The Planchet
A Publication of theIndianapolis Coin Club
June 2009 Issue 504

The next meeting will be Monday,
June 22nd 2009
The Meetings of the Indianapolis Coin Club are held
the fourth Monday of each month at theNorthside Knights of Columbus
2100 E. 71st Street in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Meetings consist of a business session, an intermission, educational program,and a numismatic auction. Doors open at 6:00pm, meeting will begin at 7:00pm.

This Months Discussion Topic“What you collect and why”
2009 Meeting Dates:
June 22nd
July 27th
Aug. 24th
Sept. 28th
Oct. 26th
Nov. 23rd
December is our banquet there is no meeting.

$$$$ “ALWAYS BUYING” $$$$

VINTON G. DOVE

PAYING TOP PRICES FOR ALL U.S.
COINS

Certified Public Accountant
Collecting U.S. Coins Since 1952

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LARRY HYLTONBROWNSBURG, IN

ANA, ISNA-LM, CSNS-LM 443 Wellington Road(317) 852-8458

Indianapolis, IN 46260(317) 257-1906
Fax( 317) 257-2220

Jim Fuson
Retired Teacher & Coach
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Collector of old U.S. Coins
And old Sports Cards
Also have some coins and cards for sale$35 a year!

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The Monthly Planchet is the official publication of the Indianapolis
Coin Club. It is published monthly in Indianapolis, Indiana. All
inquiries should be sent to ICC, P.O. Box 2897, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46206.

Table Of Contents
The 2009 Indianapolis Coin Club
Officers and Board Members
Letter From the President

President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
EditorPast President
Sgt-at-Arms
Board Member 2009-2010
Board Member 2009-2010
Board Member 2009-2010
Board Member 2008-2009
Board Member 2008-2009
Board Member 2008-2009

Matt Dinger
Advertisers
Jim Roehrdanz Article
Treasurer's Report
Vinton Dove
Secretarys Report
Don King
Matt Dinger
Mark Eberhardt
Jim Warden
Dave Reid
Bob Bettcher
Don WrayJim Fuson
Charles Alber
Michael White

Page 1Page 2
Page 5
Page 4
Page 3

GOLD DOLLARS 1849 – 1854byMichael Schmidt
In the early years of our country
there was very little gold production in this country and almost all of the gold used for art or coinage had to beimported in from other countries. The first real supplies of domestic gold came from discoveries in South Carolina and Georgia that were found in the 1830’s. This resulted in the first gold dollars produced in this county.
But these coins were not produced by the government. They were instead the product of a private goldsmithingfamily, the Bechtler’s. Their coins were well received and circulated widely. As late as the CivilWar contracts
often specified payment in Bechtler gold.
The gold produced in this region eventually led to US branch mints being built there dedicated tothe coining of gold but they would not produce any gold dollars until 1849. In January of 1848 gold in significantquantities was discovered in California on the American River at Sutter’s Mill. (Gold had been found in California on earlier occasions but either not in significant amounts or it wasn’t well publicized.) The first reports from
California that were received in the east about this new discovery werealso not believe until a shipment of overtwo hundred oz arrived in Washington D.C. in December.
Surprisingly this small amount of gold was enough to spark people’s imagination and they began flooding
westward, and as they went west the gold came east.With all that gold available legislation was passed to create a
newlarger twenty-dollar coin, but also included was a new small gold coin, aone dollar piece. This tiny little pieceof gold would be the smallest coinever produced by the United States.. At 1.67 grams it is heavier than thethreecent silver piece, but its 13 mm diameter is 1 mm smaller. With it’ssmall size the design had to be simple. So theobverse just has a head ofLiberty wearing a coronet completely surrounded by a circle of thirteenstars. The reverse has a laurel wreath around the denomination and thedate. The inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA encircles thewreath. The mintmark, if any, is below the wreath.The gold dollar was the second coin designed
by ChiefEngraver James Longacre, and I’m sure he found it easier than hisfirst one. Longacre had received hisappointment as Chief Engraverthrough political favors rather than through proven ability. By tradehe was an engraver of banknote plates and other flat plate surfaceengraving and not a die engraver. (In fact when a gold dollar
hadbeen proposed years earlier, rather than engrave dies to strike patternswhich might have shown that he was notsuited for his position, heactually engraved the design on the planchets themselves.) Thesmaller and shallower
engraving need to cut the die for the gold coinallowed Longacre to adapt his skills to the challenge. Even so there
are several varieties to the first year’s coins.
The initial design had asmall head and the wreath of the reverse is “open” with the ends of the wreath far apart. The small head only
come from the Philadelphia coins. The next attempt has a slightly larger head, and now that Longacre was apparently satisfied he placed his initial L on the truncation of the bust. This larger head was used at all four of the US
Mints currently operating. The open wreath was also used at all four mints, but at the Charlotte mint it is one of
the major rarities in US coins with only four specimens known. Later in the year a second reverse design was created with a “Close” wreath where the ends of the wreath are very close to the denomination. This close wreath
design was only used in Philadelphia and Charlotte. This design continued for five year. Mintages at Philadelphia
were fairly high but the other three mints basically had token coinages in most years. By 1854 though there wereso many complaints about the tiny coin that things had to change.

