1966 TEN CENTS

Circulation strikes: 1,382,734,540
Proofs: 2,261,583
Designer: John R. Sinnock
Diameter: ±17.9 millimeters
Thickness: ±1.35 millimeters
Metal content:
Outer layers: 75% Copper, 25% Nickel
Center: 100% Copper
Weight: ±2.27 grams
Edge: Reeded
Mintmark: None
Value: $1.25 (MS-65)

I’ve been sitting on this for a while now. Well… stewing really. The thing is I haven’t heard any similar opinions, so I must be way our in left field here. I waited. Maybe I wouldn’t feel as strongly after having some time to think about it… but… well… I can’t help it. The Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin looks like a joke! I had high hopes for this coin. I was already figuring how I could manage to squeeze one of them into my budget, and then the mint released images. Maybe I’m just too much of a traditionalist, too old fashioned, set in my ways, whatever, but the first thing that struck me about the 2009 Double Eagle is the thickness, that, coupled with the edge lettering makes this look more like a trinket one might pick up at Disney Land than a respectful tribute to the 1907 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle. And the ‘ultra high relief; part… this sounded like such a good thing. But the effect is to make the 2009 Double Eagle look more like a medal than a coin. Albeit a medal with the obverse and reverse aligned in the manner of a coin. Still, the mint seems to be missing the point. We love, and collect, coins. Not just any shiny piece of metal with a year and mintmark on it… coins. The 2009 Double Eagle misses the mark, having seen the images, I am no longer inclined to set money aside for one of these. If I wanted to collect knickknacks and trinketsI could manage quite a large collection of crap without spending so much money.