The U.S. Mint issued a copper medal in 1836 to commemorate the first coins to be struck by the steam press. There were a handful of medals struck with the date Feb. 22, 1836. Those were struck on copper large cent planchets. It is presumed that those handful of medals struck with the Feb. 22 date were issued to coincide with George Washington's birthday. The Mint's haste resulted in the equipment failing, or at least having mechanical difficulties. Only a handful of the Feb. 22 medals were struck and today they are rare. Within a month the Mint had the steam press back in running order and the balance of the medals were struck, but the date had been re-engraved to reflect the actual date that the medals were first struck; Mar. 23, 1836.

You can actually see remnants of a 2 under the 3 on the later strikes, as is the case with this medal.  These first medals were designed by Christian Gobrecht. Later, in 1861 Anthony Paquet redesigned the dies and restrikes were issued. The U.S. Mint actually struck these into the 1960's. The originals are struck on copper bronzed and always have a rim cud at 6:30 on the side with the cap and rays. In addition, the date always shows a 2 under the 3 in the date. This is not true on the restrikes. There are other subtle differences, but you get the point. This medal was struck from the original dies in 1836 or shortly thereafter. It is my understanding that they struck these for a few years after the first striking. The attribution is Julian MT-21.

This is a cool coin. It looks like a flip over double strike. It is a 1639 Double Tournois from France.

This is a cool coin. It surprisingly came from Sam Thurman's error collection :) His notes say "1st Strike-Full Brockage off center". I had a collector that is knowledgeable about these pieces look at this coin and he thinks it is a counterfeit piece. It was probably struck the same time period as the genuine pieces. Counterfeit pieces seem to be of great interest to those that collect these British pennies and half pennies.

This is a cool coin. It too surprisingly came from Sam Thurman's error collection :) His notes say "Double struck-Indent". I had a collector that is knowledgeable about these pieces look at this coin and he thinks it is a counterfeit piece. It was probably struck the same time period as the genuine pieces. Counterfeit pieces seem to be of great interest to those that collect these British pennies and half pennies.

This is a cool coin. It too surprisingly came from Sam Thurman's error collection :) His notes say "Double struck". I had a collector that is knowledgeable about these pieces look at this coin and he thinks it is a counterfeit piece. It was probably struck the same time period as the genuine pieces. Counterfeit pieces seem to be of great interest to those that collect these British pennies and half pennies.

This is a cool coin. It was holed for suspension but no evidence that it was actually worn. It too came from Sam Thurman's error collection :) His notes say "Double struck". I had a collector that is knowledgeable about these pieces look at this coin and he thinks it is a counterfeit piece. Actually, he thinks all of the pieces Im posting are counterfeits. It was probably struck the same time period as the genuine pieces. Counterfeit pieces seem to be of great interest to those that collect these British pennies and half pennies.

This is a cool coin. It too surprisingly came from Sam Thurman's error collection :) His notes say "Double struck". I had a collector that is knowledgeable about these pieces look at this coin and he thinks it is a counterfeit piece. It was probably struck the same time period as the genuine pieces. Counterfeit pieces seem to be of great interest to those that collect these British pennies and half pennies.

This is a interesting piece. Im not very knowledgeable about its history but Sam Thurman told me that the Papal State coins and medals are usually struck from perfect dies. He was not aware of any cuds on these. Circa mid 19th Century. This thing is huge. It measures 37mm diameter and 2mm thick.

This is a interesting piece. It was made in the US and also circulated here in the 1830s. It was issued by the American Colonization Society.

This Civil War token has a partial collar strike leaving a lot of extra medal around the rim. It also has a internal cud at the 3 in the date. ex Ryan Brooks 4/4/09.

Tall date variety N-13. Line through the "1" in date. R3. Counterstamped O.FINCH. Fairly nice looking coin. Nice counter stamp.

A nice 1850 cent probably VF20 with a obverse counter stamp F.WADE. I bought this on eBay 12/20/09.

I picked this up a local coin shop. I bought it because it has some interesting die cracks...one bisects the obverse of the coin or at least I believe its the obverse.

No reason to include this here but I was trying to test my skills at taking pictures of silver/clad coins.

This one is a JNC-66-6 Jefferson cud nickel. It is listed in Sam Thurman's Cud Book.

This one is a JNC-75D-4Ret Jefferson cud nickel. It is listed in Sam Thurman's Cud Book.

This is a high end BU Washington Quarter with nice cud at "ED" in UNITED.

2007P Wyoming State Quarter with large reverse cud...RARE

This is a high end AU+ Washington Quarter with nice cud that covers most of the date.

This is a high end MS Washington Quarter with nice cud the covers the complete date.

Haps Bath House Brothel Token. New York token unknown date. I bought this at a local shop Star Coin and Stamp 7/29/2008.