The Flipside with Robert R. Van Ryzin

A pyramid of the yellow stuff

2008-08-25T17:40:40.937-04:00

I a couple of months ago I wrote in Coins magazine that if I had one dream coin it would be the new ultra-high relief Saint-Gaudens gold $20 being released next year by the U.S. Mint.

Recently, having attended the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Baltimore, I had a chance to view a U.S.Mint exhibit that included one of the coins. It was great to be able to see the coin ahead of time, but what I also found interesting was a stack of six 24-karat gold bars from the West Point Mint, where the new $20s will be minted.

The press information for this portion of the display noted that each bar contained 400 ounces of gold, each weighed 27.5 pounds, each was comprised of newly mined U.S. gold, and each was worth $384,645 as of the gold spot price on July 22, 2008. Total value of this pyramid of gold was $2,307,870.

Beside the gold bars, the exhibit showed the process of achieving the ultra-high relief design and included plasters of the obverse and reverse that could be touched by visitors to better judge the height of the relief.

The coins are likely to go on sale early in 2009 and there is no mintage limit, though they are slated to be in gold only for that year. Prices haven’t been set yet and will depend on the price of gold.

Gold was above $960 an ounce when the bars were valued for the exhibit. Right now it’s in the $830 range. So the bars aren’t worth as much as they were when they went on display, but they are still in worth around $328,000 each.

The original idea behind the heightened relief for the early 20th-century coins, designed by famed sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, is credited to President Theodore Roosevelt, who wanted new designs for the nation’s coins and longed for the dramatic high relief found on ancient Greek gold coins struck by hand.

However, the Mint ultimately judged it impractical and issued the coin in a much lower relief. Today the few ultra-high relief patterns that exist are worth in the millions. More reasonably priced, but valued in the thousands, are the more plentiful high relief specimens.

The new versions are crafted from original plasters that were digitally mapped and are to be minted in 24-karat gold, which is more malleable than the 22-karat gold used for the originals. The 27mm planchets for the new coins are about 50 percent thicker than those used for the American Eagle gold one-ounce coins.

There are some slight design differences as well, including the addition of the motto “IN GOD WE TRUST,” four more stars to represent the current 50 states, and a small border not found on the originals.

It’s an impressive coin that should prove popular and one I wouldn’t mind owning.

Buffalo nickel a tale of two Big Trees

2008-06-03T12:44:21.246-04:00

Having done plenty of research into the topic of who were the models for the Buffalo nickel, I'm convinced that Isaac Johnny John (Chief John Big Tree) was not a model for the coin, despite his claims otherwise. I make my full arguments in my book Twisted Tails: Sifted Fact, Fantasy and Fiction from U.S. Coin History (Krause Publications, 1995) and have previously written about the topic for Numismatic News, Coins magazine, and have given a number of speeches on the subject.

I won't go into the details here, but several factors work against his having been a model for the coin, including a quote from the designer, James Earle Fraser, who noted that Iron Tail, a Sioux; Two Moons, a Cheyenne; and different Big Tree (Adoeette, a Kiowa) were the models. Adoeette is shown here (at left).

John Big Tree also claimed he was the model for Fraser's famous "End of the Trail," statue, which is dubious. There are pictures in our photo archives of him posing before the statue in Waupun, Wis., in the 1960s—one of which is shown here (at right).

I started my research into the models for the coin believing he was a model for the coin, having seen John Big Tree on a TV quiz show when I was a kid. He claimed that Fraser used his forehead and the nose in the design.

It wasn't until I started working here at Krause Publications, in the mid-1980s, and began looking into the claims of another Native American who thought he was the model (Two Guns White Calf, a Blackfoot) that I began to doubt John Big Tree's claim and found that another Big Tree was a more likely model.

Even though I don't believe John Big Tree ever modeled for the coin, and really doubt he had anything to do with the "End of the Trail" statue, for past several years I've collected many items related to John Big Tree—particularly photographs of him from his movie days as a bit actor in Western films.

I have two black-and-white photographs of John Big Tree at Glacier National Park, in Montana, while appearing in one of the last silent films. The photos are somewhat ironic in that, in 1929, when filming was done, Two Guns White Calf was claiming to be the model for the Buffalo nickel. For many years after, Two Guns was an attraction at the park, greeting visitors, signing photographs and being promoted by the Great Northern Railroad as the model for nickel.

