Awesome 1884-CC Morgan dollar cancelled die strikes in copper

[Coinkid]

I bought this set of two medallions from the Nevada State Museum on eBay recently. They were struck from the canceled dies used to strike an 1884-CC Morgan, and an 1878-CC Morgan over 120 years ago. I thought they were awesome and just couldn't pass them up!

-Paul

 

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[fortbball9]

They are sweet looking,I have never seen anything like that.
Very unusual

fortbball9

 

[idiotbuster]

They are sweet looking,I have never seen anything like that.
Very unusual

fortbball9

How much did you pay for them?

 

[Coinkid]

They are sweet looking,I have never seen anything like that.
Very unusual

fortbball9

How much did you pay for them?

$100 for the pair.


-Paul

 

[allen]

those are really cool...

 

[Coinkid]

those are really cool...

Thanks! I thought so too.




-Paul

 

[michigan michael]

Why were they stamped like that?

 

[Coinkid]

Why were they stamped like that?

The dies that these two medallions were struck from are actually the same dies that were used to strike Morgan dollars in the late 1800's. However, to thwart counterfitting, the dies were marked with an x before being discarded by the mint so that they couldn't be used to strike counterfeit coins, which explains the x's on these two medallions.


-Paul

 

[michigan michael]

Ohh. got ya. Learn something new everyday! Very cool.

 

[Roadquest]

Coinkid,

Very interesting Morgan medallions. I have not seen those before.
A keeper for sure.

Roadquest

 

[exiler]

Cool but not old

I bought this set of two medallions from the Nevada State Museum on eBay recently. They were struck from the canceled dies used to strike an 1884-CC Morgan, and an 1878-CC Morgan over 120 years ago. I thought they were awesome and just couldn't pass them up!

-Paul

I am new to the forums. I could not help but sign up after reading so many neat finds The coins were actually struck in 1990. Here is a quote from an info page about these.
"THESE CANCELLED DIE STRIKES WERE STRUCK AT THE CARSON CITY MINT BY COINER DON SCHMITZ FOR THE MINTS NEW & UPCOMING COIN SHOW (1990). THE DIES WERE CHOP CANCELLED IN THE LATE 1800's AND PUT AWAY IN THE VAULTS FOR 100 YEARS THEN RESTRUCK FOR THEIR RAFFLE. THE DIES ARE STILL ON DISPLAY AT THE CC MINT."
So the dies are from 1878, but the coins are newer. They were cast to draw attention to the Carson City mints show that year. They were also cast in several different metals, including some actual silver ones. You got a great deal on them though. Especially coming from a museum. The history makes them worth more than regular listed ones. If you ever sell them, let me know. lol. But always list them with their background coming from the museum

 

[Hemisteve]

Good buy! Those coins were also struck on the original minting press that is still run once in a while.

Back in the 80's a local utility company was excavating next to the mint and unearthed a cache of cancelled dies that were buried when the mint closed. If I remember right it was around fifty or so.
The Nevada Historical Society had an article about it in one of their monthly bulletins that said "The area was immediately cordoned off to prevent metal detectorists from hunting there."

The Nevada State Museum is in the old mint building and is worth the visit if you are in the area. The vault houses a collection of CC silver and gold coins that is second to none.

 

[exiler]

Wow! I would have loved to have been on that crew when they came up. What a neat story! Just goes to show that you never know what you will find justdigging around.