U.S. MINT PUBLISHES 1974-D CENT BROCHURE

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V19 2016 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 33, August 14, 2016, Article 3

I picked up a copy of a new brochure at the U.S. Mint booth at the ANA World's Fair of Money in Anaheim this week. Paul Gilkes of Coin World wrote a story about it. -Editor

The United States Mint posted on its website information from a four-page, full-color informational brochure detailing the production of the 1974-D Lincoln cent struck in aluminum.

Printed copies of the brochure were being distributed at the U.S. Mint's booth Aug. 9 to 13 at the American Numismatic Association's World's Fair of Money in Anaheim, Calif., where an example of the aluminum cent is on display.

The color brochure illustrates obverse and reverse images of the 1974-D aluminum cent that was returned to the Mint earlier this year pursuant to litigation.

The brochure also illustrates an original Lincoln cent obverse plaster model that would have been used in the die making process in 1974. The D Mint mark of the Denver Mint would have been manually punched into each working die for production.

According to the brochure, during the Mint's examination of compositional alternatives for the cent amid rising copper prices, experimental sheets of an aluminum alloy were sent to the Denver facility to be cut into cent blanks and shipped back to the Philadelphia Mint, where experimental strikes were already being pursued in aluminum.

"This was done because Denver's blanks were slightly larger than the ones used in Philadelphia and the experimental team wanted to see if the different size affected the alloy's utility," according to the brochure's details. "The Denver Mint was not authorized to strike any experimental aluminum cent and most of the blanks were returned to Philadelphia as instructed.

"Nonetheless, at least one Denver Mint employee recalls striking experimental cents on the aluminum blanks using an existing 'D' marked die. This effort was unauthorized and in direct contradiction to official instructions."

Randall Lawrence, the son of former Assistant Denver Mint Superintendent Harry Edmond Lawrence, discovered the 1974-D aluminum cent among items that had been presented to his father at his 1980 retirement shortly before his passing. The items were bequeathed to Randall Lawrence.

Randy Lawrence initially sold the 1974-D aluminum cent and other coins for an undisclosed sum in September 2013 to Michael McConnell, owner of La Jolla Coin Shop in La Jolla, Calif.

After McConnell learned the potential worth of the aluminum cent, he decided to partner with Randy Lawrence in the public auction of the cent in April 2014 by Heritage Auctions.

The cent was withdrawn from the sale lineup shortly before the 2014 auction after the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the Mint, filed a civil complaint seeking return of the experimental 1974-D aluminum cent. Randy Lawrence and McConnell filed their own complaint, but eventually withdrew the action, subsequently returning the piece to the Mint in March 2016.

One of the stipulations for the coin’s return was that McConnell could break the cent out of its PCGS holder so he could retain the grading label.

I guess the shattered holder and label make for an interesting consolation prize. I'm glad it was removed from the holder, which makes for easier display.

The 1974-D aluminum cent display case had the cent high on a thin rotating pedestal under a large glass or plexiglass box. It was hard to see many details from that distance, but the silver color clearly distinguished it from other cents of the era. I think it was the first time I'd seen one of these. i remember news of the possible transition to aluminum in mid 70s promting me to run out to coin shows and buy up many of the dates and mintmarks needed to fill out my Whitman 1909-1940 Lincoln Cent folder. I never bought the top keys though, and those gaping holes in my set still remain. -Editor