Unfortunately for Two Guns White Calf, when asked about his claim of being depicted on the nickel, Fraser denied having used Two Guns' likeness for the coin. Two Guns White Calf is shown at the left in the image here of two Native Americans. Though it's hard to make out, he is wearing a medallion with the image of the obverse of the Buffalo nickel on it. Two Guns died in 1934.

It appears that John Big Tree didn't take up the role until later. Shown here is a wooden nickel from one of his coin show visits in the 1960s.

One of the more interesting things in my collection is a modern jigsaw puzzle by Master Pieces Jigsaw Puzzles. It depicts an artwork by David C. Behrens titled "Five Cent Peace," which represents as its main image Two Guns White Calf in profile to the nickel, which is also depicted. Around the nickel are representations of Iron Tail, Two Moons and Adoeette (Big Tree). "Five Cent Peace" is also available as a limited-edition print, and I've seen the image on shirts.

You can view "Five Cent Peace" and other Native American works by Behrens at his Web site: www.davidbehrens.com. (Incidently, he uses coins and medals in a number of his works.)

Josh's gold-plated nickel

2008-05-09T10:05:35.094-04:00

In next week's episode of "Collecting Money," on Coin Chat Radio, I plan to do a piece about Josh Tatum and the 1883 Liberty Head nickel.

Tatum, a deaf mute, who reputedly gold-plated thousands of the first Liberty Head nickels and passed them as gold $5s, probably didn't exist. But Variety 1 1883 Liberty Head nickels were definitely plated by shysters and tendered as gold $5s. There are numerous contemporary newspaper reports of attempts to pass the coins as gold $5s. Today collectors call these coins Racketeer nickels.

A quick search of the New York Times archives turned up an 1883 story datelined from Baltimore of a jeweler who had a tray of gold-plated Liberty Head five-cent pieces in his store window that he was selling at 35 cents each. The jeweler claimed the coins were being sold as charms to wear on watch chains.

What made the plating of the coins attractive to fast-buck artists was that the first 1883 pieces carried only a Roman numeral "V" for the denomination. Once it became evident that this was leading to the plating and passing of the coins at 100 times their real face value, the Mint redesigned the coin by placing the word "CENTS" below the Roman numeral for five. These Variety 2 1883 coins actually bring stronger prices than the Variety 1 1883 coins.

My piece on Tatum, part of a segment called "Collecting Type and Beyond," can be listened to at www.coinchatradio.com. The show will air beginning at 11 a.m. Central on Thursday, May 15th. It repeats on the main player at the top of each hour.

That show and previous installments of Coin Chat Radio's weekly "Collecting Money" show can also be accessed under the Archives tab at the site to play at your convenience or to download.

A pressing concern

2008-05-01T17:12:29.061-04:00

I ran into this interesting little tidbit that appeared originally in the Oct. 16, 1873 issue of the Philadelphia North American, while doing some research. Apparently the introduction of the new Trade dollar, which had been authorized earlier that year by the Coinage Act of 1873, warranted the building of a new, more powerful press for use at the San Francisco Mint:

We were shown yesterday at the works of Messrs. Morgan & Orr, No. 1219, Callowhill Street, the new coining press, just built by them for the purpose of coining at the San Francisco Mint all denominations of silver and gold coiange, but especially the new silver trade dollar ordered by the Department of the Mint.

This new machine weighs eighteen thousand pounds, and is made entirely of the best steel, iron, and brass produced in Philadelphia. The steel plate above the coinage stamp is home-made, and equal, if not superior, to the finest English, a fact that speaks well for our Philadelphia steel industry. The beautiful heavy brass beam was cast seven times over to secure its accuracy and exactness, as well as finish and strength. The large fly-wheel is cast hollow, and loaded with base metal so as to give it additional weight to counterbalance the heavy brass beam. This fly-wheel was cast in sections and securely united. In the front of the machine is a finely made brass cylinder to hold the unstamped coin, which as the wheel revolves, slip down one at a time upon the sliding bed-plate of iron with apertures made to receive a single coin, then drawn into the machine, the stamp descends, and the new trade dollar is carried out complete by an interior inclined plane. The heavy brass beam referred to of course controls the stamp. Perfect simplicity characterizes the machine, which is two and a half times beyond the capacity of any other coining machine that the firm ever made for the government. It is capable of striking eight twenty-dollar gold pieces, equal to $1,600, per minute, or twenty silver trade dollars in a minute.

