A magnificent artifact of wartime cent production, this unique, eight-foot strip of webbing has a most unusual story.
A building contractor from the Denver area gained possession of the punched strip more than thirty years ago. Someone delivered a large quantity of the webbing to his work yard, thinking that he could find a use for the ‘scrap metal.’ The contractor decided to reinforce the walls of a house he was building with the strips, forever sealing them in plaster.
The contractor only had two strips left when he learned about their numismatic importance. He cut the shorter strip in two, mailing half to the Smithsonian and half to the ANA Museum, and kept the longer, eight-foot strip for himself. Once word spread about the contractor’s discovery, he was visited by two agents from the Denver Mint Police, looking to reclaim what may have been stolen property (any strips of webbing are technically property of the U.S. Mint). They dropped the case after concluding that it was impractical to dismantle the house or recycle his strip for steel.
This strip of webbing has been preserved nicely, and exhibits no rust or tarnishing of any sort. With only one rung broken in the nearly 1200 that make up the strip, it is remarkably well intact. There are a few minor bends, which do little to distract from the wow-factor of the piece. It is fully original and unrestored.
It is impossible to discern the date and mintmark on the coins minted from most other strips, yet due to the steel composition and discovery in the Denver area, we are very confident that this strip was used in the production of 1943-D cents.
Tom wrote a guest article for the E-Sylum. Here's something you can consider regarding your already-read coin publications that you receive in the mail:
As we age we inevitably end up going the doctor’s office more often, at least I do. When I remember I have been bringing a recent copy of The Numismatist with me, not to read while I wait for my appointment but to leave in the waiting room. The hope is that someone will view and possibly take up our fine hobby. It may never happen but it is a small effort to encourage a future numismatist.
We all lament at the fact that our collector base is aging and I suspect that the majority of ANA members are just tossing their month-old copy and not building a library so why not do so? If everyone made this small effort there would no doubt that it would have the desired result with some. It is certainly better than having your copy sit on your shelf never to be viewed again or automatically going to the recycling bin.
Sounds like a great idea!
My wife and I regularly drop off recent copies of Coin World during doctor visits. On several occasions I've observed they are quickly picked to read and provide a welcome change from the usual medical stuff. The monthly issues go to the local library
Our annual tradition - a Paul's Pastry king cake!
Brian hard at work describing a coin for a customer.
A little touch of NOLA in Chris' office.
Very nice office space!
Thank you, Panda!
...which we are very disappointed about. Unfortunately no one guessed the exact final score of the game in our contest. Not too surprising, however, considering what the score was (41-33).
We have already contacted the ten contestants in our contest whose guesses were closest to the final score. The closes was by R.C. of Maryland who guessed Eagles 42, Patriots 35.
Thank you to all who participated. We have confidence in Bill and Tom getting us to another Super Bowl, so hopefully this won't be our last such contest!
Super Bowl LII features the New England Patriots, who are going for their sixth Super Bowl title, against the Philadelphia Eagles on February 4th. To celebrate one of the greatest spectacles in sports, we at Northeast Numismatics are hosting another Super Bowl contest on our website.
If anyone guesses the exact final score of the game, they have a chance to win a $500 gift certificate to Northeastcoin.com. We are also awarding ten $50 gift certificates.
For further details and to participate, just click the link below.
Good luck!
