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Vol. 8, No. 12 December, 2009
"The Rare U.S. Peace Dollar: 1922 High Relief" "A Couple of Bouquet Sou Concoctions"
Above: Silver bullion bar, 1-ounce, .999 fine. Proof. The 1975 issue of the Madison Mint who specialized in collectors' bullion bars in the 1970s. Issue price: $8.50. The Mid-Island Coin Club, Dues: $12 per year Mailing Address: Mid-Island Coin Club, c/o West Coast Stamp & Coin, Executive Officers: President: Felix Stawski
The November meeting was attended by 31 members and guests. The December meeting will, as usual, be both our Christmas party as well as a fund-raising event for a local charity. This year, the beneficiary will be "Loaves & Fishes" who do a lot of good work in feeding the hungry. We would ask that you be generous in both donations and in the bidding thereon; it's for an excellent cause. Every item in the auction is a donation and every cent realized will be turned over by Mid-Island to the charity. For our own amusement, it has been decided that this year we will again have a "Pandora's Box" event. Each member who wishes to participate will place in the box a numismatic item with a market value of $5-$10 (preferably close to the latter), with a ticket issued one-per-participant. During the course of the evening, tickets will be drawn but only the last one left standing will win the box and its entire contents. For those of us whose tickets are never drawn during the course of the year, perhaps we now stand a chance. It's that time of the nearly-expired year again. Club dues ($12) can now be paid to our treasurer, who will receive them with glee. As before, all will receive the January Journal since it is made up in late December, but those who have not paid by the time the February issue appears will find their address name preceded by an asterisk - meaning that it will be the last one unless the dues are paid by the time the March issue is being put together. I'm sure that this will apply to few or none - after all, how can you deprive yourself of the company of such an intelligent, amusing, handsome crowd? Humble, too.
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The Lead 1911 Dollar.(From: C.N.J., January 1978. Used with permission)
"Another Canadian 1911 Dollar Discovered.
Startling news came out of Ottawa last week when it was reported that a third Canadian 1911 dollar has been discovered. During preparations for the move of a part of the Department of Supply and Services out of the East Block of the Parliament Buildings, a brown paper parcel discovered in a vault was opened and was found to contain a third Canadian 1911 dollar. This piece, which had been sent to officials of the Department of
Finance for examination, had lain there, unknown to the numismatic world, for over sixty-five years. When consideration was being given to issuing a dollar coin in 1911, dies were prepared and trial strikes were made. Mint records do not tell us how many such strikes were produced. Up to the present time the only two known trial strikes were in silver, while the newly discovered piece is in lead. Major Sheldon S. Carroll, Chief Curator of the National Currency Collection at the Bank of Canada reports that the new piece has been added to the other Canadian patterns in the National Collection. During the past ten or fifteen years no Canadian coin has received more publicity than the Canadian 1911 dollar. Some of the importance attached to the dollar has been exaggerated as the piece is not really a coin but only a pattern for a coin which has never been authorized for issue. This publicity reached its peak in 1976 when one of the two known specimens was sold in the auction of the John McKay-Clements collection for $110,000, an unheard of price for any Canadian numismatic item up to that time. The other previously known 1911 dollar is a part of the collection of the Royal Mint, London , England ." ************************************Back to top ************************************
The Rare U.S. Peace Dollar: 1922 High Relief.
The origin of this extremely rare coin goes back to what the pro-silver forces called "The Crime of 1873". Until that time, the bullion and face values of a U.S. silver dollar were essentially the same (actually, its average was $1.00368 in 1872). But an influx of silver from mines, the German withdrawal and recoinage in 1871/2 - even the Canadian withdrawal of U.S. silver coin from her circulation in 1868-70 - all conspired the drive the price of silver down. By 1873, the bullion value of a silver dollar was $0.98909 and fell consistently thereafter. But at the time, private persons and companies could deliver bullion silver to the Mint and receive back coined silver dollars, paying a small minting charge. There was obviously a profit to be made in doing this, all the greater as silver fell in price, and a problem that had to be headed off. The "Crime" was simply the "demonetization" of silver coin to the extent that it was declared legal tender only to limited amounts. In effect, the U.S. had gone on the Gold Standard but refused to admit it. An immediate result was that the silver dollar ceased to be coined for domestic use for some years, the slack taken up by a new "Trade Dollar" struck expressly for export. But a large number of new states were created in the late 1800s, all of them in the West, and in those areas, silver money was popular. Not unexpectedly, mine (usually silver) owners in those new states held a lot of political clout although farmers and rural residents in general also favoured the increased monetary supply that silver would create. Consequently, their agitation resulted in the Bland-Allison Act, providing for the coinage of silver coin (including dollars) in "limited" amounts - but that amount was to be not less than $2-million (or more than $4-million) per month of silver bullion at current market price. The result was the Morgan Dollar that was coined in every year 1878-1904 (and again in 1921) from as many as four mints: Philadelphia , New Orleans , San Francisco and Carson City .