Atrocious designs?

2008-04-02T15:56:42.469-04:00

You can't please everybody, and if you're a coin designer you're sure to attract your share of critics. Today, James Earle Fraser's Buffalo nickel is considered a classic, but at the time of its release, in 1913, not everyone was on the Fraser bandwagon.

The New York Times, for instance, complained its March 2, 1913, issue that "The new 'nickel' is a striking example of what a coin intended for wide circulation as small change should not be."

The paper noted that the coins, which had been released the day before by the sub-treasury, were bringing 10 to 15 cents on the street, "but there will be no great eagerness to get them hereafter in preference to the old five-cent coins."

In fact, the New York Times preferred the Liberty Head nickel. With its large "V" and the word "Cents," it served its purpose well, the newspaper reported, as those unfamiliar with the coin could easily tell its denomination. Whereas, on the new nickel, the lettering was so small that "it can only be deciphered by strong eyes in a bright light."

More amazingly, perhaps, was the paper's statement that until this new nickel arrived, the latest "atrocities" from the U.S. Mint were the new gold $5s, $10s and $20s, or the designs of Bela Lyon Pratt (gold $2.50 and $5) and Augustus Saint-Gaudens (gold $10 and $20), now highly thought of by collectors. "These are bad coins in design and execution," the New York Times related.

In its March 5th issue, the newspaper ran a letter from H.P. Nitsua of Connecticut, who also disliked the new nickel. "Numismatology can hardly be congratulated on the new recruit to its ranks," he proclaimed.

Artists needed—please report for duty

2008-03-26T10:20:38.319-04:00

Recently, U.S. Mint Director Ed Moy said, “We want to spur the highest level of artistic excellence in American coin design.” He made the statement along with the announcement of the Mint’s plans to recreate the 1907 Saint-Gaudens ultra high relief gold $20. It will be quite the challenge and one that promises to produce a popular collectible.

It was the dream of President Theodore Roosevelt, along with the help of noted sculptors such as Augustus Saint-Gaudens, James Earle Fraser, Adolph Weinman, Hermon MacNeil and others, to dramatically improve the look of U.S. coins.

Roosevelt went so far as to envision a U.S. coin with the same high relief as found on some ancient coins, thus leading to the experiments with the height of the relief on the Saint-Gaudens gold $20 issued in 1907. It was argued, however, that such a relief, which took some press time to achieve, wasn’t suited to high-speed coinage. So, the plan was shelved, and the gold $20 took a much lower relief.

It was a shame, and, as I said, the new effort should prove a noble one—at least from the technical side. Plus, if I can afford one, I’d like to have one in my collection. I’ve written about Saint-Gaudens and his design in the past, and it is one of my favorites.

However, I have one little concern. If we’re really striving for artistic excellence in U.S. coinage design, why do we need to return to the past (and in this case a century ago) to spur this on? Don’t we have artists who could produce a representation of Liberty that could compete with Saint-Gaudens, Weinman, or MacNeil?

Frankly, it looks to me like we’re running out of designs to bring back. First we recreated the Saint-Gaudens gold $20 obverse in low relief on the gold American Eagle in 1986. That same year we added a silver American Eagle with Weinman’s obverse from the Walking Liberty. In 2001, we brought back Fraser’s design from the Buffalo nickel. It is now also available on a gold $50.

About all we’ve got left to recreate from circulating coins from that period of artistic excellence is MacNeil’s Standing Liberty, Weinman’s Mercury dime, Pratt’s gold $2.50s and $5s, and Saint-Gaudens’ gold $10. Are they next?

Again, where are the artists? I like all of the prior mentioned designs and applaud Moy’s efforts to improve U.S. coin design. I’m just wishing for more originality and wondering where our generation of artists of the same ilk as Saint-Gaudens, MacNeil, Weinman and Fraser are hiding out.

We need you! Please report for duty.

It's show time

2008-03-14T09:11:50.768-04:00

Coin Chat Radio goes live today at 11 a.m. Central at coinchatradio.com

Give a listen.

