Taking things for granted is pretty much the norm for humans. Once we become accustomed to something, we rarely see beyond that model. As recently as 1983, few could imagine a writing tool more convenient than a typewriter. In just 24 months, computers ruled and were ubiquitous.
Before 1900, it was inconceivable to imagine a personal mode of transport other than a horse and wagon. Barely 15 years later, horses had been completely replaced with cars and trucks.
In the 1800s, silver dollars were one of the most common forms of trade. Around 1850, they featured the allegorical image of a seated Lady Liberty. Beginning in 1878, the “Morgan” dollar became the familiar standard for the coin with the profile head of a stoic Lady Liberty. Throughout the 19th century, it too was taken for granted. Yet again, change was in the air....
By 1900, industrialization had taken hold. Everything from manufacturing and travel to music and art had evolved. The latter had taken a “nouveau” form. Enter the silver dollar of 1921.
That was the last year for the Morgan dollar and the first for the revolutionary “Peace” dollar. It included a contemporary Lady Liberty. The new coin acquired its name because if featured the word “PEACE” on the reverse. That was testimony to the end of World War I and the determined need for a global armistice. But even that was fleeting. The fabled US silver dollar would begin to fade a mere 14 years later in 1935, when the US Mint stopped striking them in favor of a foldable paper dollar.
This year, being the centennial of the milestone change from the Morgan to the Peace dollar, the US Mint has turned on its way-back machine to make restrikes of the two fabled 1921 dollar coins emblazoned with the present date of 2021. The Mint created several different versions denoted by mintmarks from the Denver, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Carson City Mints.
Priced at $85 each and composed of 99.9 percent pure silver, the Mint has limited the strike to just 175,000 of each type. Considering hundreds of millions of the original Morgan and Peace dollars were made, that’s not a lot.
The coins will be issued beginning next month. For more information or to pre-order go to www.USMint.gov.
X X X X X X X
Our reliable orb is now getting its postal due on a new set of 10 First Class stamps. Much like the expected lifespan of our closest star the stamp is a “Forever” issue.
The actual composition of our sun remains something of a mystery. Believed to be primarily hydrogen with some helium thrown in, scientists still can’t be sure of its tangible metallic content. What is known is that it is constantly changing and affecting us on earth.
While it always may appear bright and luminous, the new 10 stamps showcase the sun in its ever-changing forms and effects. Those include: Sunspots; Coronal Holes; Coronal Loops; Solar Flares and Plasma Blasts. In addition to being visually dramatic, the “heliophysics” (study of the effects of the sun) can reveal how solar magnetic fields, blasts and flares impact earth’s atmosphere and our technology in space.
Though we can’t see the occurrences with the naked eye, the stamps feature images of them taken with special filters then enhanced with colors. The result is enough to impress even “Ra.”
The new sheet of ten stamps is scheduled to launch this month at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. For more information on how to preorder or obtain a pictorial First Day of Issue postmark, log onto to www.usps.com/shopstamps.
For more collecting advice, visit www.peterexford.blogspot.com