This is a
spectacular 2001 P PROOF STATE Buffalo Dollar. The 2001 Buffalo
Silver Dollar program is one of the most successful Mint
projects in history. Both the Proof and the Mint State
coins have tremendous demand that has increased even more
in recent months. I personally hand delivered and picked
up each of these coins after grading at NGC in Sarasota,
Florida - 85 miles away. This is a BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE of
this US Mint coin. The initials "F" for designer
Fraser, the "D" for Denver Mint and "P" for Philadelphia
Mint are ALL supposed to be frosty
or frosted. This 2001 P Proof coin
has had the incised "P" mintmark POLISHED as mirror-like as the
"2001" date and the
letters in "ONE DOLLAR". All my 2001 P Proof
Examples of this coin including four PF 70 NGC graded
Ultra Cameo have FROSTED NOT
POLISHED mintmarks. (Remember
the rare 1937-D Three-legged Indian Head, Buffalo
nickel?) THIS
WAS OBVIOUSLY A MISTAKE IN PREPARING THE DIE AND MISSED
DURING QUALITY CONTROL...THE ERROR GOT OUT!
I will also be auctioning a PERFECT SET of these coins both the
2001
D MS 70 & 2001 P PF 70 Ultra Cameo in a NGC Multi-Holder.
Shipping
& Handling is $5.00 by USPS First Class Priority
Mail.
Insurance
is extra and required.
I will include to the winning bidder the original
packaging and COA, which reads & states:
"UNITED STATES MINT
Smithsonian
National Museum of the American Indian
AMERICAN BUFFALO COMMEMORATIVE COIN
American Buffalo Commemorative Coin
CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY
Proof Silver Dollar
The undersigned hereby certifies this Silver Dollar as a
genuine American Buffalo Commemorative Coin, struck in
accordance with legislation passed by Congress and signed
by President William J. Clinton on October 27, 2000, as
Public Law 106-375 cited as the "American Buffalo
Coin Act of 2000." The Department of the Treasury,
United States Mint has produced this coin in
commemoration of the Smithsonian National Museum of the
American Indian established by an act of Congress in
1989, in Public Law 101-185. This coin is legal tender of
the United States.
Jay W Johnson
Jay W Johnson Director, United States Mint
SPECIFICATIONS:
MINT Philadelphia
CONDITION Proof
WEIGHT 26.73 grams (+-0.400 grams)
DIAMETER 1.500 (+-0.003) inches or 38.10 (+-0.08) mm
COMPOSITION 90% silver 10% alloy
MINTAGE 500,000 (all options)
Designs: Based on the original Buffalo nickel, as
designed by James Fraser and minted from 1913 through
1938.
Obverse: Portrays a profile representation of a Native
American.
Reverse: A representation on an American Buffalo (also
known as a bison).
THE DESIGNER BEHIND THE COMMEMORATIVE COIN
James Earle Fraser (1876-1953), one of America's most
renowned sculptors and medallic artists, was a student of
another famous American sculptor - Augustus
Saint-Gaudens. Mr. Fraser carried over his sculpting
talent to the medallic arts. He is probably best known
for his famous sculpture entitled "The End of the
Trail." Having grown up in the Dakota Territory, Mr.
Fraser witnessed first-hand this country's westward
expansion and its impact on Native American
communities."
The coin was authorized to commemorate the National
Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian
Institution, the museum's opening, and to supplement the
museum's ongoing endowment and educational funds.
The fate of the American Buffalo - or bison - was linked
to the fate of the Native American, and vice versa.
Native Americans hunted the bison and used the carcass
for everything from shelter and food to needles and
cooking implements --they were known for wasting nothing.
The study of Native Americans, including their language,
literature, history, art and anthropology, is the purpose
of the proposed National Museum of the American Indian.
The museum will feature more than 10,000 years of
American history. The 260,000 square foot museum is
scheduled to open on the National Mall near the U.S.
Capitol in 2004 and is expected to attract about 6
million visitors a year. Ground was broken for the museum
on September 28, 1999.
|
----- Original Message -----
From: Eric von Klinger
To: rayfosil@verizon.net
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2006 4:51 PM
Subject: buffalo $1
Dear "Ray,"
The Mint mark, the date, the F for Fraser and ONE
DOLLAR are all incise on the coin. Other design
elements are raised against the flat field of the
coin and are therefore recessed on the die. With
those facts in mind, read this account of Proof die
making, written by Paul Gilkes of our staff in 2001:
To
frost the recessed devices of the design and soften
the overall texture, the face of the die is pummeled
at more than 40 pounds per square inch by a stream of
glass and aluminum powder. The die technician tapes
off the entire face of the die with cellophane tape,
then, using a X-acto cutting tool, meticulously
traces the design by cutting through the tape; deep
enough to penetrate the tape, but not damage the die,
or it will be rejected.
The tape is then removed to expose the flat fields,
leaving the devices covered. Employing an
electrically powered polishing tool and a paste
embedded with crushed diamonds, the die technician
spends up to three hours on each die polishing the
fields to a mirrored finish.
It would make sense for the
incise elements on the coin -- that is, raised
elements on the die, to be polished, like
the field, rather than "frosted"
with glass and aluminum powder.
If you
have some of these dollars that appear to have
frosted Mint marks, and one that is polished, you may
have evidence of some indifference at the Mint. I
would not consider this a very defined
or major error -- it's just like lapping paint
past the tape where you're trying to create a
separation on a wall -- and doubt that the
average eager beaver in CONECA (Combined
Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of
America) would either. If your polished Mint
mark doesn't sell, we'd be interested in comparing it
and a "frosted P" and invite discussion.
Thanks,
Eric von Klinger
COIN WORLD
|