The ANA National Money Show (the Midwinter Show) is this week in Colorado Springs. We decided not to attend, partly because it's a bit of a pain to get to, and mainly because the Whitman Coin Expo is next week in Baltimore. Boy, are we glad we didn't go.

To those of you who are attending, button up and be careful!

    The following was written by Frank. 

     Overstruck coins offer great value to collectors, as each coin offers an historically significant story. There are various reasons why a coin might be overstruck, including a country’s economic issues, mint errors, and private overstrikes.

     One of the most popular and affordable examples of an overstruck coin is the Brazilian 960 Reis. In 1810, Brazil was still under Portuguese colonial rule. At the time, a Spanish 8 Reales coin was valued at 750 Brazilian Reis. The Portuguese government decided to overstrike 8 Reales and denominate them at 960 Reis, this was to discourage mass exportation of coins to other nations. Also, the government profited greatly from doing so, nearly 30% after revaluing these coins. From 1810-1827, an estimated figure of 22.5 million 960 Reis were overstruck. The overwhelming majority of these 960 Reis coins are overstruck on Spanish 8 Reales, but there are some other undertype coins that have been discovered over the years including U.S. Bust Dollars, a single 1696 British Crown, Bank of England 1804 Dollars, Indian Madras 2 Rupees, Austrian Mother Teresa Thalers, Netherlands Silver Ducats, and many more unique undertypes. Many of the undertype coins were sourced from visitors of Brazil, which is why there is a great variety of undertypes. Common and circulated 960 Reis coins overstruck on Spanish 8 Reales are very affordable, they can easily be purchased for a couple hundred dollars. In comparison, a regular non-overstruck Spanish 8 Reales are available for $150-$200, very little premium if any at all for an overstruck 960 Reis. Talk about a coin packed with value!

1818 960 Reis overstruck on a 1799 U.S. Bust Dollar. Much of the overstruck Bust Dollar’s design is still visible, including the date, “Liberty”, and the eagle’s talons. Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

     There are many fabulous overstruck coins that have been discovered; some of them will leave you scratching your head, including a proof 1970-S Washington Quarter struck over an 1898 $5 Liberty, which sold for $93,000 in January 2023. This is likely not a mint error because of the strict quality control of the U.S. Mint, especially when producing proof coins. This must have been the clever work of a Mint employee who thought it would be neat to “make” a nearly impossible mint error. Interestingly enough, there is also a proof 1970-S Washington Quarter overstruck on a Canadian King George V silver quarter, which sold for $7,800 in August 2020. Again, this was likely not a legitimate mint error, but a Mint employee having fun.

1970-S Proof Washington Quarter overstruck on an 1898 $5 Liberty. Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

1970-S Proof Washington Quarter overstruck on a Canadian King George V Quarter. Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

     One of the most interesting private overstrikes is the 1861 Confederate Half Dollar Restrike of 1879. Around 1879, coin dealer Ebenezer Locke Mason Jr. purchased an original 1861 Confederate Half Dollar and the reverse die from Confederate Chief Coiner Dr. B. F. Taylor. Mason then sold both pieces to J.W. Scott, who struck roughly 500 restrikes of the 1861 Confederate Half Dollar. To produce these restrikes, Scott purchased around 500 1861 dated half dollars, planed down the reverses of each coin, and struck the reverse with the Confederate reverse die. This is quite a unique overstrike example, as only half of the coin was overstruck!

1861 Confederate Half Dollar Restrike. Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

The following was written by Chris.

The annual Florida United Numismatists convention (the FUN show) was held the first week of January. Tom, Brian, Frank, and I attended. We began our travels to Orlando on New Year’s Day. Flying on the holiday definitely took a little fun out of FUN (fortunately, the next three January conventions will be held the second week of January). Our JetBlue flight was delayed as usual. And as is now custom with that airline these days, no explanation or apology was given. I guess they assume their regular passengers understand that the flights will usually be delayed.

Tom stayed at a Hyatt, as he typically prefers to do for this show. Frank, Brian, and I stayed in our usual location, which was an Airbnb condo in a gated community near the convention center. For the amenities available, it’s tough to beat the price. And with the show being held in the North concourse of the convention center this time, it was an easy 15-minute walk to the show.

