SMI 1 Oz Silver

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2018 UPDATE;

10 years of buying and selling SMI on Ebay has gradually resulted in the emergence of which pieces are scarcer than others and is resulting in price differences. Scarcity is logically following mintages. States that had multiple RCOs and had several thousand pieces minted like MI, NY, NC, CA, FL, PA and TX are easy to find and are selling for about half or a third as much as the states that only had 500 pieces minted. Of the 500 pieces, 100 were numbered and 50 hallmarked without numbers. That left only 350 GI (General Issue) pieces to satisfy the entire collector market. The earlier released SMI had to meet the 1000 piece minimum order from Sunshine mint. About half way through the program, Sunshine agreed to allow two different dies to be used to make the 1000 pieces, so two states would go together and get 500 done. Some of the low mintage states were completely sold into the collector market and they show up less frequently. Pieces like NM, ND, OR, MS, ID, AK, MA, MO, AL, MT and ME have been harder to find, especially the ME.

SMI

(State Monetary Initiative)

All 25 SMI states and 2006 Marco Island and Puerto Rico use this obverse. The second 500 piece mintings of TX and NY used the new, 2007 obverse die, which created the TXDD and NYDD double dated pieces. They had 2007 on the obverse and 2006 on the reverse. This was an error made by the mint because all subsequent orders of SMI were supposed to be made with the original obverse die.

Below is a photo of all 25 state SMI (only RCOs from 25 states participated, so the 50 state set does not exist). Each of them is serial number 57 from its respective state. There is also a close up of the state hallmark. There only 47 of these matched number sets in existence. Some states had only 100 pieces numbered and many of those have been sold to the public already. Completing matched number sets other than the ones Bernard von Nothaus and I put together will be virtually impossible. They are sure to become very valuable in the future (I now estimate value of complete matched serial number sets at $10,000 each - June 2015) once people recognize the significance of the grass roots effort of the Liberty Dollar to restore our nation to freedom via sound money. 24 of the existing matched number sets are in the hands of various RCOs who participated in the SMI effort. 13 sets have been sold to private collectors. The rest belong to Bernard von NotHaus.

How the SMI SN sets came about

Here is how the matched serial number sets came about. Michigan was the first state made when the SMI started being released. At that time there were three Michigan RCOs. They were myself (Ron Goodger), Jeff Kotchounian (now deceased) and Jeff Hoffmaster. Jeff K. headed up the Michigan effort and received the 1000 piece order. I'm not sure how many serial numbered pieces were done for MI, but it was at least 200 and maybe 300. There were about 100 HM only pieces. The decision was made to divide the SN pieces three ways between us. I won the coin toss, so I got #1 (I somehow ended up with #2 later as well). After that, I got every third number. When I got my pieces, I thought how cool it would be to have a complete set of all the states with the same serial number on all of them. At that time, many of the other states had not been shipped yet. Jeff Kotchounian was such a good salesman and so gung-ho that he sold a lot of the serial numbered pieces he had within a couple of weeks, so when I decided to try to put together complete, matched sets, many of the MI numbers were no longer available. I managed to get quite a few of them from Jeff Hoffmaster. By contacting and striking deals with RCOs of the other states, I was able to secure matching pieces for all of the MI numbers I had received and gotten from Jeff Hoffmaster. Many RCOs wanted to keep their #1 pieces and other lower serial numbers, thinking the lower serial numbers might someday be worth a little more. I don't think it worked out that way, but Some RCOs refused to let numbers lower than 30 go, so no sets with serial numbers lower than 30 exist. Florida RCO Frank May (I believe he is now deceased) insisted that he have set #30 or he would not participate by providing matching serial numbers for the other sets. He got it. Bernard kept sets 40 - 49 for himself. He also received set #61 in exchange for the matching Indiana numbered pieces needed to complete the other sets. Of the numbers above 30 that remained, I was able to assemble an additional 37 sets. So with Bernard's 10 sets, there are a total of 47 complete, matched serial number SMI sets in existence.

