-cent pieces (see the latter here: http://www.coinfacts.com/two_cents/two_cents_by_date.html) Collection status: about four-fifths complete, but I doubt I’ll ever own one of these beauties: http://www.coinfacts.com/small_cents/indian_head_cents/1877_indian_head_cent__copper.htm

My sainted wife gave me a 1985 Canada Proof dollar as a present a few years ago when we lived in Iowa. (Check out the 80′s from Canada here: http://www.mint.ca/en/collectors_corner/previous_collection/commemorative/80-89/index_comm80-89.htm; mine was the one with the moose.) That got me started on assembling a collection of commemorative dollars–I have about half of them now.

It doesn’t look like my daughter will be adopting coin collecting as a hobby, though. She stands with her mom on money matters: shopping is far more preferable.

 

Redesigning money

The comments below on Reagan, Grant, the Charter Oak, etc. got me thinking on a topic I have strong opinions about: more suitable subject matter for American money. My suggestion would be to retire the presidents. Beyond that, any artistic rendering of most any subject or non-political person would be welcome. Might I suggest Emily Dickinson, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Henry David Thoreau, Amy Beach, or Frank Lloyd Wright as suitable persons. American landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Yosemite, the Gateway Arch, the Empire State Building, or the Natural Bridge? American achievements such as the moon landing, the transcontinental railroad, the Erie Canal, or the invention of baseball? Any other ideas?