RWB

Yes. That is a squirrel running down the trunk of an oak tree to harvest acorns. The upper portion is his/her/its bushy tail and the rest are its body and head pointing downward.

Agreed --- this coin definitely needs to be resting! It has obvious trauma and should not be expected to exert itself in retail commerce.

Understood. However, the letter attests to its being made for some special purpose and the coin is clearly "nicer" than others. They did not have any better equipment, although a die could have been polished. There weren't other options at a regular mint. Only Philadelphia had the ability to do really special things. To my skeptical mind, this coin has documentation supported by appearance to justify an individualized moniker. On appearance alone, it would not qualify. (It sold for over $400,000.)

This table shows the denomination and date struck of the first coinage from the real Denver Mint in 1906. Hope it will be readable.

I don't know. Could it have ended up in the Philadelphia Cabinet? (It does not appear in Comparette's 1914 "CATALOGUE OF COINS, TOKENS, AND MEDALS.") Possibly the Coiner? He gave one to his brother, why not himself. A "big deal" was made of striking a few 1905 bronze tokens and donating one to the state archives. But nothing mentioned about DE #6 or any of the first coins....quarters made Feb 15, 1906.

Unfortunately, this is common modern stuff where the whole production is called something special. I refer to true historical pieces.

Unknown. Recipients and the coiner, Tarbell, were prominent Colorado citizens. (Tarbell and others at the mint got into very hot water when one of the gold coins sent for the Annual Assay Commission failed. Much of the early gold coinage had to be melted and recoined.)

Collectors are likely familiar with my persistent objections to the use of words such as "Specimen" or "Branch Mint Proof" or "Special Strike" on TPG labels. These terms are usually meaningless and not supported by anything other that blind guesses and silly tall tales. However, there are coins which are legitimately entitled to be labeled "Specimen" or "Special Strike." Here is one of them. Notice not only the quality of the coin - sharply made and carefully handled - likely struck from new dies, but that it is accompanied by a document attesting to the coin's manufacture. Signatures on the letter match other routine correspondence for the signatories.

There are no standards. It's all opinion and guesses. Empirical standards and methodology have been proposed but no TPG cares enough to implement them.

The cheek has "rub" making the coin AU. Tilting and turning a coin to show all of its surface is a standard grading technique. That the wear is clearly visible (and photographable) at any angle proves the coin is NOT Uncirculated. (If there were real standards, grading this "MS-64" and selling it as such would be fraud. But with no standards it's just an expensive, false opinion.)

So what is that supposed to signify? The gold dust might be of slight interest since it is original from someplace in California -- or maybe Oregon. But it's of no research value since we don't know its source in CA.

Both coins are 1969-S cents. Neither coin is a doubled die.

"Hype"has no value. A specific provenance might add 5% if it's of interest, but that's mere opinion.

AU-58 based on field disturbance and slight abrasion (cause is irrelevant). Also, I like the large hand-made "O" mintmark -- nice touch.

No proof coins or mint sets were made with 1965-67 dates. 1964 came in the usual proof set and a normal mint set.

I recall a company selling these at the entrance to the Denver ANA. (I think they were supposed to be melted as scrap and not resold to a vendor....but that might be a figment of the altitude -- the convention was on the 2nd floor of the convention center. (I guess that's better then the 2nd floor of the sewage treatment plant.)

Counterfeiting laws have no relationship to who owns the design. The language used is something like the US words "likeness or a similitude" which also covers slugs and blanks when used in place of coins. (Years ago Iceland's 25 aurar bronze coins would operate US vending machines as if they were quarters. Customs confiscated bags/boxes of these from travelers intent on passing them as 25-cents.)

OK. At least I'm only partly crazy....

Has this post/topic been around before -- 1 or 2 years ago?

Henri/Quintus....There is a vast array of legitimate pattern pieces from around the world. American collectors rarely branch out beyond their own narrow borders. There are also, many other proposed designs that exist only in model form.

A legitimate pattern piece is made only by the government or by direct commissioning of such work. If any privately made, non-commissioned piece includes the national identifier and a legal tender valuation, then is a correctly called a counterfeit coin.

The piece is NOT an Irish Republic pattern piece. It is a privately made token imitation. There are authentic Irish patterns made on authority of the government, but this piece is not one of them.

Nothing was "gifted" to anyone. The letter does not say what the gift was, however. Possibly cash in one form or another.

A "half roll" of quarters is worth $5. You will not find a coin that will be worth more than the cost of "grading."