Gold Liberty Head Dime: More Disappointment than its Worth

Once again the dark cloud of disappointment has cast a shadow on coin collectors across the nation. Angry letters fill the editorial pages of Coin World and other periodicals.
   "I'll never buy from the mint again!"
   "It is unfair!"
   "The dealers are crooks!"
   Yes, I have heard it all before. Such misery. And anger.
   The new Winged Liberty Gold Dime sold out in less than 45 minutes on April twenty-first; all 125,000 pieces gone! The household ordering limit was ten. And, as you can imagine, many coin hogs (collectors and dealers alike) ordered the limit.
   Of course, they were not really gone in 45 minutes, as EBay sellers were offering them straight-away the next day (at twice the issue price of $205).
   So why the upset? This is what most folks wanted - a rare issue. Exciting isn't it!? But here's the thing about rarity: not everyone can have one. You have to be lucky. Lucky folks have found 1909-S VDBs in circulation. Lucky folks will receive a gold dime in the mail at issue price.
   The rest of us will have to pay premium. That's life. Go buy one if you want one.

Remember when?

   Now what is it about this gold dime? Part of it is nostalgia. The baby-boomers are retiring and looking back: they are chasing after retro Mustangs and gold "Mercury" dimes. Part of it is art. The modernists are following the mint playbook: they are chasing after MS-70 pieces in order to boast about their connoisseurship. And finally, part it is speculation. The quick-buck guys are fattening their wallets.
   All three groups got what they wanted. Well, some of them anyway.
   That is how the world works. You can stomp your feet if you want to. Yell at the dog. Kick something. Babies!
   A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that a letter writer opined that the mint should produce some rarities for collectors (remember the "double beaks"). Well, you got your wish.
   No one should be angry about what happened on April twenty-first. Nothing unusual happened. Nothing unfair happened. Rare coins -- produced that way or not -- are just that. Not everyone can have one.
   But this necromancer has a suggestion.
   Forget the gold dime. Get the real thing! Go out and get some real "Mercury" dimes. They are better struck for one thing. Also, they were part of the action. Old dimes have stories. If you want to soothe your nostalgia, a old dime will take you there.

Old Sails: Dunkirkers defeat the Dutch in 1626 (or did they?)

Several Dutch jettons show naval battle scenes. For the lover of old sails, these pieces offer more ships on a single coin, albeit smaller. I sometimes pass on wide-angle scenes, but this one features the ships prominently and is quite striking. Plus, the event commemorated is intriguing.

Seven galleons anchored off shore basking in the glow of victory.

   This piece is from Utrecht and is dated 1626. It is relatively scarce but obtainable with patience. I have seen at least two offered on EBay.
   On the obverse, there is a land battle, but the reverse (pictured) shows a squadron of seven ships. All of them appear to be fully-rigged galleons with their distinctive low forecastle and towering aft castle. The ships face to starboard with sails reefed and pendants flying. As such, the battle is over.
   But which battle?
   Mitchner takes a conservative stance by describing this piece as reflecting the conflict between the Dutch and occupying Spanish forces. Other descriptions are more specific and describe the ships as belonging to the Dunkirk Privateers who were allied with the Spanish and raided Dutch and English shipping. They were called the Dunkirkers since they often sailed from this captured port.
   Records show that between 1626 and 1634 about 180 Dutch ships were captured. English ships, too, were captured in large numbers. In April of 1626 the State Papers of Charles I in England described the Dunkirkers as "... taking a spoiling of our ships, to the utter undoing of merchants and masters, many of the latter being taken prisoners, and to the ruin of many thousand laboring people."
   These raiders were labeled as pirates by the Dutch in 1587 since they preyed on commercial shipping. Hence, Dunkirk was often referred to as the "Algiers of the North" -- a reference to the Corsairs of the Mediterranean. Dunkirk was captured in October of 1646 by French and Dutch forces, thus reducing the threat considerably.
   Several sources suggest that this jeton commemorates Dutch losses in 1626, both on the ground and at sea. One reference reported that a large fishing fleet had been captured in this year. However, there is mention of an alliance between the English, Dutch, and Danes as having been victorious over the Dunkirkers in 1626-27. It is a puzzle. Does anyone have more specific information?
   The reverse legend reads: CONFORTAMINI DEO CONFIDENTES. This translates as follows: Take Courage and Trust in God. Perhaps this is a rallying cry expressing hope that the pirates will be beaten. The obverse legend reads: IMMINENT VNDIQVE VSQVEQVOS HOSTES. This translates as follows: How long our enemies threaten on every side. Taken together, this jetton seems to support the fortitude of the Dutch forces despite setbacks.
   I wonder where this jeton has been all these years -- it is nearly 400 years old. It was well taken care of, as it has but a few decades of handling wear. It is lightly shadowed with dark corrosion products about the edges from storage -- the debris from eight or ten generations of collecting perhaps? Were they collectors of Old Sails, or were they jetton series collectors? Either way, this one appears to have been loved. And now, we get to contemplate it.

Rare Coins have Great Stories; MS70 Eagles with Doubled Beaks Do Not.