U.S. $10 Silver Certificate, 1880 Even as it appeared, there was only about 89¢ worth of silver bullion in a silver dollar, which should have made good profits for the government; it did, but not as large as it would have, had all the coins actually circulated. They didn't, only the West and South using them. The North and East much preferred paper currency and in keeping with this preference, the government soon released currency in the form of Silver Certificates as early as 1878. That shown above is a fairly early issue from 1880. The majority of the silver dollars came to be mere backing for these Certificates, the coins themselves silting up year after year in government vaults. A figure for 1890 shows that by that year, a total of $380-million worth of them were squirreled away - and it became even larger. After William McKinley, a "gold bug", narrowly defeated William Jennings Bryan, a "silverback", in 1896 for the presidency, changes were made. Months before the 1900 election, McKinley formally placed the U.S. on the Gold Standard, making silver a "token" coinage, "legal tender only to limited amounts". By 1904, the U.S. government could cease to strike more unneeded silver dollars, the western producers having lost their clout - not that they cared much: silver production was now down somewhat and the new photographic industry was proving to be a good source of silver demand. By the time they stopped, hundreds of millions of these dollars were collecting dust in the vaults. With the end of the First World War, the former warring powers all attempted to return to the Gold Standard, preferably at the old rate. Only the U.S. and Switzerland were able to do so; Britain rather foolishly did in 1925, setting off a round of severe unemployment. The rest, having fought the war with paper money, stood no such chance. As they paid ever higher prices for gold in their respective currencies, that particular currency was devalued by precisely that amount. But it wasn't just gold bullion; silver - the poor man's gold - came under even greater pressure and its price skyrocketed since it was simply a commodity . Through 1919 its price rose until by very early 1920, even a U.S. silver dollar had its bullion value nearly equal face; in Canada , the price was exceeded in its silver coin, being .925 fine and the Canadian dollar at a discount to the U.S. by about 10%. The period of sky-high silver prices was a good time for the U.S. to divest itself of much of its silver dollar supply plugging the vaults. By the Pittman Act of 1918, a total of 270,232,722 silver dollars were melted and its bullion sold. There was still plenty left to back the Silver Certificates as was proven in the 1960s when the vaults were finally, totally, emptied and mint-sealed bags of dollars going back to the first Morgans appeared on the collectors' market. The old saw says that in order to make money, you should "buy low, sell high" but the opposite is also true: "sell high and buy low". That's what the U.S. did. Having rid itself of a quantity of surplus dollars at high prices, it now moved to replace them after early 1920 when the price broke as quickly as it rose. For 1921, the old Morgan dies were broken out (actually closely copied) and about 87-million dollars coined at the Philadelphia , San Francisco and Denver mints. As large as the 1921 Morgan dollar issue was, it was still only stopgap in one sense. Ever since 1907, there had been a steady move to replace the designs of all denominations with others more artistically modern. The Morgan dollar turned out to be the very last to have its design "upgraded". The impetus for the new Peace Dollar was a resolution passed by the American Numismatic Association at their 1920 convention to that effect. So throughout 1921, a competition was under way for the new dollar design. The winner was a medallist, Anthony De Francisci, whose monogram is located in the obverse field just under the neck. In keeping with the times, the design was a celebration of the return of peace, showing a head of Liberty crowned with rays (of hope?) on the obverse and a reverse showing a vigilant eagle watching the rising sun of peace. Most of the U.S. dollar production for the year was of the old Morgan type, some 87-million of them being struck at the three mints. The late appearance of the Peace dollar in 1921 was for the best of reasons: commemorative of peace, there was not as yet a formal declaration between the U.S. and the Central Powers of Germany and Austria . The ratifications were made on November 8 in Vienna and November 11 for Germany ,
