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Master engraver, artist Ron Landis, 71
- Published: Jul 3, 2025, 9 AM
Noted master engraver and bluegrass musician Ron Landis passed away June 17 in Arkansas at age 71.
Mr. Landis was well known within numismatic circles as co-founder of the Gallery Mint in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and for the numerous collectible pieces he produced by hand, as well as his carved and struck works.
Mr. Landis was well-versed in the modern carving of hobo nickels on previously struck U.S. coins, as well as unusual medallic pieces.
Mr. Landis was recognized particularly for his reproductions of early American and United States copper coins. Each piece was painstakingly executed to closely resemble the original, but with intentional slight modifications to differentiate Mr. Landis’s works from the genuine coins.
Each of Mr. Landis’s reproductions was stamped on either obverse or reverse with COPY as required under the Hobby Protection Act.
His reproductions were so well done, however, that some unscrupulous individuals would obliterate the word COPY and then artificially age the surfaces, to pass off the result as a genuine government issued product.
Mr. Landis’s forethought in adding extra details to the master dies for his reproductions identified many of these unscrupulous efforts.
Mr. Landis was contracted for a major numismatic project tied to treasure recovered from the 1857 wreckage of the SS Central America. Several of the more common assayer firms’ gold ingots that were salvaged were repurposed for wider sales. Faces of the bars, carrying stamped information such as size, purity, and date were sliced off for framing. Remaining gold from the bars was melted and fabricated into planchets, on which were struck a few restrikes, made from the actual 1855 dies, and multiple replica copies made from copy dies, of the 1855 Kellogg & Company $50 pioneer gold coins.
Mr. Landis executed the obverse and reverse copy dies for the gold strikes.
Mr. Landis had a multi-ton vertical press trucked from Arkansas to a non-descript concrete block building on the Presidio in San Francisco in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge for the striking.
Restrikes and copy strikes were struck over a series of dates in late August and early September of 2001. The date for which each piece was struck was punched incuse on the collectible piece’s reverse above the eagle.
Multi-talented
Mr. Landis was also noted for his musical prowess as leader of the bluegrass band, Sprungbilly. Mr. Landis was proficiently skilled in playing banjo and dobro.
He combined his love of music and his love for everything numismatic by crafting stringed-instrument picks in base and precious metals.
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Master engraver, artist Ron Landis, 71
- Published: Jul 3, 2025, 9 AM
Noted master engraver and bluegrass musician Ron Landis passed away June 17 in Arkansas at age 71.
Mr. Landis was well known within numismatic circles as co-founder of the Gallery Mint in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and for the numerous collectible pieces he produced by hand, as well as his carved and struck works.
Mr. Landis was well-versed in the modern carving of hobo nickels on previously struck U.S. coins, as well as unusual medallic pieces.
Mr. Landis was recognized particularly for his reproductions of early American and United States copper coins. Each piece was painstakingly executed to closely resemble the original, but with intentional slight modifications to differentiate Mr. Landis’s works from the genuine coins.
Each of Mr. Landis’s reproductions was stamped on either obverse or reverse with COPY as required under the Hobby Protection Act.
His reproductions were so well done, however, that some unscrupulous individuals would obliterate the word COPY and then artificially age the surfaces, to pass off the result as a genuine government issued product.
Mr. Landis’s forethought in adding extra details to the master dies for his reproductions identified many of these unscrupulous efforts.
Mr. Landis was contracted for a major numismatic project tied to treasure recovered from the 1857 wreckage of the SS Central America. Several of the more common assayer firms’ gold ingots that were salvaged were repurposed for wider sales. Faces of the bars, carrying stamped information such as size, purity, and date were sliced off for framing. Remaining gold from the bars was melted and fabricated into planchets, on which were struck a few restrikes, made from the actual 1855 dies, and multiple replica copies made from copy dies, of the 1855 Kellogg & Company $50 pioneer gold coins.
Mr. Landis executed the obverse and reverse copy dies for the gold strikes.
Mr. Landis had a multi-ton vertical press trucked from Arkansas to a non-descript concrete block building on the Presidio in San Francisco in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge for the striking.
Restrikes and copy strikes were struck over a series of dates in late August and early September of 2001. The date for which each piece was struck was punched incuse on the collectible piece’s reverse above the eagle.
Multi-talented
Mr. Landis was also noted for his musical prowess as leader of the bluegrass band, Sprungbilly. Mr. Landis was proficiently skilled in playing banjo and dobro.
He combined his love of music and his love for everything numismatic by crafting stringed-instrument picks in base and precious metals.
Connect with Coin World:
Sign up for our free eNewsletter
Access our Dealer Directory
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on X (Twitter)
Whether you’re a current subscriber or new, you can take advantage of the best offers on magazine subscriptions available in digital, print or both! Whether you want your issue every week or every month, there’s a subscription to meet your needs.