This necromancer collector has been troubled lately.
   I have always considered rare coins as the ones with great stories. Being unique is not enough. The coin has to have something to say. After all, all coins are unique in one way or another. It is the contagion of meaning that makes a coin desirable.
   Consider the heritage of the necromancer for a moment. In medieval times, the necromancer was a cunning man or wizard who could glean information from those who had passed. Why do this? Well, those who came before us had wisdom gleaned from a life of full of experiences. Plus, they knew the past; they were there.
   Of course, in medieval times, a body part -- a skull perhaps, or some other bone if that is all that could be had -- was enough to get things started. A really good necromancer could make do with a molar!
   The coin collecting necromancer just needs an old coin. No bones.
   But the coin needs to have been passed amongst the living. It needs to have been part of the action. It needs a storyline -- that is, enough drama and mystery so as to be animated with past lives.
   Relics are an obvious choice. Each is unique and steeped in mystery. Each was used and lost. Relic coins come to us directly from the past. As such, relics are perfect: they cannot be graded on a 1 to 70 scale.
   But relic-ness is not everything.

Here is a coin the necromancer can wear to provide
protection from the heretics that clamor for MS70 eagles
with doubled beaks and bent feathers!

   A 1909-S VDB has a great story, even if in high grade. So too, a mint state half-eagle from 1822 has a great story of survival at the hands of a few savvy collectors. Or, how about a rare die variety that tells the story of what was happening inside the mint. Similarly, an unusual mint error can be alluring. All of these rare coins -- some of which might not squarely fit the bill for the necromancer -- are desirable -- and storied.
   I like die varieties from the early mint; and particularly, I like late die-state coins where the cracks and cuds reveal a die coming apart with use. Such coins speak to the economy of the times. They also capture a moment in time when a decision was made to keep the screw press going.
 
   So why am I troubled?
   I see so many collectors chasing after modern coins in ultra-high grade (MS-70) in an effort to have something rare and desirable. But I ask, what is the storyline?
   Part of me just wants to shrug, sigh, and move on. After all, if these collectors are having fun, so be it. Let them chase after MS-70 silver and gold eagles. For the necromancer that means they will not be competing for the real stuff that is linked to past lives and actions.
   Of course, I am missing the art part. An MS-70 coin represents ultimate beauty and perfection. Okay, I get it.
   But recently, I read an editorial wherein a collector was suggesting that the mint produce "rare" varieties to be randomly distributed to mint buyers. Maybe they could add an extra feather here or there on a few hundred coins. Or better yet, add a doubled beak! Now that I am pondering this, I think a doubled beak would be more exciting than an extra feather (unless it was a really big feather, or a bent one) -- what do you think?
   Yes, I am troubled. But, I have seen heresy before -- it comes and goes. After all, in medieval times, necromancers were often charged with heresy. I am used to it.
   If you think a doubled beak will be fun
, I say: "Go for it!" And, you can make up a story!

Jamestown: Part 6. Scottish Plack found in a mysterious Cellar

Jamestown is full of mysteries. The excavations pose as many questions as they answer. This is what keeps me coming back for more.
   Pit 5 was discovered about 10 years ago. At the bottom, it was rectangular at 3' deep and measuring 5'6" by 3'8" -- as such, it was judged to be a cellar. Oddly, this feature is located north (and a tad east) of the "Factory" that was built just outside (and attached to) the palisade wall at the southeast fort extension of 1608. As such, Pit 5 was not aligned with the fort wall or the Factory.
   It was a structure located outside the fort!
   What was it used for?

   The stratigraphy suggested a date range of 1608 to 1610. There were no less than eight layers of trash fill, all coming from the west, so the cellar was sealed soon after the fort was cleaned up following the horrific winter of 1609-10. Many small animal bones found at the bottom of Pit 5 suggest that this cellar was occupied during the starving time.

Scottish plack of James VI. 

   Also found in Pit 5 were trading items and weaponry: sherds of Indian pottery, beads (53 of them), and scrap copper (550 bits). Sword parts, bandolier cylinders, and matchlock components were found too. This does not sound like a residence. It appears more like the Factory, as this structure had many trading items as well (the Factory has been described as a storehouse and trading center). There is no clear link between the two structures but for crossmending in the trash fill. Consequently, they are of the same period.
   Two coins were found in Pit 5, one of them at the bottom in a sealed context (that is to say, it was buried before the trash began to pile up in 1610 or so). So what was it?
   A Scottish plack. What is that? Well, that is what I said. I never heard of one before.
   The piece is a thin billon coin valued at eight pence in Scottish money. At the time, a plack was valued at only a third of a penny in English money. The coin is smaller than an English sixpence (more like a groat) and contains very little silver. It was minted before James VI ascended to the English throne (1567 to 1603). On the obverse (pictured) it shows a shield with lion; the reverse depicts a crowned thistle.
   I wonder if any other placks have been found in a North American colonial context?
   It is a scarce coin but available with some diligence. You will have to get familiar with coin dealers in the UK to find one. The Jamestown piece makes it part of the American colonial series -- just barely. I doubt that it ever circulated, so some folks will not want to include it in their collections. Still, it is a Jamestown relic from the early fort period. Perhaps the plack was a keepsake?
   By the way, the other coin (found in the trash fill) was an Irish penny dated 1602. These were profiled last January). Irish coppers were scattered about the fort and were probably in the debris that was moved about to fill in the cellars collapsing buildings after the colony nearly vanished during the starving time.