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| Very Rare Aluminum Cent. |
... OK, it’s no big leap of logic to ask the question: did the United States ever issue any aluminum coins? The short answer is “no,” but it’s the longer answer that contains a story that has become a collector favorite and something of a legend. It seems that in 1974 the United States Mints in Philadelphia and Denver did indeed produce aluminum 1-cent pieces sporting the familiar image of Honest Abe, as records indicate that 1.4 million were coined – but never released. One apparently did make it out of the building in Denver, however, as a gift – an unauthorized and unsanctioned gift – to the assistant superintendent. It was his heir who tried to sell it, and the folks at the Secret Service stepped in and put a halt to it. One end result of the release of this single coin outside of the Mint is that, yes, there is now a lone aluminum piece that the collecting community can claim is valuable....
Here is the link for more about that.The Lightest of Collections: Aluminum Coins - Numismatic News
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What do you think their cutlery was made of when Napoleon III had his prestigious guests over for food? Silver? Gold? The answer may surprise many, as they used aluminum cutlery, while less-esteemed guests used silverware. Aluminum is the most abundant metal in Earth’s crust (8.1%). However, it does not naturally occur in its pure metallic form. Instead, it occurs naturally in alums, a compound found in various minerals. The Greeks and Romans used alum as medicine and dyeing cloth. Metallic aluminum was finally discovered in 1825, although the first refining processes proved costly.
Napoleon III was born in April 1808 and died in January 1873. When he first rose to power in 1851 and had access to this ghostly light metal, he attempted to produce armor and weapons for the French Army. His idea was quickly put on the shelf once it became apparent how costly it would be. Only a few kilos of aluminum were being produced annually at this point. Manufacturers were mainly unwilling to abandon using metals like iron, brass, or bronze. Instead, aluminum was used by the elite as jewelry, silverware, plates, etc.
The Washington Monument was officially completed on December 6, 1884, when a 9-inch, 100-ounce aluminum pyramid was placed there. This final addition was a lightning rod because of its conductive properties. It was the largest piece of aluminum known to date, being displayed at Tiffany & Co., New York City, prior to the completion of the monument. A more practical method for refining aluminum metal was discovered in subsequent years. As a result, the price of aluminum dropped significantly, falling far beneath the price of gold, then silver.
Aluminum coins (world coinage included) have a stigma of being cheap. They are the coins you find for 10 cents a pop at your local coin shop in the bin by the front door. However, I always ask myself, “when was it struck?” If it was struck before the mid-’80s, you more than likely have a piece with a low mintage. The United States Mint struck pattern and die trial coins in aluminum. These coins are highly sought after by collectors because of their sharp, watery, gunmetal look and extremely low mintages. The first pieces were struck in 1863 and were consistently made through 1885 – right before the price of aluminum plummeted. Check that bin by the front door next time you visit your local coin shop. You will probably not find one of these pattern pieces, but you may find a significant coin flying under the radar....
Aluminum Coins – Rarer Than Gold? (pcgs.com)
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Do you know what Munimula or Muni-Mula is? I always remember it from an animated cartoon of the 1950s, I think it was the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, in which one of the characters said, "munimula is aluminum spelled backwards." I can't find any evidence of that online now, but I did find Muni-Mula used as a location name during a Rough and Reddy show. I'm pretty sure I remember it from Rocky and Bullwinkle though. Anyone else?
Funny how some things just stick in your mind. I don't remember which character said it but I distinctly remember one of them saying, "Munimula is aluminum spelled backwards."
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Continuing with my Treasure Beaches Report review of the year - here are posts that were the most viewed posts of 2023 from the tbr2020 blog.
Three were from back in February when we had some erosion and interesting finds. The others were from this Fall and Winter. Three were from November and three from December.
We had a long boring summer of sanded in beaches.
Taking a look at the all-time most viewed posts of the tbr2020 blog (which was started in 2020) we see the following top ten posts.
All but one of those is from November of 2022. You might remember that we had some big surf and erosion and interesting finds back then.
I've said several times that November to February provides some of the best beach metal detecting on the Treasure Coast. During the summer months the monotony is occasionally broken by hurricanes or storms that provide brief periods of better hunting. Of course, the treasure salvage season also provides occasional big finds during the summer months, but it seems in recent years that the salvage guys are slower to reveal big finds and often hold off for months before finds are revealed.
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Looks like the next few days will see nothing bigger to a two or three foot surf on the Treasure Coast.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net