Peace Dollar. High Relief Obverse, 1921/2 Closeup E in LIBERTY
Peace Dollar. Low Relief Obverse, 1922-35 Closeup E in LIBERTY
Closeup Lines below ONE Peace Dollar. High Relief Reverse, 1921/2
Closeup Lines below ONE Peace Dollar. Low Relief Reverse, 1922-35 proclaimed by the President in the U.S. a few days later. Only after that could the Peace Dollar appear and being so late in the year, only a little over 1-million were struck at the Philadelphia Mint. (From then on, by law, enough Peace Dollars were to be coined to replace the Morgans melted in 1918, restoring the "backing" for the Certificates.) However, in one respect, the dollar design was no different from that of most of the other denominations introduced during the period 1907-21: they didn't work well as a coin and either did not strike up well or had to immediately be modified to do so. Of all the new denominations, only the incused designs of Bela Lyon Pratt on the gold quarter- and half-eagles were acceptable as made. The new Peace dollar was especially bad. That shown above was graded by PCGC as a circulated matte Proof-25 but even as such, it exhibits the defects that plagued all the Peace dollars of 1921 that used these particular dies: neither Liberty's hair nor the eagle's shoulder feathers fully struck up since the relief was too high; as well, all the lettering and rays were rather thick, giving the appearance of having been struck from a somewhat worn die. In the U.S. silver, it was Chief Engraver Charles Barber's designs that were mostly replaced after 1907 (5-cent, dime, quarter and half dollar). In each case, he predicted the new designs would not reproduce well as coins; and he was correct every time. Barber was a "mint mechanic's designer", always with an eye toward ease and fullness of strike as well as superior wearing properties. In this department, he was an expert; as an artist, he was no Rembrandt. The new designs were all by accomplished artists and sculptors, almost totally ignorant of the needs and restrictions placed on those designs when produced as a coin. And the subsequent modifications or tolerated defects were proof of the lack of this particular expertise. In the case of the dollar, it was that of George T. Morgan, under-engraver to Barber - and showing his influence - that was replaced. The relatively common Peace dollars dated 1921 had a total mintage of 1,006,473 and, being struck in December of that year were not placed in circulation until early January, 1922. The high relief had caused an excessive number of dies to be used, due to breakage, and this problem continued into the new year when the same Type 1 dies were dated 1922. Between January 2 and 23, 1922, a total of 35,401 "High Relief" Peace dollars were struck, requiring four obverse and nine reverse dies. This was too much for the Mint; production was halted and the new Chief Engraver, George T. Morgan, was ordered to lower the relief on the master dies - he evidently also used the occasion to clean up some other details, making the old clunky lines slimmer and sharper. The result was the Type 2 dies, used on the Peace dollars from 1922 until they were last struck in 1935. According to mint records, all the 35,401 High Relief 1922 Peace dollars were melted down before release - and it's true that such of the (estimated) two dozen that exist are all Proofs or (thought to be) Proofs that accidentally made it into circulation. Oddly, as matte Proofs , all three - the fairly common 1921 High Relief; the rare 1922 High Relief; and the very common 1922 Low Relief - are about of equal rarity and market value (something over $35,000 U.S. each today). As with nearly every coin that was known to have been struck in quantity and then "entirely melted", rumours persist of circulated examples of the 1922 High Relief Peace dollars, beyond the few known proofs. Yet even the Red Book does not give details as how to differentiate between the High and Low Reliefs, beyond noting that all 1921s are High. On the remote chance that the reader might come across a worn 1922 High Relief, there are two points of reference that will show even if the coin is considerably worn: On the High Relief obverse , the ray that touches the bottom serif of the E in LIBERTY extends very little beyond it - and is rounded on the tip as well. On the Low Relief, this same ray extends well beyond the serif - and is slim and pointed. On the High Relief reverse , there are four lines below the word ONE; on the Low Relief, there are only three. A 1922 High Relief Peace Dollar (like that shown above) is a rarity even when worn.