I think we have some interesting features in our first show. Future broadcasts will at 11 a.m. Central on Thursdays.

Rats evicted from Old SF Mint

2008-02-27T15:02:23.576-05:00

Well, the rats have been cleaned out of the Old San Francisco Mint. No, these weren't disreputable people. Rather, they were real rats, according to a report datelined Feb. 18 from the San Francisco Chronicle by Anastasia Ustinova.

Ustinova quotes Erik Christoffersen, executive director of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, as noting that since the beginning of the Chinese Lunar Calendar's Year of the Rat, there have been no more rats spotted in the historic building at Fifth and Mission streets.

The Old Mint, famous for having survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, has now apparently withstood an invasion of furry four-footed creatures that have been entering the building through small holes.

The Chronicle notes that although the Old Mint has had rat problems for a number of years, more have moved in over the past year "after employees stopped using rat poison during some interior demolition work and a nearby vacant building was rehabilitated." Therefore, a team of professional exterminators was brought in to rid the facility of the unwanted guests.

Renovation of the Old Mint, which was built in 1874, is currently underway. Plans call for the structure to house a cultural museum, details of which are highlighted at www.themintproject.org.

Back from the exhibit

2008-02-19T17:08:39.266-05:00

I'm back from my trip to Minneapolis and the opening of the Anders Zorn (see prior posting for details) at the Swedish American Institute.

It was fun, and I was able to snap shots that will come in handy in the future. Among Zorn's subjects, which ranged from common folk to U.S. presidents, was Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

Saint-Gaudens designed the gold $10s and $20s that circulated in the United States in the early part of the 20th century. Shown here is detail from one of Zorn's etchings of Saint-Gaudens that is currently on exhibit.

Zorn etching a key

2008-01-29T09:09:17.033-05:00

February should prove to be a busy and fun month for me. On Feb. 5 I head to Minneapolis for the opening of an art exhibit titled "From Peasants to Presidents: Sweden's Greatest Etcher" and later that month my wife and I have tickets to see Blues legend B.B. King in concert at the Fox Valley Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wis. Then it's off to the Wisconsin Coin Expos show in Oshkosh, which is always fun and enjoys a good attendance.

The art exhibit for which I am attending a reception for is of the Hagans' family collection of etchings by Swedish artist Anders Zorn. During his prolific career, Zorn sketched many citizens, including Augustus Saint-Gaudens, designer of the early 20th-century U.S. gold $10s and $20s so popular with collectors today.

The interesting thing about Zorn's etching, which shows Saint-Gaudens with a nude in the background, is the identity of the model. She was Hettie Anderson, a cousin of William Hagans.

William Hagans has found that Hettie Anderson was posing the day of the Zorn etching for Saint-Gaudens's "Victory" figure at the head of the Sherman Monument in New York.

Over the years, few have doubted that "Victory" was the inspiration for figure on the gold $20. It's just that several different models were named as likely to be the real model employed by Saint-Gaudens for the coin. Among these were an Irish lass named Mary Cunningham and Saint-Gaudens' mistress, Davida Clark.

Even Saint-Gaudens's son, Homer, chimed in that the model could have been a "woman supposed to have negro blood in her veins." That was Hettie Anderson, who was African-American. Hagans has written extensively on the topic, including his feature, titled "Saint-Gaudens, Zorn, and the Goddesslike Miss Anderson," which appeared in the Summer 2002 edition of American Art, the journal of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and is reproduced at Hagans' Web site about Zorn (linked below).

Zorn did etchings or oil paintings of other important Americans, including President Grover Cleveland and Mrs. Grover Cleveland, President William Howard Taft, President Theodore Roosvelt, Andrew Carnegie, and Mrs. Potter Palmer of Chicago (the force behind the 1893 Isabella commemorative quarter).

You can learn more about Zorn and his subjects at the Hagans' Web site on the topic: www.zorninamerica.com. They also have a section on Zorn and his dealings with Saint-Gaudens. And on the the opening page, you can see the etching of Saint-Gaudens with Hettie Anderson in the background.

Info on the exhibit, which runs from Feb. 6-June 1 at the Amercan Swedish Institute, can be found at: www.americanswedishinst.org/exhibits.htm