Modern Patterns
From time to time the U.S. Mint experiments with new coinage, such as when silver was removed. At that time the practice of using dies with Martha Washington for trial strikings began, since they would not be confused with "real" circulating money. Because they do not resemble money, no restrictions exist on the sale of Martha Washington pieces. Mint-produced modern patterns are very rare, with only a few pieces existing in private collections. The United States mint has placed restrictions on the sale of modern patterns that do resemble coins, such as the 1974 Aluminum Cent. At this time, such coins are bought and sold only on the black market, as it is considered illegal to remove them from the Mint.
One of the most expansive collections of American pattern coins is the Harry W. Bass collection, housed at the ANA Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Read more about this topic: Pattern Coin
Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or patterns:
“So gladly, from the songs of modern speech
Men turn, and see the stars, and feel the free
Shrill wind beyond the close of heavy flowers,
And through the music of the languid hours,
They hear like ocean on a western beach
The surge and thunder of the Odyssey.”
—Andrew Lang (1844–1912)
“Phenomenal nature shadows him wherever he goes. Clouds in the staring sky transmit to one another, by means of slow signs, incredibly detailed information regarding him. His inmost thoughts are discussed at nightfall, in manual alphabet, by darkly gesticulating trees. Pebbles or stains or sunflecks form patterns representing in some awful way messages which he must intercept. Everything is a cipher and of everything he is the theme.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)