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So here is a little something different from what I write about and this is kind of a fun thing. It's a 1957 One Pound British Sterling Irish Sweepstakes ticket for the Cambridgeshire horse race that was run on October 3rd 1957.
On June 13, 1782, Congress asked Charles Thomson to come up with a suitable design for America's Great Seal. With the reports and drawings of the three prior committees, he began his task.
The Revolutionary War finally ended major warfare at the Battle of Yorktown when British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington and French commander, Rochambeau after a three week's siege, on 19 October 1781. The British were hemmed in on all sides by our army as the French had blockaded escape by sea.
Four years had passed before the second committee to design Great Seal was formed by the Continental Congress on March 25th 1780. The war had not been going well. Our newly formed nation languished without a design with which to officially signify our government's documents.
Mr. Long Beard left a comment on my last blog about symbols on coins and expressed his view that we need new designs on our coins. I wholeheartedly agree! I miss the Walking Liberty, Standing Liberty, Mercury dime and Buffalo nickel designs. All changed by the time I was born, but they represent to me the apex of the historical beauty of our coins, I would like to see us harken back to those designs to inspire the next generation of U.S. coinage.
Almost all of this audience is familiar with the Great Seal of the United States, but likely many of us are not familiar with how the seal came to be adopted. Why is this important for numismatists to be familiar with? Because elements of the Great Seal appear on on a number of our earlier coins. and on the back of our One Dollar bill.
A friend of mine sent me these images today. She's got the best job for coin collecting and I have tried to encourage her interest in coins. She works in the front office for a grocery store and she rolls coins, plus she gets to get all these great foreign coins from the coin star guy who services their kiosk. She's a beginner, but has potential to become a real enthusiastic coin collector.Here is a 2010 P Roosevelt dime. The obverse has some serious issues. That is not dirt on the coin. I looked up errors on this series and saw some similar coins advertised with prices no rational person would pay that had a less extreme example of the problem with this coin.I'm interested in these coins but not my field of expertise. In fact I am a rank beginner. It is interesting to me and thought I would help her out by offering the images up to the collective wisdom here and get Y'alls opinions. It could be something significant or it could be post mint damage and nothing more. Note the really good condition of the reverse as well. Personally I have no skin in this game, just trying to help a friend understand what she has.......What do you think?
The Federal Shield is another symbol we commonly see on the breast of the American Eagle on our coins, currency and our national seal along with the seals of various agencies and entities of our government.
Take a look at the reverse of the Mercury Dime. What's that thing on the back there?