It’s impossible for us dealers to start doing business at a coin show on the actual day of the show. There is always pre-show trading going on. If coin show coordinators stretched a show out from five to 15 days long, I can guarantee people will still show up one to two days early to do biz. This show was no exception. I Ubered around to various hotels to meet with wholesale dealers. From a security standpoint, this is far from ideal. Fortunately for me, I never carry inventory on me. Dealers will hold my purchases and deliver them once the show opens.

I went on this trip hoping to be very selective in my buying. I made a concerted effort not to buy anything we already had in inventory, pretty much regardless of price. I got a very early shot with one of my favorite wholesalers and was able to pick up a nice selection of interesting coins (the 1799 $10 PCGS XF45 OGH we have/had on our homepage is one of them). Six Uber rides later to different hotels, I was done for the day. Brian and Tom had success showing our inventory to a couple of dealers that day. Tom also played the Uber game and did some buying. Unfortunately, Frank hit a wall Monday night when we got in, and by Tuesday morning he was quite sick. He stayed in his room at the Airbnb all day. Brian was the ultimate caretaker, and heated up some chicken noodle soup and crackers and delivered a tray to Frank’s room that evening. We were all being quite cautious, as no one else wanted to get sick. Fortunately, Frank was consistently testing negative for COVID.

Wednesday started with more pre-show buying, and one more trip to a hotel to look at some new inventory that had just come in. The show kicked off at 2 pm. I went straight to our table to start setting up. I had barely had time to get the power strip plugged in when someone came over to the table to show me coins. I got my halogen out, took a seat, and was pretty much in that same position looking at coins until close to 7 pm. The other fellas were equally busy.

The show opened to table holders and early bird dealers at 8:30 on Thursday morning. Frank was feeling significantly better, so after yet another negative VID test, he masked up and we all started work right away. Other than a bathroom break or two, I did not leave the table and spent the whole day looking at coins. A lot of YN dealers that Frank knows came to the table to do business with him. Tom was venturing out on the bourse floor looking at coins. And Brian was out on the floor showing our coins to as many dealers as possible. We wrapped up the day at closing time, which was 7 pm. While not big law firm hours, it was definitely a long day.

Friday we checked out of the Airbnb and allowed ourselves a late start to the day, getting to the show around 10 am. Business continued as usual for all four of us, though I was calling it quits early. My wife had flown in from Boston the night before, and we were planning on seeing friends for the weekend. I typically do any necessary shipping from the show. I’m fussy about it, so I feel more comfortable doing it myself (and I think everyone else prefers that I do it, which is understandable since it’s a pain in the @ss). I ended up shipping five large FedEx boxes back from the show.

The day ended for me around 2 pm. I met my wife outside the convention center, and we left to start our mini-vacation for the weekend. Brian and Frank left for the airport a couple of hours later. Tom’s intent was to stay another day and fly home Saturday night. However, we were a little concerned about a winter storm coming our way in Boston. He decided not to risk it and flew out first thing Saturday morning. It wasn’t our intention to leave an empty bourse table on Saturday, but the situation demanded it. And good thing too. On Saturday, apparently a big leak occurred directly over our table. It was the only place on the bourse floor to get flooded!

How was the show? I give it an A minus. I was satisfied with my buying, though I came home with a little bit more than I intended to buy. But I was pleased with what I bought. A last-minute purchase on Friday afternoon was quite satisfying – an extremely rare 1879-O $20 in uncirculated condition, which was cleaned. I typically do not buy problem coins, but I did not want to pass up on the opportunity on such a rarity. Frank seemed fairly satisfied with his purchases and time there. His health improved each day, and he was back to normal by the time he went home. Sales were pretty decent. After some disappointing show sales in 2023, it was a good start to 2024. While we typically do wholesale business at shows, we did make a few sales to the public. Thursday public turnout was incredible. It was as busy a bourse floor as I recall seeing at a show, which was great.

On a personal note, I enjoyed a few extra days in Orlando with my wife. We visited with local friends and some FSU college buddies of mine that drove down from Tallahassee. We used to play all the intramural sports in college back in the day. Now in our 50’s, our sports activities were limited to such things as putt-putt, Top Golf, bowling, and cards. I lost at putt-putt, won at Top Golf (I am terrible at golf…I just happened to be less terrible than my friends), and got absolutely destroyed in bowling. Gone are the days of bowling 185-215. I didn’t crack 100 in either game. Maybe my "sports" report after the next show will be better.

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Our JetBlue flight was three hours delayed going home.

Time to show off my mad driving skills (I think I hit one 275 125 yards) at Top Golf.

Putt-putt. As most of my friends know, I am prone to being goofy in front of a camera.

