A LIBERTY SEATED QUARTER COIN GLASS SAUCE DISH

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V15 2012 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 15, Number 10, March 4, 2012, Article 17

Since we're been discussing how coin and medal designs are transferred to glass, here's an excerpt from another article in the March 2012 issue of The E-Gobrecht. It's by editor Bill Bugert on coin glass. -Editor

Even though we are well past the "accumulation phase" of life, I am always searching for something numismatic or ML Beistle related and she has (many!) other interests including old glass. She called my attention to a beautiful very old pickle jar in a glass case. I didn't see the old jar because, in front of it, was a beautiful example of an 1892 dated Liberty Seated quarter dollar sauce dish coin glass.

For many years, I've been searching, without success, for examples of Liberty Seated coin glass, that is, glass with the Liberty Seated design. I've known about them from articles in other publications but just couldn't find any. I've seen examples of a common design that looks like coins but is actually a pseudo coin. I've seen articles where various collectors and dealers had massive coin glass collections and always wanted at least one example for my personal collection.

An internet "Google" search of coin glass turns up many hits including some good background information on coin glass, one of the best being www.oldandsold.com/articles/article246.shtml .

In summary, this type coin glass was made by Central Glass Company of Wheeling, West Virginia in 1892 possibly for a few reasons: "The Chicago Exposition which, in addition to commemorating the discovery of America, was also honoring the 100th anniversary of the Mint in Philadelphia. Secondly, "free silver" had been advocated by "Coin" Harvey in the Western States, and William Jennings Bryan was using it as a political platform at the moment."

In any case, "five months of actual production took place before the Treasury Department moved in and declared that the process was actually counterfeiting. A Federal law had been violated in the practice of reproducing actual coins. The moulds were destroyed. This stopped the production of the "coin glass" pattern and left but a very limited amount of genuine "coin glass" in the hands of scattered dealers and unsuspecting owners."

For more information on the Liberty Seated Collectors Club, see: www.lsccweb.org

Wayne Homren, Editor