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V29 2026 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 29, Number 23, 2026, Article 25

Here are some additional items in the media this week that may be of interest. -Editor

Michael Garofalo published a nice Greysheet article on U.S. Proof Sets. -Editor

Proof coins for collectors slowly grew as a hobby during the remainder of the 19th century as more people discovered the collecting hobby. When the "Renaissance of American coinage" started in 1907, striking Proof coins became more difficult as the fields were no longer uniformly flat. As the designs had greater depth to them, the fields were concave so that a matte Proof finish, which originated at the Paris Mint was perfected in Philadelphia. These new artistic designs posed numerous problems for the Mint and, by 1916, Proof coin production had ceased.

During the 1920s, coin collecting grew and, as the 1930s arrived, coin collecting became a very popular hobby. On April 28, 1936, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. authorized the Mint to strike Proof coins once again. Louis McHenry Howe, the personal secretary to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, had encouraged Morgenthau to strike Proof coins for all current circulating issues. The current denominations, the Lincoln cent, the Buffalo nickel, the Mercury dime, the Washington quarter, and the Walking Liberty half dollar were struck in Proof format and were offered to collectors in sets as well as individually. Single coin prices were $.16 for Proof cents, $.20 for Proof nickels and dimes, $.50 for quarters and $.75 for a Proof half dollar.

To read the complete article, see:
Proof Sets Through History (https://www.greysheet.com/news/story/proof-sets-through-history)

Eric Brothers published a Greysheet article on the rarity of the 1893-S Morgan Dollar. Here's an excerpt - see the complete article online. -Editor

David Hall writes, "The 1893-S is the true 'King' of the Morgan dollar series…. In Mint State condition, the 1893-S is absolutely the rarest Morgan dollar." Hall reports that the PCGS Coinfacts estimated the survival for all grades is 9,948. However, since PCGS Coinfacts does not date its entries, we don't know the year of that estimate. Bowers has estimated that there are between 6,000 and 12,000 surviving pieces of the 1893-S. Nonetheless, research suggests there are many more survivors, perhaps about 25,000—which would dispel the notion that the 1893-S is a great rarity. Before examining the evidence, we shall discuss the mintage and distribution of this famous coin.

It was the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 that forced the Treasury to purchase 4.5 million ounces of silver bullion each and every month, and turn a significant amount of it into silver dollars. That was in addition to the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 that compelled the Treasury to buy at least $2 million worth of silver bullion each month and produce silver dollars with all of it. Thus, the literal non-stop production of silver dollars from 1878 to 1892 resulted in the vaults of the U.S. Mints being packed to the rafters. Relatively few Morgan dollars circulated. They simply were not needed in the economy.

January 12, 1893, saw Mint Director Edward O. Leech send a telegram to the superintendent of the San Francisco Mint: "As the needs of the Treasury do not require the further coinage of silver dollars at your mint, the same will be suspended for the present, after the close of this month." It is important to note that this was before the Panic of 1893 that began in May and the later repeal in October of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.

Hetty Green was an American businesswoman and financier known as the Witch of Wall Street. This article is based on the book "The Richest Woman in America: Hetty Green in the Gilded Age" by Janet Wallach. Here's a section on how she profited by buying up U.S. paper money ("Greenbacks") at a discount. This was also a strategy of Massachusetts eccentric Timothy Dexter, who gained wealth buying up Continental currency. See the linked article for more about him. Hetty's son was Col. E.H.R. Green, whose massive coin collection included all five 1913 Liberty nickels. -Editor

In my opinion, Hetty Green's greatest edge as an investor was her willingness to go against the crowd. She always kept a stack of cash ready to take on opportunities created by prices going down due to fear. As a matter of fact, in an era where speculative frenzies regularly swept through Wall Street, ruining countless of investors who bought at the top of the market crazy and who panicked at the bottom, Green understood that following the herd was a certain way to lose capital. Instead, she built a contrarian investment philosophy and she possessed the discipline to execute it to perfection.

Her contrarian strategy in investing was honed early on, particularly during the economic turmoil following the Civil War. Wallach writes that "The devastation of the South, the high debt caused by the war, and the disarray of the Union created a stormy picture. Many people viewed the country's economy as doubtful. Seeing chaos around the corner, they worried about the stability of the government and refused to pay face value for its greenbacks. Instead, they rushed to gold. The rules of the marketplace state that for every seller there must be a buyer. The more the public discounted paper money, pushing it down as low as fifty cents on the dollar, the more Hetty bought."