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April 2002 Issue

By James C. Johnston Jr.
Photos by Steven Vater

       Unless you are super rich, collecting every United States coin is not possible. What is possible is collecting one of each “type” of coin minted since 1793. There are a lot of “type coins” which are pricey, but most of them can be had in extra fine to uncirculated condition at reasonable prices. Some dates are less expensive than others.

          One should always collect coins in the best condition one can afford. The question always is “Where to begin?” “At the beginning” might not always be the best place to start, because the earlier coins tend to be very expensive even by type. One can also limit the scope of a type set by narrowing the scope of such an undertaking by condition and time period covered.

          If I were starting from scratch, I would make a type set beginning with the year 1800 and ending with the last silver issues of regular silver coinage in 1964, but first I would collect the type coins of the twentieth century.

          I would then set about collecting coins minted between 1901 and 1964. I would begin by collecting an uncirculated coin of each of the following types. First of all, consider the cents. You would need: a bronze Indian Head Cent, a bronze Lincoln Cent with Victor D. Brenner’s initials on the reverse at the rim at six o’clock of issue or mintage of 1909. In 1909, the initials  (V.D.B.) were later removed. This is yet another type. The zinc-coated steel cents of 1943 constitutes yet another type. The last type in the Lincoln series, if one is stopping in 1964, would be the Lincoln cent with the Lincoln memorial on the reverse. In 1982, the government began minting zinc cents with copper plating, but this coin would be excluded by the rules I had established for my type set. The reason I would stop my type collection in 1964 is that I hate the scrap metal issues after that date.

          For the five cent nickel part of our set, we would need only five major types. We would need a “Liberty Head” or “V” nickel which was minted until 1912. This would be followed by a Variety 1 Indian Head or Buffalo Nickel. This beautiful coin, designed by James E. Fraser, was first struck with the Buffalo, “Black Diamond” by name, standing on a mound of raised ground in 1913. Later that same year, that ground was removed. Thus variety 2 was born. If one is feeling rich, one can add a “Three Leg Buffalo” of 1937 from the Denver Mint, but one does not have to do so for the type set.

          The next coin needed would be the Jefferson Nickel designed by Felix Schlag. Here there are two types. The nickel coins of the 1938 to 1942 and the 1946 to 1964 would be type 1. The 35 percent silver alloyed mintage of 1942-1945 would be the second type. Altogether the twentieth century to 1964 could be represented by five coins of the five cent denomination.

          The dimes would be represented, in the twentieth century, by three coins up to 1964. First would be the 10 cent coin designed by Charles E. Barber and minted until 1916. The second would be the “Winged Liberty” variety or “Mercury” type designed by Adolph A. Weinman. This coin was minted from 1916 until 1945. In 1946, a new ten cent piece was introduced honoring Franklin D. Roosevelt who led the nation through the Great Depression and World War II. The Roosevelt dime was designed by John R. Sinnock.

          The 25 cent pieces of the twentieth century would be represented by four varieties. Charles E. Barber’s quarter saw us into the twentieth century and was issued on a regular basis until 1916. In that year, a beautiful new coin designed by Hermon A. Mac Neil made its debut. The 1916 Standing Liberty is one of the rarest coins of the twentieth century in high grade.

          This coin first depicted a bare breasted “Standing Liberty.” Outrage followed and in 1917 a second variety of the Standing Liberty coin was introduced covering Ms. Liberty’s beautiful upper body. The next type quarter dollar introduced was John Flanagan’s Washington quarter in 1932. These were minted in silver until 1964.

          The half dollars of the twentieth century, until 1964, are represented by four distinct types. The Barber half dollar was minted until 1915. It was succeeded by the lovely “Walking Liberty” half dollar in 1916. This coin was also designed by Adolph A. Weinmann who designed the Mercury dime. In 1948, the half dollar design was changed.

          The wonderful bust of Benjamin Franklin by John R. Sinnock was featured on the new coin. The reverse of the coin featured the Liberty Bell. Thus the coin is most often referred to as the “Franklin-Liberty Bell Type.” In 1964, the Kennedy Half dollar was introduced. The designers of the coin were Gilroy Roberts and Frank Gasparro. This would complete the silver half dollar types for your set.

          The “Liberty” dollar designed by George T. Morgan was minted until 1904. It was not until 1921 that the “Morgan” or “Liberty” Dollar would be minted again. Because of the slight variations in the design [this coin always looked flatter to me] the 1921 can be collected as a variety unto itself as well as the end of the series. It’s up to you to make the rules for your own type set.

          The “Peace Dollar” was minted between 1921 to 1935. It was designed by Anthony De Francisci to represent “Peace” after World War I. His beautiful high relief design was flattened a bit in 1922. The 1921 Peace dollar is a type unto itself and the dollars minted from 1922 onward are, in my opinion, another type altogether.

          If you want to add gold to this 1901-1964 Type Set, you would need to collect the Coronet Type – 21/2, 5, 10 and 20 dollar gold pieces designed by Christian Gobrecht and minted into the twentieth century.

          Theodore Roosevelt thought that our coinage was quite ugly and wanted all of it redesigned. Bela Lyon Pratt designed the beautiful and revolutionary incuse design (sunken) Indian 21/2 and 5 dollar gold pieces which circulated from 1908 until 1933. The last coins of this design were minted in 1929. The great American sculptor, Augustus St. Gandens (a close personal friend of Teddy Roosevelt), designed the magnificent 10 dollar Indian and 20 dollar Liberty pieces. There are some varieties of the 10 dollar (including those with and without motto “In God We Trust”). Of the 20 dollar there are several types. The high relief (unpopular with bankers because the coins wouldn’t stack) and the Arabic Numerals (as opposed to earlier Roman Numerals) and the coin with the motto restored. For your purposes one nice example of the St. Gandens 10 and 20 dollar gold pieces should do.

          So there you have it. A twentieth century type set to 1964, consisting of bronze, nickel, silver and a simplified sampling of gold type coins would number about 31 coins, more-or-less, depending on the depth of your pockets.

 If you would like to meet up with me in person in April, I will be at the Dedham, MA or N.E.S.S. Coin and Stamp Show at the Holiday Inn on the seventh of April between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. and at Tom Lacey’s Greater Worcester Show in Auburn, MA at the Ramada off Exit 10 from the Mass Pike on April 14. This show’s peak hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. You can also check things out at www.johnstonantiques.com

James C. Johnston Jr. was born in the historic Oliver Pond House in Franklin, Massachusetts where he has lived for 58 years. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in History and is the author of several books. He has also written more than 1,500 articles and monographs in The Numismatist, Linn’s Stamp News, The Regional Recorder, and other publications.

 Johnston was a teacher in the Franklin system for 34 years and has been associated with Johnston Antiques since 1962. He is a well known appraiser of antiques, books, fine arts, stamps, and coins. He is a founding member of the Massachusetts Suburban Antique Dealers Association, a member of the American Numismatic Association, and the American Philatelic Society. He has also been President of the Franklin Historical Society since 1985.

  Johnston is also a well known lecturer whose topics cover a wide range of social history, antiques, coins, stamps, and the fine arts, as well as, politics and political and military history.