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A Couple of Bouquet Sous Concoctions.
Generally speaking, we can date the dawn of serious Canadian numismatics to the early 1860s with the founding of The Antiquarian and Numismatic Society of Montreal, soon to become the Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Society. Although most members did pay attention to ancient coins, exactly as did their numismatic brethren throughout the western world, the main collecting thrust for Canadians were their pre-Confederation tokens. Little attention was paid to decimals at the time, typically dismissed as "pocket change". But most were collectors , ardently pursuing the rare pieces, with many in their ranks of comfortable circumstances so that there was a constant "hot" market for such tokens, coins and medals. As might be expected, when the supply of "legitimate" rarities is exhausted, there tends to pop up others of shadier antecedents. Two of them that did were catalogued within the large "Bouquet Sous" series that originally appeared in the late 1830s. The concoctions were from much later: 25 to 40 years in fact.
The first of these was that shown above. The story circulated at the time was this: in August, 1863, the dies for this sou were discovered in a workbench drawer in the cellar of an old building owned by one Dr. Picault, a Montreal druggist. His son, a serious collector, recognized their worth and presented the dies to the Montreal society. When "found", the dies were oversize and had not been turned down for a collar. Although the design was of an ordinary Bouquet Sou, the workmanship was markedly better, even if engraved somewhat shallow. The members promptly had a number of specimens struck from these dies by the Hendry firm on Craig Street, initially only in lead (according to Adelard Boucher in 1863) but over the next number of years, specimens showed up in copper - and even one in silver, probably struck over a Spanish-American 2-real. Without a collar, all these pieces - since come to be called "originals" - are easy to pick out, but by overstriking prepared as well as unprepared planchets, they exist with both reeded as well as unreeded edges. For 30 years, these "originals" stayed scarce and pricey. Then, in 1890, at the behest of a new generation of collectors, the dies were turned down for a collar and more were struck, since termed "restrikes". We don't know how many were struck; Breton gave a figure of "24 proofs" in copper and brass. But a few "specials" also showed up since they are known on square planchets as well as overstruck on a U.S. large cent. Breton, a dealer, moaned that "If the Society goes on issuing, this rare piece might become an ordinary common sou." But, so far as we know, that was the end of the mintage. What was the status of these dies? Curmudgeonly views, soon hushed up, pointed out that dies rattling around in a drawer with other junk for what was supposed to be years, could be expected to acquire all sorts of nicks, scratches and dings on their faces. Yet they are without blemish. As well, the tool steel used in die faces is notoriously prone to rust when in a dank atmosphere such as a cellar. Yet there is no rust either. Lastly, they were miraculously found at just the period when the market for such coins became hot; by an avid collector (who was certainly of a very small minority in Montreal ). But, as has always been - and is - true in Canadian numismatics, "it's scarce or rare", "I paid a lot of money for it", so "don't ask questions".
If there was at least some background information behind the "Picault Sou", there is practically none for that above: "The Boston Sou". The piece is a fairly close copy of "regular" Bouquet Sous, the obverse similar to that used on the common Breton Nos. 692 and 679 (except for he rounded shamrocks) while the "No ribbon tie" reverse was used on no fewer than three different "18 Leaf" reverses, all of them common. Obviously some care was taken to make this piece resemble a "real" Bouquet Sou yet with enough differences to make it stand out. It, too, first appeared in the 1860s and is illustrated in Sandham's catalogue of 1869 as Plate VIII, No. 1 where it is listed as "Rare". And rare it stayed for some time, McLachlan aware of only a couple in 1886. Yet over the years, probably even past 1900, small "waves" of them seemed to periodically appear, leading collectors of a more suspicious bent to speculate that either there was a "hoard" of them being slowly released or that the dies were changing hands from time to time, each new possessor striking off a few, taking care to release no more than would depress their market value. All of the Br-690s were initially UNCs or "Proofs" (today, cabinet wear has reduced the conditions of some) and all seem to have been artificially toned. None were ever found in Canadian circulation and all specimens were acquired through the trade from New York or (most usually) Boston , hence the name "The Boston Sou". We have no idea who was initially behind it nor what became of the dies. Not unexpectedly, no one ever admitted to having anything to do with what was, at bottom, a scam. Today, the commonest restrike "Picault" LC-43 starts at $750 in AU while the "Boston Sou" is valued at about half that in equal condition.
