Login
Hello fellow YNs and YNH!
1870 was an interesting year for low mintage coins, and the half dime denomination is no exception. This coin has only one known example (although there may be two, more on that later in the blog). Designed by James B. Longcare, this coin's design is that of all of the Seated Liberty coinage of this era.
Avid collectors of Morgan Dollars know that there is another large niche with this series (along with Peace Dollars) besides date and mintmark: die varieties, more commonly known as VAMs. If you do not know what a VAM is, I highly suggest reading my blog on VAMs, which I published right before this blog. A basic knowledge of VAMs is essential to gain as much information as possible from this article, so I highly suggest you come back to this one.
Many of us more advanced collectors know what a VAM is, but because this term has come up in blogs in the past (and will come up in blogs in the future *ominous foreshadowing*), I think it is important to educate new collectors or people who are unfamiliar with this term so that they can better understand and appreciate the blogs written by our members that collect coins by VAM.
I firmly believe that in our hobby, we should set both short term, and long term goals. I have set myself both of these, and I encourage my fellow hobbyists to do so as well. Setting goals makes you focus on a specific area that you would like to focus on to help you complete that set you've always wanted to. For example, my main short term goal includes building and completing a set of mint state, eye appealing Franklin Half Dollars. I expect to be done within the next three or four years. Some of my long term goals are to specialize in half dollars (up to Drapped Bust, although it might extend a little bit further once I obtain some more of income. I would also like to be an expert in GSA Morgan Dollars, which I have already began extensive studying on. But on to the subject of my blog!
The Panama Pacific Octagonal $50 Gold Piece is one of my most favorite coins of all time. It ranks 17th in the third edition of "100 Greatest United States Coins." I have loved ever since first sight, and one day I hope to own one, even if it takes me 50 years to save up enough, which it probably will!
We're back with building your type set. I don't really know if anyone is enjoying these, but I haven't gotten any comments saying otherwise, so I'm going to keep writing them. Two cent pieces, and three cent pieces, or "trimes" are next up in the album, and are both obsolete denominations (and designs, I guess...). Let's learn some more!
The Indian Head $2.50 Gold Piece is a very interesting and unique coin. The designer was Bela Lyon Pratt, who was trained under Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Her design was used for the half eagle, or $5, as well. It is said to be the first US coin with an actual Native American as the model (earlier coins did not have real Native Americans on them, but rather Americans portrayed with Native American headdresses *cough, Indian Head Cent, cough*.
In our numismatic hobby, I have found that collectors are mainly knowledgeable on things they collect, or could collect later on. For instance, if I asked a YN to tell me three things about $20 gold pieces, most would stare at me blankly like I was insane. We naturally learn the history of coins that we collect, because it helps us better understand and appreciate the series. I believe that this is a huge loss, because the more you know about numismatics as a whole, the better numismatist you are. So here’s some history about a coin in a series I (and probably some of you) don’t collect: the 1870-S $3 gold piece.
Most of you know that my favorite coin series of all time is the Franklin Half Dollar. While I do still very much enjoy collecting silver Washington Quarters and 21st Century varieties, the Franklin Halves are cemented at the top of my list. Even if you didn’t know this about me, you probably could have guessed it by my profile picture and my many references to Franklin Half Dollars through many of my blogs. I put our a blog when I was just starting to blog on Franklin Half Dollars called, and I quote, “Franklin Half Dollars.” Now even though I am a glass half full kind of guy, the blog was just as bad as the title. I made many mistakes that I made as a beginner. Now, as a serious collector of this series, I figured I had better do my favorite coins justice, and write a more updated and thorough blog. So here we are!
Money.org Blog and Forum Terms & Conditions of Use / Disclaimer
This is a community-sourced blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog post’s author, and do not represent the views or opinions of the American Numismatic Association, and may not represent the views or opinions of people, institutions or organizations that the author may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity.
All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The American Numismatic Association (ANA) makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The ANA does not monitor the blog on a constant basis.
The ANA will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information, nor for the availability of this information. The ANA will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.
Downloadable Files and Images
Any downloadable file, including but not limited to pdfs, docs, jpegs, pngs, is provided at the user’s own risk. The ANA will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages resulting from a corrupted or damaged file.
Blog/Forum Posts and Comments
In these terms and conditions, “user content” means material including without limitation text, images, audio material, video material, and audio-visual material that you submit to this website, for whatever purpose.
Blog/forum posts and comments are encouraged. However, the ANA reserves the right to edit or delete any blog/forum posts or comments without notice. User content deemed to fall under the following categories will be removed and may prompt disciplinary actions, including, but not limited to, review and suspension/revocation of blog and forum privileges:
In addition, user content shall not be illegal or unlawful, shall not infringe any third party’s legal rights, and shall not be capable of giving rise to legal action whether against you, the ANA, or a third party under any applicable law.
The ANA may terminate your access to all or any part of the website at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately. If you wish to terminate this Agreement or your Money.org account (if you have one), you may simply discontinue using the website. All provisions of this Agreement which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.
The ANA reserves the right to display advertisements on your account and blog pages.
This blog’s terms & conditions of use / disclaimer is subject to change at anytime.