American Numismatic Association

10 Jul 2022

history on the buffalo nickel

The buffalo nickel or Indian head nickel was a unique coin minted between 1913 to 1938 it was the predecessor to the Jefferson nickel. The buffalo nickel was designed by James Earle Fraser as part of the United States government drive to beautify coinage. This was the coin after the well known v-nickel and the buffalo nickel was its successor. When the United States government commissioned Fraser to create the buffalo nickel and when they saw the final product they were impressed. The design was approved by the United states government� in 1912 but was held up for months because the Hobbs manufacturing company (which made the slugs for the coins) did not like the design of the buffalo nickel. Eventually franklin McVeigh the treasury secretary at the time decided to bypass Hobbs manufacturing and start the production of the buffalo nickel in 1913. The first buffalo nickels were distributed in February 22 1913 when president Taft showed them off during a ceremony. The coins were officially circulated march 4 1913 and were well received by the United States public. The buffalo nickel was made in three mints the Philadelphia mint with no mint mark, the Denver mint with the D mintmark and san Francisco with the S mint mark. In 1913 The Numismatist gave the new buffalo nickel a lukewarm review and suggested that the Indian head should be reduced but other than that most of the reviews were positive� and the coin was a good coin in the United states public's eyes. But there were some problems with the new coin. It was destroying the dies that made the coin. The dies were being used up 3 times faster than the V-nickel or liberty nickel. This was a big problem for the United States Mint because it was using more dies than the United states mint could make. Also the dies would wear the coins away fast and make some not so good looking coins. As this happened the United states mint made new dies that would not wear the coins down and would not break as much as the last dies would. In 1916 the word liberty was given more emphasis and moved slightly on the coin. But this affected the Denver and san Francisco mint dies and made their coins less quality and affected the output of coins in circulation. Tens of millions of buffalo nickels were minted between 1910 and 1921 but then a recession happened and buffalo nickels were not minted in 1922. This started the downfall of the buffalo nickel and the United States mint was looking for replacements and was eventually replaced by the Jefferson nickel.

09 Jul 2022

my first flying eagle cent

Coins | Tyler Heldt

Last year I was at a coin show in Timonium in Maryland and I was looking for some coins in a bargain bin. I found some Indian head cents for my collection and I found something that you don't see everyday. I found a flying eagle cent and this is neat because it's such a rare coin to find especially in a bargain bin. The flying eagle cent is a very historically important coin because it was the first small cent coin in United States history. It was made because for one the large cent was too cumbersome and the second reason it was no longer profitable to the United states mint. Also the flying eagle cent was a very artistic coin for the age it was in. It was a very well designed coin but sadly it was only made for 3 years (from 1856 to 1858) and this is what makes it so rare. You don't see flying eagle cents that much because they are either� very expensive or destroyed by weathering or bad cleaning but the coin I found was a very cool piece. It was a 1857 in a vg condition. But the best part was that I got it for 15 dollars. This was a very good price and I happily bought it for my collection. This coin was important for lots of reasons and why it is so important to coinage history and United states history.� The designer was named James B Longacre and he made the flying eagle cent for the United states� government and their program of new coinage. The flying eagle cent is a unique coin because of the small size and the new design on the coin. It was the first coin with an oak leaf� wreath� on the reverse and this coin helped design the Indian head cent that is one of the most famous cents in united states history and has paved the way for future coin designs like the like the� Indian head cent wheat cent or the steel cent or the memorial cent and the shield cent. You might think that these coins have nothing in common other than the wheat steel memorial and shield cent having Lincoln on the obverse of the coins but they all have one thing in common. Well actually two except for the shield cent is that all the cents were the same size and that they were made out of a copper zinc mix. These are too things that have made modern coinage what it is today and how modern cents were all designed because of the flying eagle cent.