The Lombardo Mintby J.H. Remick
(Reprinted with permission from The C.N.Journal , December, 1990).
The Lombardo Mint of Sherbrooke, Quebec, is a true mint, producing such numismatic items as medals, tokens and souvenir coins. The engraving is among the finest in Canada . The mint strives for a three-dimensional effect in the dies they produce. The mint was founded in 1952 by Orazio Lombardo and has undergone many changes in its history. Orazio Lombardo is president of the company, but the day-to-day affairs are in the hands of his son, John G. Lombardo, vice president of the firm.
The Lombardo Mint, Inc., does all its own die work, minting, plating, and packaging, and is also able to handle graphic art work. Numismatic items are struck from the master die. If it should break, another is cut. This has at times produced minor varieties of a given issue in the past, when a second die was required to complete an order. Customers may have the dies after the order is filled. The firm can strike pieces in any metal, ranging from 13 to 150mm in diameter. The usual metals are gold, silver and bronze, but some items, such as the souvenir coins of Chatham and Newcastle , N.B., have been struck in lead. Plating can be done if required. Rhodium, gold, silver and nickel are the usual plating metals. Pieces can be struck in proof as well with antique, proof-like and ordinary finish. Packaging is either in the form of plastic envelopes or presentation cases. At present the mint is engaged mainly in custom medal work. One of the most prestigious issues of the Lombardo Mint was a special Expo '67 medal for the Atlantic Provinces . These medals were intended for presentation purposes by each of the four Atlantic provinces and were not available to the public. For thirty years the mint struck the tokens formerly used on the Jacques Cartier, Victoria and Champlain bridges connecting Montreal Island to the mainland. The mint struck the C.N.A. Convention medals of 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1974 and 1980. Other medals include the fine series of seven medals issued by the Association des Numismates et Philatelistes de St. Hyacinthe, a medal for the Papal visit to Canada in 1984, and a medallion to commemorate the centenary in 1987 of engineering as a professional organization in Canada. Souvenir coins have been struck for Montreal in 1977, Chatham-Newcastle, N.B., from 1978, Sherbrooke , Boucherville , Ste. Genevieve, and the Grand Allee merchants of Quebec , all in 1985. Orazio Lombardo was born in Milan , Italy on Dec. 17, 1926 . At the age of fourteen became a diesinker's apprentice, and worked in Milan for ten years. In 1951 he emigrated to Canada , landing at Quebec . He settled immediately in Sherbrooke , setting up his first works in the basement of his home in 1952. His first company was called Lombardo Specialty Reg'd, and specialized in enamelled and other jewellery and lapel buttons. In 1953 he moved his company to a two-story building and renamed it Canadian Artistic Dies in 1956. The new firm dealt in lapel buttons, jewellery, enamelled pieces and medals. The firm also cut dies on request for other mints. The name "Canadian Artistic Dies" occurs on most medals struck by the firm in this period. Orazio Lombardo cut the dies himself in these early years, but later had to give this up in order to attend to the administrative aspects of the operation. He took great pride in seeing that his dies had the best three-dimensional effects. From 1958 to 1967 the firm was located on Minto Street in Sherbrooke , producing badges, lapel buttons, tokens, enamelled jewellery, medals and souvenir coins. It also cut dies for other companies. Some of the first souvenir coins were struck at the Lombardo Mint. In 1960 the company was renamed the Lombardo Mint, and was later incorporated, specializing in medals, tokens and souvenir coins. In 1967 the plant was moved to 460 Wellington Street , and in 1986 it was moved to its present location at 645 Longpre Street . From 1971 to 1979 the firm had a branch in Santa Ana , California . For many years Orazio Lombardo was a member of the C.N.A., the O.N.A. and the A.N.A. His grace, charm, cordiality and European manner still dominate the firm's way of doing business. Both he and his son enjoy receiving potential customers at their offices, but for safety reasons they do not encourage tours of the mint.
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December 2009"The Rare U.S. Peace Dollar: 1922 High Relief" "A Couple of Bouquet Sou Concoctions"
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