Another hurdle I had to overcome was getting matching pieces from RCOs who were not interested in having a matched set of their own. The RCOs who wanted a set of thier own traded their pieces even up for everyone else's pieces. I had to purchase the numbered pieces I needed to complete sets from eleven different RCOs. They asked varying amounts for the pieces ranging from $30 each to $60 each. Since I needed 24 pieces (I had MI) to complete each set above #30 (37 sets), I had to lay out cash for 11 x 36 = 396 pieces. This came out to $492 per set, or $17,712 out of my own pocket to complete the 37 sets. After satisfying the participating RCOs with their personal sets, I was left with 16 sets to sell to recover my investment in the project. At present (November 2021), 13 of the sets have been sold. I have three sets left, which have all been expanded beyond the 25 states with matched serial number pieces such as the Euro, Chambersburg, Gillie's, Chiropractic, Marco Island, Puerto Rico, California Bear, etc.

I have decided to share never before seen photos I took of the sets as they were being assembled. Below you will see on the top layers Maine (top row), Florida (second row), Georgia (third row), Mississippi (4th row) and California (last row). There are four layers underneath of the other 20 states that are complete. The missing California pieces in these photos were eventually procured. The #31 set was never completed and I sold what I had of them several years ago.

SMI SN (serial numbered) set #57 above

(This set was one of the two matched SN sets owned by New York RCO Karl Reile, now deceased)

SMI HM (hallmarked) set

(Stamped with the state outline hallmark only - no serial numbers)

The complete set is 28 pieces. The 25 states, Marco Island, Puerto Rico and TXDD. No NYDD were ever stamped with hallmarks or serial numbers by BVNH. If you ever find one, it was not marked by him. The NYDD was so hard to find for so many years that BVNH did not even have one for a long time. When I finally located a few, I provided Bernard with two very nice pieces. Not many collectors even have one. At present (Nov. 2021), I do not have a source for them. I only have one left in my personal GI SMI set. In total, I located and sold about 20 pieces over the years. Those two sources no longer have any.

SMI GI (general issue) set

The complete GI SMI set is 29 pieces - the 25 states below plus the $20 2006 Puerto Rico, Marco Island and the NYDD & TXDD.

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SMI History

Each State piece was sponsored by an RCO (Regional Currency Office) in the state, so if there was no RCO to sponsor it, it did not get made. Exactly half of the 50 states had an RCO to step forward and sponsor his state. That is why there are only 25 of the states in a complete set.

The SMI were issued in three different varieties as follows;

1. The GI (general issue) is an un-marked piece just as it came out of the mint press.
2. The HM (hallmarked) is hand stamped by Bernard von NotHaus with an outline of the state.
3. The SN (serial numbered) pieces have a unique, hand stamped serial number as well as a state hallmark.

Varying quantities of each type were produced for different states according to what the sponsoring RCO ordered. A couple of states had 1000 pieces numbered. Many more had only 100 pieces numbered. I believe there are fewer hallmarked only pieces than there are numbered. There are quite a few GI pieces for each of these states, but some of them are quite scarce because there was a total of 500 pieces minted for the state that included all three types. Since at least 100 were numbered and presumably a minimum of 50 hallmarked, that left only 350 GI for states like ME, OR, MS, AL, ID, MO, NM and VA. Many other states had a total of 1000 pieces made and some states like MI, CA, NY, NC, FL and PA had several thousand done.

As a result of the varying production, some state pieces are becoming quite hard to find. There were only two RCOs who had the foresight to obtain small quantities of these pieces from each state and assemble complete sets for resale to collectors. Both of them are Michigan RCOs. Only one of those two RCOs assembled extra complete sets of hallmarked and numbered pieces. Michigan RCO Ron Goodger spearheaded the cooperative effort between the 25 states to assemble sets of matched serial numbers. Each RCO who participated got a set with all 25 pieces bearing the same serial number. There are only 46 of these sets in existence and 11 of them belong to their creator, Bernard von Nothaus. Another 23 sets are in the hands of the participating RCOs. The remaining 12 sets were sold by Ron to recover the costs of buying pieces for the sets from RCOs who were not collectors and did not want a set of their own.