Told you.

We found a GREAT locals bar. They were kind enough to put on the crappy Patriots game for us. Adios, Bill! Thank you for your football service.

I couldn't get anyone to do this ride with me. Maybe this is why: Slingshot Terror

Enjoying brunch with my wife and Florida State buddies. That orange juice may or may not have vodka in it.

The following was written by Frank.  

The Three Cent Nickel has a fascinating origin story that is packed with history. The first example of the denomination, the Three Cent Silver, was minted from 1851-1873. The intent of striking Three Cent Silver pieces was to create an intermediate denomination between the Large Cent and the Half Dime. Also, the price of postage stamps was dropped from five cents to three cents, which made this coin have a very practical use. Instead of carrying around three clunky Large Cents, you could bring a small Three Cent Silver piece to buy a postage stamp at the post office. The Three Dollar Gold piece was also minted for a similar reason; you could easily purchase a sheet of 100 stamps without having to worry about having the correct amount of coinage in various denominations.

Because of economic concerns, the public hoarded vast amounts of silver coinage during the Civil War. Many of these coins were Three Cent Silvers. Because of the coin shortage, stamps were accepted as tender for small change, but it created a sticky situation (pun intended) because the stamps would begin deteriorating much faster than coins. To aid the coin shortage, many merchants issued their own one cent tokens, called Civil War Tokens. These Civil War Tokens were accepted and used in commerce regularly. The government also began printing fractional currency, which were pieces of paper money with denominations ranging from three cents to fifty cents.

On March 3, 1865, Congress passed a bill for the coining of Three Cent Nickels, composed of 25% nickel and 75% copper. The Three Cent Nickel has a diameter of 17.9 millimeters and a weight of 1.94 grams. Fourth Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint James Barton Longacre was in charge of producing a design for the new coin. Three Cent Silvers were struck alongside Three Cent Nickels, but mintages of the silver type were miniscule compared to the nickel type. Eventually, the coining for Three Cent Silvers was halted in 1873, making the Three Cent Nickel the sole type of the denomination until they were discontinued in 1889. Mintages for Three Cent Nickels were quite high during the 1860s, but tapered off until 1889 as the mintages of five cent nickels and higher denominations of silver coinage increased rapidly. The 1880s, with the exception of 1881, had very low mintages; the lowest being just 1,000 pieces in 1885. Many business strike examples from the 1880s are tough to locate.

The U.S. Mint produced only proof Three Cent Nickels for the years of 1877, 1878, and 1886. These proof only dates are in demand for collectors seeking to assemble a date set, as they can only resort to proof examples since none were minted as business strikes. Mintages for proof coins for the type vary from 500-6,609. Many earlier date pieces have lower mintages, while later dates tend to have a higher mintage for proof issues. Proof Three Cent Nickels often come with great eye appeal and a nice cameo contrast.

A few highlights of the series include the business strike 1884 (mintage of 1,700) and business strike 1885 (mintage of 1,000). These two dates are rare because of how relatively low their mintages are. All 1887 proof Three Cent Nickels are overdates (1887/6). The die engraver punched a “7” over the “6” on the die, creating the overdate. There are two varieties of this overdate, a weak and strong overdate. The Mint workers made an effort to polish out the overdate but failed to completely remove it.

The following is an excerpt from Tom Caldwell, president of Northeast Numismatics:

“Speaking of proof Three Cent Nickels, when we first started traveling to major shows in the early 1970s, it was not uncommon to handle complete sets of this series in proof. Starting in 1865, with its exceptionally low mintage of 500 (all from this year have a recut date) through 1889. I recall figuring most dates in the $50 or less range and the proof only years of 1877, 1878, and 1886 for about double. We handled many complete sets during this time period. Specific numerical grades were not in common use during this era; they were either choice or gem, which is hard to imagine today. The coin business was booming in 1980, and amazingly any proof Three Cent Nickel was trading for $1,500-$2,000 regardless of quality. Prices eventually calmed down and became more stable starting in 1986, as the grading services standardized grading. Today, it is highly unusual to find a complete proof set of this series offered for sale.”

 As Tom mentions, finding a complete proof set of this series is a rare occurrence. We have the pleasure of offering a complete proof Three Cent Nickel set on our site: Three Cent Nickels

Sources:

https://threecentnickel.com/

https://threecentsilvers.com/

https://www.pcgs.com/

https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1887-6-3cn-strong-overdate/3784