I'm familiar with the 1886 Eutopia dollar
and the 1897 Bickford dollars, but was unfamiliar with the
1896 talents mentioned in the previous article by Tom DeLorey. A search of The Numismatist archives provided a few hits.
May 1934, p336: "one Talent Argentum Universale, United States of America 1896"
March 1910, p85: "Mr. Woodin, as usual, had several rare patterns of the highest interest, among them a proof of the "United States 'Talent' " of 1896, bearing on obverse and reverse the opposing hemispheres of the globe, with "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA"
These are not listed in Adams-Woodin or Judd as official patterns of course, but I checked anyway. I did find two short listings in the 5th edition of Unusual World Coins, p545. The entries for 1/5 Talent (x# 1) and Talent (X# 2) are unillustrated and marked "reported, not confirmed."
So... can anyone point me to more information on these enigmatic pieces? Thanks. -Editor