03 Feb 2022

my review of the 2022 silver eagle and an opinion on the women's quarters

Coins | Tyler Heldt

Hello yn’s it's been a while since I've posted a blog but I'm back. Recently I acquired the 2022 silver eagle at a coin show.� To start off with, I'm a big fan of the silver eagle and I think they're cool. The 2022 silver eagle is no different than the 2021 with the new design on the reverse. I have the West point mint coin. Another cool thing about this coin is that it is not made for circulation and is America's silver bullion coin. The new reverse suits this coin well and it reminds me of the walking liberty half dollar of the early 20th century even though it is too big to be a walking liberty half. It is pure silver like the last one. Now we get to the opinion part. This is controversial and this is my opinion and I would like to hear yours too but I think the new women's quarters could be better. I like the reverse but the obverse just doesn't look right for one Washington is on the wrong side it's not like any other quarter. And it looks too high to be a circulation coin. Don't get me wrong I love my high relief but i think it is over the top. The obverse is a rip off from the 1999 washington half eagle. It's not even original. I appreciate that they at least tried to make a new coin but I think they failed at it. It just does not look good to me and there are so many better designs than the one we have now. If they were going to redesign a coin it should be the Jefferson nickel. The reverse has been the same for years and the America the Beautiful series had nothing wrong with it and was the only series with the exception of the 2019 1 cent piece to be minted at west point. Also near the bottom of Washington's hair there is no detail. It looks like the artist kinda gave up at the bottom and it does not look good in my opinion there should be a different obverse design. I'm waiting to see what the proof coins are going to look like. I think the United States mint could have done better and I think they did not choose the best design for the coin and the original design had nothing wrong with it and it was known and loved. I believe with a few design� tweeks the new women's quarters could be something good but for now there not the best design�

29 Nov 2021

how to make a good united states type set

Coins | Tyler Heldt

First you will need a good type set folder. I have the Whitman 20th to 21st century american type set. It's about 20 dollars and all I can afford sense I am a yn. There also is the dansco united states type set. It covers all of the US coins but it is 180 dollars so it is more for the veterans. Second you will need to find the coins, some of the coins you can find in circulation and are easy to find. Like the Lincoln 1 cent with the shield or the Lincoln cent with the memorial and maybe a wheat cent if you can find the uncommon but there is a high chance you will find one. Also you can find the america, the beautiful and state series and the eagle but this is all clad and finding silver quarters are a rare occurrence finding dimes is good but really the only dime that you can find is a clad dime all other dimes are rare because they are silver. Nikals are a little different; you can rarely find a buffalo. Also, it's rare to find a war nickel . But you can find some early Jefferson nickel there, not uncommon. Half dollars are where the coins start to get pricey. A 1915 barber half dollar in xf condition is about 28 dollars or at least that's what I got mine for. The walking liberty is not as bad; you can get an ok one for about 10 dollars. A franklin is about its worth in weight in silver unless its in ms condition same with the kennedy 90% but a 40% is about 4 dollars and a clad is 50 cents. Large dollars are even expensive. I picked up a morgan dollar New Orleans mint mark at the Whitman coin show for 80 dollars in ms condicion. Peace dollars are the same price. They are very expensive and both coins are 90% silver and vaulde more for the coin than the silver. Also you can look for the eisenhower dollars they are hard to find but not expensive. I would recommend just buying one. Now small dollars are not that hard to find but you will probably end up buying them to save time. I got a S.B.A from a family member and found a presidential in change and those are the only coins I could find and I am struggling to find the rest. I personally try to get ms coins but they are expensive and i would recommend looking at the yn auctions you can find some good deals there also some cool coins

17 Nov 2021

The history of the washington quarter

Coins | Tyler Heldt

The history of the washington quarter�

08 Nov 2021

Attention Numismatists

Coins | Tyler Heldt

With the recent success of my blogs telling the history of coins I want to hold a vote. There are two options to vote for to hear the history for.�

02 Nov 2021

America's forgotten coin

Coins | Tyler Heldt

Did you know that there is a coin that is made out of steel? Well there it is the 1943 steel wheat cent. The steel cent as i'm going to call it is very unique and has a very good story about it

26 Oct 2021

the walking liberty half dollar and why i think its interesting

Coins | Tyler Heldt

the walking liberty half dollar is neat because it's a different design its the standing lady liberty coin. its a lot different than the half dollars we have now like the kennedy. the kennedy half dollar it just has his head on it and nothing else. also with the franklin half dollar it just has franklin's head on it.� witch also is a reminder that all coins accept nickels and pennies with the acception of the war nickel� are %90 silver from 1964 and below but the kennedys were %40 silver� from 1970 and below. but the walking liberty was truly a piece of coinage art and� history was a beautiful coin and all walking liberties are %90 silver.

25 Oct 2021

my first gradded coin

Coins | Tyler Heldt

I went to a coin convention in annapolis and i wanted a graded coin.� Getting coins graded for kids is hard because pcgs and ngc memberships are expensive. i was looking at some error coins and I saw a 1956-D jefferson nickel� ms 65 condition for� 15 dollars.� I thought that was a good deal because in the red book of united states coins it was 20 dollars. so i talked to the guy and he told me how he got it and it was an interesting story. He got it in a trade for a 19 47 ddo and a 1900 v nickle. i bought it from him for 9 dollars witch i think is a steal and that is how i got my first graded coin

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