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 Replies: 12 / Views: 708 |
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New Member
United States
22 Posts |
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Forum Dad
 United States
23808 Posts |
Sorry, but no. You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning 6 days in a row than finding ANY 1964 SMS coin in the wild.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2228 Posts |
Negative.
You realize when you know how to think, it empowers you far beyond those who know only what to think.
-Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
63514 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4474 Posts |
There is no such thing as a 1964 SMS coin. There is literally zero evidence for and plenty of evidence against. Article in the November 2024 edition of The Numismatist
-----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Forum Dad
United States
23808 Posts |
They were all found in the estate of the mint director in the 60s, around 1990, and certified.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
547 Posts |
Quote:
There is no such thing as a 1964 SMS coin. There is literally zero evidence for and plenty of evidence against. Article in the November 2024 edition of The Numismatist And yet PCGS says they've graded 14 of them, so there must be some amount of evidence greater than 0 to support their existence, no? https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin...50c-sms/6844The truth is Bobby's closer to being right about the odds of finding one. We don't know how many were made, nor do we know why they were made or what the mint director did with them. It's just as possible that she made 14 and kept them all as it that she made 114 and gave 100 away. It's clear she did not tell anyone about them and if she kept any production records they have never been found, so any attempt to speculate how many there may be is just that, pure speculation. But, not to burst your retirement dreams, your coin shows some wear and lacks the crispness in the strike that is one of the hallmarks of the 1964 SMS.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4474 Posts |
Bobby & HKG that's not true. Just wrong information perpetuated. I obviously can't repost Alex's article, it's copyrighted. Fair use should allow me to quote the conclusion:  -----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Forum Dad
United States
23808 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
547 Posts |
What's not true? That PCGS has certified 14 of them? Sorry, but that's demonstrably and inarguably true.
That they were discovered in the estate of the former mint director and certified in the early 1990's? Also demonstrably true.
I think you may have missed the point of my objection, namely that your hyperbolic statement that there is "literally 0 evidence for" their existence is overreaching.
I understand the argument that those coins are just uncirculated coins from fresh dies and don't really have a dog in that fight. If that's where the industry comes down on the issue my life won't be affected in the least. But it hasn't gotten there yet, despite the cited article, so perhaps recognizing that reasonable people can disagree is the better road?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4474 Posts |
The coins did not come from US Mint Director Eva Adams' estate. The first sales, where the SMS label was hung on the coins, were in 1990; she didn't pass away until 1991.
The die markers match the circulation coins from fresh dies that the mint delivered to the Smithsonian (as they have done every year) for the national numismatic collection.
Frankly, I can say it here, just because PCGS says it, doesn't make it so.
"How many legs does a calf have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Just because you call the tail a leg doesn't make it so."
---- A. Lincoln
-----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
547 Posts |
You seem intent to argue the appropriateness of the designation, and as I have already stated I have no interest in engaging on that topic as I have nothing to add to the debate that the various experts, pro and con, haven't already contributed. Quote:
The coins did not come from US Mint Director Eva Adams' estate. The first sales, where the SMS label was hung on the coins, were in 1990; she didn't pass away until 1991 This is a slightly disingenuous statement. While it is true that the first sale of a 64 SMS half was in 1990, the year before Adams death, it is the consensus of opinion that the group of coins that hit the market in 1993 came from the Adams estate via the estate of Lester Merkin, who acquired most the Adams collection on her death and then himself died in 1992. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5149 Posts |
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What's not true? That PCGS has certified 14 of them? PCGS will certified a nail. Buy the coin, I mean nail, not the holder. If you have enough pull in the industry and enoug money they will put whatever you want it to say on the slab in in the slab. Just saying. https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-c...auction.html
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Replies: 12 / Views: 708 |
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Posted 09/01/2025 10:41 am
