The U.S. Mint "inadvertently" delivered 5,000 specially produced Sacagawea dollars intended for Uncirculated Mint sets from the Philadelphia Mint to sculptor Glenna Goodacre instead of 2000-P dollars produced at the facility for circulation, according to testimony in a government lawsuit against a private mint.
Susan L. Christenberry, an attorney with the Department of Justice, makes that assertion in a Jan. 9 letter she sent to United States District Court Judge John R. Tunheim in Minneapolis in connection with the Justice's 1999 lawsuit brought on behalf of the Mint against the private Minnesota-based The Washington Mint LLC. The suit alleges copyright violations and trademark infringement involving the production of oversized reproductions of the Sacagawea dollar.
In support of her assertion, Christenberry attached a Dec. 14, 2000, declaration from James Smith - Numismatic Division Head at the Philadelphia Mint - supporting the purported Uncirculated Mint set coin mix up. Smith avows that the coins struck and delivered to Goodacre do not differ from the quality of coins typically included in Mint sets.
Some in the numismatic community - including representatives of grading services - have compared the dollars given Goodacre to those contained in the 2000 Uncirculated Mint sets and have said they believe the dollars received different processing.
As part of his declaration, Smith detailed the exact process the Philadelphia Mint's production staff took in producing the 5,000 dollar coins for Goodacre, from blanking through final production and packaging for shipment. That explanation follows verbatim, including typographical errors:
- Sheets of Manganese-Brass Clad Copper blanked, upset hard in Main Pressroom. This process involves punching out the planchet and running it through an upset mill that imparts a specific edge design which allows the edge of the finished coin to be the thickest point.
- Blanks annealed in rotary annealers in Coining Division. The annealing process heats the blanks in a rotary furnace and tempers the alloy to the point of hardness which allows the design to be transferred from the hardened steel stamping dies to the blank during the coining process.
- Blanks transferred to Numismatics Division.
- Blanks placed in Centrifugal Burnish in AAC unit (comparable to Spalek centrifugal burnisher), but with GBS and L980. The burnish process uses small stainless steel balls to "scrub" the surface of the blank which removes any oxides and surface contaminants before coining.
- The blanks are then placed in an Automatic Finishing Inc. corncob dryer. The blanks are vibrated around the diameter of the round open trough while mixed with heated corncob. The heated corncob absorbs any residual moisture and prevents water spots on the blanks.
- Blanks struck once on Graebener Press.
- Coins provided for Ms. Goodacre were drawn from coins that had been struck for the Uncirculated set. It is standard procedure to retire these dies at 30,000 strikes or at the first sign of wear or failure. I have no way of knowing at what point in the die's life these coins were struck.
- Coins were then washed in dip baskets submerged in a solution of RotoBrite, L-980 and water. L-980 is a general-purpose alkaline burnishing compound that we use for silver. It has a high degree of corrosion inhibition. We used it to remove any residual stamping oils and to help prevent tarnishing.
- The coins were then placed in an Automatic Finishing Inc. corncob dryer. The blanks are vibrated around the diameter of the round open trough while mixed with heated corncob. The heated corncob absorbs any residual moisture and prevents water spots on the coins.
- Coins were then dumped onto terry cloth covered tables and receive a cursory inspection while they were being tubed. The packaging machine operator always use either cotton glove and/or latex finger cots while handling coins after washing to prevent finger prints on the packaged coins. This is normal procedure for Uncirculated coins.
- Coins shipped in 1/2 Ounce Tubes in 1/2 Ounce Boxes (not hermetic seal, but pretty tight fit of tops into tubes.)
"On or around April 15, 2000, we changed to a better final wash compound - Radiant 52 - for the production of Uncirculated Golden Dollar coins," according to Smith.
