One of the most engaging aspects of numismatics is its versatility. The number of different groupings or sets is limited only by one's imagination.
One collection that has always intrigued me is a set of coins of a particular denomination, bearing the same date, but of an entirely different type. Because new designs were sometimes introduced in the middle of a year, there have been numerous occasions when a given year saw two different major designs. (Minor design modifications also frequently occurred in the first year or two of a new design, but this article will focus only on major design changes.)
There are over a dozen examples of major midyear design changeovers in the copper, nickel and silver series coins alone, so we'll first take a look at some of the more common 20th century examples. In subsequent articles, we'll look at some of the 19th century examples, and then a look at some of the changeovers in the gold series.
One of the best-known examples is the Indian/Lincoln cent issue of 1909. The Secretary of the Treasury did not give final approval for the Lincoln cent until July 14. Consequently the coin was not released to the public until August 2, 1909. This allowed ample time for nearly 15 million Indian cents dated 1909 to be minted. Slightly over 100 million Lincoln cents dated 1909 were also struck, so neither of these coins can be considered remotely rare.
The year 1938 was an eventful one for the U.S. Nickel coin. A public competition was announced early that year for a new design (as the Buffalo design had reached its minimum statutory production of 25 years). A German-American sculptor, Felix Schlag, won the $1,000 contest in April, and after minor modifications, production began in September of that year. However, roughly 7 million Buffalo nickels were struck that year at the Denver mint, followed by around 30 million nickels bearing the new design made at all three mints during the closing months of 1938.
Like the Jefferson nickel, the design of the Mercury dime and Standing Liberty quarter were also the result of a competition. As the winners were not announced until March 1916 and production did not begin on the new designs until even later in the year, Barber dimes and quarters dated 1916 were produced in quantity. Adolph Weinman's Mercury dimes were released at the end of October 1916. Herman MacNeil's Standing Liberty quarters were struck in the last two weeks of 1916 resulting in a very limited production of only 52,000 pieces bearing that date.
Next time, we'll take a look at some of the 19th century occurrences of this phenomenon.
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