The Double Date SMI

Here is how the Texas double date and the NY double date came about. There was a 1000 piece minimum order requirement from Sunshine mint, but they were allowing the RCOs to combine two orders of 500 pieces each to make the 1000 pieces. A Texas RCO and a New York RCO teamed up with 500 piece orders each for TX and NY pieces in early 2007. No one knew the mint would use the wrong obverse die and create the only two double dated state pieces. Since these pieces were shipped directly to the RCOs, they were never distributed through the Liberty Dollar main office (as none of the SMI were). The TXDD pieces were discovered to be double dated rather quickly and they were sold as 'error' pieces immediately, which they were. The NYDD pieces were sold almost immediately after receipt by the RCO to some customers who purchased larger quantities. That was done before the realization that they were double dated and the RCO was mysteriously killed under suspicious circumstances shortly afterward. No one knew for several years that they existed. Finally, in 2011, ten pieces were discovered in the hands of the deceased RCO's family. Nine of those have been sold into the collector community. No more were tracked down until early 2014 when one of the unknown buyers was identified. A few pieces (5) were secured from this individual and were sold off to the highest bidders, who are the premier collectors of Liberty Dollar. Subsequent efforts to acquire a few more of these pieces were met with the information that they had all been sold to one individual who wished to remain anonymous. During a phone conversation with one very wealthy collector, he indicated that he knew who had bought them (namely himself), and that they would never see the light of day again. Being quite familiar with this collector and his methods (holing tightly onto rare items for years until their value increases drastically), I tend to believe it will be a very long time before any of those pieces surface again.

About 120 pieces of TXDD were sent to Bernard von NotHaus, who serial numbered and hallmarked 90 of them and hallmarked the remaining 30 without numbers.

To this date (2/25/14), Bernard has not specially marked any of the NYDD pieces.

Below is my original ad introducing the Michigan Liberty Dollar in 2006.

Michigan was the first of the 25 state Liberty Dollars produced in 2006

The #1 Michigan Liberty Dollar

The Michigan Liberty Dollar is here, and they are beautiful! They come in three varieties;

Serial numbered (SN) with state outline hallmark

Hallmarked (HM - no numbers)

General Issue (GI - no numbers or hallmarks)

There were only 250 Serial Numbered . There will never be any more, so they will not be available for long. Be sure to get one while you can still find it.

There were even less Hallmarked only versions. The GI is fairly common since it has been ordered multiple times in quantity by various Michigan RCOs.

There is something interesting about the Michigan hallmark only pieces. By scrutinizing the hallmarks, I was able to do some logical rationalization about the process Bernard von NotHaus (creator of the Liberty Dollar) went through to produce these pieces (he personally hand stamped all of the numbered and hallmarked pieces). I found that all of the numbered pieces had sharp, cleanly stamped full hallmarks. Of the hallmarked pieces I received, only 35 of them are fully struck. 32 of them have weakly struck hallmarks in which the initials MI or the upper peninsula outline are only partially struck or non-existant. Nothing unusual there, but now comes the interesting part. The weakly struck pieces show how difficult it must have been to hold the hallmark die perfectly straight while striking. It appears that in an effort to get the hallmark fully struck, some pieces were hit twice or else the hammer bounced. I have six pieces with fully struck, double die hallmarks. I have another seven with double die hallmarks in which parts are not fully struck. When buying these pieces, be sure to inquire about this feature. Some of the varieties of hallmark are scarce. The varieties are;

Fully double struck hallmarks.

Weakly double struck hallmarks.

Full hallmarks.

Weak hallmarks.

This phenomenon exists on some of the other states hallmarks as well.

Close up of the #1 Michigan SMI

The #242 Michigan SMI