By Jim Fisher
The Standing Liberty Quarter is a very famous and desired coin by collectors. This beautiful coin was minted for the very first time in 1916 and through the roaring 20’s till 1930. The U.S. Mint always seems to be destined for drama or to some degree create a scandal of the new coins they release.
Well, this holds true for the Standing Liberty Quarter too. It turns out that the designer Herman A. MacNeil did a beautiful rendition of Liberty holding a shield for protection in her left hand, and a exceptional job ever famous sign of peace, the olive branch in her right hand. However, Mr. MacNeil somehow left the breast of Lady Liberty exposed. Of course, this created a tremendous uproar among the public and they demanded a more acceptable clothed Ms. Liberty.
Finally in 1917, the U.S. Mint made the adaption and covered her breast with her gown all the way up to her neckline. Oh, and by the way the U.S. mint rearranged the stars on the reverse side of the coin. Then, in 1925 they completed the last alteration on the beautiful collector’s coin when the U.S. Mint realized the date on the bottom of the obverse side of the coin was rubbing away, thus leaving little visibility of the date or if any at all. So, in 1925, they recessed the date into the coin for a lasting impression.
Call Jim Fisher at Precious Metal Advocates to hear more historical information, buy a rare U.S minted, World, or possibly an ancient coin on our free national number at 1.800.566.6468 or email me at jimfisher@pmacoins.com.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Catch the Famous "V" where the US was mistaken...
Here's an intriguing story where the US Mint actually refuses to take fault for it's easily mistaken identity.
The liberty head or otherwise known as the very famous V Nickel was designed by the Mint Director Charles Barber way back in 1883. The coin was put to heavy use through 1913 and was replaced by the the famous, Buffalo Nickel. One of my favorite coin stories comes from that first year issue V Nickel, in 1883. The U.S. Mint actually refuses to admit to it, but they forgot to put the word cents under the V on the reverse side of the coin. It turns out that this nickel was the same size as the five dollar liberty gold minted during that same time. It also had a very similar design on both the obverse side and reverse of the coin.
Because of this mistake, crooks plated the V Nickel with gold, and then, they would pass them off as five dollar gold coins. Finally, the mint got wise and started striking the coins with the word cents on the reverse side. This simple and necessary change saved alot of money and time lost from those honest merchants.
Contact Jim Fisher at Precious Metal Advocates by calling our 888.566.MINT (6468) or email me at jimfisher@pmacoins.com.
Happy Searching,
Jim
The liberty head or otherwise known as the very famous V Nickel was designed by the Mint Director Charles Barber way back in 1883. The coin was put to heavy use through 1913 and was replaced by the the famous, Buffalo Nickel. One of my favorite coin stories comes from that first year issue V Nickel, in 1883. The U.S. Mint actually refuses to admit to it, but they forgot to put the word cents under the V on the reverse side of the coin. It turns out that this nickel was the same size as the five dollar liberty gold minted during that same time. It also had a very similar design on both the obverse side and reverse of the coin.
Because of this mistake, crooks plated the V Nickel with gold, and then, they would pass them off as five dollar gold coins. Finally, the mint got wise and started striking the coins with the word cents on the reverse side. This simple and necessary change saved alot of money and time lost from those honest merchants.
Contact Jim Fisher at Precious Metal Advocates by calling our 888.566.MINT (6468) or email me at jimfisher@pmacoins.com.
Happy Searching,
Jim