|
Images courtesy of Byers Numismatic
Corp.
Notes:
Dies with
images of Martha Washington and Mount Vernon were first used circa
1965 to strike a group of experimental pieces testing a variety of
metal alloys. Mint officials claim that all of the 1965
experimental pieces were either destroyed or otherwise accounted
for. Until 2000, the only examples known were three sets of
Martha Washington "Dimes", Quarter Dollars", and "Half Dollars"
embedded in Lucite and given to Congress, the Mint Director and the
Smithsonian Institution. A fourth set was mutilated for
metallurgical testing.
Thus, the numismatic market
was shocked when, in 2000, some interesting coins began appearing on
the market.
In April 10, 2000, Paul
Gilkes of Coin World reported the discovery of a Martha
Washington Dime, explaining its existence by noting that "The Martha
Washington/Mount Vernon dies were most recently used during
metallurgical die trial testing for the Sacagawea dollar".
Around July 2000, a poorly
struck, slightly off-center, uniface Martha Washington "Cent"
appeared on the market.
In February 2002, nice
examples of the Martha Washington "Cent" and "Quarter Dollar"
appeared on the market (both of the recently discovered Martha
Washington "Cents" were struck on copper-coated zinc planchets of
the type used on Lincoln Cents beginning in 1982).
In addition, Douglas Mudd of
the Smithsonian Institution photographed a Martha Washington
"Dollar" (struck in 1999 on a "Golden Dollar" planchet meant for the
Sacagawea Dollar) before returning the coin to either the U.S. Mint
or the vendor that produced it. The U.S. Mint conducted
metallurgical tests in 1999 on the golden colored manganese-clad
planchets which would later be used for the Sacagawea Dollar.
For the first time, the U.S.
Mint included representatives from Industry because the new
Sacagawea Dollar would have to be completely interchangeable with
the existing SBA Dollar. The electromagnetic fingerprint had to be
identical. All of the metals combined changed the alloy's
electromagnetic properties. Many tests were conducted including
those at IDX Inc., Olin Brass and PMX Industries.
In another Coin World
article on July 16th, 2001, James Halsey, President of IDX Inc. was
interviewed. IDX Inc. is one of the firms contracted by the U.S.
Mint to test prototypes. Mr. Halsey said "numerous samples in
different alloys bearing the Martha Washington obverse and Mt.
Vernon reverse dies - special designs used for experimental coinage
- were shipped to IDX Inc. for testing. Some of the packages were
insured for as high as $250,000, with the recipients required to
return any and all pieces supplied by the Mint for tests."
Two other firms under
contract by the U.S. Mint include Olin Brass and PMX Industries.
Both of these companies supply the U.S. Mint with the manganese-clad
strips from which the Sacagawea Dollars are struck. Olin Brass is a
leading U.S. copper alloy producer and is located in East Alton,
Illinois. PMX Industries is located in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa.
Sources and/or
recommended reading:
Coin World, April 10, 2000
Coin World,
July 16, 2001
Byers Numismatic Corp.
website at http://www.byersnc.com/
Eagle Numismatics website
at www.coinmaven.com/martha.html | 