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May 18, 2009 - Minutes of the Indianapolis Coin Club Meeting.
Open - The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Club President Matt Dinger. Twenty-six people signed the attendance book. We met at the Northside Knights of Columbus Hall, 2100 East 71st Street.
Visitors – There were no visitors.
The Treasurer’s report was accepted as reported in the newsletter, and the Secretary’s report was accepted as read.
Old Business – The Secretary reported that those members who shared their e-mail address with the Club were notified bye-mail of the last-minute change in the meeting date, originally scheduled for May 25. The Secretary notified the othermembers by telephone. He reported that Jim Buck, Life Member number 8, had just written a book, Get It Over Now!, ahumorous tale about divorces in the US. The book is in the process of being published.
The Secretary also reported that the Club now has 95 members.
New Business – There was much discussion about the ceremony and release of the “Railsplitter” or “Formative years” typeof 2009 Lincoln cent in Lincoln City, Indiana. Jim Warden reported that he attended the ceremony, but that most of thepeople by-passed the ceremony in favor of getting in line to purchase rolls of the new cents. Jim said the lines were very
long and he opted not to spend what looked to be several hours waiting in line waiting to purchase the coins. Don Kingwaited in line, and reported that he was treated “very poorly” by Government personnel. Mike White reported that he feltthat the DNR and US Mint personnel assisted him in finding the right line to stand in, but the wait was over three hours topurchase the cents. There were reports that there was a large amount of “line busting” or jumping into the line towards thefront. Huge prices were also reported on the secondary markets, and Mark Eberhardt reported that the new cents were being“blended” by the banks to mix new and old cents in their cet rolls. The next version of the 2009 Lincoln Cents will be in
Springfield, Illinois in August.
Matt reported on the Central States Show. Saying that things were “slow” but he made all of his purchases early on Thursday. He said most of the coins he saw on the bourse floor were overgraded and overpriced, but the auction prices weredown. At least 10 members of ICC were in attendance at the show on Friday. Vinton thanked Matt for finding several
Matte Proof Lincoln cents on the bourse floor for him to chose from. He bought a PCGS graded PF-63 Red & Brown 1914
cent for “too much” money. There were only 1,365 of the 1914 proof coins made. There was also a 1916 PCGS PF-65 centavailable for only $9,200!
The Educational Program – The subject for discussion was “Flying Eagle Cents.” Matt began the discussion by reportingthat in 1859 the 1856 FE cents in Mint State were advertised for sale for $1.00 each. Proof 1856 cents were struck to satisfy
collector demands. Many FE cents were struck with strong obverse and weak reverse, and many other types of errors andvarieties. A vigorous and lengthy discussion followed and Mike White recommended The Red Book of Flying Eagle
Cents as an excellent reference.
After the break, the 50/50 Drawing was run by Don King, and Vinton Dove won the drawing.
Auction – Joe Boling ran a lengthy and spirited auction. There were many lots for sale, and it was great fun. Bob Bettcher,
Shannon Spears and Vinton Dove assisted.
The club adjourned at 8:50 PM.
Respectfully submitted, Vinton Dove, Secretary